How to Use It
Hoodoo & Rootwork
- Dress a candle with the oil and set an old key beside it to open the way to a new job or business.
- Anoint a key and carry it in your pocket to interviews or meetings.
- Dress a candle for someone in jail or facing charges, remembering the angel who freed Peter from his chains.
Folk Catholicism & Spiritism
- Light a dressed candle before his image on 29 June, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul.
- Anoint his prayer card and keep it near the front door to bless what comes in.
Santería & Lucumí
- In Cuban syncretism Saint Peter stands for Ogun, the orisha of iron and work; dress a candle for him when asking Ogun to clear a path.
A Simple Working
- Take an old key and dress it with three drops of St Peter oil.
- Dress a white chime candle with the oil from base to wick.
- Lay the key in front of the candle, pointing toward you.
- Light it and ask Saint Peter to open the door you need opened, naming it clearly.
- Let the candle burn out.
- Carry the key with you until the opportunity comes.
Pairs Well With
- An old key: his emblem, for carrying.
- A white chime candle: for blessing and open doors.
- Road Opener oil: to clear the path he opens.
- A Saint Peter prayer card: for his altar.
What You Receive
St Peter oil, available in 2 dram, 1 oz and 16 oz.
Origin & Lore
Peter was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee who became the leading apostle and, in Catholic tradition, the first pope. He is the patron of fishermen and the gatekeeper of heaven in popular belief. In hoodoo and folk Catholic practice his keys are read literally: he is the saint who opens doors. This oil is a folk preparation used to dress his candles and petitions.
Saint Peter is always shown with keys, after Christ’s words to him in the Gospel of Matthew: “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”
Tradition holds that Peter was crucified in Rome under Nero and asked to be hung upside down, because he felt unworthy to die the same way as Christ. Saint Peter’s Basilica is built over the place where he is believed to be buried. The Acts of the Apostles tells how an angel woke Peter in prison, his chains fell away, and the iron gate of the city opened by itself.
Did You Know?
The upside-down cross is known as the Cross of Saint Peter and has long been a Christian symbol of humility.



