How to Use Honey, Sugar, and Sweet Jars Questions and Answers

[route95]

This is really great info. Thank you! I will def put deer's tongue in my next order!

[Elveta]

[quote="mimiso"]It's interesting, My sisterinlaw decided to divorce my brother and runaway, I actually like this better.. and left her son with us.. now I need something so we get to have permanent custody over him

You will have to go to court to get legal custody. Doesn't your brother want custody of his son? You would be the last in line between the child's mother and father.

[magickalpisces]

I am currently gathering the materials to prepare a honey jar and I was wondering if Honeysuckle would be a good herb to tie and ensure fidelity as well as rosemary.

Also once I have worked with the honey jar for a while could it be possible for me to feed some of the honey to my lover so that the spell is actually eaten by him as well or would that invalidate the work? Would opening the honey jar after is closed invalidate the work?

I would appreciate all your help.

[Devi Spring]

Honeysuckle is a great botanical for ensuring a sweet and clinging and committed love. Rosemary is good for making sure the woman has the upper hand in a relationship, and also for establishing a happy household...so if those are your intents, then yes it's a good choice.

If you want to feed fixed honey to your lover, I would fix some honey separately for that purpose using herbs that are edible and related to love. Because rosemary in honey won't taste all that great - LOL. You could make some honey (or sugar) with herbs like cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, etc pray over it and use it in your cooking and such. Actually putting some vanilla beans into a sugar bowl with prayer is an old trick for keeping love in the house.

Opening the jar after it's fixed doesn't nullify it, but generally with container spells once you close it it remains closed.

[yellowriver]

Hi everyone!

I performed a honey jar spell to make someone closer to me. Ive known this person for some time and only acted upon it recently since we both were in relationships. A week or so after the spell he ended up at my place and we chilled for a day and a half. Nothing serious happened on our part (considering that I probably chickendd out lol). BUt i got so close to him that at one point I was rubbing his back and neck. also, i saw him standing in front of my bed when i was asleep. Apparently he wanted to sleep beside me. Anyway, Im not a prude its just so happens that I hav total respect for this guy and I feel like I shoudnt rush into it! I havent seen him after that and he doesnt answer my text when i ask him to go out to the movies :C ( he's a taurus btw....slow ) and the wait is just killing me lol.

Soo I was wondering if I should continue burning candles on top of the honey jar? I read somewhere that it is a slow type of spell? any means to speed it up? I hope I have not angered Ochun :S
I offered grand marnier to Ochun and my fav cinnamon rolls and some grapes to Ellegua.

[Devi Spring]

Well if you are working with Ochun and Ellegua then you are working within the tradition of Santeria, not hoodoo. I would contact a Santero or Santera and ask them for advice with your situation - a reading will help suss out what the problem may be.

A honey jar is not intrinsically more slow or fast than other spells, but it is known for working for a long time, steadily.

[Elveta]

I've been working a honey jar for about 2 months now.

I moved to a new apatment on Sept 1. My male friend rented a trailer and hired someone to help him move me. He's an attorney and would have made $350 per hour during the time he spent moving me. He also gave me $700 in cash to help with first and last month's rent and security deposit.

Aside from his financial help, he's been coming over helping me unpack, setting up my computer, etc., and just helping me in general. Tomorrow he is going to hang all of my pictures for me.

I've known this man for 20 years and we have been lovers from time to time, but he has never been as sweet to me as he has for the past month. I worked my honey jar for a minimum of Monday, Wednesday, and sometimes I worked it 7 days a week, alternating pink and red candles.

I also bought a Doll from LM which about a month ago and have been working it in conjunction with the honey jar.

I've also been layng tricks in his office with some of my various oils and powders. It's nice to see all of my efforts rewarded.

[jwmcclin]

Great news Elveta!

[nena1974]

yay! good for you!

[catherineyronwode]

Good work, Elveta. Keep it going.

[Elveta]

Great news Elveta!

Thanks! I'm sure happy about it. This may have never happened had I not discovered LM.

[Elveta]

Good work, Elveta. Keep it going.

Thanks! I could never have done it with out all that I have learned on this site, your book, and all of LM's supplies, and there is always more work to be done.

[starsinthesky7]

Definitely nice well Elveta.. Keep it up.

