This post is part of a series on the use of zoological remains in witchcraft. The term “zoological remains” refers to the physical remains of an animal after it has died. Within witchcraft, commonly used zoological remains include bones, shed skin, antlers, wings, claws, paws, pelts, organs, and even blood. Most of these items require some sort of preservation in order for them to be effectively put to use for any duration of time.

This series of posts will explore the ideology behind the use of zoological remains in witchcraft, as well as more practical matters, such as acquiring and preserving material. Previous posts include An Introduction to Working with Zoological Remains and Bone Collecting: How-to Acquire Bones and Other Zoological Remains Regardless of Where you Live. Future posts will focus upon preserving wings and claws, tanning hides, and how to use zoological remains within your own practice.

Once you’ve acquired animal remains that you would like to use in your witchcraft practice, the next step is to prepare them for use. Preparation will vary depending on what you have, as a found skull and fresh wing require very different methods to clean and preserve them, but will ultimately culminate with consecration. The general process (i.e. preparation, consecration, use) is the same regardless of whether the spirit of that animal is still attached to the remains or not.
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In this post, we’ll take a look at the various methods available for cleaning bones, with the next post in this series discussing how to clean and prepare items such as wings, paws, and claws for use. These methods are simple, require nothing more than materials you very likely already have in your home, but do differ in the amount of effort or time that is required. All will produce clean bones that you can then consecrate and begin using.