Devil's Shoestring Whole, 2 oz

Whole stems, uncut. The pieces arrive whole in their classic shoestring form, ready to tie, bundle, carry, and dress as the recipes call for.

A cornerstone Hoodoo curio. Devil's shoestring holds one of the tradition's best-documented portfolios: protection, luck, steady employment, and the tripping-up of ill intent.

Personal 2 oz supply. The working size for an individual practice: several workings' worth without committing to the bulk pound.

• Weight: 2 oz of whole dried stems
• Botanical: Lily family (Liliaceae), dried stem form
• Form: whole, natural lengths vary
• Use: ritual curio; not for consumption

Devil's shoestring belongs to Hoodoo, the African American folk tradition of the American South, and its lore there is specific and well recorded. The stringy lengths are worked first for protection: pieces are carried in the pocket or mojo bag, tied in bundles, in some recipes nine pieces bound with thread, and hung over the door, or kept about the person to trip up the devil, crossed conditions, and ill-intentioned visitors before they arrive. The name is the method; evil, in this tradition's imagination, arrives on foot and can be tangled.

The curio's second portfolio is fortune with traction: gambling luck, job-getting, and the keeping of steady work, with pieces carried to interviews and workplaces or dressed with appropriate oils and conditions. We frame this material within its home tradition rather than a generic one, and we sell it as what it is, a botanical curio for spiritual practice, sold whole by weight, with its considerable reputation attached.

1. Carry a whole piece in the pocket or a mojo bag as the tradition's standing protection.
2. Tie lengths into a bundle, nine is the classic count, and hang it above the entry door to guard the household.
3. Dress a piece with a condition oil suited to the work, protection, luck, or steady employment, and carry it to where the matter lives.
4. Add lengths to charm bags and container workings that need its tripping, tangling protection.
5. Store the bag dry and sealed; whole stems keep their strength for years.

This is a curio for carrying and tying, not a tea and not an incense. The work is in the keeping.

• Devil's Shoestring Whole, 1 lb: the supplier pound for shops, covens, and heavy practice.
• Red Velveteen Mojo Bag: a small bag for carrying a piece as the tradition's standing protection.
• Black Salt, Fine: the boundary mineral for thresholds the shoestring bundle watches over.
• Deliverance! Hoodoo Spells by Khi Armand: worked recipes from within the tradition this curio calls home.
• Dragon's Blood Oil by Aura Variety, 4 Dram: a classic strengthening oil for dressing carried pieces.

What plant is devil's shoestring?

This one is sold as the whole dried stems of a plant in the Lily family, whose long, stringy form gave the curio its name. Other suppliers sell the roots of Viburnum shrubs under the same name. It is a botanical curio for spiritual use, not an herb for consumption.

What is it used for in Hoodoo?

Protection first, tripping up the devil, crossed conditions, and ill intent before they arrive, with a strong second portfolio in luck, gambling, and steady employment. Pieces are carried, bagged, dressed with oils, and tied in bundles over doors.

Why nine pieces over the door?

Nine is a favored working number in the tradition's recipes: nine lengths bound with thread and hung above the entry is the classic household guard. Other counts appear in other recipes; the tying is the constant.

Is 2 oz enough to work with?

Comfortably: piece counts vary with natural lengths, but the personal bag covers pocket pieces, a mojo bag, and a door bundle with room to spare. The bulk pound exists for shops and heavy seasons.

How should I store it?

Dry, sealed, and out of direct sun, like any botanical. Kept well, whole stems hold their strength for years of work.