Stage magicians take good care of their hands, it’s a habit I didn’t leave behind when I left the field. One thing I’ve started doing in the relatively recent period is using a salt scrub on my hands. Let me tell you they are marvellous. They scrub off dry/hard skin, they coat the fresh skin with moisturizing oil, and bring blood to the skin so it can repair itself. Sure your hands are a bit greasy for a while, but they’ll be so soft after a few repeated uses.
That’s not all though, I find they leave my hands positively buzzing with energy for a while. Maybe it’s because of the increased bloodflow and the links between blood and internal energies. Maybe it’s because it opens the pores a bit, allowing a greater flow to occur, if you subscribe to the model linking those ideas. Maybe it’s all in my head, but that’s fine, my head is an awesome place to be.
I decided to actively use this in some of my work, so I created my Hands of Holy Fire Scrub. It’s simple to make. 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of salt (“free running” or small granules), and six drops of Abramelin oil, mix and store in an airtight non-plastic container. This makes enough for a handful (harhar) of uses. I find when I scrub my hands with this I get more than the general energy buzz in my hands, but a very specific type of energy, a “flaming” sort that I associate with my HGA. To solidify this I usually say a prayer as I’m scrubbing my hands.
I find it useful to localize this energy in my hands for various reasons. While it’s not my typical “flavour” for healing I find using it for energetic healing work has produced some great results. Also a lot of my personal style of magick is based upon gestures relating to my internal vision projection. (I’ve been told many times it looks similar in motion to the tech in the movie Minority Report, which I’ve never seen, but from the trailer I can see the resemblance.) While I can use this style without the Hands of Holy Fire (in fact I don’t think my gestures do anything on an external scape but merely reflect an internal process) I do find with it I sometimes have greater bruteforce against somethings. Occasionally I’ll meet something I can’t manipulate, but with the HoHF I can continue to work in a lot of cases. Along with healing just having my hands this way when doing a cleansing seems to be a bit more effective. Consecrating, or handling, ritual items associated with the Cosmos flows a lot better when I’ve used the scrub.
Looking at the common three part self model this is a good way of linking body with spirit and mind, you’re physically rooting and connecting to the energy through the scrub (as the material and the action). I’m sure this could be adapted in other ways, as another mode of condition oil application, allowing more control/form as the energy pools around your hands. The same scrub can be made with sugar instead of salt, which might work better for attracting magick. Of course always make sure that the condition oil doesn’t contain anything that would react negatively if applied to skin, blah blah blah.
As always, toy, tweak, experiment.
Hands of Holy Fire
