I have used a drop or two of my own blood in doing magic.
I used some to empower a set of runes that I crafted. This, from what I have read, was traditional in Northern practices.
In addition, my patron Goddess is Sekhmet. In historical practice, blood was a traditional offering to this Goddess. When I asked her assistance in a healing ritual when my mother had open-heart surgery, I included an offering of several drops of my own blood to her.
Blood carries a bit of your personal life-force. So a drop of blood in a magical working is a sacrifice on your part of part of that life-force. This can be a very powerful adjunct to your magic.
For me, personally, I would not use blood from an animal or another person in my workings. The important thing in my magic is that my blood is a sort of sacrifice to the Gods that helps empower that magic.
Other paths are not so strict. For instance, in some of the African diasporic religions such as Santeria, animal sacrifice is a normal part of their rituals.
hm, interesting. I've been thinking a little about making a spell to empower a wand I made out of juniper wood and now that it seems like blood is a good empowering tool; is there any specific gods to ask for good energies in return of blood? and is there any herbs you think would go well with this?
I would be a little concerned to use blood to power somerhing being used for many different things. You might accidently bind urself to something you dont want
You're not going to accidentally bind yourself to something random using blood. Blood makes a connection to what you're using it for, like runes mentioned above, but the odds of messing it up bad enough by accident isn't super likely.
Wait a second so then. Will Diana accept my blood as an offering? I only have that or my poetry and dance. And if it can help significantly then I am not against it.
As an offering to Diana, a good start could be moonwater.
http://www.witchipedia.com/def:moon-water
If you insist on using blood as an offering, I would suggest the blood of life(menstrual blood) as opposed to blood that is shed in a sacrificial manner, simply because it is more in relation to what Diana herself operates in.
As you become closer to the goddess, and actually talk to her, and more importantly, listen to her, intuition and her own words will guide you to a proper offering.
A glass of water, or a white candle is generally accepted as a universal offering that any spirit will accept, and is good for when first begin to work with the entity, before learning what their preferences are.
Despite this original post being quite old the recent comments on it are still relevant to individuals seeking out ideas today. I personally don't believe using blood in a spell makes it more powerful or better, it all comes down to your connection with what it is you are looking to accomplish.
I like to use a drop of blood in some spells, only for that personal life-force feeling. Blood is part of you and your desires and will compose of your connection to life. Adding your own blood would only aid you in what it is you are looking to achieve, however if you want to just use a substitute it won't make the spell any less effective as long as your will and mind-set are focused.
Just use caution when using your own blood. I happen to have a handy-dandy blood glucose meter with disposable sterile needle points. This makes it very easy for me to prick my finger but for someone that does not have this tool make sure you are using something sterile and always wash your hands before if looking to prick a finger. Then clean or dispose of the needle properly, as always common sense when dealing with things like this.
Again blood is a choice and really personal feelings. You can use dragons blood and often I use this in place of real blood when writing spells out. There are several ways to create a usable liquid-ink using dragons blood to get that same effect.
