Old-School Hoodoo Wisdom on Petition Work with a Glass of Water

Some works don’t require fire, just stillness. Some spirits don’t need smoke—they listen through silence. And some of the strongest conjure comes from nothing more than a name, a prayer, and a glass of water.

This ain’t new. This is the kind of work your great-aunt kept behind the curtain. The kind your grandfather whispered over in the dark when the house was too quiet and the world felt heavy. Water is one of the oldest tools we’ve ever known, and when paired with a petition, it becomes a spiritual messenger with a long memory and a straight path.

Why Water?

In the old days, water wasn’t just for washing your face or cooking your greens. Water holds memory. It absorbs prayer. It carries spirit.

Think on it: water flows across the land, through the body, through time. It never loses what it carries. That’s why we place a glass of water on the altar for spirits. That’s why we sit it by the door when we feel something ain’t right. It’s not superstition. It’s transmission. It moves what can’t be moved by hand.

Water is also still. It listens. It reflects. So when you place a petition under a glass of water, you’re pressing your desire into a still place—and asking Spirit to carry it where it needs to go.

How the Petition Works

The petition is the voice of the work.

You write the name. The desire. The call. Then you fold it with intention—toward you if you want to draw something in, away from you if you want to push it out. Fold it once or three times. What matters is your focus and your faith.

That folded petition goes under the glass. Now the water becomes a lens. A mirror. A mouth. It holds the vibration of what you wrote and begins to carry it through the spirit world.

You speak over it—not mumbling, not rambling—just a straight call. You can whisper. You can quote Scripture. But what you say goes into that water, and that water delivers it.

Why Speak Into the Water?

Because breath is spirit.

The word "spirit" comes from the Latin spīrītus, meaning "breath" or "wind." In Hebrew, the word used in the Bible is ruach—meaning breath, wind, or spirit. This is not just poetic talk. It’s the life force. The breath you release is charged with your intention and your spiritual power.

Genesis 1:2 says: "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

That verse is not metaphor. It’s instruction.

The Spirit of God hovered, moved, brooded over the waters. That same action—spirit moving across water—is what you're doing when you lean over that glass, whisper your petition, and breathe across the top. You are doing what God did in the beginning: calling order out of chaos. Calling light out of stillness.

When you blow or speak gently across the top of that glass, you’re sending your own spirit out upon the water. That’s the same way we speak healing over the sick. It’s the same way we pray over oil or lay hands. The water catches what you say.

If you read Scripture, the Word does the rest. Psalms especially—they're not just poetry, they’re commands. They shift the unseen. You don’t need incense. You don’t need the aesthetics. Just say the Word with belief.

Where You Place It Matters

Water listens best in still places.

• By your bed: it speaks to your spirit while you sleep.

• At a window: it sends messages outward into the world.

• At the front door: it welcomes in what’s been missing—or keeps out what shouldn’t cross.

• On your altar: it testifies in front of your spirits as well as it is what your spirits can move through, speak through, and draw strength from.

• At your desk: to call in work, jobs, or focus.

• In your kitchen: to settle the heart of the home.

• In a private corner: when the matter is too personal for others to witness.

  
  

What to Put Under the Glass

Here’s where old wisdom really shines.

Examples:

• A name – To call someone home, stir them to speak, or soften their heart. Sit it near the bed or on your altar.

• A debt notice or bill – To draw in money, relieve burden, or get something paid. Sit it near your front door or in your money altar.

• A court date – For favor, mercy, or swift resolution. Sit it near a white candle or court case candle/work, open Bible, or in a clean place by the window.

• Your own name – For peace of mind, spiritual rest, or self-forgiveness. Sit it on your nightstand or personal altar.

• A job posting – To bring opportunity close or help you stand out. Sit it on your desk or where you handle your business.

• A simple word like “peace” or “truth” – To settle a house or draw truth to light. Sit it in the living room or near the center of the home such as the kitchen or living room.

• Two names tied together – To draw two people into clarity, not just closeness. Sit it on a prayer altar or next to a unity candle.

• A statement like “Paid in Full” or “Let the truth rise” – To declare a thing done. Sit it wherever the situation is rooted—financial? near your wallet. Emotional? near your bed.

  
  

No oils. No powders. Just paper, water, and belief.

Water as Mirror: Spiritual Reflection Work

Water reflects—not just faces, but truth. And truth is what makes the spirit uneasy when it’s been hiding.

Reflection work can also be done using a:

• Clear glass or bowl of water (glass cup or bowl so light can pass through it to cast a reflection)

• Petition underneath naming what they need to see

• White candle to light truth

• Bible open to 1 Corinthians 13:12:

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

Working Steps:

1. Write the petition. Speak to what the person must face in themselves over the water: “[Name], may your eyes be opened to your actions..."

2. Place the paper under a clear bowl of water.

3. If using a photo, sat it on top of the bowl, face down looking into the water, to let the candlelight reflect it. The water should show the reflection.

4. Read the verse aloud. Then say:

   “Let what’s hidden be seen—face to face.” (Example. This can be tailored to your own needs)

   
   

This is not to punish. It’s to awaken. And Spirit knows the difference.

This Is Not a Spell—It’s a Conversation

You’re not casting. You’re not controlling. You’re speaking into creation what needs to be known. And the water knows.

It knows who’s heavy in your heart. It knows what you’re tired of carrying. It knows how to speak to spirit without making a sound.

And it knows how to carry that message exactly where it needs to go.

The Elder’s Reminder

Keep it simple. Keep it honest. Work with what’s in your house.

The water will work if you work it with a clean heart and a steady mind. Don’t rush it. Don’t redo it every hour. Write it, speak it—and let the water do the work.

The old ones didn’t need much. And you don’t either.

Because the water still knows.

The Work That Brought Him Home

A Personal Testimony

Many moons ago, before I knew all I know now, I was told something by my mother that changed the way I looked at water forever. I was dating a man who was in the Navy, stationed overseas. They had been delaying his return again and again. I was young and heart-heavy, not knowing what to do.

Mama said, "Take a glass of water and his picture. Lay that picture over the top of the glass, and slide it under your bed. That'll bring him back across the water to you."

I did just as she said. A plain glass of water. A photo of him from a letter he’d mailed. I laid it carefully across the rim of the glass, face-down, so his image hovered just above the water. Then I placed it beneath my bed, where my spirit rests and dreams walk.

Water was the bridge. His photo held the spirit connection. And placing it under the bed set the work where the spirit moves quietest, where dreams walk. Within a month, out of the blue, they let him come home. No reason. No warning. But I knew. That glass did what Mama said it would.

Why It Worked

• The Water: Water is the spiritual pathway. In this case, it connected two distant shores—mine and his.

• His Photo: A photo isn’t just an image. It holds spirit. It carries memory, vibration, and recognition.

• Under the Bed: The bed is where your body rests and your spirit opens. At night, the soul moves freely—and the work lives in that quiet motion.

That was the first water work I ever did. And it’s stayed with me since. That’s why I believe in this—not because I read it, but because I lived it.