Tongue Binding Spell for Gossip

Gossip isn’t an inherently bad thing. It is a part of the human condition that strengthens social bonds between individuals. Unfortunately, sometimes it leads to the exclusion or ostracizing of other individuals. When I get on the phone with my mom or my best friend, we gossip about all the people we know. Some of them I see more, some of them they see more. Usually we say things that are kind, or neutral, but sometimes gossip is unkind and it can be damaging. There aren’t many things worse than knowing people have been spreading stories behind your back, especially if they are malicious, untrue or exaggerated. They can harm our relationships, interfere with our jobs, and sometimes it just hurts.

On the other hand, if you’re an influencer or a politician you might believe that all publicity is good publicity and revel in the gossip. If this is the case, you can use magic to get people talking about you even more. Or maybe you’d like to get people talking about someone else. Maybe they’ve got secrets that the world really ought to know about.

Gossip, like anything, can be banished or attracted. People can be encouraged or bound from gossiping. You don’t necessarily need a specific spell just for gossip (though some exist, see below). You can adapt sigil, petition and candle magick to bind, banish or attract gossip just like anything else with just a few tweaks to get the right mood.

Timing: Spells to stop gossip are best done under the waning moon in the sign of Gemini or Libra. Or choose a Saturday. Spells to spread gossip are best done under the waxing moon during Gemini, Libra or Leo, or a Wednesday

Symbolism: Mouths, tongues, ears, image of someone whispering into someone’s ear or lips near and ear, birds/beaks.

Correspondences: Gossip is related to Mercury and the element Air as both are connected to communication and the spread of information. Thus if you are trying to attract gossip, you may wish to bring Mercury and/or Air aligned plants, fragrances, incense and crystals into your working and use yellow or orange candles. If you are banishing or binding gossip, consider Saturn and/or the element of fire. Red or black candles.

Still Your Tongue Binding

You will need:

A cow tongue or a duck’s head (See commentary below) A knife A bit of string A piece of paper A pen or pencil

Write the name of your gossipy target on a piece of paper. Or, if you don’t have a specific person, you can write the subject of the gossip on the piece of paper. If you are using a tongue, cut a slit down the center and fold the paper so it fits in snugly and tuck it inside the slit. If you are using the duck’s head, use your knife to wedge the beak open gently and slide the paper inside. Wrap the twine tightly around the tongue (or beak) so that it holds the slit closed. Give it a good fierce yank as you tie a knot over the slit while reciting an incantation like the one below (or whatever sounds right to you). Repeat, wrapping and knotting and chanting until the slit in the cow’s tongue is firmly closed (or the duck’s beak is firmly closed).

You can bury it or put it in the freezer.

Incantation:

You! Name! I shut your mouth. I still your tongue. Quiet your gossip. My will be done.

My Commentary

Although any binding spell can be adapted to specify gossip, one of the most popular an passed around spells for the purpose of quieting a gossip is the tongue binding. This is a very common and time-honored spell and there are variations of it found all over the internet. Most versions use a cow tongue. I do not feel it is the right choice but I am clearly the minority. I will explain my issues.

First, I am not sure cows are particularly gossipy. They’re usually pretty quiet unless there is something going on. They are nosey, but I wouldn’t say they are gossipy. Next, lingua is delicious and expensive and what a shame to waste it! It may very well be my favorite part of a cow. I can only get it once or twice a year and let me tell you; we are eating it. Pig tongue is also available in some markets but it is equally delicious, though slightly less expensive and you only get one meal out of it; and pigs are perhaps, even less gossipy than cows.

You know who is gossipy though? Ducks. They never shut up. If they can’t see each other they are yelling across the field. If their pool is empty or they’re out of food or the drake they want to get busy with is on the wrong side of the fence the show neighborhood knows it. I was taught this spell with a duck’s head. You can get the whole duck at some markets or direct from a farmer and some of the better Asian restaurants will serve you a duck with the head still on. Of course, I raise my own ducks so I’ve got these heads left over when I butcher and I generally just toss them in the stock pot. They’re loaded with collogen, but I don’t like duck stock nearly as much as I like chicken stock so it’s not that exciting. Thus, for me, a duck head makes so much more sense from both practical and symbolic perspectives. You can write directly on the beak itself and put a nail through it instead of the piece of paper and string if you prefer.

Duck heads can also be used to increase gossip or spread something around. Just write the message on a piece of paper, slide it into the beak and whisper the message out loud and then say, “Make sure everyone knows!”

Alternatives to Using Animal Parts

Because this spell uses animal parts, some may consider it black magick (depending on their definition of black magick) and some people don’t want to be involved with black magick. Some people are simply just not comfortable using animal parts. Many people in our community are vegetarian and vegan, so we’re not eating animals, we’re not wearing animals, we don’t want to use animal bits in our magick. This is absolutely valid. So what do you do?

This spell is a sympathetic magic spell. We are using the beef tongue or the duck’s beak to represent a person’s tongue or mouth. It is essentially a poppet. We can use anything, really. Sympathetic magic only asks us to create a reasonable facsimile of the thing, name it, and perform symbolic actions on it. Thus, we could make a tongue or mouth out of clay or even knit one. We could go on Amazon and buy a rubber gag tongue like this one or a weird duck beak mask thingy like this (and I will get a commission if you do) and adapt accordingly. You can also get tattoo practice lips (any body part really) and swap out the string for some duct tape and show it how you really feel. And all that creeps me out more than the animal bits, but we are all our own witches. To make things even easier (and cheaper), you can make a cut out of a tongue and name it or a red candle and name it. Just remember to use the principles of sympathetic magick to name your poppet.

That there are many spell modalities that can be adapted for a variety of intentions. You can use a petition, freezer binding, a binding sigil, candle magick and more. Just adapt it to the mood and focus your intention. (And follow the links for more inspiration)

Get more on my Patreon page!