
We've recently moving in into a new home and we spent all day and night cleaning the front porch. As it kept getting late we decided to call it a night leaving nothing on the front porch. When we go back in the morning there is a small black bag tied in a knot with what I can only describe as a stem with some sort of oregano looking herbs, an egg, green lime, and a potato. We've asked several close family members and no one can seem to know what it is, so I'm thinking outside of the box and I'm starting to think it might be a spell? Anyway if you can help me with some information I would gratefully appreciate it, thank you.
ANSWER – I’d be totally guessing. I could give you a coherent and plausible explanation as to how it might be a spell but I suspect that would be coloured by my own personal interpretation and how I would have used those ingredients to work magic.
I’ll give you a few thoughts and suggestions but take them with a pinch of salt as plausibility is not evidence in itself.
The fact that the bag is sealed does suggest some kind of spell. I say this because I can think of no good practical non magical reason for anybody to seal an egg and a potato inside the bag. Possibly if both were old and rotten then it might be a method of disposal but why waste a black bag when you could sling both in the compost bin? Eggs and potatoes require different storage methods, anybody thinking it is a good idea to store eggs in a bag would get quite an unpleasant surprise when it came to make their omelette so I doubt the purpose of the bag is storage of the items either.
Both potatoes and eggs are common ingredients in magical workings. Potatoes (usually halved) are used to soak up the negativity in a room. Eggs can be used in a variety of ways, to symbolise new life, the protection of life within, workings involving hidden treasures and secrets and even to represent birds or the spirits of the air. What I do find interesting to muse on here is that you have the potato – life under the earth, the herb – life on the earth and the egg – life above the earth. So if I was guessing I’d say this possibly could be some kind of fertility charm. Equally it could be a protection charm for a new life with the egg representing the womb, the potato drawing negativity away from the growing life and the (unidentified) herb one associated with protection.
Interestingly enough though the spell could easily be associated with fertility in a negative way. The herb you refer to as looking like oregano could be Pennyroyal which has medicinal properties as an abortifacient and which is sometimes used with poppets or symbolic representations (such as the egg) to ill wish an unborn child.
The one that stumps me is the lime. I’ve looked up the associations on a few sister sites but not found much info at all on how people use this in magic. My view would be to use it in a similar manner to lemon for purification and cleansing purposes. Again this might fit in with the idea of the protective charm with the lime used to purify the immediate environment of the unborn child.
As I said these ideas are more speculation than anything else and I wouldn’t take them too literally. Often things that can be made more complicated by over thinking actually turn out to have a pretty simple explanation. My suggestion is don’t worry about anything sinister as this doesn’t bear any of the hallmarks of deliberately aggressive magic but keep your eyes peeled and if you have any other instances of something similar happening write to me again and we’ll reinterpret this instance in the light of any others and hopefully get closer to the true explanation of the facts.
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