Earl was a singer and conjure from Trinidad. But after leaving Trinidad to serve on merchant ships, he settled for some years in the American South.

Much of his work at that time involved dispensing voodoo medicines and doing ... Read more.]]> This is the story of how my voodoo mentor, Earl Marlowe, featured throughout my Voodoo Spellbook, came to settle in London.

Earl was a singer and conjure from Trinidad. But after leaving Trinidad to serve on merchant ships, he settled for some years in the American South.

Much of his work at that time involved dispensing voodoo medicines and doing card readings. People would come from miles around to get a reading from Earl.

He favored spirit cards over the “fancy tarot,” as he called it. ”You want answers that are related to your life you gotta use spirit cards,” he said. (Earl’s “spirit cards” were a handmade deck rooted in the Swamp Voodoo tradition).

Earl lived in a run-down shack in those days, but it was comfortable and cozy.

One time, a woman called Betty May came to him for a spirit card reading. It was very late at night and Earl had already drunk half a bottle of rye whiskey, but he agreed to do the reading anyway (he claimed alcohol never impaired is psychic abilities).

The main reason he agreed to do the reading was Betty May was the ugliest woman he’d ever seen, and he felt sorry for her.

Earl shuffled the cards, then spread them on the table, telling Betty May to choose three cards.

“No sooner had she picked out three cards,” he told me many years later, “and I knew she’d got a black soul and came from the very pit of hell. And she knew I knew. A horrible, evil smile cracked her face in two. I grabbed some witches salt and threw it at her, but she laughed in my face.”

Betty May said to Earl: “You cain’t stop me. I’ve killed mo’ people than you’ve drunk bottles of rye whiskey and that’s a lot cos you’re more fonder of the firewater than my daddy the devil is, and that’s a fact.”

Earl took exception to that. He wouldn’t tolerate disrespect, even if it was the Devil’s daughter dishing it out.

“Look,” he said. “You come here to insult me or you want a reading?”

“I want a reading,” she said, “but not from some old two-bit drunk.”

“Now, you watch your sharp lizard’s tongue,” Earl said. “The rye whiskey is fuel for my psychic abilities, just like it helps me to drive a car in a straight line. So what’s your question, Betty May? What do you want to know from the cards?”

“What I want to know cain’t be told to me by a drunken fool,” replied. “I want to know when I’m getting married and who I’m going to get married to…”

Earl surveyed the spirit cards for a minute or two, then took a slug of rye and said: “Betty May, the cards say you gonna be a spinster all your life. Even yo’ daddy, the Devil, knows there’s no way he can marry you off on account you as ugly as a deep river catfish. Ain’t no man coming into spittin’ distance of you, even if you got a bag over yo’ head.”

Before Betty May could say anything, Earl toppled off his chair on to the floor. He passed out having overdone it on the rye.

When he came round the next morning, he thought it must have been a bad dream. As he pulled himself upright, he muttered “the ugliest woman I ever seen…” Then he had the shock of his life. Sitting in an old armchair by the fire was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He stood open mouthed, then composed himself to ask, “Where’d you come from?”

“I’m Betty May,” she replied. “I came for a spirit card reading last night and you promised to marry me, but then yo’ passed out.”

Bad dream the night before or not, Earl wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Not when the gift was a beautiful young woman. Three days later he and Betty May were married.

But on their wedding night, Earl had the next biggest shock of his life… Betty May transformed herself back into the Devil’s daughter, which she had been all along – it was an enchantment made her look beautiful.

“I tell you man,” Earl told me in the 1980s, “I ran outa there buck naked. I didn’t stop till I got to a port and jumped on a ship that took me all the way to England. That’s how I came to leave the American South and settle in London. I was runnin’ from the Devil’s daughter.”

That’s the tale Earl used to tell, anyway…

The dandelion clock is a great traditional way to discover whether your wishes will come true or not. Dandelions are out full force right now and many are going to seed. So you can try it today, or whenever the sun is out. This is what you do:

First off, you enter trance. Use the “sensory systems” method used in martial arts and ... Read more.]]> If you need to get a hold on the future, try this lesser-known method of divination. It will help you catch a glimpse of what lies ahead. Voodoo people use it. So did Celtic and Anglo-Saxon diviners, and the hunter-gatherer shamans from distant antiquity.

First off, you enter trance. Use the “sensory systems” method used in martial arts and cutting edge hypnosis. Simply sit or stand and focus on the input of your senses. Do it in any order, but use the following to start off with:

Sight: peripheral vision – what you can see out of the corners of our eyes.

Sound: what you can hear – bird song, the wind in the trees, the distant hum of traffic.

Touch: feel the cool breeze on your cheek or warmth of the sun on your arms.

Scent: notice the aroma of the flowers in your garden or window box; or simply become aware of the scents drifting on the air.

Taste: this is closely related to the sense of smell – become aware of the sensations in your mouth. There may be an after-taste of a meal or drink. If not, just become aware of how your tongue and mouth feels.

This method stills the chatter of the mind and induces a state of deep relaxation. You may need to channel through the senses a few times to get the desired effect. But eventually you will find you can enter trance within a few seconds.

Placing your attention on sensory experience will enhance your appreciation of the natural world. What’s more, when the chatter of the mind is stilled your imagination is free to seep into your everyday consciousness. Thus when you look up at the clouds, or look at the branches of a tree swaying in the breeze, you will see all sorts of shapes and images. In fact, even when looking at something as ordinary as the weave of a carpet while in trance can produce a powerful visionary state.

When I stare at the carpet in my study, I often see faces, animals, mythical beasts, and other images. What is happening is this: When in trance, the imagination comes to the forefront of consciousness and enters into dynamic interaction with the environment.

This form of visionary experience can be used to good effect in divining. It’s similar to using a crystal ball.

First you formulate a question. Then go into a trance and stare at whatever appeals to you – the weave of a carpet, clouds in the sky, or the leaves and branches on a tree.

When you begin seeing visions and images, you simply interpret their meaning according to the nature of the question you asked.

If you wanted to know if a friend is deceiving you and you see a fox or coyote, odds are they are deceiving you. But, remember: There are no set rules on this. It all depends on how you perceive given images. If you see the coyote or fox as cunning tricksters, then that is how you should interpret your vision.

Don’t read books that tell you how to interpret symbols. Make your own rules – that is the route to true magic power.

Halloween is the traditional ... Read more.]]> Santa Claus might be the Christmas guy, but I’m the Halloween guy! It’s one of the busiest times of the year for me. Not only do I have a string of spellworkings to do for clients – typically out in the woods after nightfall – but I also spend a couple of hours doing divinations.

Halloween is the traditional time for fortune telling, so I always crack open my old pack of spirit cards to see what the upcoming year holds for me and for a select group of clients who always book a reading at Halloween.

Once the spellworkings and divinations are done, it’s time to dine with the ghosts of my ancestors. I set set extra places at the table, along with seven shot glasses and a bottle of Cuban rum.

At the stroke of midnight, I pour a glass of rum for each of my ancestors and drink a toast to them.

Do they really appear at the table?

Well, I can feel their presence and I can see them with spirit vision when in trance. But if anyone else were there at the table, they might well not see anything – although I’d wager they’d feel the sudden chill that invades the room when my ancestors arrive.