Mojo Wish Beans (Vicia faba), 1 Lb

A full pound of fava beans. Working stock for mojo bags, wish charms, and altar work.

The wish-bean tradition. Hold a bean, name a wish, carry it. Plain, old, and unfussy.

For charm work, not for eating. See the safety note below; this matters.

• Weight: 1 lb of Vicia faba (fava, or broad, beans)
• Use: mojo bags, wish charms, and altar work
• For ritual and spiritual use only; not sold as a food product and not for eating
• SKU: HMOJWBB

Fava beans look like food, because they are a food crop, so this needs saying plainly.

• These are not for eating. They are sold for charm work and are not packaged or handled as a food product.
• Favism. Fava beans can trigger a serious reaction in people with G6PD deficiency, an inherited condition affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide and most common in those of Mediterranean, African, Middle Eastern, and South and Southeast Asian ancestry. In affected people, eating fava beans, and in some cases inhaling the pollen, can cause the red blood cells to break down. It can be severe.
• Keep them away from children and pets. They look exactly like something you eat, because they are.
• If anyone in your household has G6PD deficiency, we would rather you chose a different charm. There are many.

Beans have carried wishes and the dead for a very long time. Ancient Rome used fava beans in the Lemuria rite, thrown over the shoulder to appease the household ghosts, and the Pythagoreans famously refused to touch them, for reasons the sources never adequately explain. Folk practice across Europe and the Americas kept the bean as a token: something small, hard, and countable, which is exactly what a wish needs to be carried in.

Hoodoo and folk magic keep it in the mojo bag, where the logic is the tradition's usual and rather good one: the wish is put into an object, the object is kept close, and keeping it close keeps the wish in mind. That works, and it does not require the bean to do anything. Hoodoo is a living African American tradition; to go deeper with mojo work, learn from its own teachers and practitioners.

1. Hold a bean and name a single wish clearly. One bean, one wish.
2. Carry it in a pocket or a mojo bag, and keep it with you.
3. Some practitioners keep three, on the old principle that three is a working number.
4. When the wish comes, bury the bean or return it to the earth with thanks.
5. Store the rest sealed and dry, and out of reach of anyone who might eat them.

• Black Velveteen Bag: the bag to build the mojo hand in.
• Lucky Clover Amulet: another carried charm, in the same register.
• Lucky Hand Root Body Oil: the Hoodoo luck root, worn.
• Parchment Paper by Espiritu: to write the wish that goes in the bag.
• Green Household Candles: a flame for the working.

What are mojo wish beans?

Fava beans, used as wish tokens: you hold a bean, name a wish, and carry it. The tradition is old and plain.

Can I eat them?

No. They are sold for charm work, not as a food product, and they are not packaged or handled as food.

What is favism?

A serious reaction to fava beans in people with G6PD deficiency, an inherited condition affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide. In affected people, eating the beans, and sometimes inhaling the pollen, causes red blood cells to break down. If anyone in your household has G6PD deficiency, choose a different charm.

How many should I carry?

One per wish. Some practitioners keep three, on the old principle that three is a working number.

What do I do when the wish comes?

Bury the bean or return it to the earth with thanks, which is the usual practice.