What is the difference between Tar Water and War Water~~~~

Dear Ms. Q,

"I've read some where about Tar water and about War Water are they the same?"   "I need something stronger than Peace water to keep bad stuff out of my home.  What can I do?"

“I hear folks talking about War Water and Tar Water are they the same or are they two different kinds of water?”

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TAR WATER AND WAR WATER

These two waters are constantly being mixed-up and sometimes mixed together,  in part because of Zora Neal’s Houston’s book  “Hoodoo in America,”  where she describes War Water as “Oil of Tar in water (filtered)” Oil of Tar is a thick distillate of creosote or burned pine resin (sometimes called Pine Tar) and it is carcinogenic and dangerous.  But it would be rare for her to mix the two up and some folk’s think it was an editorial mistake and not the authors and that she was referring to Tar Water.

But in her book “Of Mules and Men” she appears to use the words Tar and War water interchangeably, but some people still insist that the mix up was caused by the editors thinking Tar really meant War,  (much like the French word of fur  (vair) sounding liked the French word for glass (verre)  if Charles Perrault heard the story being told orally, which might explain how Cinderella got a glass slipper instead of a fur slipper).

Either way both Waters are used for cleansings and protection but each deals with a different psychic or metaphysical aspect---

Tar Water:  This is used this for space and personal cleansings, removal of negative thought- forms including haunts, golems, and psychic manifestations created by the power of the mind out of fear and extreme mental suggestion (this is in part described in Dion Fortune’s classic book “Psychic Defence”.)  

 Some people believe that if you think a house is haunted then ghosts will manifest but this is by suggestion and by the power of the -mind, the concept of thought forms have been discussed in Alexandra David-Neel’s book “Magic and Mystery in Tibet” and in the book “Conjuring up Philip” by Iris M. Owen and Margaret Sparrow.     Thought forms can also be created by powerful conjure if the person’s mind is strong enough.  Also any negative thoughts left over by extremely hostile people. Some people believe that thought forms were the real alleged "witches familiar".

War Water: This is used this to gain protection, this is an extremely aggressive forceful spiritual cleanser, to reverse a  curse and send it back to where it came from, as well as to place a curse, war water is a traditional and allegedly potent weapon during psychic warfare and witch/hoo-doo wars.  War Water needs to be kept refrigerated and carefully labeled.

Both of them are Poisonous and should be labeled as such, obviously do not consume and keep both away from pets and children.

But it appears that War Water maybe from more of a European origin and not from Hoodoo or folk magic.  Eventually through a mix-up or a mis-understand the two became as one although they are really separate. 

War Water (sometimes called Water of Mars or Mars Water) was originally created to treat Iron anemia although in modern times much better treatment is available.   So it would be obvious to ancient man if it keep sickness away it had to be a powerful magic.

The same was thought of with Tar Water which we have to give the Vikings credit for, the Vikings used pine tar to waterproof their ships, and also using tar water for medicinal and spiritual purposes.  Historically it was used to treat scurvy, skin ulcers, inflammatory distempers and nervous disorders, the Vikings have also used it for warding off spirits from their homes by placing a drop of tar water on the stoop of all doors leading to the outside, on all windowsills, and on the stoop of the chimney's fireplace door. This actually works best if no spirits have latched onto you, or else they'll stay confined inside the house.  Eventually the idea of cleansing oneself from any spirit attachment grew out of this idea.

In modern times, tar water has been used in witch craft and hoodoo for warding (as the Vikings have,) as well as for cleansing especially in the case of those targeted by curses and crossing spells or are haunted. In Santeria (especially the Santa Muerte cults) and in Hoodoo (and possibly Voodoo), tar water is used for the same applications as well as a substance to  aid in curses and cross work (in the same manner as goofer dust, hot foot powder or bend over powder).

Tar Water traditionally is made from bog water or swamp water that naturally contains creosote from decaying pine trees  and spanish moss.  It is traditional in Southern conjure, and often contains nails and other things as well, depending upon the practioner.   

Because in Zora Neale Hurston’s books the words "Tar Water" and "War Water"  are used interchangeably in "Mules and Men", and it’s believe over time the two recipes became intermingled.  However, War Water is Not traditional hoodoo, while Tar Water is. 

War Water, as I understand it, traditionally should be red not black, due to its connection with the Roman god Mars and iron and since it is more from a European tradition.

It’s possible that the use of Spanish moss is a crossover from Tar Water into War Water in the belief that it increased its cursing potency but that’s speculation on my part because of what Mrs. Washington who was from New Orleans, and Mrs. Rose who was from South Carolina told me about the mixing of Tar water.

They both told me that where there was some sort of ulcers or open sores that had difficulty in healing on the skin a mild form of Tar Water would be used and seemed to be effacious in healing them.  

Interestingly, in 1878 a brand of soap came out called “Grandpa’s Pine Tar Soap” and I remember Granny having Grandpa bathe with this soap when he had a rash that would not heal and it cleared up.  Mrs. Washington would take this soap and shave some of it into a ritual bath whenever she felt some, as she called it, “Haints glued to me”, aka psychic sludge.   So obviously this became a much safer way of doing this kind of bath. This soup is still being made today and can be found on the internet.

Now a day’s tar water is strictly used for cleansing, especially to get rid of any “ghosts or haints”, as its powers for warding and crossing is not completely known.

How is Tar Water used?   Practitioners tend to use tar water as a wash, mopping the 4 corners of their homes with it, washing down their doors/stoops/patios and even mixing it with holy water to dress the 4 corners of their front and back yards.  Although some will use it as a personal wash to remove any psychic sludge from one’s life but use only a tiny bit like a capful in your bath water.

To make Tar Water:

There are several ways to make Tar Water---

The standard traditional way is to soak burnt pine tar (from a pine tree) in water for several days in a bucket of tap water or in the old days well water, then slowly filter off the water into a master bottle leaving the tar in the bucket (you might as well forget using that bucket for anything else), they also use to use Road Tar as that kind of tar was used to make roads.

