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Also known as magnetite, lodestones are magnetic iron ore. They are the magical bridge between the realms of stone and iron. They possess transcendentally powerful magic energy. Lodestones attract and draw good fortune: money, success, and love. They’re also used in healing rituals: lodestones can draw pain from the body in the same manner that they can draw a lover or money towards you.

Lodestones may be used individually or in matched pairs. They are perceived to have gender; depending on purpose, you may require a male or female lodestone or a pair. It’s easier to determine the gender of a lodestone than that of a parakeet. Female lodestones are rounded; phallic-looking lodestones announce their manhood.

Wherever people have been in contact with lodestones, they have used them magically. Alexander the Great distributed lodestones to his troops to protect them from djinn. Chinese magic favors lodestones as wedding rings, to ensure the happy survival of a marriage. In ancient Rome, statues of Venus and Mars were carved from lodestone so as to be magnetically attracted, demonstrating the powerful sexual magnetism between the two forces.

The origins of lodestones are shrouded in mystery. Their use goes back to ancient times. Magnetite, their more scientific name, derives from the ancient city of Magnesia, from whence they were once mined. Lodestones are a positive, benevolent force, always used to draw good fortune. Lodestones, like the root charm High John the Conqueror, are thus not tools for hexing. The worst thing you can do with a lodestone is fail to avail yourself of its power.

Christian legend has it that the stone upon which Christ’s body rested for three days following his crucifixion was a lodestone. Its miraculous properties were revealed to Godfrey of Bouillon when he led the First Crusade to Jerusalem. While praying in Christ’s Sepulcher a voice whispered to him that his victory was assured if he’d only carry away a bit of the stone. He listened to the voice’s advice, which proved true. However, according to this legend, the kings who succeeded him paid no attention to the stone and therefore the Holy Land was lost to them.

In addition to memory, lodestones are acknowledged to possess consciousness, intelligence, even wit, and especially a soul. Although any rock or crystal is alive, lodestones are really alive! Because of this perception, lodestones must be replenished consistently by “feeding” (though all crystals need to be recharged periodically). Now you can’t just give a lodestone a little bit of your own dinner, the way you’d give a treat to a dog. Lodestones have their own preferred nutritional supplement: fine iron shot, also known as iron filings, iron dust or, in Hoodoo parlance, magnetic sand. Magnetic sand is also perceived as possessing a “drawing” power all of its own, and is a component of many magic spells, with and without lodestones.