All the Better to See You With
Be practical, waste nothing.
Save the eyes to see the unseen, to have visions, and dream dreams.
Preserve them and keep them to see like the animal and better shift your shape into feather, fur, or silver skin.
Eyes to spy. Wear them around your neck or place them under you head to see through the eyes of their living kind far away.
Eyes to send the evil eye. Eyes to bind and blind. Eyes to stab and curse.
An eye to repel the evil eye. Add to a protection talisman to carry or hide in your car or home.
Eyes to watch and warn of dangers. Hang over your door for the worries of this world and place on your altar for dangers from the otherworld.
Eyes as offerings to seer spirits and deities of the divinatory arts. Burn them, bury them; the eyes to see your future.
To dry, cover in salt or cornmeal (or a mix of both) in a bowl or wooden box (nothing air tight) for a few weeks to months depending on the size of the eyes. Remove and clean off particulates with a dry brush. Keep clean and dry to preserve longer.
You can also soak them in vinegar in the fridge for a few days and then oven dry on low heat with the oven door kept open with a wood spoon to let out moisture. They become eye jerky – keep away from hungry cats and dogs.
Add to crane bags, medicine bags, or spell sachets. Craft into talismans – stitch into a leather pouch with herbs. Store in ziplock bags if to be stored for later use in nitty-gritty folk magic. To “re-animate” for magic, soak in room-temperature water for a few hours.
Vegetarian? Sew, embroider, carve, or sculpt eyes for the same magics (I am now picturing an angry vegetarian stabbing a clay eye with a toothpick).
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I’ve always thought but never had the formal moment to express to you how much I adore and honored to have the gift of exposure to your work, Sarah. You are a genius artist and your work is so important. Thank you for this and every post. You are a breath of life and a true true true inspiration. Much love and endless respect. x x x
I find this disgusting.
Wow, it takes a minute to see what is in front of me but I really admire your work, it is inspiring and teaching at the same time.
Well Alright!
Thank You for this Nitty Gritty Awesomeness
intriguing and full of suggestions & tips! simply, THANK YOU!
Halia
Wonderful post! I haven’t the access to eyes of the living, but do have a lovely clay/glass eye incorporated into a necklace.
A lot of my Magics have to do with warding and protection– I deeply appreciated this! Since I mostly use river-donated carcasses I don’t often have access to fresh eyes and so I use Hamsa hands myself, but I will remember about salt and cornmeal.
This is enlightening and inspiring. Thank you.
Wow, amazing. I’m confronted and inspired simultaneously. And like theseasideghost I am extremely honoured to be exposed to the side of witchcraft that you share with us here. I don’t know how likely it is that I will ever need to use this information but I am definitely filing it away for reference.
I’ll go with the vegetarian option.
Yeah, I’m a bit squeamish.
Practical ideas with great uses! You’re amazing. Have you heard of Milagros? They’re charms from Mexico and I used them to make Milagros crosses typical in the southwest. Each represents a body part breast-heart etc and is supposed to impart luck for the persons health! They would be great in a healing bag. I have some I can send you if you like. Just let me know. I’ve made some bags for my kids and friends . Anita dylangirl99@gmail.com or noirart10@gmail.com