Now a days and I have to confess I did it recently (I’m a bad, bad girl), there was some work done nearby on a street, which this tar was put down on a road as a “slurry”  to preserve the road,  when they took their lunch break I picked up a few pieces of rocks that had the slurry on it and put it into a plastic zip lock food bag, ya never known when it will come in handy. (By the way it pays to carry small envelopes and plastic zip lock bags and a felt tip pen to label them because you never know what you'll find that comes in handy)

Now to make it beyond just pine or road tar and water, traditionally the water should come from a swamp or bog, which is why Mrs. Washington and Mrs. Rose would get jugs of water from some relatives who would visit and these jugs had water from the Mississippi River in it.   But since real bog/swamp water would have things rotting in it, the addition of Spanish Moss helped

So you’d be looking at a Traditional Formula as being made with:

 Pine or Road Tar

Swamp or bog water

And Spanish Moss

For further protection they would add Holy Water.

Now to ramp it up some practitioners would add coffin nails and a pinch of sulfur

Some folks would use a product called Creolina which is used by commercial dry cleaners and it is a coal tar deodorant cleaner. Now you have to be very careful with this stuff as it will burn your skin and it smells awful.   But people have used it for cleansing and protecting their home and property and claim it works.  

Other folks would use Turpentine instead as it is more readily available, but again it’s caustic and poisonous.   

A slightly more modern formula would be:
Turpentine
Spanish Moss
Holy Water
and if you have one in your area bog or swamp water, if not then water from a cemetery (where they have those lawn pipes so you can draw water for the jars to hold cut flowers) or stagnate water and considering how much chemicals a water treatment plant puts into our drinking water that is stagnate or dead water.  You can also add sulfur and coffin nails for extra added strength.

On the amounts I'm not sure because I've seen both Granny and some of the ladies vary it depending upon the size of the jar, and be sure to seal the jar because it will get pretty smelly.   But you would only need to pour off from your Master Bottle, a tiny amount to put into your mop water, or just a capful  (the size of a small soda bottle cap) into your ritual bath water.  Be sure to filter it as you pour, what is trapped in the filter can be put back into the Master Bottle and you can add more water to it.

Then Mrs. Washington and my Granny came across Pine Tar soap, much safer to use especially in personal cleansings to get “haints off of you”.

So if you’re going to use this as a personal cleansing, put only a small capful into your bath water and wash,   Set up candles as you would in Uncrossing spells on either end of the tub.   After you bathe, air dry and let the water drain down, the “haints” will go with it out to the sea as they say.

But if you are fearful of having any carcinogenic liquid on you then the use of Grandpa’s Pine Tar Soap is a safe substitute.   For that shave off a little bit of the Pine Tar Soap into hot tap water (water from your faucet)  so it will dissolve, and add some church blessed Holy water to it then put a small amount into your ritual bath water and keep the rest in a master bottle, refrigerate to prevent mold.   If mold forms toss out and make fresh.

In clearing out the psychic sludge out of your home and off your property, then make a solution with turpentine, swamp/bog/cemetery water or tap water, Spanish moss, some old rusty nails or coffin nails, and a pinch of either gunpowder or Sulfur (Sulfur is much easier to get from a metaphysical store), let this stuff “marinate” for 2 weeks, shake it up if necessary, this give the moss a chance to rot, trust me this stuff will smell gross, then add church blessed Holy water.

This will be your “Master Bottle”  from that filter out a little as you pour it (put what you filter out back into the Master Bottle) and only pour just a small amount into a clean bucket of mop water, you can use pine-sol (regular) in the mop water as well. 

Be sure to mop all four corners of your kitchen, bath, because psychic sludge loves to hide in dark corners, take a clean cloth and wash down your window sills, and door frames top to bottom,  if you have wall to wall carpeting then using an eye dropper or a pipette put a drop in each corner of the room, and one drop in the center of the room, if you have a hall entrance put it there too, any place that is not wall to wall carpeted wash down the four corners as well,  including any entrances to the attic, even sprinkle some in the attic if possible.  Don’t forget the four corners of your closets.   

If you have a garage and it has windows, do the four corners, the windows and the garage door.

Mop down your porch(front and back), the steps to your porch (front and back) then walk down to the edge of your walk way and then pour the remaining water in a straight line across the walk way so that way anyone with evil thoughts will have to cross over it and it will negate their thoughts and destroy any “tricks” they should try to put on you as well as keep negative thought forms and ghosts away from you.  

Make a 2^nd bucket of water with a little of the Tar water and pour into the four corners of your front yard and if you have one the back yard too, if you have a patio made with either wood or cement or bricks, wash that down using a broom, dip the broom into the bucket and scrub the deck or patio.   Any left over water again pour into the four corners of your yards.

As Mrs. Washington would say “Dat ‘ill take care of dem haints” and trust me she was an educated woman but every now and then she’d slip into her parents and grandparents vernacular, it was her way of staying bonded to them in spirit.

WAR WATER

Well I talked so much about Tar Water let’s be clear as possible about War Water also known as water of Mars or Mars Water.

War Water, is not native to hoodoo practices, it is likely a European influence, as its name and purpose comes from the Roman god of war, Mars.  In spite of the fact that is it not historically traditional to hoodoo, War Water has gained an important position and is firmly in place in conjure and folk magic and should be talked about.

War Water, is an offensive tool meant to bring peace back into one’s life by causing discord in another's usually the person who is making life difficult for you.  Essentially, War Water's primary purpose is hostile foot track magic.

War water is used:

To gain protection. This is an extremely aggressive, forceful spiritual cleanser.

To reverse a curse and send it back to where it came from.

To place a curse. War water is a traditional and allegedly potent weapon during psychic warfare and witch wars.

