Acquiring a Piece of Land Using Railroad Spikes
In Southern Folk Magic we tend to use railroad spikes for lots of different reasons. You can use them to protect your home, control or dominate your enemies, and drive away spirits. These are all fairly common uses for railroad spikes. One of the less-discussed uses for them, though is that of acquiring a piece of land.
You see, way back when, people would physically stake their claim on plots of land that they intended to purchase and maintain in the near future. They would do this by putting some sort of marker at each corner around the perimeter of that land. Sometimes this would be a pile of stones, metal rods, marked wooden posts, etc. This was a common way to make sure that anyone else who came across the plot of land would, with a little luck, notice their stakes in the ground and keep moving. Further, this practice was most common amongst those looking for areas of land to mine for metals and minerals.
Once they had placed their markers on the land, they then would need to go to the Bureau of Land Management and file a document called a Notice of Location. It was this document that ensured their claim was legally submitted, acknowledged, and registered.
If you are trying to acquire a piece of land, railroad spikes are a great tool if you have some laying around. To do this, you will need 4 railroad spikes, a coin, some whiskey and a few pinches of tobacco.
On a Sunday morning, before the sun rises, go to the property you want to own. Go to the front, left corner of the property and kneel on the ground. Now, place some tobacco on the ground and place a coin on top of it (the coin denomination does not matter). Take a railroad spike and place it over the coin and hammer it into the ground but leave just the top of the railroad spike exposed. Pour a small amount of whiskey or rum on the head of the spike.
Lastly, pray Psalm 37:11 over the head of the spike.
Repeat for the remaining three corners. Move clockwise from corner to corner as you do this.
While all of that might be something you could do if you are trying to get a plot of land, it might be a bit much to attempt when trying to acquire a specific house. If you are in a rural area and have access to all four corners of the property that the house sits on and no one lives in the house, you might be okay to use the above method. However, if you find yourself looking at houses in the suburbs and have to schedule a time to actually view all parts of the property, this might be a bit trickier to pull off and you might have to get creative.
Protecting Your Property
Railroad spikes are made of iron and because of this, they are really useful for protection work. Iron is traditionally thought to bind or repel negative energies so it is a staple in most magickal traditions for protecting one against things like spiritual attacks.
Spiking and Dusting the Land
If you want something a bit more thorough, try this.
You will need the following:
- 4 railroad spikes
- Florida Water
- Olive oil
- A cigar
- Whiskey
- Cascarilla (crushed eggshell) powder
- Calamus Root – powdered
- Agrimony – powdered
Take a railroad spike and cleanse it with Florida Water. Next, you spray or pour some whiskey on it, just enough so that you can rub it into every part of the spike. As you are rubbing the whiskey in, you speak to the railroad spike as a living being. Now, add your powdered herbal mix to a small amount of olive oil and coat the spike in this mixture. After you’ve done all of that, you just completely cover the spike in your cascarilla / eggshell powder. Lastly, light your cigar and place the lit end in your mouth and blow the smoke all over the spike.
Repeat these steps for all 4 spikes (it helps if you do each step to each spike all at the same time or you’ll be wiping your hands alot between fixing each one of them).
Once all your railroad spikes have been cleansed and fixed, drive one spike into the ground at each of the four corners of your property. As you drive each spike into the ground, you pray for your home to be protected from malevolent energies, witchcraft, etc. Then repeat Psalm 91 and then Psalm 35. Do this for every spike.
Once you’ve made your way clockwise around the property while placing the spikes, start over at the corner you began with and spread a line of red brick dust between each corner, moving clockwise around the house again. This adds an extra layer of protection and links all the corners together, completely encapsulating your property in an unbroken ring of protection once you connect the two front corners.
Stand in front of your house for a minute and visualize it as encapsulated in a soft, glowing light all connected together by the spikes and dust. For the next 24 hours, try to keep your home as calm and relaxing as possible and try to avoid any kind of heated arguments.
How Does it All Work Together?
Here at the Bayou Root House, we believe educating folks on how how and why everything works together the way it does goes a much further than simply telling you what to do… let’s breakdown everything that we’ve done here so we can see how this all comes together on a spiritual level.
