If there is one formula that every practitioner, every rootworker, and every person who has ever sat at a Hoodoo altar should know, it is Van Van Oil.
Not because it is flashy. Not because it promises overnight miracles. But because Van Van Oil does something that almost no other formula does with the same consistency and depth: it clears the way.
It removes the blocks. It dissolves the crossed conditions. It turns bad luck into good. It opens doors that have been sealed for years, sometimes decades, sometimes across generations. And when it is made properly, with the right herbs, the right intention, and the right hands working it on an altar, it is one of the most quietly powerful spiritual tools in the entire Hoodoo tradition.
This is an educational guide. Whether you are coming to this blog for the first time after meeting us at Queen City Spirit Market on June 20th, whether you are a practicing rootworker looking to deepen your understanding, or whether you are spiritually curious and trying to understand what Hoodoo actually is beyond the misconceptions, this guide is for you.
We are going to cover the full history of Van Van Oil, its botanical roots, its place in New Orleans Hoodoo tradition, its deep connection to Juneteenth and the theme of liberation, and three complete rituals using candle magic and Rich Bitch Conjure products that you can begin working with immediately.
Welcome to the real work.
WHAT IS VAN VAN OIL?
Van Van Oil is one of the oldest and most widely used formulas in American Hoodoo conjure tradition. It is a multi-purpose spiritual oil designed primarily for clearing, road opening, luck-turning, and spiritual protection. In the lexicon of rootwork, it is what practitioners call a condition oil, meaning it is created to address a specific spiritual condition rather than a single narrow goal.
The condition Van Van addresses is obstruction. Blockage. The feeling that no matter what you do, nothing seems to move forward. Doors keep closing. Opportunities disappear before you can reach them. Your luck feels reversed, your energy feels heavy, and progress feels impossible.
That is a crossed condition. And Van Van Oil is specifically built to clear it.
The name Van Van itself derives directly from the Creole French word "verveine," the French word for Vervain, also known as verbena. Vervain is the original and traditional botanical anchor of the Van Van formula. It is a sacred herb with deep roots in indigenous healing traditions and African spiritual practice, known for its powerful cleansing, protection, and luck-turning properties. The name is not metaphorical. It is botanical. Van Van Oil is, at its origin, a Vervain oil.
Over time, as the formula traveled beyond Louisiana and demand increased, Lemongrass became the most widely used substitute for Vervain. The reasons were practical: Vervain can be difficult to source consistently, true verbena essential oil is costly, and Lemongrass carries a spiritually compatible energy with its own strong cleansing and road-opening properties. Lemongrass works. But it is important to understand that it is a substitution, not the original. Many commercial Van Van oils sold today use Lemongrass without disclosing that distinction, and some use neither, relying instead on synthetic fragrance that carries no botanical power at all.
Knowing the difference matters. It is the difference between working with the real formula and working with an imitation of it.
Van Van is not glamour work. It is not a love oil or a money drawing formula in the narrow sense. It is a foundation oil. It is what you use to prepare yourself and your space before you do any other spiritual work. It is what you use when your other workings are not landing because there is something in the way. It is what you use when life feels stuck and you cannot identify exactly why.
Every serious Hoodoo practitioner has Van Van in their arsenal. And now, it is yours.
THE BOTANICAL ROOTS OF VAN VAN OIL
Understanding what is in Van Van Oil and why those ingredients were chosen is part of understanding its power. Hoodoo is a practice rooted in herbalism, in the doctrine of signatures, and in the accumulated spiritual and medicinal knowledge of African and Native American folk traditions woven together across centuries on American soil.
The traditional Van Van formula centers on the following botanical components:
VERVAIN (THE ORIGINAL ANCHOR)
Vervain, also known as verbena, is the original heart of the Van Van formula and the herb the oil is literally named after. In folk magic traditions across Africa, Europe, and the Americas, Vervain has been used for centuries as a sacred cleansing, protective, and luck-drawing herb. It clears spiritual interference, removes hexes and crossed conditions, and opens roads. It is a powerful ally for anyone navigating unjust systems, hostile environments, or periods of persistent bad fortune. This is the herb that gave Van Van Oil its name and its foundational spiritual identity. When you work with a formula that contains real Vervain, you are working with the original.
LEMONGRASS (THE TRADITIONAL SUBSTITUTE)
Because Vervain can be difficult to source consistently and true verbena essential oil is costly, Lemongrass became the most widely used botanical substitute in Van Van formulas over time. It is spiritually compatible with Vervain, sharing its sharp, clarifying, path-clearing energy. Lemongrass is a legitimate and effective substitution with its own strong cleansing and road-opening properties in Hoodoo tradition. However, it is important for any serious practitioner or educated consumer to know that Lemongrass is a substitution for the original Vervain anchor, not a replacement equal to it in historical or botanical authority. Many commercial Van Van oils use Lemongrass without disclosing this distinction. Fewer still use neither, relying instead on synthetic fragrance with no botanical power whatsoever.
