I’ve had some questions in the past from people who have either purchased a mojo hand or mojo bag, or who have made one going by instructions from a book or the web, who are a bit unsure of what to do with it once the bag has been made. The way a lot of modern spellwork is presented online or in books seems to suggest that the spell ends when the candle burns out or the ritual circle is opened. You’ve burned your incense and your candles and you’ve said your prayers so now there isn’t much else left to do but wait. Sadly this ends up being how many practitioners approach their magical work which leaves them disappointed in the end. While I tend to find that this is one of the biggest problems that faces many practitioners (the complete misunderstanding of how spells truly work) it is especially true for people who try working with mojo bags without taking the time to better understand what they really are in the first place.
A lot of spells in neo-Pagan or Wiccan books on magic involve things like wrapping some herbs in a piece of cloth or adding them to little spell bag and then hiding them somewhere in the home or office or maybe carrying them around in your pocket or purse. Once the ritual act of putting it together is over the work seems to stop and you’re just now walking about with a bag of herbs that will hopefully bring you something that you’re after. In most Wiccan magic the belief tends to lay in the idea that the magic comes from the practitioner, not the object; that the magic is within you. In Hoodoo, where the use of mojo bags come from, the belief is more in the object and the spirit resident within the herbs and roots, stones and bones, rather than within the person that put it together.
When we work a mojo bag we take the time to commune with the herbs and objects that go inside it. We awaken it, we talk to it, we tell it what we want it to do for us and how it can help us. Then we put everything together in the bag, ask for blessings from the Divine or a specific spirit, angel, saint, or Loa (if you’re working within those traditions), and then we bring it to life by feeding it with appropriate liquids and offerings and then smoking it with incense. But when this process is done and we walk away from our altar or magical workspace, the spell doesn’t end there. We need to keep it going.
There are three steps to a mojo bag. You fix it (which is the process of putting it together with all the ingredients), feed it, and smoke it. This process doesn’t just create a little back of magically infused goodies, but an actual living spirit that will now work with you to do whatever it is that you have asked for. Since the bag is now a living, breathing, magical vessel alive with spirit, you need to help “keep it alive”. And what do you do when you want to keep something alive and healthy? You have to feed it! So the bag needs to be fed regularly. This is both an act of offering to the spirits of the bag as well as an act of keeping the spirit of the bag “fed”.
Once your bag is fixed, whether it’s something that you fixed yourself from scratch or something that you purchased from a shop or that someone made for you, you need to keep feeding it and keep working with it. I like to feed my bags once a week, either on the same day of the week that it was created or on a day that is appropriate to the type of magic. It’s also highly advisable to spend the first 7 nights after the bag has been crafted to sleep with it under your pillow to help bond your energy to the bag.
Unlike some spells and other types of work where you are simply putting out intentions and then let things flow from there, a mojo bag is essentially a spirit that has been created by you to do a certain task with you. You need to keep active with it and keep working with it, not just toss it on your altar and forget about it. So if you have a mojo bag and you’re thinking “this silly thing doesn’t do anything for me”, ask yourself if you’ve cared for your magical spirit ally lately or if you’ve neglected it. Remember, like anyone else that’s being mistreated, a neglected spirit ally will leave you!
Here’s another thing to keep in mind too and another possible reason for a mojo’s spirit to diminishing. DO NOT OPEN YOUR BAG! Keeping in mind the idea that your bag is a living magical spirit, if you open your bag it’s like opening up a person. Would you cut open a friend to poke around and see what’s inside them? Probably not; and if you did I would imagine they would disappear from your life pretty quick! So don’t do it to your spirit friends either!
When a mojo bag does become neglected it is possible that the spirit can either “die” or leave the bag. A simple way to check on the spirit health of a mojo bag is to use a pendulum and simply ask if it is still filled with spirit. If it is ask if it still wants to work with you. If the bag still has some spirit left in it, smoke the bag with incense for the intention the bag was made with and then feed it just as you did when you first made it. Sleep with it again for 7 nights and keep it on you, next to your skin for 7 days (ladies, tuck it in your bra…gents, pin it to your undies). When the 7 days are up be sure to not neglect it again! You can always check in with a pendulum to see how your mojo’s spirit is feeling.
If the bag seems “dead” you can deconstruct it and create a new one, being sure to burn or bury the contents that cannot be cleansed and reused like curios, crystals, saint metals, and other charms. Then you can start again and create a new bag.
What if you are going to the airport or court and have to get searched with the mojo bag on you?
Those are both a little tricky situations. Ideally you’d be past the initial connection phase with the bag so you can carry it in a purse where it will be a little less conspicuous. When you can’t carry it in a pocket you can carry it in your bra, your panties or tucked into high boots if you don’t expect to get a prison pat down. You can, once you’ve worked with and developed the spirit of your bag, leave it on an altar in extreme situations where you can’t take it with you and have it supported with other tools, like generator crystals, to work for you while you’re away from it. Or…you may need to create a second magical devices or your situation may need something other than a mojo bag.
