Conjure Cards

A unique divination deck based on the authentic backwoods traditions, folklore, and superstitions of Appalachia. For centuries, people living in Appalachia have used homemade playing cards for fortune-telling and dream interpretation. This tradition has arisen over many generations of backwoods conjurers, grannie witches, and yarb doctors. The Conjure Cards fortune-telling deck was created by Jake Richards (author of Backwoods Witchcraft) and fashioned after the folklore, superstitions, and dream symbols that he grew up with in western North Carolina. Jake offers these common Appalachian methods of divination paired with the honored pastime of sharing and interpreting dreams. Examples: The Nine of Diamonds shows a headless rooster; to dream of a headless animal is a sign of a haint or plat-eye, which is a spirit who didn’t have proper burial. The Ace of Spades, usually named the death card, is an old-fashioned baby cradle because to dream of a birth predicts a death. The “little joker” is a witch or enemy and is represented by the folkloric black cat, while the “big joker” is the devil and is symbolized by one of the devil’s forms in Appalachia: the black dog. The black dog represents evil spirits, so if it is paired with the black cat and the Ten of Spades (a grave stone), it could mean a family haint is haunting you or an enemy has conjured the dead against you. The Ace of Diamonds shows two wedding ring, ands predicts news, luck, and proposal. If shown with the Five of Hearts (a chapel with a stained-glass window) and the Ten of Diamonds (sunflowers), it would predict a happy marriage or undertaking.

"For centuries, people living in Appalachia have used homemade playing cards for fortune-telling and dream interpretation. This tradition has arisen over many generations of backwoods conjurers, 'grannie witches,' and 'yarb doctors'. Here, the author has created a fortune-telling deck fashioned after the folklore, superstitions, and dream symbols that he grew up with in Western North Carolina"

A delightful in-depth guide to the divination practices of conjure from the beloved author of Old Style Conjure and other books In Divination Conjure Style Starr Casas shares the secrets of conjure-style divination that she learned at home and that, until very recently, were family secrets that were only transmitted orally. Traditional conjure is the domain of the poor and disenfranchised, living in regions that were (and remain) unfriendly to esotericism and the occult. Thus, conjure divination relies on inexpensive tools that are not exclusively magical: playing cards, rather than tarot cards, or scrying with blue water instead of a crystal ball. The primary focus of Divination Conjure Style is playing-card divination, but other methods covered include bibliomancy, pyromancy, pendulums, and throwing the bones. Starr discusses the history of these methods and also offers practical information so that the reader can master these techniques for themselves. Josef Bailey, a young New Orleans artist, has created illustrations of conjure-style playing cards to Starr’s specifications.

“Starr Casas is the real deal. Anyone seeking to comprehend Conjure and benefit from its powerful magic would do well to read Old Style Conjure."—Judika Illes, author of Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells and many other books Conjure, hoodoo, rootwork—these are all names for a uniquely American form of folk magic. Conjure first emerged in the days of slavery and plantations and is widely considered among the most potent forms of magic. Written by Starr Casas, a hereditary master of the art, Old Style Conjure is an essential guide to using Conjure to achieve love, success, safety, prosperity, spiritual fulfillment, and your heart's desires. Old Style Conjure is a guide to using conjure to achieve love, success, safety, prosperity, and spiritual fulfillment. It introduces readers to the history and philosophy of conjure and provides practical, modern day, advice for using it. In its pages, you'll learn about: Bone reading Candle magic Conjure bags Building your own conjure altar Featuring Casas' own rituals, spells, and home recipes, the book provides useful information suitable for novices and seasoned practitioners alike.

In Backwoods Witchcraft, Jake Richards offers up a folksy stew of family stories, lore, omens, rituals, and conjure crafts that he learned from his great-grandmother, his grandmother, and his grandfather, a Baptist minister who Jake remembers could "rid someone of a fever with an egg or stop up the blood in a wound." The witchcraft practiced in Appalachia is very much a folk magic of place, a tradition that honors the seen and unseen beings that inhabit the land as well as the soil, roots, and plant life. The materials and tools used in Appalachia witchcraft are readily available from the land. This "grounded approach" will be of keen interest to witches and conjure folk regardless of where they live. Readers will be guided in how to build relationships with the spirits and other beings that dwell around them and how to use the materials and tools that are readily available on the land where one lives. This book also provides instructions on how to create a working space and altar and make conjure oils and powders. A wide array of tried-and-true formulas are also offered for creating wealth, protecting one from gossip, spiritual cleansing, and more.

In this “great starting point for those hoping to practice Appalachian folk magic” (Publishers Weekly), conjure man Jake Richards shares the root work practices and traditional magic he learned from his family as he grew up in the hills and hollers of Appalachia. Who were the old conjurors and witches of Appalachia? What were their practices and beliefs? How can you learn the ways of conjuring for yourself? Appalachian folk magic and conjure are little known today, but forty or fifty years ago just about every person you might ask in Appalachia either knew something about it themselves or knew someone who did it. These practices and “superstitions” are at the core of Appalachian culture. In Doctoring the Devil, Jake Richards speaks to those questions and more, offering the various ways of rooting out the “devil”—any unfriendly spirit bringing bad luck, poor health, and calamities of all sorts. Like the blue smoky mists that glide up the Appalachians, Jake leads his readers up the hillsides too, introducing us to folks along the way—hunters, farmers, blacksmiths, faith healers, preachers, and root-diggers. We’ll also meet the local spirits and learn root ways. Further up the hill, we delve into Jake’s notebooks—a personal collection of tried-and-true Appalachian recipes and roots for conjuring love, money, justice, and success.

Romani culture has long been associated with and admired for extraordinary fortune-telling skills. This first-of-its-kind book traces the development of the Romani cartomancy tradition. With illustrations from the Gypsy Witch(R) Fortune Telling Playing Cards, expert instruction is given on the fascinating method of reading the deck, which combines traditional card inserts with unique symbolic images. Meanings and keywords are given for each individual card as well as for various card combinations. Fabio Vinago also provides detailed instructions for simple and complex spreads, including the Grand Tableau. For all levels of readers this comprehensive book provides a wealth of information on the art of reading fortune telling cards.