How To Use Oils In Witchcraft & Folk Magic

Austin Fuller
May 1
6 min read

Updated: May 13

The use of oils in witchcraft and folk magic that have been fixed or conjured to contain some power, have been recently- within

King Solomon illustration with a crown, surrounded by colorful oil bottles and a rainbow. "Bane X Bramble" at top and "The Power of Oil" below.

the past 30 years or so, adopted into the wider folk magic, and witchcraft space. That isn’t to say they haven't been around: indeed some of these formulas have stood the test of time by a century; some even biblical.

It is well worth mentioning the use of oils in the way they are generally used- that is: used in workings and magical operations to effect change; added to talismans, amulets, or charms; worn about the person or on specific areas of the body to effect change, comes primarily out of African American rootwork & conjure, as well as parts of Mexico. Rarely do we find examples of oils- or even a semblance of standardization of formula or practical means- in grimoire traditions. At its most simplistic: oil lamps may be taken from churches or religious institutions, collected from relics, or simply prayed over. I find this much more commonly the case in the heavily European-influenced folk magic I have been exposed to. In more Ceramonialist pursuits, the Oil of Abramelin, Holy Anointing Oil, and A Miraculous Oil to See Arial Spirits are the primary exceptions that come to mind (unironically, the first two are also widely adopted into Southern Conjure extensively).

Holy Anointing oil: a biblical formula which is detailed in Exodus, tells us that the oil is meant to be odiferous and that it should be used and made only by the High Priests of the temple, and is made thusly:

30 Then the Lord said to Moses, 23 “Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels[d] of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels[e] of fragrant calamus, 24 500 shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil. 25 Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil. 26 Then use it to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the covenant law, 27 the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, 28 the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand. 29 You shall consecrate them so they will be most holy, and whatever touches them will be holy.

Abremelin is an adaption of this, and is used to prepare for the conjuration to meet one's Holy Guardian Angel. As it has been adapted into folk magic, however, it is an oil that is commonly used for high spiritual endeavors in general, as well as its use in calling good spirits, and spiritual elevation.

The latter of the three oils mentioned can be found in Folger VB 26, and is less an oil and more a bloody unguent that requires slaughtering many birds, and at least one weasel during the day and hour of each planet, separating their blood and fat, conjuring the fairy Sabilya, Delphia, and many others, and anointing the repugnant balm to the eye area to see spirits fly in the air.

Black Cat Oil is another mystifying formula by which we can trace its European influences from Toadsmen rites.

The formulas used primarily in a wider sphere of pop-folk magic today, in fact, are at their truest: American. As stated, the formulas known by many: Attraction Oil, Abremelin Oil, Come To Me Love Oil, Follow Me Boy Oil, are a codification that comes from the railroad and industrialization of the 20th century. We have to first look at where Conjure has been primarily practiced: the Southern and Coastal regions of the United States, and Mexico. We see, however, that the formulas that are being sold, (typically under subsidiaries of beauty and cosmetic companies) develop with the Westward Expansion, the railroad, mail order catalogs, creolization, as well as the industrialization of large cities in such as Chicago, New Orleans, and Monterrey Mexico, where some of these formulas are codified and produced. Chicago was one of the largest distributors of mail- order spiritual supplues in the early 20th century.

It wouldnt be until relatively recently, perhaps within the past 20-30 years, that the formulas would be adopted into the wider sphere of folk magic.

At its simplest, we might think of an oil as a spell in itself: a container of power or virtue that lends itself to a working, to boost, or feed something. The easiest way to engage with an oil is to anoint it to a charm, or in some cases the body. We should bear in mind the body and its correspondence with how the oil may work, however. For example, Crown of Success should usually be placed on the crown of the head, not the feet (although anointing it with domination oil to the right hand and shaking hands with a potential boss I have found helps people in interviews). I wouldn't recommend wearing Crossing or Confusion Oil, unless, you wish to be crossed or confused. If you are using it in a working, make sure to wash it off your hands, and cleanse your hands at least with a cleansing wash.

Heres a brief list of where to use some oils:

Attraction oil: On the right palm, anointing to the center, and circling counterclockwise

Cleopatra Oil: the puslepoints, the neck, the ends of the hair the hands

Come To Me Love Oil: The pulsepoints, the neck, over the heart, the right hand

Crown of Success: The crown of the head, the brow, the right hand

Firey Wall of Protection: Mark the sign of the cross, at the brow, to the heart, to the feet, then from the right shoulder to left shoulder. On the back of the neck.

While this will be an ongoing list, these are some of the ways to anoint these oils to the body.

Of course, any of these may also be used to anoint tools, objects, or yes in specific workings. The most common is candle spells.

Any oil (or multiple) can be used to dress an object. For example, if you wished to do a reversal spell, you might take a reversal candle, a mirror, and Reversal Oil. Anoint the mirror at four corners and the center. You may wish to do this during a waning moon, although I would argue if you need it now, do it at your earliest convenience. Inscribe the condition you wish to send back in the black part of the candle and dress the reversal oil away from you, sending back the condition from an enemy. Do the opposite with the colored part of the candle, inscribing the condition you wish to invite in. Speak aloud that you wish to receive it, and fixing the colored part of the candle with a separate condition oil (for example, if the condition you wish to receive is love, then, wick Come To Me Love Oil on the colored part of the candle). Then clip the tip of the wick, make a new wick in the butt of the candle, fix it to the mirror, and light it. Traditionally, the candle would be circled in crab shell powder.

Another example is to dress a space that is designated as a working space or shrine. For example, we may use Holy Anointing oil to mark a shrine dedicated to ancestors or magic dedicated to spiritual progression and betterment. We might anoint our spaces where we are working heavily with spirits to command them with Abremelin, or if we are designating a space to work heavily with the infernal, we might anoint it in Black Arts Oil.

Another familiar way to utilize these oils is to feed something with them. Minerals, charms, amulets, or spirit houses can be fed with oils to empower them, nourish them, and “remind” them of themselves. For example, we may use, Attraction Oil, Money Drawing, and metal filings to a loadstone, or a pyrite, which we might keep in a charm with a Jupiter Pentacle, cinquefoil, cinnamon, bay laurel, rice. We might also feed this charm with perfumes, incenses, and of course, oils.

Here is a full list of oils I currently offer: