Chipping away at the archive of "questions I’ve been asked that I will eventually get around to answering on the blog"…
A customer asks what the deal is with Special Oil #20. (Actually, this one asked what I put in mine, and I don’t give out my formulas, so I’m rephrasing the question to suit my own purposes in writing a blog post. But if you keep reading, you should get a clue or two about common ingredients in Special Oil #20 formulas.)
I LOVE Special Oil #20. I make my own, of course, but I’m so devoted to it that I sort of collect it, too. I love to see how different practitioners make theirs, what touches they put on theirs, what subtleties of scent they have going on, etc. This is one of those all-purpose formulas that ought to be a staple on every practitioner’s altar. Just as Attraction oil is a combo formula for love, luck, and money, so Special Oil #20 is suitable for a variety of purposes. When you order a honey jar spell kit from me, you get a one dram bottle of this oil – though the herbs that come with your kit are customized and hand-mixed according to your case, the oil is almost always Special Oil #20. Why? Because this formula KICKS SERIOUS ASS. It is multipurpose and super strong and is good for dressing an astonishing variety of candles. Also, I like the scent so much that sometimes I just open the bottle and smell it. Ok, enough TMI about my weirdness I guess… but if you haven’t added Special Oil #20 to your condition oil arsenal, remedy that right now, ya hear?
Now, yes, I make it, in two dram bottles like most of my other oils, and you can get it on my website. This is one of the formulas I’m proudest of – I tinkered with it for YEARS before I settled on my current formula, but I’m often doing little tweaks here and there as the years go on – for instance, if I find a supplier with a better-scented version of one of the essential oils, I will play around with a few different batches, modifying the amount of EO in several different batches and seeing how they "age" over a few months. Same with herbal matter that goes directly into the mother bottle, as some of the herbal matter will also contribute to scent changes as the "brew" develops and matures. And my current batch has a particular root in it that I’m seeing the scent effects of, because they differ ever so slightly from the effects of using that same plant’s leaf in the mother bottle. So the ingredients don’t change, but the proportions and specifics might over time, just a bit.
But there are other fine options out there too. Frankly, mine is one of the more expensive versions, in part because one of the key ingredients isn’t all that cheap, and I put actual herbal matter into the bottles. This necessarily raises the price.
If you go through a heck of a lot of Special Oil #20 and/or want an altar-sized bottle to have handy, you can’t get more bang for the buck than to order Lucky Mojo’s Special Oil #20. It comes in a big-ass 4 oz bottle with a shape that makes it real handy for storing. cat’s formula is a rich, thick, heady formula that I have heard described as "edible" and "delicious." Like cat says on the oil’s info page, "If you have read through our catalogue and are still unsure as to which Dressing Oil to buy, and you want a STRONG oil alleged to improve many types of conditions, then try Special Oil No. 20 for love, for luck, for money, for health, and for happiness." She’s not kidding, folks. Her formula is an old-school Chicago version used widely as "wick oil," to dress candles, and this is why it doesn’t contain herbs in the actual bottle you get – it’s a little different than "condition oils" used for a variety of things like dressing oneself or an amulet or mojo bag or paper. This is a candle-dressing oil (and that each bottle doesn’t have herbal bits added in helps keep the cost down). Even though I make my own oil, I always have some of Lucky Mojo’s oil on hand, and I give it as gifts to magically-inclined friends a lot – the attractive, professionally-labeled 4 oz bottle makes a good impression 🙂
And Starr at Old Style Conjure makes a Special Oil #20 that you really ought to try. Hers comes in a half ounce bottle with a bit of real vanilla bean in the bottle, and this is a great, down-home style condition oil. As it is a bit lighter than cat’s formula and my formula, it’s an especially good choice for those who like to anoint themselves with it and don’t want to smell "edible and delicious" after they do (I’m sure you can think of some scenarios where you need luck, success, money, whatever, where it would do you good NOT to smell edible, delicious, or, frankly, seductive. Vanilla is a powerful fragrance! A little goes a long way.) Starr recommends this oil because, in her words, it can be used for "money [and] love and I have found that it even removes negative energies."
If you do much candle magic, you really ought to have some of this stuff on hand.
Are there brands of Special Oil #20 and/or Wick Oil you know and love, that I haven’t personally tried yet? If so, let me know – I am *always* on the lookout for formulas to add to my collection!
Big Lucky Hoodoo 