Fixing the Railroad Spikes
Cleansing with Florida Water –
This removes stagnant or negative energies from the spike to give you a clean slate to work with while leaving all the positive, lively energy intact. We are using Florida Water for this but you can use any other cleansing liquid you prefer. Just keep in mind that some cleansing materials will remove everything from objects, not just the negative gunk. Objects pick up imprints of energy and spirits that can all build up over time, so cleansing items before employing them for spiritual purposes is almost a universal practice. Not doing so would be akin to eating off a dirty plate; sure you’ll be able to eat your food but you might be getting some leftover grime right along with it. Just rinse your plate off first, ya know?
Spraying with whiskey –
Whiskey and other alcohols are used as a way to wake up a spirit, heat up a work, get things moving, etc. So once we have provided a clean slate with cleansing, we get the attention of the spirit of the railroad spike and feed it a bit. When we talk about the spirit of inanimate objects, we are usually referring to the compounded energy it has built up and has become representative of that particular object. This is different than how we think of spirits of the dead, ghosts, haints, etc.
Powdered herbal mix –
Calamus root is used for control, domination and winning influence as well as general protection. Meanwhile, Agrimony is useful for breaking up negative energies and reversing tricks that have been put on you. Used here, we are coupling them together to gain control of the energy that has tried to find its way into your home, and binding it to the spike temporarily. Then, the Agrimony goes to work at dismantling the energy or returning it to its sender. The reason the herbs are applied to the spike via olive oil is just simply so that when you powder it in the next step with cascarilla, the powder sticks to it.
Cascarilla / eggshell powder –
Cascarilla is simply powdered eggshells that have been pressed into a chalk. Eggshells are associated with things like protection, an outer layer, a shield that protects something inside of it. It is known for being really good at acting as a barrier that spirits can’t cross. Eggs are used in many different ways in various forms of folk magick but it shines the most when used to cleanse or protect. By applying eggshell powder to the spike, we are giving it a strong outer layer, some tough skin, if you will. This acts as the outermost layer of protection. If by some chance negative energies or spirits do make it through this layer, they are then trapped via the plant mix. And if the plants don’t do the trick, the iron that the spike is made from will stop everything dead in its tracks and serve as simply an impenetrable wall. Iron is known to repel or otherwise totally block malevolent spirits from getting past it.
Tobacco smoke –
By blowing tobacco smoke on the spike, you are breathing life into it. The smoke is symbolic of the giving of the energy of your breath to the spike to fully bring it to life. Plus, tobacco, alongside alcohol, are two of the most commonly accepted offerings for most spirits.
As you can see, while the process itself is fairly simple and straightforward, there is a lot that is happening behind the scenes on a spiritual level. And that’s just to cleanse and fix the spikes for use. Let’s look at the next phase of the process; setting the spikes.
Setting the Railroad Spikes
The 4 corners –
There is a reason why we place a railroad spike at all four corners as opposed to just placing one in the ground anywhere on the property. The reason is that we generally associate 4 walls with the feeling of being enclosed and having a sense of security. We associate the shape of a square with evenness stability and balance. So when we place a railroad spike at all four corners, we are symbolically and energetically marking that entire perimeter as where the walls of our property are located. We are setting that space aside, marking it off as something special and enclosing our magick around it.
The prayers –
You can use any prayers that you would like but Psalm 91 and Psalm 35 are listed here as they are great prayers for this. Psalm 91 is all about seeking divine shelter or refuge, so this sort of lays the groundwork for expressing that this property is sacred to you. Psalm 35 is a bit of an affirmation that you and your property are under divine protection and shall not be harmed by enemies. Again, any prayer from the heart works for this, so feel free to get creative with this part.
Moving clockwise –
In Southern folk magic, we generally do things according to direction or time. When we move something clockwise, we are increasing or pushing something forward and whenever we move something counterclockwise, we are decreasing or reversing something. So by moving clockwise, you are moving the energy of your work forward, placing it on the land.
Red brick dust –
Red brick dust has been used traditionally in Southern folk magic for protection. As with most things in folk magic, this is all down to sympathetic associations. Since bricks are hard and used to build protective structures such as houses, it is the perfect ingredient for most types of protection work. For this purpose, by spreading a line between all of the corners, you are building up stone walls around the perimeter. The spikes are the frame, the brick dust is the walls. This step is a way to seal in your work with a strong final layer.
And that’s pretty much all there is to this specific working. If you perform this and it works well for you, and even if it doesn’t, reach out and let me know!