VETIVER
Vetiver root, also called khus in some traditions, is a deeply earthy, grounding root with a rich, smoky aroma. In Hoodoo, vetiver is associated with luck, money, and protection. It provides the prosperity layer of Van Van Oil, ensuring that once the path is cleared, the clearing is also magnetized to attract favorable outcomes. Vetiver is a heavy root. It settles and anchors. It ensures that the cleansed space is not left empty and vulnerable but is filled with stable, positive energy.
CITRONELLA
Citronella is widely known in mundane use as an insect repellent but in Hoodoo tradition it carries a much more specific spiritual meaning: the repelling of enemies, unwanted influences, and negative spiritual attention. Citronella in a Van Van formula ensures that once you have cleared your path, what comes back toward you is beneficial and what was sent to block you is turned away.
PALMAROSA
Palmarosa is a sweet, floral grass related to lemongrass that brings adaptability, healing, and restoration to a formula. After the clearing work of Vervain or Lemongrass, the grounding of vetiver, and the repelling action of citronella, palmarosa soothes and restores. It calls back what was lost and softens the transition from blocked to open.
Together, these botanical components create a formula that does not just remove what is negative but actively prepares the practitioner to receive what is positive. This is why Van Van is considered a foundational oil rather than a single-purpose formula. And this is why the source and composition of your Van Van Oil matters more than most people realize.
The Rich Bitch Conjure Van Van Oil is handcrafted with real botanicals, worked on the altar for two weeks before release, and made by a rootworker by birthright. This is not a cosmetic oil. This is the real formula made with the real intention it requires.
VAN VAN OIL AND NEW ORLEANS HOODOO TRADITION
To understand Van Van Oil fully, you have to understand the tradition it comes from.
New Orleans Hoodoo is one of the most distinctive and most misrepresented spiritual traditions in American history. It is not Voodoo, though the two traditions exist in the same geographic and cultural landscape and share some ancestral roots. Hoodoo is a system of folk magic, herbalism, and spiritual practice rooted primarily in the African spiritual traditions brought to America through the transatlantic slave trade, blended over centuries with Native American plant knowledge.
New Orleans became a unique crucible for this blending because of its specific history as a port city with one of the largest free Black populations in the antebellum South. The French Creole culture, the Catholic religious framework, the African diaspora communities, and the Native peoples of Louisiana all contributed to a spiritual tradition that was richer, more complex, and more diverse than anything that could have emerged from any single culture alone.
Van Van Oil is a product of that New Orleans crucible. Its foundation in Vervain reflects both the European folk magic influence that came through French Creole culture and the African spiritual traditions that understood this herb as a tool for clearing, protection, and turning fortune. Its function as a clearing and road-opening formula reflects the deep need within enslaved and later freed Black communities for spiritual tools that could be used quietly, privately, and without detection to improve conditions, protect the household, and turn the tide of luck in one's favor when the external world offered no such support.
Van Van Oil was not created as an abstract spiritual curiosity. It was created as a survival tool. As a way of saying: even if the system is against me, I can clear my own path. I can open my own doors. I can protect my own household and turn my own luck.
That is the full weight of what you are working with when you open a bottle of Van Van Oil.
VAN VAN OIL AND JUNETEENTH: THE FREEDOM CONNECTION
This guide is being published in the week of Juneteenth 2026, and that is not a coincidence.
Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when the last enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas received word that they were legally free. Two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Two and a half years of continued enslavement after legal freedom had already been declared.
The Juneteenth story is not just a story about the announcement of freedom. It is a story about blocked freedom. About a path that was open in law but closed in practice. About the distance between what is promised and what is delivered to Black Americans.
Van Van Oil has always been about that distance.
Every person who has ever worked with Van Van Oil was working with it because something was in the way. Because the path that should have been open was blocked. Because the doors that should have opened had not. Because the luck that should have turned had stayed turned against them despite their effort, their faith, and their righteousness.
Van Van clears what should not be there. It opens what should not have been closed. It turns what should not have stayed reversed.
In 2026, as Black America engages in a conscious and collective reckoning with economic power, community investment, and the intentional reclamation of generational wealth, Van Van Oil carries a significance that is both personal and collective. We are clearing the path not just for ourselves but for our children. Not just for our households but for our communities. Not just for this year but for the generations that will inherit what we build now.
