Buckeyes whole

Rub a buckeye in your pocket long enough and it takes on a polish like old wood, which is exactly how many gamblers liked them: worn smooth from years of carrying.

Origin & Traditional Use

The buckeye is the seed of Aesculus glabra and its relatives, North American trees of the horse chestnut family. Indigenous peoples crushed the raw nuts to stun fish in streams and, after long roasting and leaching, used them as food. Settlers named it for the pale scar on the dark seed, which resembles the eye of a deer.

Uses by Tradition

Witchcraft & Folk Magick

• Pocket charm: carry a single buckeye as an everyday luck piece, handling it before any game or risk.
• Household luck: keep one in a bowl by the door or in a kitchen drawer, as rural households in the Ohio Valley and Appalachia long did.
• Old folk belief held that a buckeye carried in the pocket kept rheumatism away; it was often handed down rather than bought.

Hoodoo & Rootwork

• Gambling hand: a buckeye is carried alone or added to a mojo bag for luck at cards, dice and the lottery.
• Money wrap: the nut is wrapped in a dollar bill, tied and dressed with oil to draw money.
• Dressed charm: rootworkers anoint the buckeye with a luck or money oil each week to keep it working.

A Simple Working

• Hold the buckeye and state the kind of luck you are asking for.
• Dress it with three drops of a money-drawing oil or a light rub of cinnamon.
• Fold a dollar bill toward you around the buckeye.
• Tie the bundle with green thread, knotting three times.
• Breathe on the bundle and name your aim once more.
• Carry it on days you play or do business, and redress it weekly.

Pairs Well With

• A mojo bag in red flannel, to hold the buckeye with other luck roots.
• Cinnamon, for warmth and speed in money work.
• Chamomile, the traditional gambler’s hand wash.
• Green thread, for tying money bundles.

Lore & History

Buckeyes became a widespread lucky piece across the American Midwest and South in the nineteenth century, and the habit of carrying one survives in Ohio to this day. In African American hoodoo they sit alongside John the Conqueror root and lucky hand root as recognised gambling curios.

What You Receive

Whole buckeyes, available in 1 oz, 2 oz and 1 lb.