[magickalpisces]

Without going into the details of my situation....I was wondering if when performing the Honey Jar spell one has to light the candle at the same time each day or (Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays) depending on how one wants to work the spell. I will be preparing the Honey Jar on a Friday at dawn and will light the candle for 9 days thereafer then to follow with lighting it only on (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) until results are achived. I was just wondering if I have to light the candle everytime at dawn since that was the time I began with the spell or if I can light the candle at any time as long as it is done on that precise day. Thanks for all your help.

[AlwaysxYours147]

So I have decided to do a honey jar to get back my ex love. We're still friends, so i believe the honey jar will just enhance our feelings what we once had for one another and the honey jar seem pretty easy . Even those getting those hairs wasn't EASY at all. This boy thought i was strange for asking for hair. LOL. If you all could had seen his reaction priceless.

BUT I just want few things clear up like
Must you know there middle name?
When comes to dressing the candle can you use two oils? Because I have from luckymojo return back to me & and some love oil that my mom had for years now.

[Miss Bri]

Honey jars are awesome. Knowing your target's middle name is helpful but if I had to choose between a middle name and personal concerns I would go with personal concerns each and every time. Also, not everyone has a middle name. You can absolutely use two oils or even several oils in combination on your candles.
Good luck!
Bri

[Miss Bri]

You can light the candle on your honey jar whenever. You want to make sure that you are around to focus and pray as you light the candle and you don't want to leave a burning candle unattended. I usually work my jars at dawn because I am up, and I like the added benefit of sunrise--I always ask that as the sun grows and waxes in strength so do my honey jars.

good luck,
Bri

[magickalpisces]

Thank you so much Bri.

[AlwaysxYours147]

Thank you soo much! <3
Oh I most deff have personally stuff from my ex.
I am so excited now.
Any other useful tips i could use?

[AlwaysxYours147]

How do you correctly turn off your Honey jar? :/ Because I have work and school. I am not home all day to attend to my candle.

[catherineyronwode]

I assume that by "turn off your honey jar," you are referring to extingishing the candle.

If so, you pinch it out. I was taught that to blow it out signifies ending the work, and that to keep the work going, you lick your thumb and finger and pinch the candle out.

[starsinthesky7]

You can also snuff the candle out with a candle snuffer.

[nena1974]

i very rarely use a honey jar alone, to me it's almost like a supplement to anything else I'm already using. and Devi is right, work it hard until you start to see some movement, then drop down the days. its slow to work so be patient with it.

[catherineyronwode]

Devi is right --

A sexual love jar to sweeten the man would not be appropriate for the child, but a family enhancing peaceful home honey jar would be perfect for both

You could create a petition for each one one in the family , with appropriate herbs in the combined faily packet.

Alternatively, you could make a packet for each family member with family-peace herbs and float each packet on its own in the honey.

Either way is traditional. packet.

For more information on using one sweet jar for a multitude of people. see:

"A JAR FOR SWEET WISHES" by Zora Neale Huston on my "Hoodoo in Theory and Practice" web page

HONEY JAR AND SUGAR BOX MAGIC SPELLS TO SWEETEN PEOPLE
https://www.luckymojo.com/honeyjar.html

Good luck.

[Kathy]

I'm going to do a honey Jar spell on my Ex. Can I use Intranquilty oil in my honey jar spell? I don't have any hair from my Ex, but I do have toe nail clippings from him. Will that work?

[catherineyronwode]

No, do not use Intranquility Oil in a Honey Jar. That is completely, utterly, irrevocably, and eternally the WRONG thing to do.

I am bundling this question into the 1300 - plus honey jar posts. Please READ them.

Please read about Honey Jars here:

http://luckymojo.com/honeyjar.html

UGH. Intranquility Oil in a honey jar. Like SHIT ON APPLE PIE!

Tone nail clipping are great, though - a legitimate personal concern.

[sd_ck]

Hello everyone, I need your help. I ordered a Money Ventures, Business Partnership Success honey jar kit and received package that states Money drawing, however there is no instructions on using honey jar for business included. I only saw honey jar to sweeten someone to you on the site. For my spell, I am trying to draw in more clients and money to my business as it is slow, what should I do? Please help. I appreciate all your inputs. thanks

[ConjureMan]

The honey jar kit that you've received includes everything that you'll need. All you need to do is write a petition for what you need. Since this about drawing customers to your business why don't you write out "Paying customers, increased sales, all-around wealth over three lines then turn it clockwise and cross that with your name three times. Dress it with a bit of the oil then finish it like you would any honey jar--you've seen the instructions for the honey jar for a specific person.

