Mojo Bags

Before I left for the summer to the in-laws I met up with Caitlin from the neo-pagan alliance and we decided to have a craft day. After meeting on campus and occasionally having ritual and outside of school meetings I wanted to get together and do pagan things with someone else who wanted the same.
Caitlin and I had been talking for a while about getting together to have a pagan craft day, where we could exchange some ideas and also join together to talk and make wonderful crafts.
I suggested making mojo bags that I had heard about on MrsB's blog. She mentioned it in her post about Voodoo and I was so intrigued by the topic that I spent the next 2 hours reading all the links I could find. I really was interested in the mojo bags becasue I have always wanted to work have talismans, make amulets, and things that I can carry around but never could sit down and do them. So when I read about these bags I knew I had to make one. The goddess has an interesting way of pointing you in a certain direction. Caitlin had made a necklace pouch type thing ( I'm not sure what to call it) weeks before I discovered mojo bags and I had expressed my want to make them, but it never worked out. Well, when I knew I wanted to make a mojo bag, I knew Caitlin would be the perfect person to work with because she a) likes crafts and b) has the supplies I didn't have for crafts.
Once I asked Caitlin if she wanted to have a craft day and she said yes, I went to my local magic store and picked up some Smoky Quartz!
When reading about mojo bags for travel I found that smoky quartz was good for protection and that is what I picked out. It was a very reasonable price for the stones and I was excited to get working. The day came and we discussed what we wanted to put into the mojo bags. I had brought over some protection herbs I had in my house and lucky Caitlin seemed to have the protection herbs I wanted but did not have or had forgotten. One thing we needed ws dirt. I had read that dirt from the place you are traveling to is the best, but unfortunately I didn't have any. That didn't stop me from making my mojo bag because I have learned that the intention behind what you are making is just as important if not more important than the ingredients you put in.
Anyway, Caitlin and I decided to go down to river bed that was dry because there was no more snow melt and to walk until we found some dirt that caleld to us. The walk I thought we were taking was only going to be a quick one, but we ended up walking for about an hour if not more. It was so nice. Caitlin showed me where she worked and she also took me to a little runoff lake that has been created. It was nice, there wasn't much life (except for algae) but it was a nice walk.
We then came back and started to set up the herbs we were going to add. I told Caitlin about Black Salt which I also learned about on MrsB's blog and we decided to make some while we were sewing. So we set aside out protection herbs and started burning some new herbs for the black salt and then picked out our fabric for the actual bag.
I decided that I was going to make a mojo bag for Amber who was traveling to mexico and to make that with a protection ruin on it and use blue fabric which is for protection while traveling. It turned out so pretty and I couldn't wait for her to see it.
Weeks went by and i still had mine to work on. I was supposed to have it done by the time Bobby and I left for Vegas so I could have a nice talisman to put in our car, but of course I didn't get it done. I am happy to say that I finished in time for the last full moon to charge it. However, I am not pleased with the way the top turned out because I got lazy and just started stitching to get it closed. ( On a side note, I added purple sage, which is growing on a neighboors bush and the flower in the mojo bag is a purple sage flower. Smells gret and is beautiful! )
I realized after I made it that I was not happy with the way it looked and that I had forgotten 2 key ingredients. I left out mesquite and palo verde thorns. I was thinking of herbs for protection and was looking out the window and saw a mesquite and palo tree and all of a sudden I knew that the thorns on the tree were perfect for protection. My partener is a huge fan of using native plants and using those thorns is just one way to increase my use of native plants in my spell workings. I am going to cut out the top stitching and I redo it and also add in the thorns. I was looking at a new blog called Spellcrafts and was very intrigued by the idea of a drawstring on top of my bag. When I get the new top done I will post a picture of it.

I learned to take a chance and trust that the goddess will help work it out.
Blessed Be!