Lodestone: the natural magnet in magic and history

How to read the labels Historical what the old sources say. Later tradition what later writers added. Modern modern practice and my own notes.

Lodestone is a dark, heavy stone that is magnetic all by itself. Hold one near a paperclip and it jumps. For witches that is magic you can see: a stone that literally draws things in. It is used today for attraction, and it also has deep roots in Hoodoo, which deserves to be honoured on its own terms.

At a glance

How witches use lodestone today

Modern In eclectic witchcraft lodestone is a symbol you can test with your own hands: it pulls metal toward it.

Attraction. Cunningham lists attraction, love, money and protection. Hold a lodestone and name what you want to draw closer, then place it on your altar.

Money focus. Set a lodestone on top of a written savings goal or beside a coin. Combine it with practical steps, like a budget, and with pyrite if you like.

Love and partnership. A pair of lodestones that cling together is a simple image of two people drawn to each other. Keep it in a small dish, not a binding ritual: love that has to be forced is not love.

Grounding and protection. Its iron weight links lodestone with hematite. Many witches carry a small one for steadiness.

Tarot pairing. I pair lodestone with The Lovers: attraction and choice.

Journal prompt. What am I trying to attract, and am I also making room for it?

Try this: the magnet test

1. Place a lodestone on a table and scatter a few paperclips nearby.
2. Name one thing you want to draw closer: a habit, an opportunity, a friendship.
3. Slowly move the stone toward the clips and watch them jump.
4. Say: “I draw near what is good for me.”
5. Write one action you will take this week, and leave the stone on the paper.

Lodestones and Hoodoo

Lodestones have a significant place in Hoodoo, the African American folk tradition of the American South. Hoodoo grew from the experiences of enslaved Africans and their descendants and is a living tradition with its own practitioners, prayers and ways of working. Cunningham describes some contemporary folk practices with lodestones, but I do not reproduce those workings here. If they call to you, learn from Black Hoodoo practitioners who teach openly and from historians such as Yvonne P. Chireau, whose book Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition (2003) is a good place to start. My ethics page explains why this matters.

Folklore and history

Historical Geology.com explains that lodestone is magnetite that has become naturally magnetised, and that pieces were used in China as compasses as early as 300 BC. Hanging freely, a lodestone turns to line up with Earth’s magnetic field.

Later tradition Cunningham retells a Roman legend of statues of Venus and Mars drawn together by magnetism. He also recounts an old belief that garlic or diamond could weaken a magnet, which the Italian scholar Giambattista della Porta tested and disproved in 1558.

Modern In eclectic witchcraft lodestone is now a common attraction stone, used alongside pyrite for money.

Care and safety

Lodestone is iron-bearing and can rust, so keep it dry and wipe it with a cloth. Keep it away from bank cards, older electronics, pacemakers and other magnet-sensitive devices. Small magnets are dangerous if swallowed, especially two or more, so keep lodestones away from children and pets. Do not put it in water or elixirs.

Ethics and buying

Not all magnetite is lodestone: only magnetised pieces pull metal. Test a stone with a paperclip, and buy from sellers who explain its origin and whether it has been magnetised or treated.

What next

Read my ethical witchcraft guide and compare lodestone with hematite. See my beginner’s guide to crystals.