War water can be used for:

Warding

 In Floor washes

To splash on a door step or other target

It can also be added to or used in spell work for protection, cleansing, reversal spells, hex work, and more (great for spell bottles and jars), there are a lot of them out there.

 Once you have made War Water, how do you use it?

There are several methods, depending on just what your final intent might be. If you intend to use the most basic rust-water formula for protective purposes, you can use it as an addition to a spiritual bath just a capful,  a wash for the outside of your home or business put some in the mop bucket, sprinkle for any letters or papers you might be sending out to someone hostile to you (such as legal papers, I’ve known a few women who used it in their divorce proceedings)

The most common use of War Water, is as a component of psychic warfare, such as cursing or sending back a curse,  Draja Mickaharic makes a good case for having sturdy defenses in place before beginning any ritual of cursing or hexing anyone one.  He says “If you are going to declare psychic war on someone you should mop your stairs, porch, doorway, and any outside surfaces of your home on which anything can be cast or thrown before you begin the war. This ensures that you will be protected when the other person’s inevitable counterattack comes. In most cases War Water will cause any spell which is placed on your doorstep to rebound instantly to the sender.”

If you’re going to use it for your own personal protection as a spiritual bath you only need it in its rusty iron and water from, and just put in a cap full in your bath water again bathe as if you were doing an uncrossing ritual using two glass enclosed candles to create the psychic portal before you enter your bath tub or shower.  So unless you need a more aggressive formula that usual works very well.

But I’ve seen a lot of emotional drama especially among young people, so there is a more aggressive formula as well.

So I’m going to give to you the mild version, the slightly more aggressive version and the very aggressive version and several ways of deploying it.

The mild version is to get some cut iron nails  and put it in spring water in a good size jar, put it in the refrigerator, open the jar every day so it will get air and the nails will oxidize, the nails can be plain old nails, not thing special except for your intention.  Once it starts to get nice and rusty (allow at least 2 weeks for the rust to form) and turn the water red, pray over it for protection Psalm 23 is always good.  For your protection bath just put a capful into your bath water, that’s all you need to do.

Now if you want to be more aggressive if you can use Storm water or water from a violent rain storm (thunder storms are best) if you haven’t had a violent rain storm or don’t see one in the immediate future (check my posts on spiritual waters) then use bog or swamp water, even stagnate water the smellier the better.

Add to it cut iron nails and Spanish moss and some thorns if possible,

Again allow to marinate for at least 2 weeks, occasionally opening the jar to increase oxidation.

For Very aggressive War water again try and get water from a violent rain storm if possible, or bog or swamp water

Add to it red pepper (the hotter the better)

Sulfur or gunpowder (Sulfur can be purchased at a metaphysical shop)

You own urine (hey remember the old saying “P*&% on you”)

Spanish Moss

Cut iron nails (if you have a really big jar an old rail road spike works very well but it can break a glass jar)

Also Nails from a building where you want this person to go such as a court house to lose a case, hospital to be ill, jail to never get out, or if you can’t get nails from that then coffin nails

Some folks will add goofer dust or graveyard dirt to this mixture and in some cases Black Salt and/or a Dirt Dabner nest (it’s a type of wasp’s nest)

All of these formulas are just a few that I know of but it also depends on what the practitioner knows that works for him or her.  

Now there are several methods of deployment of War Water, the best known is to put it into a small bottle and then throw it at the other persons house so the bottle will break and the person on the receiving end has to deal with broken glass and it gets on them as well as their property.

My Granny and her Ladies heard about some sort of psychic war fare between practitioners, which included drive-by war water glass bombs,  as far as Granny and her ladies were concerned it was childish and foolish and remained above the fray, and not take sides,  besides Granny and her ladies dealt with the Depression of the 1930’s and were a frugal lot, why break a bottle when you could get 3 or 5 cents return for it. They knew of an easier way Thanks to Mrs. Byrd.

What one practitioner did and even a couple of Granny’s ladies did is have some war water in an old soda bottle and then when they visited they’d pour it out on the ground as if the soda had gone very flat, and then leave the bottle for them to get the 5 cents refund,  I myself did it with someone who was pissing me off,  and I had an empty cola soda can and it was late at night so I poured it out on the ground near her steps and left the can there, and that worked very well.

But Mrs. Byrd was very angry at a couple who called her some very insulting names, and they had no reason to do that, so what she did is she took an egg and made a tiny hole on both ends and blew the yoke and the egg white out (she used the yoke for cooking that day), putting a bit of shell and glue to one end and a bit of tape she filled the egg shell with war water using a thin nosed eye dropper (a pipette works very well for this), and she taped the other end.  

In the middle of the night like 2 a.m. she went to their house and threw the egg against their porch, and that worked very well too, in a week they were evicted unexpectedly and left the area.   And egg shells are so innocuous, but carry them very carefully in a zip lock bag, Mrs. Byrd carried hers in a small brown paper bag.  

Now you only pour out the water from your master bottle, be sure to filter it into a smaller bottle or what container you’re going to use.   What filters out put back into the master bottle and add more water.

Other uses of War Water

    To banish evil and  remove negativity from your place – Sprinkle around your house

    To protect you, your loved one and your property from future psychic and magical attacks

    As additional aid in unbinding spells- Use it in your ritual to remove malevolent magic that has targeted you and your loved ones

    To remove obstacles- When you feel that your road is blocked by unseen powers

    For jinx removing- Add some drops in your bath along with a pinch of Black Salt (if you feel the jinx is very bad)  and bathe

ONE LAST WORD ABOUT TAR WATER

Warning: tar water is acidic and can burn the skin and eyes. Pine tar itself is flammable as well as acidic. Handle with care. If on skin or eyes, rinse well with water for 15 minutes (longer if necessary) Go to the Emergency Room of the hospital for further medical assistance.  Remember it contains pine creosote (a known carcinogen). Do not ingest. Keep out of reach of children and pets.   Do not keep any sizable amount of the raw tar in your home or garage because it is flammable. Keep it outside in its bucket or a safe container

And there you have it about Tar Water and War Water, I myself have not had to use either personally except for one time (but I do have those rocks with the tar slurry for just in case) and I hope you dear readers never have need of it.

