How to Use Spiritual Oils
Feral Tarot The Lovers Magical Anointing Oil
Sacred oils, anointing oils, condition oils, magical oils, spiritual oils, so many kinds of oil.
But how does one use their respective spiritual oils??
Some History & Backstory
Anointing is the ritual act of applying aromatic oil to a person’s head or body. This practice extends to the sprinkling, dousing, or smearing of individuals or objects with perfumed oils, milk, butter, or other fats. Scented oils were commonly used as perfumes and sharing them was a gesture of hospitality. The practice of anointing was also linked to invoking divine influence or presence, with early records indicating its use as a form of medicine, believed to rid individuals and objects of harmful spirits and demons thought to cause illness.
Anointing with oil is a practice frequently mentioned in the Bible and has been observed since ancient times. It was used to consecrate kings, priests, prophets, and even animals. The Hebrew term mashach, meaning "to smear or anoint," appears over 200 times in Scripture. Long before Christianity, ancient civilizations like the Greeks, Egyptians, and Romans also used anointing oils as offerings.
In contemporary practice, "anointing" is often associated with ceremonial blessings, such as the coronation of European monarchs, a tradition that continues the ancient Hebrew practice. This is most notably seen in the anointings of Aaron as high priest, and Saul and David as kings by the prophet Samuel. The concept of anointing is central to the figure of the Messiah or the Christ (both Hebrew and Greek terms meaning "The Anointed One"), a key figure in Jewish and Christian theology. Anointing, especially in the context of the sick, is also referred to as "unction," and the anointing of the dying as part of last rites in the Catholic Church is sometimes called "extreme unction."
Spiritual oils have several uses and applications, and their uses are pretty much limited only by the users creativity and imagination.
Anointing oils are historically significant for both Abrahamic and pagan pre-Christian religions
Types of Spiritual Oils
There are many varieties of spiritual oils that all serve different purposes.
Protection: Protection oils can be intended for both physical and spiritually protection of persons, places, and objects. All of my Feral Tarot Magical Anointing Oils include elements of psychic and spiritual protections via the herbs and crystals I infuse them with. The Feral Tarot 7 of Wands Magical Anointing Oil and Reversal oil are both geared towards the added elements of physical protection and defense.
Uncrossing: Uncrossing refers to the act of removing “crossing” works set upon you by others. Crossing works include curses, the evil eye/mal de ojo, hexes, negativity in general, and brujeria; so basically baneful workings done either intentionally or unintentionally against a person. Uncrossing oils should always be accompanied and followed by protection work to prevent the crossing from returning. The Feral Tarot 7 of Wands Magical Anointing Oil can be used to successfully remove left-hand works upon a person, place, or thing.
Reversal: Reversal work complimentary with Uncrossings. The action is pretty much exactly what the name says; the baneful action is reversed and directed back to the sender. A classic example of a reversal spiritual oil is Return to Sender oils. You are essentially pulling the spiritual equivalent of “I’m rubber, you’re glue, whatever you say bounced off me and sticks to you”. Reversals must also be coupled with Uncrossing works (to remove the curse) and Protection works (to keep it off). The Feral Tarot Reversal Magical Anointing Oil is an example of a reversal oil as well as a return to sender work.
Attraction: Attraction oils are designed to draw, attract, and invite the desired intention or action to a person. Some are just designed as baseline attractants for pulling anything desired to a person, some are more specifically designed. Love draw, money draw, prosperity & abundance draw, etc. are all examples of Attraction oils. Common examples of Attraction oils are Crown of Success, Magnetism, Good Luck, Come Back To Me, etc. The Feral Tarot 10 of Pentacles and The Lovers Magical Anointing Oils designed to be used in tandem and are both attraction-based spiritual oils.
Cleansing: Cleansing oils are a form of spiritual hygiene maintenance that should be exorcised regularly to prevent things like hexes and curses from sticking in the first place. Cleansing oils will usually contain herbs with cleansing actions like sage, rosemary, juniper, cedar, frankincense, palo santo, lavender, mint, sweetgrass, and copal. The Feral Tarot 7 of Wands Magical Anointing Oil has these cleansing and spiritual hygiene properties.
Abundance: Abundance oils are sort of a subcategory of Attraction workings. Abundance can mean different things to different people, and while they are common in money workings, abundance in its purest form means “a very large amount of something”. Use abundance oils when the action or intention you are attempting to call up is something you want in excess of. The Feral Tarot 10 of Pentacles and The Lovers Magical Anointing Oils are designed to be used in tandem and to enhance most forms of abundance.
Ancestor Veneration & Connection: Ancestor veneration and connection is a form of spiritual action and activity that requires a person to have a certain level of intuitive/psychic connection to the spirit world. Oils in this category would include any with the intent of psychic development or mediumship, such as the Feral Tarot High Priestess Magical Anointing Oil, any dream, spirit, mediumship, and higher knowledge oils.
Condition: Condition is a term that is unique to spiritual oils from the spiritual and religious practices of Hoodoo & Conjure. Condition oils can be cleansing, protective, defensive, etc. Just know that if you hear the term “condition oil” you’re venturing into Hoodoo, Conjure & Southern Rootwork territory.