There are many ways to write a petition and this is but one of them, so pick a traditional method and work with that.

Some people place actually money in their honey jar to help bring in money, other put dollar signs on the four corners of their petition paper, etc.

[sd_ck]

Thanks ConjureMan and in lieu of my name, I can cross it with the business name right. I appreciate your help.

[AlwaysxYours147]

Before any spell must you cast a circle, or give a little prayer?

I am so confused.

I really want my honey jar to work, but it's like i have no idea where to start.

[Devi Spring]

Casting circles is not done in hoodoo, that's a more European ceremonialist witchcraft thing. You certainly may pray if you wish, and many workers do.

If you get a honey jar spell kit from Lucky Mojo it will come with complete instructions for how to use and work it. So you'll know exactly what to do.

However, you could hire a rootworker to do it on your behalf since you are obviously very new to conjure with little background in magical practice. You could also hire a rootworker to teach you the spell by the half-hour or hour. This is called Magical Coaching, and most of the practitioners at AIRR offer this service.

You can find the AIRR rootworkers at http://www.readersandrootworkers.org

[catherineyronwode]

AlwaysxYours147, In addition to Devi's good advice, i also suggest that if you are asking questions like this, you ought to step back and actually find out more about Southern-style conjure and acquaint yourself with our traditions before trying to work spells according to our traditions.

Here is the Table of Contents to my free online book "Hoodoo in Theory and Practice":

http://luckymojo.com/hoodoo.html

and the first page you should read is the one describing the history and cultural bacjground of hoodoo, which is here:

http://luckymojo.com/hoodoohistory.html

African American folk magic may not be the path you wish to follow, and you may have gotten here by mistake, thinking that this was a Wiccan, Wirtchcraft, Ceremonial Magic, or Neo-Pagan site.

After you read those pages, please read the pages about Bottle spells --

http://luckymojo.com/bottlespells.html

and honey jar spells --

http://luckymojo.com/honeyjar.html

-- and the rest of the online book, i think you will have a lot more knowledge of what it is that we do -- how we pray, for instance, and the fact that we do not "cast circles" -- and how we do our work.

Good luck!

[Katie_Did1111]

ok Thank you!

Also If I use honey, do I do the exact ssame thing that I would do with the sugar water?

And wil it have the same desired effect in the same amount of time? Thank you.

You'd be better off just following the honey jar spell from this site that Devi gave you, IMO.

[danger]

I started a honey jar last Friday with all the ingredients I needed. The thing is, I never got a chance to burn my candle on top of the jar because I became ill.(I wasn't feeling good the whole day). My question is, can I go ahead and light my candle on top of my current jar or should I start from scratch?

Also,I'm going to make 2 more honey jars tonight for 2 different targets. I have each of their photos and hand written letters from them both with their signature. I would like to know, do I have to cut/tear their signature or use the whole letter in the honey jar? Thank you!

[catherineyronwode]

Danger, you are treating the making of honey jars like a game, with a rule-set and play-strategies.

You ask, "can I go ahead and light my candle on top of my current jar or should I start from scratch?"

I'd say you need to start from scratch -- but from a far different scratch than you will think i mean:

You need to start with a thorough understanding of honey jars and of spiritual practices!

You are substituting tiny little game-rules for the larger picture of why we work magic and how we work it.

You do not "have to" burn a candle on a honey jar, the spell doesn't "have to" be made with honey, and you don't "have to" have a signature or letter.

Let's look at this from the perspective of our traditions:

First, candles are a fairly recent invention. Prior to candles, people burned lights in the form of oil lamps. They also made sweet jars -- but i can find no record that they ever set oil lamps on top of sweet jars. Just too awkward, i guess.

So what connects candles to sweet jars?

Well, the invention of candles, obviously.

So let's look at candle spells.

The invention of candles has given rise to a whole class of magic called, naturally, candle magic.