How do use a pendulum to ask ur mojo bag a question?
Hold the pendulum over the bag after doing a calibration test {making sure you know the yes, no, and uncertain answers from how your pendulum will swing}. Then with the pendulum over the bag ask the spirit of the bag to let you know if it needs clearing, cleansing, reconstruction, etc.
Can someone else prepare a bag for me
I would recommend checking out AIRR and looking for a rootworker that can help you if you need one made for you.
how do you feed the mojo if you can’t open it? how long are you suppose to carry the mojo for? and last question, what do you do with it when your done with it
Great questions, Celeste.
The mojo bag is fed by putting oil on the outside, just like what you do when you create the bag. You’ll dab five dots of your oil on one side of the bag, just like a #5 playing die. How long you carry and work with the bag depends on what it’s for. For instance a protection bag you’d carry or wear on your all the time but a bag intended to help you get a new job would only need to be carried and actively worked with until you got the job you wanted. When you’re done working with a bag you can do a few different things with it depending on what feels right for you or what fits your situation. Some people will take their bags apart and some people save them indefinitely in a special box. If you take your bag apart you would save any crystals, amulets or other “reusable” items. Once cleansed {physically and energetically} they can be used again for something else. The other items {your petition and the herbs} would be burned or buried {I prefer to burn them to fully release their energy}.
Another question, how often do you smoke the bag?
You only need to smoke the bag during its initial creation. However if the bag is used for an extended period of time it’s also common to refresh the bag once a year. For this you would smoke the bag, dress and feed the bag and pray over it.
Hi my daughter who’s 8 touched my mojo bag the lady that made it said it was dead but I still carried it with me every few days is a sucsess master hand however I feel depresion more when ime wearing it any thoughts ?? Please x
I would definitely get a new bag made. If someone else touches the bag…and some people say that if anyone else even sees the bag…it is dead. Dispose of the bag, or return it to the person who made it for you for disposal/dismantling, and get a new one. In the meantime I would suggest you do a personal spiritual cleansing. Depending on how you’re feeling {how much depression your feeling} you’ll want to do either 3, 7, 9 or 13 consecutive days. You can ask your rootworker about it if you’re not familiar with it.
Thank you I will return it back my rootworker lives in the usa and I am in England so I can’t get to her in person do u do mojo bags ? Xx
I used to make mojo bags for other people but I don’t anymore. I would keep working with the person you’ve been working with, just get something new made. You may even be in a place now where you need a different kind of bag anyway. 🙂
Thank u to be onist I don’t no what I need my life do messed up have U got any tips on getting rental proprty my rootworker said amonia bottle but ime scared of that lol x
Hello!!! I was wondering what kind of oil to use to feed my mojo bag. I did some online research and made my own but I didn’t use oil to feed it, only incense. So far, nothin’… 🙁
Hello, i read the article but I didn`t understand well disposing thing. I created my own mojo bag and because I don`t know if I did everything I had to (I make it by my intuition and enthusiasm) like praying,smudging etc. I want to dispose it and make new one. I have crystals in it ,and some herbs as far as I remember. What to do with crystals and I don`t want to throw them away.Can I cleanse them and reuse them?
Hi Angela,
You can cleanse and reuse the crystals that are in your bag. You want to separate out any of the reusable items like crystals, curious, and other added items like coins or metal charms. Everything else…the herbs, petition, and the bag itself, should be burned. There are people who will also suggest that you can take these items and dispose of them by burying them, basically returning them to the earth to ground and release their energy, or tossing them to the sea or other flowing water to be carried away and cleansed. I personally prefer burning and find it to be the most effective way to release that energy, but do what you feel called to do. 🙂
I know this is late, but I recently made a mojo bag and I forgot to sleep with it but I did carry it on me when I woke up for work. I have been carrying it with me for almost a week by putting it in my pocket but mostly in bra and sleeping with it too. I have been feeding it everyday, but my problem is I work with animals and I put the mojo bag in my bra, the animals I work with tend to touch my bra area. If it’s touched in that area does it mean that the mojo bag is already dead and should I make a new one?
Hi Marie,
I wouldn’t worry about animals. Its people who’s intentions and energies can contradict yours and your work that out need to be concerned about. If you want to test your bag to make sure it isn’t dead, use a pendulum. Just ask the bag with the pendulum if it’s still alive or not. If it is and you feel it needs a refresher you can smoke it with incense, feed it, and restart your bonding process. If it’s dead you can dismantle it and create a new one.
Helo, I have a mojo bag with lavender, chamomile, rose quartz, citrine and amythest. I was told to change the chamomile and lavender on every full moon. (Can I just scatter it in the wind?) To attract love should I annoint it with lavender oil? Thank you.