The Witches' Book of the Dead (30 page)

We will all meet death at the end of our journey. It comes for us whether we fight it or embrace its touch. It is the one thing that remains beyond our control. Science and magic might delay it, but nothing can stop it. Death reminds us of the importance of life, the importance to share more, to forgive more, and to love more. Death is not the end. Like magic, death is transformation, for every ending is but a beginning. May Becci's journey into the next world be as wondrous an adventure as anything we can imagine life's greatest voyage to be. And may your own journey into the worlds of the dead help you to embrace death's transformative power.

Appendixes

Appendix A: Recipes

On the following pages I share some of the recipes I've talked about throughout the book. Some are recipes I created myself, drawing from a variety of sources. Others were given to me by my mentor, Sicilian hereditary Strega Lori Bruno. I encourage you to experiment with ingredients and elements. Perhaps the dirt from only a particular cemetery will work for you, or maybe you only get results from local honey. You may even want to research herbalism, incense making, or oil blending further so that you can create your own. Magic is a very personal art, and it is a very powerful thing to make a recipe your own.

Necromancy Incense

This blend was created with the help of Salem alchemist and perfumer John Viens. It is drawn from a variety of traditions to create the best cross-cultural balance of energies and scents to appeal to the spirits of the dead. All you will need besides the ingredients are a good mortar and pestle, a large plate or tray, a few small plates for each ingredient, and a mixing bowl, preferably one you have designated for incense and not for food.

Ingredients

9 parts yellow sandalwood chips (crushed, not powdered)

9 parts myrrh tears (crushed, not powdered)

9 parts copal resin tears (crushed, not powdered)

9 parts plain honey (preferably local to draw on the energy of place)

3 parts wormwood (cut and sifted)

3 parts whole star anise (crushed, not powdered)

1 part vervain (cut and sifted)

1 part dittany of crete (cut and sifted)

1 part lavender buds

1 part graveyard dirt (from the grave of someone you love or respect)

3 drops of wine

3 drops of your own blood, taken from a sterile medical lancet (available at any drug store)

Preparation

To prepare the ingredients that require crushing, process each resin or herb separately in a mortar and pestle, driving down the pestle in a counterclockwise motion (the direction of the dead). As you crush the ingredient, visualize the spirits of those you honor and respect. Feel the spirit power going into each ingredient in its turn. When each ingredient is crushed to a coarse grain (do not powder), place it on its own small plate.

Spoon the correct parts of all but the honey and liquids back into the mortar and pestle and blend, counterclockwise, until blended, being sure to visualize the love of the spirits going into every turn and being careful not to powder the mixture.

Pour this into the mixing bowl and add the 9 parts honey. Blend the mixture with your fingers, and feel your own energy pouring into the mixture. Using an eye dropper, place three drops of wine into the mixture.

With the sterile medical lancet, prick your finger so that you can squeeze three drops of blood into the mixture, saying,
By this sacrifice of my own blood, I ask that the spirits recognize the life force I have blended within!

Continue to work the mixture with your fingers until fully blended. Say,
So this spirit incense is complete. Each time I use it, may the beloved dead heed my call and answer my request!

Spread the incense mixture out onto a tray or large plate and allow it to cure for three days. Then, put in a bottle or other container and use whenever you have need of the spirits of the dead!

Spirit Powder

I created this recipe as a means of creating sacred and protective space. Circles of chalk, cornmeal, salt, and other powders have been used for centuries. Since salt should never be used when working with the dead, I set about to blend a recipe that I felt would not only protect from the harmful dead, but also welcome in benevolent spirits who wish to help.

Ingredients

33 parts graveyard dirt (from the grave of someone you love or respect)

9 parts powdered myrrh

9 parts powdered copal resin

9 parts powdered wormwood

9 parts powdered whole star anise

9 parts powdered vervain

9 parts dittany of crete

9 parts lavender buds

3 drops of your own blood, taken from a sterile medical lancet (available at any drug store)

Preparation

To prepare the ingredients that require powdering, process each resin or herb separately in a mortar and pestle, driving down the pestle in a counterclockwise motion (the direction of the dead). As you powder the ingredient, visualize the spirits of those you honor and respect. Feel the spirit power going into each ingredient in its turn. When each ingredient is entirely powdered, place it on its own small plate.