Candle magic is popular, and candles are adaptable, so in one form or another, they can fit into many classes of magical practice which did not originally include them. The addition of candles to these spells, however, does not make them candle-spells per se, and the spells can still be worked without the use of candles.

Sill, over the years the burning of candles has become synthesized with other forms of rootwork and cpnjure practice. Thus we now see people burning candles while performing rituals of bathing, we see them keeping a light burning while they perform altar work with lodestones and magnetic sand, and we even see them burning and manipulating figural candles as a form of doll-baby magic.

But before the synthesis, there was just the candle spell.

Here's an example of an old Spiritualist candle spell to draw someone to you:

Dress and pray over a white candle named for someone you love, and they will come to you.

Simple, clean, effective -- and the only tools you need are the candle and the dressing oil.

Oh, yes, and a candle stand. And therein lies a world of embellishment: You need a candle stand.

Candles are easy to melt onto a chinaware plate to burn. The plate catches the wax drippings, making it a convenient and easily cleaned candle stand.

In the Spiritualist Church, white chinaware, clear glass, white cloth, and white candles are often used as symbols of spirit. So, in the Spiritual Church, we find people practicing a version of the old white candle drawing spell that, by the addition of a sweetener, has been amplified into sweetening spell.

In this candle spell, the sweetener -- honey, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, sorghum syrup, or molasses -- is poured or sprinkled in a thin ring around a white candle, which has been melted to the white plate candle stand. The candle may have been previously loaded with personal concerns of the person whom the work is intended to affect -- a hair will suffice. When the candle is done burning, the plate is ceremonially washed clean.

This spell -- a ring of molasses on a white plate with a white candle in the center -- is a nice, old, 19th century way of performing a sweetening spell. The honey jar is not central to the work. In fact, there is no honey jar, just a candle standing in a ring of sweetener.

So in that version of the spell, the candle is the leading principle of the work and the honey follows.

Now you can see that the candle-on-a-honey-jar form of the spell is a hybrid, that is, is combination of two forms of magic. So let's approach it from the other direction -- from the sweetener side.

Looking back in time, we see many sweetening spells in which there never was -- and still never is -- a candle included in the work.

For instance, we have the sugar bowl. Nobody burns a candle on their sugar bowl, because it's, you know, the lidded bowl that sits on the table that you keep the sugar in for coffee or tea. You hide a fingernail down in the bottom of sugar container, and you let folks serve their sugar right out of it to sweeten their own coffee or tea. No candle there, and there never will be a candle there.

Then we have the spell family in which a plant is set to growing out of sugared or honeyed red onions or red apples buried in soil. No candles there -- the living plant spreads the spell abroad and grows from the petition paper and personal concerns buried within the soil. Again, no candle.

So, looking at this type of work strictly from the sweetening side, candles are optional additions: We start with a sweetener, and we get something personal of the person, and we bury is in a sweet substabnce.

This beings us to your next point of confusion: The personal item.

If we have nothing of the person's body -- that is, no hair, sexual fluids, nails, skin-scrapings, or sweat -- we ask ourselves what next-best item we can use to create a spiritual link with them and thus affect them as we work. A piece of their writing is fine, and their signature is, of course, the central expression of self in their writing, so a signature is always good to use.

"Do i have to cut/tear their signature" is a non-starter of a question. You are making a honey jar, not entombing manuscripts or a file folders of correspondence in honey!

Your objective is to capture a piece of that person's spiritual essence, not to build a giant leak-proof vault filled with everything the guy ever wrote and then pour a tanker truck load of honey into it.

I hope you can see now why i think that you should study this work in greater depth before coming to me asking for clarifications of the "rules" as you think they exist.

Conjure is not a role-playing game. There are traditions, and it is true that a few very firm rules are embedded in those traditions, but for the most part the spell work is performed through contact with spirit, not through the exercise of rules. By failing to understand the tradition looking for rules as a condition of success or failure, you seem to have lost track of the point of the work.

I recommend that you continue your studies of spiritual magic. Learn to prepare your work thoughtfully, learn to pray. Do not start a spell on a day when you feel ill and then come to me all upset because you were too ill to light a candle. THINK. Perform the spell when you are spiritually ready and physically capable of carrying it out on all levels, from the emotional to the physical to the philosophical to the spiritual.

Good luck!

