A Collection of Materia Magica Made Available to the Discerning Karcist (Or, B. Key’s Cabinet of Curiosities: Volume 1)

Some of the materials called for by recipes preserved in various traditions of magic, be they oral or written, are fairly time-consuming to obtain. Thanks to popular demand from the listeners of our podcast (we love each and every one of you—thank you so much for making the show a joy to produce!), I decided to make some of the materia magica I’ve collected or crafted over available for purchase through the blog.

This is the first in what will undoubtedly be an ongoing series of materia which I will endeavor to refresh with some regularity. As mentioned on Episode 13: So You Think You Can Ward, every talisman, charm, and fetish that we make available on With Cunning & Command goes through strenuous testing to confirm its potency, which includes refreshing, praying over, and individually consecrating every building block which the spirits presiding over the work ensoul to their specifications. Much of this process involves how the materia itself is collected, by what manner its spirits are nourished, and how the ongoing pacts between land and witch are fed to ensure a profitable arrangement for both in every step of the gathering.

Before collecting any of the dirts herein, offerings were made to and permission was gained from the lords and ladies of each cemetery—as well as each individual grave the soil was collected from. In the case of the priests, archbishops, and nuns, the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be were prayed over each jar of dirt in the number of the individual spirits contacted (seventy-seven of each for the highest number of the batches). Each dirt is contained in a 1 fl. oz. / 30 mL glass bottle with cork lid, and each holy water sample is contained in a 1 fl. oz. / 30 mL amber glass dropper bottle. See Episode 14: Gathering Materia to hear some of the background philosophies behind their collection, as well as our advice on how to stretch your materia further and replenish your stock.

May this humble offering serve you well in the construction of your own charms, powders, incenses, and oils, and in further developing the tools and vessels of your individual spirit courts.