When we look at some of the ingredients we’re using there is a level of caution to hold because dead animals, organs, and urine are not necessarily things you want to come in direct contact with. Now obviously most people know they shouldn’t just handle this stuff bare handed. I don’t think I need to explain to you all why you should handle urine and dead animals with gloves. But if you’re new to such things, you may not be aware of best-practices when handling them.
I’ve work in the medical field and usually follow a blood-spill like procedure with this stuff. I wanted to detail this for those who may not know the full process so that there’s a clear guide for those who may not be as experienced with biohazards, ensuring we can all do our spell craft safely and efficiently.
With the urine, if you want to use your own, I recommend following what your doctor would recommend when giving a urine sample. Typically, this means cleaning the genital area, using a clean receptacle, etc, you get the idea! If you plan to use a different form of urine, just make sure to maintain a safe and clean environment, sterilize, sanitize, etc. Sometimes you can buy bottles of animal pheromone/urine, which are typically used in hunting lures, sometimes people use animal urine from livestock, regardless stay safe and clean.
Don’t curse yourself with an infection trying to curse others!
Set Up
Gloves and cleaning supplies will be your best friends here. Before I start, I cover my working area with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, and paper towels after disinfecting as best as possible with available cleaning solutions. Bleach is my favorite.
I make sure everything I need that is not a biohazard is ready to be put in when needed, usually this means I prepare it in single use items, like a plastic dip bowl. Wasteful, but at the end you’ll understand why! To cut down on my waste all things will be grouped together like my herbs and such, and items that do not need a container will not be in one.
Then after all my non-biohazard ingredients are prepped and ready to go, I make my “biohazard” double bag. I’ve talked about blood spill procedures in my blood magic post before and follow a very similar set up here.
I get two bags, one larger than the other (sometimes I buy biohazard bags for this if I know I’ll need them, or I use sealed plastic bags and draw a biohazard sign.) The larger bag is our double bag; this will be used as an extra layer of protection to seal the items off for disposal. The smaller bag should still be big enough to fit all the contaminated items in it, but just smaller than the other bag so it can fit inside with ease and not risk breaking it.
This is mainly so that the contents aren’t just out in the open when disposed of, and have more layers keeping them sealed, protecting both you and whoever comes in contact with it.
Keep in mind you should not be disposing the animal parts, unless otherwise allowed by your area’s waste management company.
You will just be throwing away the things that come in contact with them or become contaminated. The gloves, the prep set up (foil, plastic wrap, paper towels), and such. This is why I use single use items, because whatever I touch with the gloves on will need to be disposed of. It is wasteful and I don’t really enjoy that, but I do not have the ability to properly sterilize multi-use items and much prefer my personal safety and the safety of those who can access my working space. If you do have the equipment and ability to sterilize (not just sanitize) you will have other options and I encourage it! Otherwise, be careful and throw them out.
Now, once all of this is prepared, it’s gloves only. I do this so that I do not touch my containers with contaminated gloves as all my herbs are in reusable glass jars. If I don’t put the effort into not contaminating them there’s no point in me taking any of the safety measures here, because next time I grab one those jars I am likely not going to be wearing gloves.
I don’t usually care too much about “contaminating” the working area, because this set up is specifically to prevent the urine and animal parts from touching my surfaces or spreading to my other items. Until those biohazards are introduced, it is safe, which is why I don’t wear gloves beforehand. Once these parts are introduced though, caution matters.
Unlike blood collection, there’s not a heavy need to keep the prep area sterile. If you were to decide to collect fresh blood, I’d recommend doing this set up separate to your blood collection set up. I know it seems excessive but given the variety of germs safe is better than sorry. Open wounds and urine or feces is not a great mix after all.
Share your thoughts!