But the information is here for your understanding.

How does one counter act War Water?  

You use Peace Water, and also try to make amends with anyone who has a grudge against you, if nothing else to at least make them look foolish and small by you being the understanding person who does not wish ill will.

Peace Water Formula

It is used as the antidote to the previous two waters by combining equal amounts of

Holy water

Spring water

Rain water

River water

Ocean water

This is poured on places where peace and harmony is needed, or where tar/war water has previously been spilled.

Bright Blessings,

Ms. Q

 

Alignment Water and planetary event~~~

Dear Ms. Q,

“What is all this excitement about 5 planets lining up in the sky?”

I’ve had several questions about this and actually this event was slowly falling into place since January 20^th   This is a fairly rare Astrological event, and I do believe that in some way the planetary energies can and do in some way affect us.

This planetary alignment is a serious, positive harbinger that is coming  into our lives, because also since Jupiter is in retrograde for positive thinking and action, we also have 5 planets lined up with the Libra Moon, which actives positive action on several fronts, the planets are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are in alignment with the Moon.

 This has not happened in over 15 years.

We are talking about the powerful combination of Venus (our planetary impact for unconditional love and money), Saturn (representative of the law of cause end effect, planet of karma), Mars (planet of passion and war), Jupiter (planet of good fortune) and Mercury (planet of communication interplanetary and external).

Knowing all that and putting it in perspective this energetic alignment can turn into an incredible blessing, or a massive burden – totally depending on where one is standing in their personal development   Over all this amazing stellar event gives all the people who are ready to drop what ever happened in their past and come to a place of inner peace and forgiveness and to celebrate the new beginnings.

In a way this alignment also helps a line our own personal energies or Chakra centers, to make them function better and to be at peace with ourselves, our lives and with those around us.   A child born during this time will be 5 times bless.   Some may have special abilities, possibly psychic abilities to either a greater or lesser degree.

All five planets that can be seen with the naked eye will be visible together in the early morning sky. This will last for about a month, from January 20 until February 20, 2016.   This amazing show is equally visible to both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

And From January 27 through February 6, the moon will join the five planets. 

And we are talking about the powerful combination of

Venus (our planetary impact for unconditional love and money),

Saturn (representative of the law of cause end effect, planet of karma),

 Mars (planet of passion and war), 

Jupiter (planet of good fortune)

and Mercury ( planet of communication interplanetary and external)

Plus the stars/suns Antares and Spica.

Over all this amazing stellar event gives all the people who are ready to drop what ever happened in their past and come to a place of inner peace and forgiveness, for all they have been part of, to complete their cycle of karma and step into the self-empowered position of a human co-creator in harmony with the divine in a healthy way, the society we live in and the global community we all are part of.

Unfortunately there are ones who are not ready to let go of themes like war, greed, jealousy, territorial behavior and violence, the issues of survival, emotional dysfunction, high levels of internal stress, increased anxiety, inner restlessness and a tendency to violent outbursts can appear among them and make them worse.   To sense the love as well as karmic retribution is like a powerful loud gong going on in their heads and so they resort to violence to “drown it out”.

But to those who want to make the world a better place it will sound like softly tinkling chimes in a garden of serenity.    Now I’m not talking airy-fairy fluff bunny stuff, I’m talking about people who will help the homeless, helping the poor, save wildlife, clean up the air and water even our food, fighting Monsanto, helping Veterans and supporting them,  etc. but not being hostile about it.

This unique moment, from a spiritual point of view, is a lesson from each planet and allows us to reflect deeper and gaze inward to our souls.

So what does each planet mean?

Mercury is the ruler of communication – take inventory of how you express your emotions with your words, and be mindful if your tone is in alignment with your intention.

Venus relates to love – be sure to give love to where ever you may feel lack, and to give lots of gratitude to where there is already love.

Mars is considered the action planet, so if there’s been something you’ve been wanting to do, but haven’t yet done – get moving, and take the actions necessary to gain momentum. With the other planets being your guide, also remember to be loving in your actions, and to communicate from a place of pure intention.   This is the planet that helps get people involved with “Habitat for Humanity” or the “Tiny House” movement.

Jupiter is the philosopher, and this is a great time to find the “gold” in your life’s lessons, if there is any area of your life that still feels “heavy”, be your own spiritual alchemist and find appreciation for the lesson, and forgive with all of your heart.

Saturn relates to karma, so it is important to remember that for every action big or little,  there’s a reaction.   May be some actions brought about an unpleasant reaction. We  have to always  remember that we reap what we sow, and whatever good we give to the world, we will get back and this same principle applies to the bad as well.  So if life hasn’t been going your way, consider what actions you need to take to cause a better outcome, and what must be done to undo anything that isn’t resonating with your highest truth.

This alignment calls for us to align with our better selves with love, in action, in knowledge of our experiences, and with the right frame of mind and in doing that to live as the best version of ourselves.

So what can we magically do with this planetary alignment, any time this month but by February 2^nd get a large bottle of Spring water and put it out each night until the Sun begins to crest the horizon to collect these planetary energies.   With the final very early morning before dawn as the last day.  Label the bottle “Alignment Water” and keep it in a dark place in your pantry, do not drink it.

Then when you have a chance as soon as possible in the evening or late at night light a white candle and burn Frankincense and pray over the Bottle of water calling down the Divine presence to consecrate it pray Psalm 59 line 16-17

“But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your loving kindness in the morning, For You have been my stronghold And a refuge in the day of my distress. O my strength, I will sing praises to You; For God is my stronghold, the God who shows me loving kindness.”