[danger]

Thanks for the information. I will definitely start studying more before I do any spell.

[beautiful]

I just made my special love honey jar a few days ago and I wanted to ask how and where do you store your honey jar? Do you wrap it up with like a pink or red cloth and hide it somewhere in your closet or do you leave it out in view in a safe spot? I usually shake my jar after the candle cools down on the jar and say things like, "open your heart to loving me, etc."

[route95]

I personally don't wrap mine. I leave it out sometimes, but most of the time since I live with nosy people I put it away with my other unused candle in my dresser.

[jwmcclin]

...leave it out on my love altar...

[Miss Tammie Lee]

I leave mine right out...I even have one at my office (for business/work) ...
I had a child once, who wanted to "touch everything", because of my belief in children and their little minds and nivete and because they should be raised right-- I politely and with direction by way of verbage and encouragement, moved the child. It was the parents-- not the child-- and no I did not start the jar over. I did say a prayer and ..that was that.
I am also self employed which means that I can (almost) do whatever I want with my time.
Good Luck!

[catherineyronwode]

I leave mine on my family love altar.

[doughnut_hand]

im doing a honey jar for my ex.

he and some other girl seem slightly interested in each other and have been getting closer.

however the same day i started it , the "other girl" seems to have been feeling bad/depressed, and has stopped being social.

so im asking here is it possible for a honey jar to somehow affect "the other girl"?

[Turnsteel]

No

[jwmcclin]

I agree.

[Miss Tammie Lee]

Third.

[doughnut_hand]

so would this just be a coincidence or what?

[Luna]

Hi!

This is my first post here. Im new to this forum
Im gonna to do honey / sweet jar. And I have some questions-
I have meet a wonderful man, and I want to start with this honey jar to invoke faith / trust / love
in him for me. And I also feel that maybe I need some more spells in this matter.
We are just friends today, and I really love him. He wants to take things slowly.
Im pretty new in this, and need some advice and help here.
I dont have any photo of him. Can I go trough this anyway?

Luna

[ConjureMan]

Hello Luna,

In conjure and hoodoo we link spells to the people we want by using a personal concern to tie it to that person or target them. This can be anything from a bodily concern like hair or sexual fluids to photos and even just their name. Tradition holds certain of these as better links than others, but that doesn't mean you can't succeed with just a name. My recommendation is to learn a bit more about the tradition so it can help you understand what you are working with and how you can successful acheive your desires.

Miss cat has made available a wonderful resource for free here:

http://www.luckymojo.com/hoodoo.html

You can learn more about honey jars here:

http://www.luckymojo.com/honeyjar.html

and if you are looking for a great bottle kit that will come with everything you need to start your own honey jar you can find them here:

http://www.luckymojo.com/mojocatspells.html

Good luck!

[ConjureMan]

doughnut_hand,

If you are sweetening him then she wouldn't suddenly feel sad or depressed. This is the express opposite of a sweetening jar.

Either she's depressed is a coincidence, or she's feeling that way because she's noticing that your ex is sweet on you.

[catherineyronwode]

doughnut_hand, all the above responses to your question are correct.

We put into a spell what we pray into it and if God grants our petition-prayer we expect that result and no other.

There is a very instructive Bible verse on this subject, spoken by Jesus. I recommend that folks who wonder whether coincidences may be an untoward by-product of their spell-casting consider this:

If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if [he ask] a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?".
--Luke 11:11 (King James Bible)

Or, in more modern English:

"What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of the fish?
--Luke 11:11 (International Standard Version )

We pray to the God (or Goddess) of our choice, and we ask the aid of spirits and angels as well -- but would we do so if these helpers, allies, and guardian spirits gave us a stone when we asked for bread, or gave us a serpent when we asked for a fish?

No, we would not.

There is a trickster (or two) among the Gods, and there is an Adversary as well -- but one would never take one's heart to such deceivers in prayer for the sweetening of one's ex.

If his current girl friend got depressed, it may be her hormones or it may be a sense she has that his affections are swinging back toward you, or it may be something you will never know. Let it flow by. Your goal is not to watch her wriggle, but rather to recapture his love.

I hope, as i hope for all women who try to sweeten an ex back to them, especially after he is re-partnered, that you do get the love you want, and i hope that you have set a time limit for the work so that, if it is not God's will that you break them up, you will be able to put this work to sleep and turn your mind toward finding a new man whose love is not compromised by the precense of another woman.

