According to many traditions, the dirt from graves, often called “the soil of the Dead”, is one of the main ingredients for those spells, whose purpose may vary, that call for the intermediation of the Ancestors, the Dead and the Mighty Dead. For those who practice necromancy, gathering the graveyard dirt is always a touching moment of service and devotion, rather than a way to obtain a needed ingredient for spellworking.
In fact the key to correctly gather graveyard dirt is service, in payment to the permission of the Dead to take some of their soil. Many have the tendency to ignore that in the cemetery nothing belongs to the living beings nor to life: tombs, graves, flowers, bones and even the soil belongs to Death and are filled by its uttermost power.
A right payment to the Dead, the Guardian of the Cemetery and the Lords of Death is always needed before take anything and it’s also important to ask for an explicit permission (make sure you have it!) and listen to the Spirits of the place in order to be advised and understand what is good to take away and how collect it, and what must be left to the Dead. Along with common praxis and offerings, something different may be required according to circumstances, individual possibilities and pathway.
A payment in coins and libations may be sufficient to collect elements in the cemetery without causing the anger of the Dead, but only true devotion to the graveyard, its Spirits and Death, and the deep knowledge of the place may grant the acknowledgement of the work and the possibility to take away blessed materials not connected exclusively with Death: it is wise to consider graveyard dirt much more than a dirt through which strengthen or trick spells.
The soil buried in the cemetery preserves in itself the last sparks of vitality, as well as the restless power of Death, and it is a connection to a definite place of power and all its Spirits. For this reason it is in itself an element of veneration on the altar of Death, both for its ancestral power and the possibility to use it to call all those allies who belong to the cemetery as well as all those Spirits touched by Death.
In our opinion, along side its common use for protection, love and curse spell, the most interesting way to employ graveyard dirt is for fetish magic, spirit boxes and for those vessels destined to the Ancestors or the Mighty Dead. The soil that comes from a grave can recall its owner, as well as the soil taken from the cemetery is without any doubt the best ground on which implant the elements (herbs, bones, crystals, etc.) needed to open and maintain a strong connection through which the Dead may manifest in their full might.
Even if many share the opinion that, once gathered, the soil of the Dead become a possession of the magician, we are of a different advice. For us it is impossible to consider the graveyard dirt differently from a gift granted us by the Lord of the Cemetery, in exchange of service and a right payment. For this reason, in general we don’t sell it to anyone – because the praxis through which we collect and consecrated it allows us to transfer in the dirt a small portion of the power of the Spirits, Ancestors and Mighty Dead we use to worship inside the cemetery. However, as an act of devotion and with the aim to share something very personal with other practitioners, we have asked for the permission to gather some soil from the cemetery where we practice since a long time, and we received the permission to put XIII vials on sail to greetings the upcoming celebrations of Death on 31.10 and 1.11.
May our covenants serve all the devotees of Death and show the way back to the womb of Primordial Darkness.