This is why the first 25 participants at Queen City Spirit Market on June 20th at The Bag Lady in Charlotte, NC will receive a swag bag that includes the exclusive Rich Bitch Conjure Van Van Oil, worked on LadyDi's altar for two weeks before the event and not available for sale at this time. This is not a promotional giveaway. This is a spiritual offering for the community. These oils are ready to work. They are already carrying the intention of clearing, road opening, and Juneteenth liberation.
Come receive yours. Queen City Spirit Market runs from 12pm to 6pm on June 20th, 2026.
HOW TO USE VAN VAN OIL: BASIC APPLICATIONS
Before we move into the three complete rituals, here is a foundational overview of how Van Van Oil is used in daily practice.
ANOINTING THE BODY
Apply Van Van Oil to your pulse points, the wrists, the base of the throat, behind the ears, and the crown of the head before you go anywhere that requires spiritual protection or where you need a clear path. Job interviews. Court dates. Important meetings. New beginnings of any kind.
DRESSING CANDLES
Van Van Oil is one of the most commonly used oils for dressing candles in Hoodoo. Apply it to a candle from the center outward to draw something toward you, or from the center inward to send something away. Always use real wax candles for ritual work.
ANOINTING DOORWAYS AND THRESHOLDS
Apply Van Van Oil to the doorframes of your home and business to keep your path clear, invite favorable visitors, and repel negative energy or spiritual interference.
ADDING TO FLOOR WASHES
Add Van Van Oil to your floor wash water when you cleanse your home spiritually. Wash from the back of the house toward the front door to push out what does not belong. Wash from the front door inward to draw in what you want to keep.
DRESSING PETITION PAPERS AND DOCUMENTS
Anoint the corners of any important document, contract, or petition paper with Van Van Oil to clear the path toward a favorable outcome.
THREE COMPLETE RITUALS USING VAN VAN OIL AND RICH BITCH CONJURE PRODUCTS
RITUAL ONE: THE ROAD OPENING BATH AND CANDLE RITUAL
This ritual is for clearing blocked paths, releasing stagnant energy, and opening yourself to receive new opportunities. It is best performed on a Friday morning or during a new moon. It combines the Rich Bitch Conjure ritualized body scrub, spelled body butter, and Van Van Oil with candle magic for a complete spiritual reset.
WHAT YOU NEED:
Rich Bitch Conjure Ritualized Body Scrub (any formula)
Rich Bitch Conjure Spelled Body Butter
Rich Bitch Conjure Van Van Conjure Oil (exclusive to the Queen City Spirit Market)
One yellow chime candle or pillar candle (yellow is the color of roads, clarity, and movement in Hoodoo)
A small piece of paper and a pen
A fireproof dish or candle holder
PREPARATION:
Before you begin, clean your bathroom physically. Clutter in your ritual space is clutter in your spiritual field. Light a stick of incense if you have it to clear the air first.
Write your petition on the paper. Keep it simple and direct. Write what you need cleared and what you need opened. For example: "All blocks are removed. My path is clear. Opportunity flows to me easily." Fold the paper toward you three times, turning it clockwise each fold.
STEP ONE:
Anoint the yellow candle with Van Van Oil from the center of the candle outward toward both ends. As you anoint it, speak your petition aloud over the candle. Place it in a secure holder on a fireproof surface. Do not light it yet.
STEP TWO:
Draw your bath or prepare your shower. If bathing, add seven drops of Van Van Oil to the water. Enter the water and use your Rich Bitch Conjure Ritualized Body Scrub first. As you scrub, visualize everything that has been blocking you lifting off your skin. Every door that has been closed. Every opportunity that turned away. Every crossed condition that has been sitting on your path. Let the scrub carry it. Let the water take it.
STEP THREE:
Rinse completely. Exit the bath or shower and while your skin is still warm and slightly damp, apply your Rich Bitch Conjure Spelled Body Butter from your feet upward toward your heart. You are now sealing in the cleared state. You are locking in your petition.
STEP FOUR:
While still in your ritual clothes or robe, anoint your wrists, throat, and crown with Van Van Oil. Go to your candle. Place your petition paper beneath the candle holder. Light the candle. Sit in front of it for at least ten minutes. Breathe. Watch the flame. Speak your petition aloud once more. Let the candle burn down completely if it is a small chime candle. If it is a larger pillar, burn it for one hour each day until it is gone.
AFTERCARE:
Go about your day. Do not speak about the ritual to anyone. Watch for doors opening in the following days.