Good luck.

[Luna]

Hallo!

Im going to do my first honeyjar tonight for sweeten a man. He is my love of life,
and right now, he just want us to be friends. Whats the best oil to use, I have the chupparosa,
follow me boy and come to me oils.?
I want him to think of me, have trust in me and my feelings for him. I want him to love me, like I love him.
He is also very sensitive and afraid right now, becauce he is going trough big changes in his life.
He have hard with trust, and he have been hurt in the past, in his old relationchip.

I want him to have the courage to come close to me, want to be with me more. Longing for me, thinking of me, star to love me............

Advice?

[corazon]

my BF and I made a honey jar together for a sweet and long lasting love. The only oils I had on-hand were protection and blessing so I mixed the two onto the initial candle I burned on the top. (this was a last minute thing to do to go along with the full moon and equinox) I prayed for protection and blessing of our relationship. The herbs I put inside went along with this goal as well.. protection, good luck, blessing.. ect.

For the repeating candle burns, shall I use the same oils to connect the work? Or can I change them to Chuparrosa when I get that oil in hand?

I am planning to burn little candles on the jar every M-W-F.

Thanks guys!

[starsinthesky7]

yes you can add the chupparrosa oil when you can. It is definitely towards the same goal so you should be good.

[corazon]

Thanks for the confirmation starsinthesky!
I thought it would be okay but it's always better to ask

[tboy1977]

if an item is 30% or more sugar, bacteria and other microrganisms cannot flourish. You can make syrup. It is easy, simply mix one part sugar to one part water and boil it until it foams hard and when you stir it and pull some with a spoon, it pours off thick (and on high heat, that won't take long). Maybe add some vanilla or cinnamon for smell?

NOTE: That is a culinary idea, not sure how that plays in witchcraft.

[tboy1977]

This there a right or wrong way to write the names on the paper and put it inside the jar. I wrote his name on one jar and mine on another strip of paper, made a cross, folded that into a square, added his picture and another strip of paper that said make X love me. i then put dark pink rose petals liberally seasoned with cinnamon. Finally covered it all with a homemade vanilla syrup that is now solid in the jar. What next? I'm worried because I read where you have to write the names three times. Is this true? If so, I will start over before I get too invested in this jar as it is.

Thank you as always for your support and information.

[corazon]

tboy, the way I wrote mine was I wrote my petition such as "lovemeloveme" as many times around a circle on the paper without lifting my pen and connected them so it was a continuous circle.
then in the center i wrote mine and my BF's name like an X so they were crossing each other. I wrote the full names. Then I placed personal concerns - hair and fingernail clippings and herbs inside and folded it into a packet, always folding the paper towards myself.

I then pushed this little packet into my little jar of honey, closed it, and dressed a candle and lit it while saying my petition and praying/meditating on what I want the jar to do.

Now I light little candles on the jar dressed the same way every Mon., Weds, and Fri.

Does this make sense?

[Elveta]

"UGH. Intranquility Oil in a honey jar. Like SHIT ON APPLE PIE! ""

That is hilarious! I'm going to have to stop by Luck Mojo some time and meet Cat. I live in Santa Rosa and it's right down the road. A couple of months my male attorney friend came over when I had the Lucky Mojo site up on my computer. To say that he is a doubting thomas would be an understatement. He started looking around and reading things that Cat had written and said, "She's really a very intelligent woman."

[ConjureMan]

tboy1977,

there are many ways of writing petition papers. I think most of the questions you are having so far revolve around the fundamentals of what hoodoo is exactly and what it is that we do. We've given you the HITAP link before, please actually read through it. Miss cat has made all these pages complete free--yes free--all for you.

Here is the link once again:

http://www.luckymojo.com/hoodoo.html

Here are the specific pages on Honey jars:

http://www.luckymojo.com/honeyjar.html

and are a couple post by Miss cat that really are a must read on the topic:

circular-petition-vs-wrote-out-normally-t7912.html

name-paper-question-how-many-times--t8342.html

Once you learn these fundamentals you won't be worried about things like the "one right way" of doing things

[tboy1977]

how do I access all this information directly....without having to write a post?