Squid Ink
Each coleoidea species of cephalopod (octopuses, squids, cuttlefish) produces slightly differently colored inks. Generally speaking, octopuses produce black ink; squids produce blue-black ink; and cuttlefish produce a shade of brown ink. None of the nautiloidea (nautilus and allonautilus) species of cephalopod produce ink, nor do a few of the deep-sea octopuses.
Ink is normally produced for purposes of blinding enemies, camouflage, deception, distraction, escape, and protection. So those are also the reasons why you might want to cast a Squid-Ink Spell — and it needn’t, of course, utilize only squid ink, but might also employ octopus ink and/or cuttlefish ink instead. However, such inks are usually pricey and are primarily intended for culinary food-coloring purposes, although you can, in fact, use liquid food coloring as inks.
But still, if you’re on a budget, it’s probably better either to make your own ink in the appropriate color(s) or else to buy bottled ink in the appropriate color(s).
If you want to make your own ink, you can start with either some squid-ink powder and/or plain black soot as your base, mixing it with distilled water, then adding gum Arabic powder to it until you reach the desired consistency. Once you’ve done that, pour the ink into a clean, sterilized jar, and seal it tightly with a lid.
Waterman (a good brand, obviously, for Sea/Water Magick!) makes bottled Black Ink, Mysterious Blue Ink, and Absolute Brown Ink that you can use as your base inks. You may want to mix the Black Ink and Mysterious Blue Ink to get a truer squid-ink color. For the sea aspect, you can always add a few drops of fish oil to the ink, which won’t hurt it, but will slow down its drying time, allowing for greater penetration of the ink into your paper.
Ink is normally produced for purposes of blinding enemies, camouflage, deception, distraction, escape, and protection. So those are also the reasons why you might want to cast a Squid-Ink Spell — and it needn’t, of course, utilize only squid ink, but might also employ octopus ink and/or cuttlefish ink instead. However, such inks are usually pricey and are primarily intended for culinary food-coloring purposes, although you can, in fact, use liquid food coloring as inks.
But still, if you’re on a budget, it’s probably better either to make your own ink in the appropriate color(s) or else to buy bottled ink in the appropriate color(s).
If you want to make your own ink, you can start with either some squid-ink powder and/or plain black soot as your base, mixing it with distilled water, then adding gum Arabic powder to it until you reach the desired consistency. Once you’ve done that, pour the ink into a clean, sterilized jar, and seal it tightly with a lid.
Waterman (a good brand, obviously, for Sea/Water Magick!) makes bottled Black Ink, Mysterious Blue Ink, and Absolute Brown Ink that you can use as your base inks. You may want to mix the Black Ink and Mysterious Blue Ink to get a truer squid-ink color. For the sea aspect, you can always add a few drops of fish oil to the ink, which won’t hurt it, but will slow down its drying time, allowing for greater penetration of the ink into your paper.
