"Since ancient times, the LODESTONE has been held in high regard as a Powerful Amulet and all-around Good Luck Charm because its Magnetic Influences are supposed to attract Power, Favors, Love, Money, and Gifts. Our LODESTONE dressing oil, incense, sachet powders, and crystals for bath or floor wash all contain pieces of genuine live LODESTONE!"
-- The Lucky Mojo Curio Co. catalogue
Lodestones -- chunks of naturally magnetic iron ore -- are prized in folk-magic for their "drawing" power. They are a vital ingredient in African-American hoodoo practice, and that has in turn influenced Latin American "budu" magic, in which they are known as "piedra iman."
Single large lodestones are used to draw money or luck, while paired "male" and "female" lodestones play a role in spells to attract a lover and rituals to secure mutual fidelity. The lodestones are sprinkled with magnetic sand (ultra-fine iron shot) to "feed" them and enhance their power, and they may also be dressed with anointing oil.
Smaller lodestones dressed with magnetic sand are carried singly or in pairs in mojo bags to attract luck and love; tiny pairs are placed in bottles of Van Van Oil, Lodestone Oil or Fast Luck Oil to "charge" the oils before they are used to dress offertory candles or anoint an individual.
In Latin America, lodestones are most commonly encountered in money-drawing and love-attracting package amulets and charm vials. Lodestone powder or magnetic sand also appears in the unusual Mexican snow-globe pyramid of luck.
The old-time advertisement shown above -- for Genuine Mo-Jo Brand Magnetic White Lodestone -- is from King Novelty Company Catalog #89 (copyright 1945), and was donated to the Lucky W Amulet Archive by Barry (Blues Boy) Carroll.
King Novelty, like its sister companies, Famous Products (makers of Lucky Brown cosmetics) and Valmor Beauty Co. (makers of Sweet Georgia Brown cosmetics), and its competitors Jan-O-Sun (makers of hoodoo and Christian religious candles) and Standard O and B Supply Company (a competing distributor of hoodoo and Christian religious "curios," herbs, candles, and books), was located in Chicago and marketed its wares nation-wide to the African-American community. The text accompanying this catalogue page is carefully worded to avoid violating federal postal fraud laws, but by reading between the lines, the value of lodestones in hoodoo magic is made clear:
ALIVE WITH MAGNETISM A lodestone has been held in high regard by the Ancient Romans, Chinese, Mohamedans, and other people as a Powerful Amulet and GOOD LUCK Charm; probably because the Magnetic Influence of this Stone was supposed to ATTRACT Power, Favors and Gifts. It is said that the Ancient Romans believed that Lodestone kept Husband and Wife faithful, and made their Love secure. We make no claims to this effect -- or that the LODESTONE is LUCKY. We have taken the Genuine Lodestone, especially prepared it, and called it WHITE LODESTONE. Two pieces of Specially Prepared WHITE LODESTONE for $1.00. [Note: that's a 1945 price -- cat.]
Another colourful lodestone ad in the same catalogue supplies more information about the lodestone as a hoodoo amulet. In keeping with King Novelty's attempt to avoid prosecution by presenting the material as a "curio," the advertisement was written in the past tense and no claims were made as to the lodestone's efficacy. The manner of use described is the same today as it was in 1945, and earlier:
Hoo-Doo Men made Conjure Bags in which they placed Lodestone for Hoodooing, Driving Away Evil Spirits, or so-called Goodbye Enemy Tricks, Job Getting, and general Good Luck. We have known many people who would not be without carrying a LODESTONE. We have found this to be especially true among folks that do Gambling, Play Horses, and Number Games of Chance, and who wish to win in Love Affairs. We do not sell this LODESTONE for any of these purposes, and make no claim that it is Lucky or that it will drive away Evil Spirits, but sell only as a Curio. We have specially prepared LODESTONE in different colors and you may now order the colors you wish.Gold . . . . . . . . . . . . . Silver
White . . . . . . . . . . . . . Black
Red . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blue
Green
The colour symbolism of the lodestones advertised by King in 1945 is congruent with the colour symbolism used in other hoodoo practices, such as candle burning. In other words, the stones themselves were painted various colours for use in attracting the several kinds of luck, including love-drawing (red), money-drawing (green, gold, and silver), magical protection and blessings (white), serenity (blue), and dominating power over others (black).
The label to the right is for another long-defunct King Novelty product, Mo-Jo Brand Lodestone in Van Van Oil. The combination of bright green and red bands against a stylized four-leaf clover design indicates that this magnetized oil was suitable for drawing either money-luck or love-luck.
Lest it be assumed that lodestone charms were or are exclusively African-American in distribution, it should be noted that an advertisement in "Thrilling Love Stories" Vol. XXXIX, No. 3 (October, 1941) advertised "LODESTONE $1.00 pair" from the T. Messick company of Camden, New Jersey. No explanation of the product's use was given. "Thrilling Love Stories" was a general circulation pulp magazine aimed primarily at young Caucasian women.
As i was taught in hoodoo in Oakland, California circa 1965 (and see also H. M. Hyatt's oral histories for further confirmatory refs, if you can dig through the non-indexed pages), a male lodestone is pyramidal or pointed and a female lodestone is cubical or rounded. Size is not relevant, and, in fact, the stones should be roughly equal in size and weight.