RITUAL TWO: THE THREE-CANDLE LUCK REVERSAL RITUAL
This ritual is for reversing a run of bad luck, removing a crossed condition, and resetting your fortune. It is particularly powerful when you feel like you have been spiritually interfered with, when nothing you try seems to work, or when you have experienced a significant streak of loss, misfortune, or setbacks. This ritual uses three candles and is best performed on a Saturday when working to remove something, or a Sunday when working to restore fortune and divine favor.
WHAT YOU NEED:
Rich Bitch Conjure Ritual Bar (any formula)
Rich Bitch Conjure Ritualized Body Scrub
Rich Bitch Conjure Spelled Body Butter
Rich Bitch Conjure Van Van Conjure Oil (exclusive to the Queen City Spirit Market)
One black candle (for absorbing and removing the crossed condition)
One white candle (for purification and restoration)
One yellow or gold candle (for luck, clarity, and opening)
A small mirror (pocket mirror is fine)
Petition paper and pen
Salt
PREPARATION:
Set your three candles in a line on your altar or a clean flat surface. Black candle on the left. White candle in the center. Yellow or gold candle on the right. Place the small mirror face-up beneath the white center candle to reflect and amplify the purification.
Write your petition on the paper: "All crossed conditions, hexes, bad luck, and spiritual interference are now removed. What was sent against me is returned and neutralized. My fortune is restored. My path is clear and lucky."
Dress all three candles with Van Van Oil. Dress the black candle from both ends toward the center (drawing the negativity into it to be consumed). Dress the white and yellow candles from center outward (pushing blessings and luck out toward you).
STEP ONE:
Shower or bathe first using your Rich Bitch Conjure Ritual Bar. As the water runs over you, state aloud: "I am cleansed. I am cleared. What was placed against me has no power over me." Rinse from head to toe.
STEP TWO:
Before exiting, use your Ritualized Body Scrub to exfoliate and clear. Rinse well. Apply your Spelled Body Butter while speaking your intention. Anoint pulse points with Van Van Oil.
STEP THREE:
Return to your altar. Sprinkle a small line of salt in front of the black candle as a separation between the old conditions and your renewed state. Light the black candle first, saying: "I release every block, every crossed condition, every reversal placed against me. You are consumed."
Light the white candle second: "I am purified. I am restored. Divine favor returns to me now."
Light the yellow candle third: "My road is open. My luck is turned in my favor. Good fortune finds me easily."
STEP FOUR:
Place your petition paper beneath the mirror beneath the white candle. Sit with the three candles for a minimum of 20 minutes. Focus on the white center flame. Breathe. When you are ready, allow the candles to burn for one hour, then extinguish them safely and repeat the burning each day for three consecutive days. On the third day, allow all three to burn completely.
DISPOSAL:
When the ritual is complete, take any remnants of the black candle and dispose of them away from your home, ideally at a crossroads or in a public trash receptacle far from your property. The white and yellow remnants can be buried in your yard or kept on your altar.
RITUAL THREE: THE JUNETEENTH LIBERATION AND FINANCIAL FREEDOM RITUAL
This ritual is designed specifically for the season of Juneteenth and for anyone working toward financial freedom, the breaking of generational poverty cycles, and the alignment of their spiritual energy with economic liberation. It combines Van Van Oil's road-opening and luck-turning properties with a specific focus on financial sovereignty. This ritual is best performed on or around June 19th and can be repeated each Juneteenth as an annual practice.
WHAT YOU NEED:
Rich Bitch Conjure Van Van Conjure Oil (exclusive to the Queen City Spirit Market)
Rich Bitch Conjure Ritual Bar
Rich Bitch Conjure Ritualized Body Scrub
Rich Bitch Conjure Spelled Body Butter
One green candle (for money, growth, and abundance)
One gold candle (for wealth, success, and prosperity)
A dollar bill
A small piece of paper
Something that belonged to an ancestor if available (a photograph, a piece of jewelry, a handwritten item)
Bay laurel leaves (dried, available at most grocery stores)
PREPARATION:
Set up your altar with the ancestral item or photograph placed at the back as the spiritual witness. Write your petition: "I break every generational cycle of financial lack that has followed my bloodline. I clear the path to wealth, abundance, and financial sovereignty for myself and every generation that follows me. What was withheld is now restored. I receive what is owed."
Write this petition on the small piece of paper and on each bay laurel leaf, write one word that represents your financial goal. Examples: Freedom. Abundance. Business. Wealth. Property. Inheritance.
Dress both candles with Van Van Oil. Place them side by side with the dollar bill beneath the green candle. Place the bay laurel leaves in a circle around both candles.