Now, gather all of the ingredients together and place into a bowl. With the sterile medical lancet, prick your finger so that you can squeeze three drops of blood into the mixture and say,
By this sacrifice of my own blood, I ask that the spirits recognize the life force I have blended within!

Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until fully blended and say,
So this spirit powder is complete. Each time I use it, may it create a wall of protection against all harmful spirits or energies. And may those beloved dead whose intentions are pure be welcomed within!

Anointing Oil

This old recipe was passed down to Strega Lori Bruno by her family, a long line of Witches who can trace their lineage back to a necromantic dream priestess who lived on the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily.

Ingredients

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons of warm honey

1 teaspoon pure pomegranate juice

9 fava beans

1 black bean

1 bead of barley

Preparation

Strain the extra-virgin olive oil through cheesecloth into a bowl. Point the finger of your right hand at the oil in the bowl and trace an equilateral cross above it. Say,
This oil is made sacred
.

Stir in the honey, stirring counterclockwise to invoke the dead until it is completely blended. Then, trace the equilateral cross over the mixture a second time and say,
This honey is sacred sweetness to those of the beloved dead
.

Stir in the pomegranate juice, stirring counterclockwise. Trace the equilateral cross over the mixture a third time, and say,
In the name of Persephone, I add the sacred elixir of the pomegranate and it is done
.

Raise the bowl above your head to the heavens and say,
Sacred, holy oil, bless me as I partake in its use to bring about all that I will to do. Make this oil be a link between those of the world of the dead and me! And from all evil we will be free!

Pour the oil mixture into an amber-colored bottle (for the energy of the Sun).

Hold the fava beans in your left hand and say, three times,
This is the food of the dead
, tracing the equilateral cross over the beans with your right index finger each time you say it. Place each bean into the bottle of oil individually, and say,
Be of love between me and thee
, each time you place one into the bottle.

Do the same with the black bean, saying,
This is the food of the dead
three times and tracing the equilateral cross each time you say it, then placing the bean into the bottle, saying, again,
Be of love between me and thee
.

Now, do the same again, with the bead of barley.

Finally, place the bottle on the altar of the dead, and say,
On the altar of the dead I place this oil, that it is blessed and that it be a link between thee and me, the living and the dead
.

Food for the Dead

Throughout the book, I suggest making offerings to the dead based on what specific spirits enjoyed when they were alive. But if you wish to honor
all
the dead on your altar with offerings, this is a good universal recipe imparted to me by Lori Bruno from her own family recipes.

Ingredients

3 cups of pure extra-virgin olive oil

3 cups of pure honey (Grade A)

3 gallons of spring water

1-pound bag of dried fava beans

1-pound bag of dried black beans

1-pound bag of dried barley grain

1 box of kosher salt

½ cup pomegranate juice

Utensils Needed

3 new 40-quart stockpots with boil basket inserts

8 large glass bowls

1 large glass pitcher

3 sheets of parchment

Preparation

Start your preparation on Sunday at 8 AM by cleansing your kitchen. Wash all of the new utensils that you purchased with salt and water. The utensils that you use to make the Food for the Dead are
never
to be used for any other purpose.

Take the three large stock pots and insert the boil baskets. Add a gallon of water to each stock pot and set each one on your stovetop with the burners turned off. Place the three sheets of parchment on your counter top and open the fava beans, black beans, and barley; place the contents of each bag on the separate parchment sheets. Search through the two types of beans and the barley to remove any foreign matter. After removing any foreign matter, take the fava beans, black beans, and barley and place each in its own separate stockpot, within the boil baskets. Allow the beans and barley to soak for four hours in the cold spring water to soften. After four hours have passed, turn on the burners under the pots and bring the spring water and contents to a boil. When the contents have completely softened, remove the boil baskets to strain the beans and barley.
Do not discard the water
. Allow the fava beans, black beans, and barley to dry out separately after straining. Place each into three separate glass bowls, and envision your beloved dead arriving at your home for dinner. Take 1 tablespoon of kosher salt and sprinkle over the barley, forming an equilateral cross saying as you do so. Say,
Food for our Beloved ones, you who dwell in the land of the Shadows, bring us blessing for this food that we have made
Repeat for the two remaining bowls of beans.