Substitutions for ritual ingredients

[mikastophiel]

Hello all, I was recently a bit annoyed as a spell called for agarwood and mastic, which my financial situation has rendered a tall task, which got me wondering how y'all get around some of the more tricky-to-source or expensive ritual ingredients that old spells or grimoires can call for. I know some people use substitutions based on celestial correspondences or make spiritual proxies, but I'm sure there's some methods that have slipped my mind.

 

[Parrsplat]

The best advice I can give is to analyze the metaphoric elements behind why the spell needs those ingredients. Once you've determined what the ingredients are actually meant to do you can look for replacements. Something I personally would do is find the closest thing I could get to those metaphorically and physically. For things like agarwood I would look for a related species of wood with some of that perfumes. For mastic I personally would use related types of hardened sap. For both I would personally charge them with the spiritual essence of the two trees.

 

[uraniumglass]

Why is the ingredient being called for? Determine its purpose, and then identify something that would serve that purpose.
Break it down to key compounds and find something with similar (relevant) constituents.
If I’m substituting lavender for scent i’ll reach for one thing, if i’m substituting for chemical makeup i’ll reach for another, astrological correspondences yet another. So on and so forth.

 

[Samael777]

There are several sources you can look at for correspondences and substitutions, but it depends on the tradition you adhere to.

As mentioned in the other replies here, ideally you need to understand why a specific ingredient is being used in a ritual. However, my guess is that if you are asking this question, you are not yet at a stage in your journey where you have the knowledge to make such changes or to find the specific information needed to do so.

So, my suggestion is to look at some of the many tables of correspondences you can find online and in books, especially those related to the tradition you follow, and experiment.

One common approach is to use planetary correspondences: you replace an ingredient associated with a specific planetary sphere with another ingredient associated with the same sphere.

Another approach is to replace it based on its function. For example, if you are doing a love ritual and can’t find a particular love herb, you could substitute it with another ingredient that is also commonly used in love spells.

You can look at books such as The Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham, Liber 777 by Crowley, or Stephen Skinner’s The Complete Magician’s Tables.

Alternatively, you can look into hoodoo books, which often have tables of correspondences organized by purpose (love, money, etc.), such as Catherine Yronwode’s Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic.