198 / Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft
POPPETS
In Lesson Eleven you learned how to construct a Poppet. There I discussed its use for love magick. But the Poppet can also be used for healing purposes—in fact that is probably its primary use. The same construction method is used: two outlines cut from cloth, sewn together and marked with identifying symbols and characteristics (all whilst concentrating your thoughts on the person it represents). However, this time you should stuff the Poppet with the herb appropriate for the person's ailment. That information you learned in Lesson Ten. If ever in doubt as to what to use, stuff the Poppet with Calendula (also called Marigold, Marybud, Holibud—Calendula officinalis), which is a cure-all.
=- Identifying symbols
Incision, as received by person in surgery
Stuffed with the appropriate healing herbs HEALING POPPET
You should name the Poppet (as in the love-magick example), sprinkling and censing it, then lay it on the altar. Should you be working for someone who has had surgery, then make an incision in the Poppet in the appropriate place. Then, taking it up from the altar, concentrate on the healing and direct your power into the patient as you sew up the incision. You can do Auric and/or Pranic healing using the Poppet in lieu of the actual person. Once you have named and consecrated the Poppet, then anything you do to it, of course, you do to that person. MEDITATION AND BIOFEEDBACK
Yes, meditation can be a way of healing. Always remember that we create our own realities—whether consciously or (more often) unconsciously. So long as we are going to do this, we might just as well create an enjoyable and healthy reality. In your daily meditation, see yourself fit and well. If you are sick, see yourself completely recovered. Remember
We are all a part of Nature, not apart from it. Raymond Buckland Everyone is familiar, if only from fiction, with the wax figure stuck with pins. Such a figure is typical of sympathetic magick and is actually one of the oldest forms of it. The same basic principles—sticking in pins to injure the victim—can be applied to work good. For example, a man may be suffering from a terrible back-ache. The Witch could take some wax, or clay, and fashion a figure to represent the man. It would not have to be an exact likeness, in fact it could be quite a crude 'gingerbread man' type figure. But all the while it was being molded she would keep a clear picture of the man in her mind. If she had a photograph of him which she could lay beside her on which to concentrate, all the better. When the figure was finished then she would stick three or four pins in its back—or wherever the pain happened to be. When sticking in the pins she would try not to think of the pain he was experiencing, for at this point she would be merely placing them preparatory to doing the healing. The next step would be to actually name the figure for the recipient. This would be done by sprinklingand censing it and saying words to the effect 'Here lies John Doe, who seeks relief from pain. All that I do to him here is done also to his person'. The Witch would then concentrate as hard as she could on the man, seeing him as being fit and well, without the back-ache. One by one she would then draw out the pins thinking, and perhaps even saying words to the effect, that she was drawing the pain out of his body. Witchcraft Ancient and Modern Raymond Buckland, HC fablications, NY 1970
ANOINTING OIL RECIPE
Gather fresh mint (I prefer Catmint—Nepeta Cataria) and loosely fill a large jar with it. Pour in an unscented vegetable oil to fill the jar. Cover tightly and let stand for 24 hours, turning the jar to stand upside down every 8 hours. Strain the oil carefully through cheesecloth, squeezing well. Refill the jar with fresh mint and pour the same oil back in. Let stand another 24 hours, turning every 8 hours. Repeat this process over at least a three-day period. The oil resulting from the final squeezing is a good anointing oil with the fragrance of the mint.