Good morning dearlings! We've got a wonderful new Young Adult author joining us today! Lea's first book, Conjure, came out not too long ago and was a real treat to read :) She's got a real interesting guest post for yall today complete with learning a couple hoodoo spells!! Pretty neat stuff. She's got a nice swag giveaway too so don't forget that! So I'm handing the blog off to Lea. Yall give her a nice welcome :)
Thanks so much for having me Anna, I’m thrilled to take part in Authors for the Holidays! I’ve got a great give away to share with your readers, but first I wanted to share a bit about my YA book CONJURE, book one in The Hoodoo Apprentice Series and a little Christmas-themed hoodoo magic.
Be careful what you search for...
Emma Guthrie expects this summer to be like any other in the South Carolina Lowcountry—hot and steamy with plenty of beach time alongside her best friend and secret crush, Cooper Beaumont, and Emma’s ever-present twin brother, Jack. But then a mysterious eighteenth-century message in a bottle surfaces, revealing a hidden pirate bounty. Lured by the adventure, the trio discovers the treasure and unwittingly unleashes an ancient Gullah curse that attacks Jack with the wicked flesh-eating Creep and promises to steal Cooper’s soul on his approaching sixteenth birthday.
But when a strange girl appears bent on revenge, demon dogs become a threat, and Jack turns into a walking skeleton, Emma has no choice but to learn hoodoo magic to undo the hex, all before summer—and her friends—are lost forever.
~~*~~*~~
In Conjure, Emma Guthrie learns Gullah hoodoo magic to combat The Creep, a wicked flesh-eating curse that threatens her brother’s life.
Hoodoo is an African-American folk magic prevalent in the southern United States. Plants and roots are the most important elements in both hoodoo medicine, which is used to heal ailments, and in hoodoo spells cast for magical ends.
What says Christmas more than Frankincense and Myrrh, the spices the three wise men purportedly brought to the baby Jesus in Nazareth? Well, these two spices have some great uses in hoodoo which I’m sure you’ll find fascinating. So without further ado…
Frankincense and Myrrh in Hoodoo Magic
For starters, in Hoodoo, these resins aren’t a baby shower gift. According to one of my favorite hoodoo reference books, Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic by catherine Yronwode, they’ve got plenty of interesting uses. For example:
Frankincense is used in all kinds of spiritual rites, including for consecration and intensification of other elements. It’s also used to empower magical oils, perfumes, and mojo bags, as well as to increase the power of a root worker’s conjure.
Myrrh gum is one of the holy incenses of the Bible. Its scent is often blended with others to promote peaceful, healing, relaxing sensations, as well as to be protective and to stimulate sensual love (ooh la la!). When mixed with sandalwood, it’s purported to restore good health.
Here are two genuine hoodoo spells you might try with frankincense:
- To bring peaceful sleep: Place frankincense in a white bag and tough it to your forehead before you go to bed; it will bring deep sleep without restlessness.
- To summon a spirit: Set out a glass of water with dissolved black salt. Light a black candle dressed with Black Arts Oil and burn a large amount of frankincense mixed with Black Arts Incense on charcoal. You can then call the spirit into the water glass. It will stay there and you can question it.
So the next time you’re in church and smell these delicious incenses, think about all their other uses!
And now for my giveaway! I'm giving away a CONJURE swag pack that includes a signed bookmark, silicone bracelet, magnet and a set of adorable pirate cross and bones earrings! Contest is open to International. Entering is easy peasy, just leave a comment below and fill out that Rafflecopter. One lucky winner will be picked at random.
Good luck and Happy Holidays!
~Lea
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Lea Nolan couldn’t read until the third grade. After a lot of hard work she finally got the hang of it and quickly learned the best way to get out of doing chores was to tell her parents she was reading. Soon she was hooked, devouring books by Roald Dahl, E.B. White, Judy Blume, C.S. Lewis, and anything with a shiny Newberry Award sticker on the cover. Books provided a portal to enchanted lands where anything was possible and characters relied on their wits to wiggle out of sticky situations.Today, even though she’s all grown up, Lea writes the kinds of stories she sought as a teen--smart paranormals with bright heroines, crazy-hot heroes, diabolical plot twists, plus a dose of magic, a draft of romance, and a sprinkle of history. She holds degrees in history and women’s studies concentrating in public policy and spent fifteen years as a health policy analyst and researcher. She lives in Maryland with her heroically supportive husband and three clever children, who’ve figured out how to get out of doing their chores.
Check out Lea's guest post and leave her a comment! Open Int!
Have you heard of hoodoo before? What did you think of learning your first spell?