And Psalm 28 line 7  “The Lord is my helper and my protector: in him hath my heart confided, and I have been helped. And my flesh hath flourished again, and with my will I will give praise to him.”

Then finish your prayers with this injunction over the water

 “As above, so below, as within, so without, as the universe, so the soul. As is the human body, so is the cosmic body, as is the human mind so is the cosmic mind, as is the microcosm, so is the macrocosm, as is the atom, so is the universe.”

Whenever you feel your energies out of alignment, as you’re taking your bath or shower, once you’ve finish bathing but before you step out of the tub, touch a few drops of this water over your head and say “I am in alignment with myself, the earth and the universe, as above, so below, so within, so without. ”

Now this is not a substitute for any psychic cleansing or defense, nor do any of the herb baths but if you feel out of it and don’t have time to do a full ritual cleansing, this will help until you can,  but use is sparingly and not every day, just if things don’t feel right because this planetary alignment only happens rarely.  So maybe several bottles of spring water.  

When this would happen my Granny and her ladies would put out several gallon jugs of spring or river water out to collect and infuse the water with those energies. 

And my niece is doing that now for me.

Blessings,

Ms. Q

Of Halloween Waters~~~~

Dear Ms. Q,

"Is there anything special we should do this Halloween?"

As you know  this  Halloween at least in the United States had 3 very special events.   In those countries that celebrate Halloween there was at least 2 special events.

And it also has to do with water.   The night before I knew of the fact that we would have rain coming, of course the big question was at what time.  I also knew that Halloween would also have a meteor shower called officially the Taurids, but because they occur during Halloween to just past November 12 they are unofficially called Halloween Fireballs. 

The reason they are called the Taurids is because they seem to emanate from the constellation of Taurus.   So water placed out to collect the energy of this effect has a number of ways of being used.

Any Taurus magic, during Halloween to speak to the dead by having it on your ritual altar, and there is a third reason---the 13th hour in those area's that have daylight savings time. Plus if it rains on Halloween that rain water can have a triple effect.

But lets say it's not going to rain, O.K. then you would use Spring Water.   As a matter of fact you should set out several different bowls of Spring Water but each bowl be dedicated to a different facet.

1.  To energize  the water from the Taurids on Halloween, that would be Halloween Fireball water.

2. To energize water during a 13th hour, because this year and every 7 to 8 years depending,  for those area's that acknowledge Daylight Savings time, instead of rolling the clocks back at 2 a.m. to 1 a.m. do it at Midnight,  put out the bowl of water outside at Midnight DST then roll all the clocks in your home back 1 hour to 11 p.m. leave the bowl out there for 1 hour, that is your 13th hour water.

What would it be used for?  Since it's an hour that only exists rarely you can put it on your altar to help speak to the spirits.

3.  If the weather man says that there will be rain on Halloween, put out a bowl to collect the rain water from Halloween, because the veil is thin at this time, the rain water is energized by the spirits that seek out people, but this kind of water one needs to be careful with, because it also means negative spirits as well.   

If there is no rain forcasted then a bowl of spring water put out before midnight and then brought in when the clock strikes 12, (at the 12th bong) bring the water in and bottle it. 

Now if it rains and we have all three events happening, the Taurids (which happens every year), a 13th hour (rolling back to standard time)  AND rain on Halloween before midnight,  That is what my Daddy would say is a triple-whammy, excellent for negative magic, seances, or calling upon the spirits to help you with positive help, it works for all things.

My Dad was very supportive of what Granny, Mom the Ladies did, he didn't participate he, like my Uncles and Grandpa and the Ladies' husbands just supported their activities, they did help out by baby sitting the little one's or looking for materials needed, in some cases driving them where they wanted to go and no questions asked.

My husband and my family are the same way which is good.  And to all you young ladies, if you are looking for good husband or boy friend material, make sure they support you in your spiritual practices, if they just blow you off, or say that's Satan's work,  drop them like a hot rock.  But if they do support your efforts also make sure they are faithful, hard workers, responsible and will hold a job, and that they drink very little alcohol and do not do drugs.   It's so difficult to find the right partner that sometimes in a way it's best to remain single.

So although for many of you you may have missed out on this special triple  event, you will have this information for when it does happen.   For any regular Halloween you still can get Halloween Fireball water as well as Halloween seance water.   But should all three or more events occur on Halloween,  the Taurids, the 13th hour, Halloween itself as well as rain then take advantage of it.

For many of you who are practitioners you may not have heard of this, very few have but it was practiced by my Granny's group of ladies with success.   Good luck to you.

Blessings, Ms. Q

What is "Hush Water"? or "Hash Water"?

Dear Malcolm and Ms. Q,

Ms. Q, one of my readers Malcolm asked me a question that made me whoop with memory so I'm going to post his question here and my longish reply,  I had not heard this term in ages and in doing my "Waters List" had left it out because in a way it was confusing because it has several different types of meanings as well as ritual uses or just plain uses.

Several are perfectly interesting, but the others, unless the laws change would be considered at least in the US and other countries where the main component is banned---Illegal!

So on to the question and the answer-----

Malcolm Campbell July 2, 2015 at 10:27 PM

Another fascinating post. This blog has a wonderful archive which I've referred to often. I see that you will answer questions from readers; I wasn't sure how or where to ask a question, so I'm putting it here even though it doesn't apply to the post. Old books that mention conjure refer to "hush water." Supposedly it was around during the slavery era and supposedly made people patient enough to endure many things. On a sexist note, one source said men bought it and gave it to their wives to keep them quiet. Are you familiar with this water and what it contained?

Thank you.

And Thank You Malcolm for bringing up a memory from the dim fog of my mind.

I have heard of the term "Hush Water",  and whenever I asked my Granny about it she'd give me a very stern look and said that it was not a good thing because sometimes it would be used wrong.

