~to shut the mouths of those who speak evil, hateful rhetoric~
Carve a hole in the base of a black skull-shaped candle. Fill it with nettles (Urtica dioca) and slippery elm bark (Ulmus rubra) and seal the hole with melted wax.
Baptize the skull with oil (olive oil will suffice) while chanting the name of your sharp-tongued enemy. If so inclined, carve the fiend’s name across the forehead of the skull. The candle is now your enemy.
Light the wick with a wooden match. This is no time for tacky plastic lighters.
Warm stick pins over the candle flame and insert them into the mouth of the skull while reciting the following three times:
“Your vile words are stuck in your throat and your curses no longer wound the innocent.”
Let the candle burn down completely while focusing on your intent. Do not doubt that justice and truth will prevail.
After the candle snuffs itself out, toss any remains on your enemy’s property. If you do not have access to their property, dispose of it in running water or bury at a crossroads.
Bathe in saltwater to disperse any negative energy clinging to your aura.
Christine Green is a freelance writer and newspaper columnist. She has been published in various literary journals including aaduna, Germ, The Light Ekphrastic, The Big Brick Review, Laundry, and Brain, Child. She is also a 2016 Pink Door Literary Fellow. In her free time Christine hosts a monthly literary reading, “Words on the Verge”, at A Different Path Art Gallery in Brockport, NY.
Christine is a Californian at heart and dreams of living near the beach as well as finding a decent taco in Rochester. She reps Hufflepuff and Libras everywhere.