STEP ONE:
Begin with a full ritual bath or shower using your Rich Bitch Conjure Ritual Bar. As you cleanse, speak to your ancestors directly. You may say something like: "I honor what you survived. I carry what you built. And I now break what was placed against us financially. The cycle ends with me and a new one begins." Rinse completely.
STEP TWO:
Use your Ritualized Body Scrub with full intention: you are shedding the energetic inheritance of lack. You are not dishonoring your ancestors. You are completing the work they could not finish. Apply your Spelled Body Butter from feet to crown. Anoint with Van Van Oil at pulse points.
STEP THREE:
Return to your altar. Speak your petition aloud three times, once for yourself, once for your children or those who will come after you, and once for the ancestors who deserved this freedom and did not receive it in their lifetime. Light the green candle. Light the gold candle.
STEP FOUR:
Sit with the candles for at least 30 minutes. If you have them, play music that connects you to your ancestral strength. Meditate on what financial freedom looks and feels like not just for you but for your family line. See the block dissolving. See the path opening. See the wealth moving toward your bloodline and staying there.
Allow the candles to burn in a safe space for as long as possible each day until they are gone. Keep the dollar bill on your altar or in your wallet when the ritual is complete. Keep the bay laurel leaves in a small pouch in your money space or wallet.
ANNUAL PRACTICE:
Return to this ritual every Juneteenth. Each year you will go deeper. Each year the path will be clearer and the financial alignment stronger. This is how generational work is done: consistently, with patience, and with the understanding that some of what you are planting today will be harvested by people who have not yet been born.
WHY THE SOURCE OF YOUR VAN VAN OIL MATTERS
Not all Van Van Oil is the same. In fact, a significant portion of what is sold as Van Van Oil in online marketplaces, big box candle shops, and spiritual supply stores is not Van Van Oil in any meaningful sense. It is colored mineral oil or synthetic fragrance oil in a dark bottle with a label that says Van Van.
This matters because the botanical properties of the herbs in the formula are not decorative. They are functional. Lemongrass has real spiritual and energetic properties. Vetiver has real grounding and luck-drawing properties. These do not exist in synthetic fragrance. They exist in the plant material itself, in the essential oils extracted from that plant material, and in the hands and intention of the person making the formula.
A properly made Hoodoo conjure oil is made with real herbs, real carrier oils, real essential oils, and real spiritual intention. It is worked on an altar. It is prayed over. It is made by someone with roots in the tradition who understands what the formula is for and how to charge it for that purpose.
The Rich Bitch Conjure Van Van Oil that will be in the swag bags at Queen City Spirit Market on June 20th was worked on LadyDi's altar for two full weeks before the event. It is ready to work for you from the moment you receive it.
This is what the real work looks like. Part Two of this blog series will go deep into this topic: how mainstream wellness culture has appropriated and diluted Hoodoo, why it matters, and how to recognize authentic conjure products from performative ones.
JOIN US: QUEEN CITY SPIRIT MARKET AND QUEEN CITY CONJURE FEST
Queen City Spirit Market is a curated Juneteenth spiritual marketplace co-presented by Rich Bitch Conjure and Emma and Rachel Conjure at The Bag Lady in Charlotte, NC on June 20, 2026 from 12pm to 6pm.
This event is a living example of the conscious wealth shift in action. Black-owned spiritual businesses gathered in one space, serving a community that is intentional about where it invests its dollars and its energy. Come to shop. Come to learn. Come to connect with practitioners who are rooted in real tradition.
The first 25 participants will receive an exclusive swag bag containing the Rich Bitch Conjure Van Van Oil that has been worked on LadyDi's altar for two weeks. This is a limited offering. Once those 25 swag bags are gone, they are gone.
Register now. Share this blog with someone who needs to be in that room.
And mark your calendars: Queen City Conjure Fest is tentatively scheduled for October 2026. This will be a larger, full-day celebration of authentic Hoodoo culture, Black spiritual tradition, and community economic empowerment. Vendors. Education. Demonstrations. Community. Details will be announced on our website and social media. Follow us and join our email list to be the first to know.
This is what we are building. Come be part of it.
DROP A COMMENT BELOW
Have you ever worked with Van Van Oil? What shifted for you when you did? If you are new to Hoodoo practice, what question do you have about Van Van Oil that was not answered in this guide? Your question might become the topic of our next educational post.
Drop it in the comments. We read every single one.
Rich Bitch Conjure is a luxury Hoodoo conjure brand based in the Charlotte, NC area. All products are handcrafted, fully ritualized, and made with real herbs and curios by a rootworker by birthright. These products are sold as curios and for spiritual use. Individual results vary.
This is a two-part blog series. Part 2: The Hoodoo Authenticity Crisis: Why the Real Rootworkers Are Rising is coming soon.