Then when I was in my late teens like 18-19 and going out to parties in the early 1960's, Granny heard about guys "poisoning drinks" or switching drinks, which became prevalent in the 1990's what today we'd call "roofing"  or "roofies" I think that's the term.  Now she knew I had no head for alcohol so she, my Mom AND my Dad warned me to never drink from an open container, never drink from a drink handed to me, and since I could only drink soda at parties, I'd always grab a sealed can or bottle, even though some guys would try and force a drink on me, more than once I'd set is aside or spill it or when they turned their back pour it on the ground (outside) or into an unfortunate plant. 

Although this was generally and abusively available in the 1990's  it's original ingredients was known in South American countries and the West Indies and a few other places as far back as the 1950's and even earlier.  In the first "Creature from the Black Lagoon" movie, released in 1954, the captain of the boat the expedition was on said he had rohypnol (pronounced in the movie "ropinol")  used to catch fish!   So it may have been known during the 1800's and possibly earlier.

I heard my Granny and Mrs. Byrd refer it is as "Hush Water" but for them it wasn't the only "Hush Water"

Here is what I remember about "Hush Water"-----

I can only go by what I was told to me by my Granny and the Ladies of her group, besides what I just mentioned, there were various meanings to the term “Hush Water” and it depended upon where you were from, what it exactly was and what use was it put to.

 From what I remember and what I learned over the years, I consider this item to be too dangerous to use, dangerous to the point of being extremely addictive as well as dangerously lethal  and only provide this information for you edification.

 Mrs. Harcourt was from England but she also traveled as a young woman to Ireland and Scotland, during the early part of the War she went to Scotland with some other women to take to safety young children who were going to be placed in homes for safety away from the bombings.  It was hard for the children to be separated from their parents, in some cases the stories were tragic in that for some their parents didn’t survive the bombings, others were luckier at the end of the war.

While in Scotland Mrs. Harcourt (this was before she was married) found out about a ritual that was done to protect houses from any bombings. Sometimes it was called "Hush Water" but most of the time it was called Unspoken Water.  This was collected either to heal a person or protect a home.

What one had to do was to rise early in the morning or to go at twilight to a bridge and to not speak to anyone either going out or coming home and take with them a vessel to carry this water that would be collected from under a bridge, over which the living persons travel and also the dead are carried to a graveyard, when the water is collected it is taken home and thrown over the house and the vessel in which it was contained was thrown after the water.  This was to protect a home or business.  And the person could not speak until after this ritual was completed.

 The other use was this water was collected the same way and the person collecting the water was to not speak at all and then the water brought in either at dawn or twilight to the house of a sick person, without the bearer’s speaking, either way going to collect the water or returning with it, then the sick person drinks three long sips of the water before anything is spoken. Sometimes the remaining water is thrown over the house, with the vessel following before anyone can speak.

 Mrs. Harcourt had heard that it was very rarely done but in the small town that she was in, when the German’s flew over it was noted that those houses that had the Hush or Unspoken water tossed over the roof was spared the bombings the other houses were not.

From Della who was Italian she told me of a drink that was called “Hush Water” but she said that it was mostly used by Bella who in her younger days was something of a “wild thing”.   

If Bella wanted to go out dancing, she’d tell her husband that she was going to go to Bingo at the Church and then make him a strong drink, now in the early days Bella had in her yard a couple of cannabis plants and opium poppies  growing and she would make an infusion with the heads of cannabis or the opium poppy in grain alcohol or strong whiskey and mixed with honey and serve it to her husband who would occasionally complain of aches and pains.

 He’d always fall asleep in the over stuff chair in the living room, when he was snoring real good she’d go out dancing, and come back hours later, then after changing into her night gown she’d wake him up saying he was so bored he fell asleep while she was talking to him.

Now you have to remember where everyone lived not everyone was interested in what was growing in one’s back yard because there might be a still back there and if someone was good at making home grown whiskey or wine, who was going to turn them in?  Not their neighbors that’s for sure.

But sometimes Bella would use either a form of Laudanum or tincture of Opium instead and it was referred to as ‘Hush Water” as sort of a code word for Laudanum.

But the tables got turned on Bella, her husband got a big promotion and was earning lots more money, so Bella started staying home, but sometimes her husband would make her a strong cup of milky tea.

He knew what the cannabis, opium poppies and Laudanum could do, and he may have suspected that Bella was occasionally giving it to him,  so he’d put a tiny amount in with whiskey and a lot of honey and she’d drowse off reading, then her husband would go and visit a "lady friend" for an hour or two. 

Della (Bella's sister) put Bella wise and Bella was not going to lose her husband and his income to some “shoo-fly”, so Bella would praise her husband saying what a hard worker he is and would make sure he got the Hush Water drink and he’d miss his dates with the other lady.   He’d wake up and Bella would be all cozy to him praising him for working so hard and giving him complements.   He never strayed again.

After that he only got the drink because he’d say his joints were aching and he needed to sleep and she stayed close to him.

But in time Bella’s grown and married kids said the cannabis plant, and the opium poppies had to go or they’d get arrested, times were changing, sad to say.  The bottle of Laudanum was long gone.

Now Mrs. Washington who was from the South, Louisiana in particular, knew of “Hush Water”, her Great-Grandmother told her about it.

Her Great-grandma was a former slave but in 1859, prior to the Civil War,  the Plantation owner had found out that a number of other Southern Slave owners had freed their slaves (many had but not all) and what they would do is lease to their former slaves some land and they’d become part of a co-op so that the former slaves would get for their work a portion of the profit’s from the main crop as well as growing their own crops and selling them in the market place, so they'd also pay the rent on the land that the former owner would lease to them.  It turned out to be very profitable and less stressful for everyone, until Gen. Sherman destroyed everything.  At least according to Mrs. Washington's Great-Grandma.

