Friday, January 19, 2007

Quicksilver Luck

Dear Witch Dr
I think I read this in one of your books but I can't remember which one - the encyclopedia maybe. Anyway, it was a spell for gambler's luck but there was something kind of scary involved - like maybe a poisonous ingredient? Can you help me out here because the wife and I are getting ready to go to Vegas and I need to prepare some sort of talisman to win. thanks in advance
High Roller

HR
ha, it's a good thing you gave me that clue as I've written so many different gambler's luck spells. They are quite popular as you know. The item you are referring to is mentioned in The Encyclopedia of Magickal Ingredients and it is liquid Mercury. In the old days when I worked at Enchantments, we always had a bottle of liquid Mercury on the shelf. It is used in a lot of the Spanish and European magic. That was before they realized how poisonous it is. When I wrote the book in '05, the editors became very concerned and wanted me to remove this ingredient. The compromise was that we issued a HUGE WARNING against using the product. From my POV, I want to be as historically accurate as possible in describing how spells were worked. But that does not mean that I recommend you do these things. The original spell which is very old, was worked as follows:
Hollow out a small hole in the top of a whole nutmeg. Use a tiny drill bit or small screw driver. Carefully pour some drops of liquid Mercury into the hole and then seal with the wax of a green candle. Place the nutmeg in a red ouanga bag and carry in your left pocket for luck in gambling. Because there is now so much conflict over the use of liquid Mercury, I suggested a safer substitution of liquid mastic. Gum mastic is easy enough to find especially in a Greek specialty shop. You will then have to melt it down in a double boiler until it liquefies and then If you choose to work with the original ingredient, please be safe. The talisman will be most effective when created on the first Thursday following a new Moon. Good Luck!

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