First, let’s talk about chickens. Chickens scratch. They scratch backward with their sharp claws and check the ground carefully for any tiny speck or grain or bug to peck at, then they scratch some more. In some traditions, particularly those of the African diaspora, tricks or curses are often laid by placing something (like hot foot powder) onto the ground where the target is likely to walk. Some traditions place items in the target’s footprint, as in a certain binding spell that involves pounding an iron nail into someone’s footprint. If you have a chicken in your yard (particularly a black and/or frizzled hen) she will scratch up that powder, or that nail before you ever notice it. She might eat it(the powder), or toss it aside(the nail). If said chicken is one of my rooster boys, he’ll even do a little dance around it and call the girls over to take a look so it’ll get good and proper scratched. Thus, the chicken foot is magick, even once detached from the chicken. It scratches away the evil intentions of others. For me, a chicken foot is a powerful de-hexing article. I use the foot to scratch away at cords and other sticky business attached to someone’s aura, or spirit. It can also be used as a warding charm. You may wish to decorate it with paint or beads or all the bedazzled. Whatever you like, and then hang it from a string on or over the item to be protected. You might hang it from your rearview mirror to protect your car, or over the crib to protect your child from invidia. You might add it to a wreath on your door, to protect your home. They can pretty impressive-looking as home decor as well as effecting psychological as well as magical wards. Get Yourself Some Chicken Feet First, you want to pick the right chicken foot. You can buy chicken feet at the grocery store. If you can’t find them out, ask at the butcher counter. If you still can’t find them, head over to an Asian, Mexican, or Eastern European market. Chicken feet are commonly eaten in those cultures and you should have no trouble finding them there. The chicken feet you find at a typical market is probably going to be of the cornish cross variety. These are a hybrid bird bred and raised especially to get them as big and fat as they can possibly be in as short an amount of time as possible. Thus, you’re looking at some nice, plump feet. These are good eating feet, but not as easy to preserve as your typical skinny yardbird feet. Still, it can be done. It just takes longer. (You are more likely to find some nice normal chicken feet at one of those specialty markets I mentioned). Preserve Your Chicken Feet Before you can make your chicken feet into works of magickal art, you must dry them. This can take some time, but is not particularly difficult

1. Wash your chicken feet in cold water and then pat them dry. You may also wish to dip them in alcohol to disinfect them. If you’ve got yardbird chickens they may be pretty dirty though if they are shop chickens, they’re probably already clean.
2. Take a shallow baking pan and fill it about 1 inch deep with salt. It doesn’t have to be a big pan. Just being enough to lay all of your feet in without them touching each other.

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