So her Great-Granny was a freed slave before the Civil War.  The work no matter what for either slave or free person was hard, so they’d drink a concoction made of cannabis or opium poppy tincture or Laudanum made with grain alcohol and sweeten with honey to ease the aches and pains, sometimes it would be mixed with willow bark, from which we would get eventually our modern day aspirin, the honey would take the bitterness out of it.

But because the willow bark sometimes would cause excessive sweating, they had to be sure to drink plenty of plain water as well.  Work would start at sun rise, stop at noon and then everyone rested and not start again until 4 or 5 p.m. until sundown and that’s when folks would eat a late supper.   This was true for the long days and most especially during the heat of late Spring, Summer and early Fall.    Winter and early Spring the work hours would change.

 Now Mrs. Washington also knew of men and women who would give their spouse or boy/girl friend a drink of “Hush Water” usually disguised either as a milky tea with whiskey and honey and it would almost always be made from a tea from boiled cannabis heads with whole milk or the opium poppy that would produce drowsiness.  Or it was Laudanum or tincture of Opium mixed with whiskey and honey.   Any one of those things would work, if you knew the right dose, sometimes too much would be lethal.  

 It wasn’t until William Randolph Hearst (and others), got the government to ban the common hemp plant so common hemp (used to make rope and cheap paper like newspaper)  could not be grown, this increased Hearst Timber investments so that wood pulp was used to make paper and make Hearst richer.  The common hemp plant had little effect that its cannabis cousin did.

This ban also included the type of cannabis plant that was one of the plants used to make “Hush Water”.   But frankly I saw that plant growing in Bella’s back yard and it grew wild, didn’t need anything special to make it grow it was a weed, and it can grow very well on its own,  didn’t need any special watering or excessive watering, or sunlight or anything the thing was a weed, grew like a weed.  So did the opium poppies and they would re-seed themselves besides looking pretty.

Now Mrs. Washington told me that the ancients would do something with the seeds in a steam bath and she told me that there was on conjure person who would have people take a steam bath and then throw onto the hot rocks with the water flowering tops of the cannabis plant, and doing that it would produce visions.

At one gathering that she was at as a very young woman there would be these heated rocks and water and the cannabis flowers or the dried resin of the opium poppy would be thrown onto the rocks creating steam and then people would have visions or find themselves being “ridden” by a spirit.  

She also knew of a spiritist conjure person who would boil the cannabis heads in water, along with lavender and then later take the cooled water to later  be slowly evaporated over flame when conducting spirit rituals and people would come away claiming to have seen a family member or loved one at one of these rituals.

 Among my early college papers in dealing with hallucinogenic drugs I came across this mention and I share it with all of you:

{Beginning around the 4th century, Taoist texts mentioned using cannabis in censers.  It was cited (ca. 570 CE) in the Taoist encyclopedia Wushang Biyao ("Supreme Secret Essentials") that cannabis was added into ritual incense-burners, and suggested the ancient Taoists experimented systematically with "hallucinogenic smokes".

The Yuanshi shangzhen zhongxian ("Records of the Assemblies of the Perfected Immortals"), which is attributed to Ge Hong (283-343), says:

For those who begin practicing the Tao it is not necessary to go into the mountains. … Some with purifying incense and sprinkling and sweeping are also able to call down the Perfected Immortals. The followers of the Lady Wei and of Hsu are of this kind

Lady Wei Huacun (252-334) and Xu Mi (303-376) founded the Taoist Shangqing School. The Shangqing scriptures were supposedly dictated to Yang Xi (330-386 CE) in nightly revelations from immortals, and it was proposed Yang was "aided almost certainly by cannabis".

The Mingyi bielu ("Supplementary Records of Famous Physicians"), written by the Taoist pharmacologist Tao Hongjing (456-536), who also wrote the first commentaries to the Shangqing canon, says, "Hemp-seeds are very little used in medicine, but the magician-technicians (shujia) say that if one consumes them with ginseng it will give one preternatural knowledge of events in the future."

 A 6th-century CE Taoist medical work, the Wuzangjing ("Five Viscera Classic") says, "If you wish to command demonic apparitions to present themselves you should constantly eat the inflorescence of the hemp plant."}

The Greek Histories of Herodotus (ca. 440 BCE) record the early Scythians using cannabis steam baths, much like the spiritius conjure person that Mrs. Washington knew of.

Even in Shakespeare’s time the use of cannabis and the opium poppy for both medicine and magic was well known and could have easily been incorporated into Caribbean cultures to become assimilated into  the Hoodoo Conjure system over time, I am not a scholar into this but it does make sense, like there are pyramids in Egypt and there are pyramids in South America, separated by an ocean but nonetheless they are there.

Now there is another type of “Hush Water” but not really for drinking purposes, but it’s possible it might have been incorporated as a spiritual rite.

 Among the early slaves there were gatherings in places called “Hush Harbors”. African Americans felt most free to sing spirituals accompanied by the ring shout dances when they were away from the gaze of masters and overseers, who often forbade the gatherings. When the slave quarters was far enough away from the residence of the owners, Black people might gather there in one of the cabins, moving to the side the meager furnishings so that a danced circle could form in the center of the room.

The narratives of former slaves mention that a large tin basin was sometimes overturned and raised to the rafters to “catch the sound” and lessen the likelihood that the gathering would be discovered. Or, the basin or barrel might be filled with water and set in the middle of the room or by the door in the belief that it could serve a similar purpose of dampening down the sound.  There by becoming a Hushed place and using water to hush the ceremony.

When slaves had access to their own churches, with moveable benches or pews, the ring shout ceremonies often occurred there, after the formal “sermon” service was completed. But just as often, people gathered in woods bordering the plantations where they lived or in simply constructed “praise houses” or “hush harbors” or sometimes out in the open air, around a fire.

