Velveteen drawstring bag (mojo bag)

How to Use It

Hoodoo & Rootwork

• Mojo bags: an odd number of items, such as roots, herbs, stones and a folded petition, is sealed inside and the bag is ‘fed’ with a few drops of oil or whiskey each week.
• Gambling hands: a green bag holds lucky roots and charms and is carried to the card table.
• Secrecy: the bag is kept on the body, out of sight, and not touched by others.

Witchcraft & Folk Magick

• Charm sachets: herbs for sleep, protection or love are tied inside and kept under a pillow, in a car or in a drawer.
• Tool storage: tarot decks, runes, pendulums and scrying mirrors are kept in a dark bag between uses.

A Simple Working

• Choose a green bag for money.
• Write your wish on a small square of parchment paper and fold it towards you.
• Add the paper to the bag with a cinnamon stick, a bay leaf and a coin.
• Breathe into the bag and pull the drawstring tight.
• Dab a drop of oil on the outside to feed it.
• Carry it in your pocket or purse and feed it once a week.

Pairs Well With

• Parchment paper: for petitions folded inside.
• Cinnamon: a classic money and drawing herb for the bag.
• Bay leaves: to write wishes on and add to sachets.
• Dragon’s Blood ink: to write petitions that go inside.

What You Receive

Velveteen drawstring bags. 2″ x 3″ in black, red, green, purple, blue, brown, burgundy or grey; 3″ x 4″ in black, red, green, purple, blue, brown, burgundy or grey; 4″ x 6″ in black, red, green, purple, blue or brown; 5″ x 7″ in black, red, green, purple or blue. Also available as a set of 12 mixed colours in 3″ x 4″.

Origin & Lore

Carrying charms in a small bag is a worldwide practice, from European herb sachets to the African-American mojo bag of hoodoo. The traditional mojo bag is red flannel, but colour is now often matched to the work: green for money, red for love, black for protection and purple for power. Velveteen, a cotton pile fabric that imitates velvet, is soft, closes tightly and protects stones and cards.

A mojo bag is a spell you can carry: herbs, roots and curios sealed in a small bag and kept close to the body.

In Memphis, Tennessee, the ‘nation sack’ was a woman’s mojo kept hidden on her body, which no man was permitted to touch. The origin of the word ‘mojo’ is uncertain; some scholars connect it with the Kikongo word for soul or life.