2. Yes substitutions are more than acceptable. It is better that the item substituted does have a simlilar effect as the original ingredient. Hot sauce for chilli powder may not be the best substitution due to the chance of the sauce going south, growing molds. Pepper for hot is also a valid substitution.
3. Urine in a witch's type bottle is often used as a taglock to represent the practitioner. It ties the practitioner to their bottle. This is done with the idea in mind that negative magic used toward the witch, will instead target the bottle. This is often referred to as a scapegoat spell. Many protection spells can function this way both with or without such taglocks. An alternative to urine can be the practitioner's nail clippings, or hair.
Re: Question about Jar Spells By: BrynBrown / Novice
Post # 3 Feb 27, 2021
1 - Yes! Symbols can be used instead of or with sigils or sentences.
2 - Yes, as long as the substitution fits. Try to figure out why the ingredient is called for in the spell; a substitution for roses in a spell will depend on whether the spell is using roses to bring protection or love. Some subs can be good subs for love, but not for protection, and vice versa. Generally, as long as the sub is pretty close to the original it should still work (like the examples you listed), but I'd double check.
3 - Not sure, I don't use bodily fluids in my craft.
Urine was used for different reasons by different people. It used to be a very utilitarian thing, a source for fertilizer, to make gun powder, and whiten the laundry. It's transformative in nature, and many alchemists used it in their practices. It was the only reliable source for nitrogen compounds for a very, very long time. Nitrogen is reactive, and some of its compounds are preservative. It helps plants (and therefore spells) grow more reliably.
Thank you! Oh I forgot one more important question. Does the jar have to be glass only? I have trouble saving jars bc I live with my grandparents and they use them to dispose of old cooking grease.
I currently have a few small plastic containers with lids. I use these for jar spells at times. I lean toward using less liquid type ingredients with these as the lids aren't air tight or leak proof.
Dried herbs and stones work nice in these. And drier ingredients in such containers are better for carrying around in bags or pockets.
But yes, plastic containers can be used effectively for sucessful spellwork.