CASCARILLA
(Pronounced: kas-kah-ree-ya) It is so useful in protection, purification and cleansing rites. Cascarilla also repels negative energy and the vibration of negative energies. - look at it as an essential multi-purpose weapon for your magickal arsenal.
Food for thought: Vegans might have issues with using this due to animal by-product issues. Note also raw egg safety handling and hazards especially for pregnant women and regarding possible fatal food poisoning.
What is Cascarilla?
Eggshell powder; clean dry eggshells crushed and finely ground with the back of a spoon or with a mortar and pestle until it feels as soft as fine baby powder. Not to be confused with the West Indian shrub, Croton eluteria aka Cascarilla or Cascarilla bark, of the spurge family, the bitter, aromatic bark often used as a tonic!
Cascarilla Powder’s origin is often mistaken as people think it comes from Hoodoo tradition!! It actually comes from ATRs (African Traditional Religion) like Santería. – Hoodoo practitioners work with actual talcum powder and chalk. That’s not to say you can’t use Cascarilla in Hoodoo practice it’s just not the powders origin.
That said the main and usually the only ingredient is powdered eggshell. It is an amazing powder with outstanding performance when it comes to protection, purification and cleansing - Cascarilla also repels negative energy and the vibration of negative energies.. Cascarilla can be found in two main forms; powder or chalk. It can, as mentioned, be made easily by crushing egg shells into the desired form (see ‘recipe how to’ further on in this document).
Alternatively it can be purchased at most Botanica or store that caters to New Age and Magick ritual. Most commonly found packed into what most people associate as a “ketchup cup”. When removed from the cup, it maintains its form and can be used as one would use a soft piece of chalk. Or, if mixed with water, you will find that the soft-chalk dissolves easily.
You can use either or both powder and chalk forms interchangeably in a variety of ways for a variation of workings throughout your practices.
Different uses:
1. Guards against and repels evil, malicious magick, harm, unwelcome beings.
2. In both chalk form and powder add to a bath or bath bomb to create a purification, cleansing, protection bath or to aid in removal of negativity and negative vibrations.
3. In chalk form it can be used to draw sigils, symbols or other markings.
4. In chalk form it can be used to draw a protection circle for magickal ritual or even sprinkled in a circle as powder form.
5. Dusting or drawing a cross on your forehead can protect you from psychic attacks such as from energy vampires if you are a form of medium such as empath, clairvoyant, clairsentient etc..
6. Reports of it being a great aid for meditation, astral projection, performing visualizations and/or other divinations. The powder can be used to dust yourself or the chalk to draw upon your relative body zones.
7. Cascarilla also keeps away non-corporeal beings (spirits, ghosts, demons, etc). If you feel like your home may be haunted, this would be a good repellent (after a thorough house cleansing!!). Be warned, if you have spirits around that you like talking to, you may find it more difficult to communicate with them! Cascarilla does not discriminate between good and evil–it just provides a barrier between the physical and spiritual world.
8. House protection: use as a piece of chalk. Going around the house clockwise, etch the sign of the cross on either side of the door, above the door and on the threshold. When doing the windows–do above, below, and both sides of the window. Do this with all doors and all windows of the home.
9.House protection (perimeter of home).
Note. There are several other uses for Cascarilla, but these are a few of the main uses.
How to make Cascarilla?
{Anyway you do your magickal makings such as casting circle, invoking spiritual / divine aids, blessings, infusing your energy and intent etc.. before, during and after is down to how you work/practice. YouTuber ‘HighPriestess Kathie’ goes into a lil detail here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBKfx93wcyE }
You will need at least 6 eggs and if possible remove the membrane (thin skin like layer often pink on the inside of the shell) here’s an awesome demonstration video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3AGeYFYtcQ by YouTuber ‘Idaline Carthaysius’ on how she does it.
- White Cascarilla - Gather egg shells, wash and lay flat to dry. Grind said eggs in to a fine powder.
- Black Cascarilla – Simply add charcoal to the above method.
- Brown Cascarilla - Gather egg shells, wash and lay flat to dry. Then toast them in the oven on low temperature until they turn brown (be careful when you handle them they are going to be hot) wait till cold and grind said eggs in to a fine powder.
Note. Once the powder is made you may want to leave it out to fully dry out if possible before sealing it in a jar.
- Cascarilla chalk – Take the previously mentioned eggshells powder and mix together 1tsp of flour and 1tsp of very hot water (some people use holy, blessed or other magickal property water or oils) add 1tbsp of the ground egg shell powder and mix it together until it is a thick paste – some people add additional protection herbs but this is not original Cascarilla. Form in ‘ketchup cups’, balls, ice cube trays, cake cases, trays, moulds.. Then leave to set.
- Cascarilla powder from chalk – use the previous chalk method then crush to have those extra property boosts.
Imogen
Credits:
I would like to thank my friend Derrie CINNAWITCH for educating and introducing me to Cascarilla Powder and also for bring it into my life..! This I can see being of easy but powerful aid for use in my practice!! Thank you my sister x
References:
· Image “ketchup cup” http://voodooneworleans.com/product/protection-and-strength-2/cascarilla-eggshell-powder/
· Information Uses https://themagickinyoursoul.wordpress.com/tag/powdered-egg-shell/
· Information (She has recipes & spells!) https://www.magicalrecipesonline.com/2015/01/cascarilla-powder-how-to-make-and-use-it.html
· Cascarilla origin http://thedemoniacal.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/hoodoo-truth-cascarilla.html
· YouTuber ‘Idaline Carthaysius’ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3AGeYFYtcQ
· YouTuber ‘HighPriestess Kathie’ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBKfx93wcyE
