Commanding oil

How to Use It

Witchcraft & Folk Magick

• Anoint your throat before a confrontation or a negotiation.
• Dress a purple candle for authority and personal power.

Hoodoo & Rootwork

• Dress a purple or orange figure candle representing the person you want to command, and burn it over their name paper.
• Anoint your hands before shaking hands with someone you need to influence.
• Add a drop to a mojo with calamus and licorice root, the traditional commanding roots.

Ceremonial & Occult Magick

• Anoint a Mars or Sun talisman for authority.
• Dress the candles of a working of personal power or will.

Demonology & Black Magick

• Dress the seal of a spirit you are commanding before evocation, as a statement of authority over it.

A Simple Working

• Write the name of the person you want to command on a square of parchment, then write your own name over theirs.
• Anoint the paper with Commanding oil.
• Sprinkle a pinch of calamus or licorice root powder on the paper.
• Dress a purple chime candle from base to wick and set it on the paper.
• Light it and state your command clearly, as if it has already been obeyed.
• Fold the paper toward you and keep it under your shoe or in your pocket when you see the person.

Pairs Well With

• Calamus root, the classic hoodoo herb of command.
• Licorice root, for domination.
• A purple candle, for power and mastery.
• High John the Conqueror root, for personal strength.
• Bergamot, worked in some commanding formulas for success.

What You Receive

Commanding oil, available in 2 dram, 4 dram, 1 oz and 16 oz bottles.

Origin & Lore

Commanding oil is a classic hoodoo condition oil for authority and personal power, especially power over others. It is worked by bosses, parents, lovers and anyone who needs their will to carry weight, and is one of the core formulas of domination work.

Hoodoo has a whole family of commanding formulas, and this is the head of the household: the oil you wear when you need people to do what you say.

Commanding and compelling formulas such as Commanding, Compelling and Do As I Say are long established in hoodoo and appear in early twentieth-century supply catalogs. Calamus and licorice root were the herbs of choice, worn in shoes or carried in pockets to dominate a spouse, boss or rival.