Throughout the diaspora, enslaved people used their homes, wooded and isolated places, and structures they built with the express purpose of sheltering their gatherings, to meet, to dance, to sing and to thus call spirit into their midst.

So it would not have been unusual to use that water to make a drink combined with opium type herbs or cannabis buds to make Hush Water---- I remember that my Granny, and her ladies grew opium poppies, in their front yards, those poppies were outlawed so what the ladies did was save the seeds and instead grow them in their back yards away from prying eyes.

So Hush Water was either made from cannabis, opium poppy resin or Laudanum or tincture of Opium sometimes mixed with willow bark.   At least that is what I knew from Granny and her Ladies.

Hush water made from either the cannabis plant or the opium poppy is very dangerous to drink, larger amounts of poppy seeds may be brewed into a tea, the consumption of which has in some cases led to death by overdose. The risk stems largely from the unpredictable opiate content of the finished tea, although the interaction with other drugs can be a contributing factor.

For example eBay has stopped allowing the sale of opium poppy pods on their auction site. This may be attributed to the death of a Colorado teen, who overdosed on opium tea around that time.

There are many different preparations of poppy tea. Most methods call for the "poppy straw" material (the seedpod and sometimes the stem) only to be used. Most methods call for the straw to be ground into a fine powder. A quick and efficient method is to use a stove-top espresso maker. This results in a fairly concentrated beverage and does not appear to destroy the alkaloids despite involving steam passing through the poppy straw.

There is much debate on the best preparations of poppy tea. Many claim that boiling rapidly is the best, others insist on strictly cold water, or another method is steeping in hot water. Some methods call for citric acid or acetic acid (vinegar) to be used during extraction. The purpose of the addition of citric and/or acetic acid is to lower the pH level of the neutral water (pH7) down to a slightly acidic pH of 6-6.5, which is optimal for morphine extraction, although it is disputed between varying studies.[

When the tea is drunk, its effects begin after about 30 minutes, lasting up to 12 hours. It is intensely bitter and some users add other flavorings to the tea to mask the bitterness. It is wise for the user to be careful with the amount they consume if the tea comes out to be very bitter and very dark. Grapefruit juice and/or cimetidine or hydroxyzine may also inhibit liver enzyme activation, thus increasing the strength and duration of the opiate effects.

Since 2004 there have been a number of deaths from Poppy Tea aka “Hush Water”, in 2004, a fatal overdose of poppy seed tea was reported on a website written by the victim's parents, who wrote that a sample of poppy seed tea was sent for laboratory analysis. This victim is reported to have used 3.5 pounds of poppy seeds in his tea preparation.

On May 19, 2012, a 19-year-old from Nova Scotia died after drinking the tea from a poppy seed pod he purchased on the Internet.

In November 2012, A Tasmanian youth died after drinking tea brewed from seed heads, and a 50-year-old Tasmanian man died in similar circumstances in February 2011.[

A 2013 inquest found that a 27-year-old British man died from the effects of drinking a pint of poppy tea.

   

As I said in the South a more common type of “Hush Water” was Laudanum, in England and the United States among working people, Laudanum was cheaper to buy than Gin.  

In the 19th century, laudanum was used in many patent medicines to "relieve pain ... to produce sleep ... to allay irritation ... to check excessive secretions ... to support the system ... and as a soporific".

The limited pharmacopoeia of the day meant that opium derivatives were among the most effective of available treatments, so laudanum was widely prescribed for ailments from colds to meningitis to cardiac diseases, in both adults and children. Laudanum was used during the yellow fever epidemic.  And it was also highly addictive.

So “Hush Water” could also have been the code word for Laudanum as it was easy to purchase legally for a long, long time.  And according to Granny, if you knew the right druggist, you could still get it long after it was banned, as a sleeping aid.  But Granny preferred very sweet wine.

As I got older Granny continued to grow the opium poppy, but Bella got rid of her cannabis and poppies in the early 1970’s she hired some young hippy people who were more than happy to carefully dig the plants out of her garden and gently haul the plants away for no fee. 

 As I and my Granny watched them happily take the plants away Granny remarked to me, “They are going to be happy for a long, long time, if it doesn’t kill them.”

That was like saying "My marriage is made in heaven."  Well so is thunder and lighting.

After Granny died, Mom refused to have any of the poppy seeds come over to be planted in her garden, she was worried about the kids who would come over and visit my younger brother and maybe get into trouble with the poppies.

I myself do not grow opium poppies as ornamentals, nor would I even consider growing a cannabis plant if it became legal, I do not believe in using opiates for any kind of use with the exception of aspirin, and any prescribed medication that I would be required to use.

 What were the dosages to make “Hush Water”  I really don’t know, I was not told by anyone, and considering how dangerous opiates can be I wouldn’t even hazard a guess.

Now not too long ago, my kids gave me a book that was some sort of dungeons and dragons thingee, but the role playing was done in the South and involved hoodoo and just going through this book I did come across the mention of "hush water" as a potion to be made by a character.  And I thought to myself "Now where did they get that term?"

However I do recall quiet clearly Mrs. Washington referring to it.  Her grand daughter managed to save her grandma's papers and has been in contact with some very elderly family members down south, she and I continue to be in touch, which is very helpful to the both of us.

 Personally, from what I was told, I do believe that “Hush Water” as drunk by slaves was a concoction of either the cannabis plant or the opium poppy and willow bark as a mild tea (emphasis on mild) to ease any aches and pains or possibly a mixture of Laudanum or tincture of Opium all at that time legal to obtain, and also used by cheating spouses to go out and have a night on the town.

 It does produce harmful cravings within the withdrawal than can take up to a year to overcome.

Personally I consider it extremely dangerous, and not worth making, the risks of lethal overdosing is far too great.

I do provide this information to you for your education, should you or anyone else come across this very antique product mentioned in passing.

Blessing Malcolm and Ms. Q