Cursing: Cursing oil is exactly what it says it is; it’s for cursing. Block busters and road openers can be used with the intent of removing defenses and protections for further cursing to be able to stick to the target. Common examples of cursing oils are Shut Up oils, DUME (sometimes spelled D.U.M.E.) and binding oils. In reality, in the hands of a skilled practitioner, anything can be used to perform left-hand works, dominations, and bindings. I personally use my Feral Tarot 7 of Wands & High Priestess Magical Anointing Oils to break physical & spiritual defenses and protections in my left-hand work.
Feral Tarot Magical Anointing Oils L to R: 7 of Wands (Protection), 10 of Pentacles (Abundance), The High Priestess (Intuition), Reversal (Reversal), The Lovers (Love), The Star (Peace)
How to Use Spiritual Anointing Oils
Spiritual oils have several applications in magical workings.
Candle Magic
Anointing oils are commonly used in candle magic with all sorts of forms of candles. For chime, figure, pillar without glass containers and taper candles, oils can be placed on a person’s finger and rubbed on the candle from top to bottom. Many people cover chime candles with the oil of their choice and then roll or place herbs to dress the candle as well. I personally either rub my chime and taper candles with the oil of my choice and pull it downwards or just place a few drops at the top of the candle and allow them to roll down the candle.
When using 7 day, jar pillar candles, votives and tealights, oil can still be used to anoint the candle even though it’s contained within a glass container. The amount of anointing oil used should not be excessive, as it can interfere with the burning of the candle as it pools by the wick. I recommend only using a few drops of anointing oil in these kinds of candles as opposed to emptying a whole dropper in. When using anointing oils in these kinds of candles, best practices are to take a toothpick or other kind of pointed object and poke at least three holes in the top of the candle as deep as possible and then place the oil drops in those holes. This allows the oil to seep into the wax so the wick doesn’t get drowned in oil while burning.
A black chime candle dressed with cursing oil
Anointing Objects
An obvious use of magical anointing oils would certainly be anointing physical objects, right? Protection oils can be used to anoint physical objects in order to cover them under protective energies. As an example, let’s use the Feral Tarot 7 of Wands Magical Anointing Oil.
To protect my vehicle, I regularly place a few drops of anointing oil on each tire and smear some on the front and back bumpers as well as the bottoms of each door and the roof of the vehicle as well. During times that require extra protections like Mercury and Mars retrogrades, lunar eclipses, and Saturn Returns, I do this more frequently as well as using the High Priestess anointing oil for added spiritual protection as well.
To protect my home, I place a few drops on the front of my garage and the sides and top of my front door, and the four corners of my property, front and back. I do this after it rains as well to refresh the protections.
To protect myself, I place a few drops on the insides of each wrist to guard what I create, the base of my throat to protect my words, the back of my neck to cover my back, and either the bottom of my feet or shoes, or the back of my heels to guard my steps.
Another example of use can be anointing spiritual tools and offerings to deities, spirits, and ancestors. I personally use my High Priestess Magical Anointing Oil to anoint all offerings and to consecrate (dedicate) tools I dedicate and use in my work with Hekate. This can be crystals, food, plants, statuary, incense, jewelry, candles, books, you get the idea. When I work with Freyja, she gets my Lovers and 10 of Pentacles Magical Anointing Oils (because she loves gold and love). For beauty or glamour magics, anointing beauty tools like makeup and hairbrushes, perfume bottles, makeup pallets, jewelry, lingerie, and the outside of storage areas that contain sexy-time accessories, if you get my drift.
Spiritual Hygiene
Spiritual baths are an important part of a personal spiritual practice and having good spiritual hygiene is a must. Anointing oils work beautifully for spiritual baths and bathing. You can add as much as you’d like to bath water and hair conditioner, bodywash, bath salts, bubble bath solution, and lotions to infuse the intention of the oils into your daily routine. If you’d rather not have the oil directly on your skin for whatever reason, you can anoint the outside of the container of the products you’re using and get less effective but still somewhat effective benefits of the oils.
References
"Anoint" , Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 3d ed., London: T. Nelson & Sons, 1897.
Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878), "Anointing" , Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, p. 90
Conybeare, Frederick Cornwallis (1911), "Anointing" , in Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 79–80
Darras, Joseph Éphiphane (1866), A General History of the Catholic Church: From the Commencement of the Christian Era until the Present Time, Vol. II, New York: P. O'Shea [Originally published in French; translated by Martin Spalding].
King, Paul David (1972), Law & Society in the Visigothic Kingdom, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-03128-8.
Lupoi, Maurizio (2000), The Origins of the European Legal Order, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [Originally published in Italian as Alle radici del mondo giuridico europeo by Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in 1994; translated by Adrian Belton], ISBN 0-521-62107-0.
Moorhead, John (2001), The Roman Empire Divided: 400–700, London: Pearson Education [Republished 2013 by Routledge], ISBN 9781317861447.
Saha, J. (2023, March 28). Anointing oils in the Bible: A guide for all religions. The Jerusalem Export House. https://www.jerusalemexport.com/blogs/content/anointing-oils-in-the-bible-a-guide-for-all-religions#:~:text=let’s%20get%20started.-,History%20of%20Anointing%20Oils%20in%20the%20Bible,over%20200%20times%20in%20Scripture.
Wolfram, Herwig (1997), The Roman Empire and its Germanic Peoples, University of California Press [Originally published in German as Das Reich und die Germanen by Wolf Jobst Siedler Verlag in 1990; translated by Thomas Dunlap], ISBN 9780520085114.