In performing love spells and sex magic, one uses a pair of lodestones of the appropriate gender(s) to represent the parties for whom the spell is being cast. In working these love spells, the stones are typically named and then dressed with a condition oil, sexual fluids, or alcohol, and/or fed with magnetic sand (fine iron grit), depending on the practitioner's preferred methods.
It is a lot more difficult than you may think, by the way, to match up lodestones in pairs, whether male-female, female-female, or male-male. We buy lodestones by the hundreds (we usually have at least two 5-gallon buckets filled with them in stock) and each pair intended for use in love spells must be carefully matched with a partner before they can be sold. We usually spend an hour at this task every time we need to put up a batch of lodestones; it's a dirty, messy job that leaves one's hands all covered with black iron dust. Because it takes a long time and is dirty, some botanica and spiritual supply store owners will not mess with matching lodestones -- instead they leave an assortment of stones out on a tray and the customers make their own matches -- if they can make them, from the limited stock they are shown.
The matching process consists of sprinkling the lodestones very lightly with magnetic sand to visually reveal their magnetic polarities, and then, by trial and error, finding pairs in which two edges join together well along their planar, convex, or concave surfaces AND also have the proper positive-negative charges that allow them to "draw" or attract along these selected surfaces. Once a matched pair is found, it is put aside, bagged, and tagged "male-female," "male-male," or "female-female." I have often been asked whether Lodestones can be used for gay and lesbian sex magic. The answer is yes -- any two "female" or "male" lodestones will also draw to each other -- you just have to turn one of them the other way!!!
Some lodestones, even though they carry a very good magnetic charge, cannot be matched up at all, due to irregularities in shape (typically, they "draw" from a point, not an edge). Those unmatchable lodestones cannot be used in love spells or sex magic but are excellent when sold as singles for use in money spells, where only one stone is required.
There are two old-time traditions associated with storing lodestones that should not be overlooked. To understand them, you need to know that some metals are magnetizable and some are not. The ferrous metals -- steel, iron, galvanized "tin" roofing (actually zinc-coated steel) -- are magnetizable. The non-ferrous metals (brass, real tin, bronze, copper, aluminum, chrome) are not magnetizable.
I was taught to keep lodestones stored in non-magnetizable containers to avoid "draining" the magnetism from the stones. The containers can be made of non-metallic substances (wood, glass, or (ugh!) plastic), or of non-ferrous metal.
At the Lucky Mojo shop we use big brass buckets for displaying our lodestones and they sit on wooden shelving. These brass buckets are the kind that fancy dried flower arrangements come in from the florist. Craft and fabric stores sell them new, but you can pick them up used at thrift stores for a couple of bucks each. In my home i use a chrome-plated brass art deco candy dish with red Catalin plastic handles to keep my working pair of love lodestones.
Also, even when displaying lodestones for sale, it is customary to give them a light sprinkle of magnetic sand to feed them and make matching them possible. We don't want the lodestones in our care to "starve" while they are waiting to go to their new homes.
LODESTONE MONEY (OR OBJECT) DRAWING SPELL
The following hoodoo lodestone spell can be used for drawing anything you want, whether it is money, romance, sex, marriage, a new car, business success, a child, a job, the return of a lost lover, or you-name-it.
You need one large lodestone, a china plate, a packet of magnetic sand, some sort of drawing oil, and a piece of paper torn from a brown grocery sack. Write your wish on the paper, being as specific as possible about your wants, and sign it with your name. Get a picture of what you desire (a drawing, a photograph, or even an advertisement torn from a magazine). If your desire is for more money, use a dollar bill as your "picture" and add it to your written wish.
Anoint the four corners of the wishing paper and the picture or money, either with a general drawing oil such as Attraction Oil, Fast Luck Oil, or Lodestone Oil, or with a specific condition-drawing oil for your particular purpose, such as Love Me Oil, Come To Me Oil, Follow Me Boy Oil, Lavender Love Drops, Money Drawing OIl, or Reconciliation Oil.
Place the wishing paper and the picture or money on the plate and set the lodestone on top. Pray over the lodestone, stating your wish clearly, and then feed the lodestone with a pinch of magnetic sand. The idea is to get the lodestone to understand your wish and to work on your behalf, drawing the desire toward you. When you have finished praying, put the plate and everything on it away where no one will see it, perhaps under your bed or in a drawer.
Every day take out the plate with the lodestone and papers, pray over it, and feed the lodestone with magnetic sand, stating your wish clearly. When your wish comes true, thank the lodestone respectfully and bury it in your yard with its magnetic sand and all the papers, still on the plate.
For a non-traditional but effective variant of lodestone love magic, you can use a pair of Magnetic Dogs. These light-hearted novelties may be carried in a mojo bag or displayed on an altar as a token of "the tie that binds."
The popularity of lodestones in the hoodoo tradition has led to their being used in a variety of other spiritual supplies. Lodestone is also prepared in the form of anointing and dressing oil, spiritual incense, scented sachet powders, and ritual bathing and cleaning supplies. Each bottle or packet of these products should contain small pieces of magnetic lodestone, plus other essential herb extracts. (Beware of modern so-called "Lodestone" products that are made up of nothing more than synthetic oils, dyes, and fragrances; real lodestone spiritual supplies MUST contain pieces of magnetic lodestone.)
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