The Barrel Treasurer

 A Spirit-Bank of Fortune and Growth

There are banks of brick and steel, and then there are banks of spirit. In the worlds of conjure, Quimbanda, and Thai sorcery, containers have always been more than storage — they are vessels, bodies for spirits, homes for medicines, and treasuries of power. The Barrel Treasurer is born in that same current: not a piggy bank, not a curiosity, but a living treasurer who eats what you feed and multiplies what you keep.

The Root of the Work

Years ago, I asked my teacher, Ajarn Apichai, about methods of magic that could not only store money but also energize it — pushing fortune in games of chance, strengthening investments, and keeping wealth from slipping away. His answer was simple: a bank.

Another teacher of mine had taught me the use of saving boxes as a way of building a relationship with money. That echo of familiarity struck deep. Ajarn encouraged me to build my own vessel, to craft a body for wealth using the knowledge I had learned under his guidance, alongside the practices I walk in Quimbanda and conjure.

After meditation and spirit consultation, the form became clear. The first barrels were born, presented before Ajarn and my patron spirits, and tested. What began as an idea became proof: money magic thrives when wealth has a home, when it is treated as a living force that can be housed, fed, and honored.

From Whiskey to Wealth: The Barrel as Spirit House

I am not a woodworker, but I’ve always loved the image of a whiskey barrel. I love whiskey, and so do most of my spirits. One of my most important patrons especially favors Japanese whiskey. Time after time, whenever I brought a new bottle as an offering, money would find its way toward me. It taught me a truth: wealth follows when offerings flow.

I began putting money aside just for offerings, keeping it in a small box. That act — saving with intent, setting aside treasure for spirits — was the seed of what later became the barrel banks.

When I shared the idea with Ajarn Apichai, he explained the symbolism of banks made in Thailand with rice baskets. A rice basket is never empty; it represents sustenance, storage, and wealth that grows with use. That resonated with what I knew from conjure, where whiskey and spirits are constantly poured out to fuel the work and to feed the dead and the living. The barrel, then, was the perfect bridge: it holds wealth, it ferments and strengthens, it is a miniature treasury of your own.

As the vision formed, I connected with a woman who had her own small company, and she agreed to craft seven barrels for me to begin this work. Only one of the originals was not from her hands — the one I kept for myself was a true bank barrel, an old savings barrel from a bank. The rest were made new for this project, so that each could be born and consecrated with purpose.

Barrels themselves carry a language of wealth. They age whiskey until it is smooth and valuable. They hold wine until it deepens and gains body. A full barrel is a sign of plenty, of storage, of reserves waiting to be drawn upon. In taverns and homes alike, the barrel has long meant festivity, generosity, and trade — a sign that one not only has enough, but enough to share. To keep a barrel is to keep surplus, to hold fortune safe.

When I presented the idea to one of my patron spirits, I was not only granted permission, but also given a specific sigil and a powder formula to go with each bank. That powder would be blended with medicines provided by Ajarn, sealing the project in two lineages. Each barrel would also be paired with a patuá, its strength multiplied by the ritual given to me.

The First Barrels

Once Ajarn approved, I built the first barrels. I kept one for myself and prepared another for someone very close to me: my mother.

With mine, I began a discipline. Every tip I received from tattooing, I fed into the barrel. At first, I only used bills. I’d fold them just enough to slide them into the slot, and after some time I’d take them out, roll them neatly, and bind them with rubber bands. I’d speak to the spirit of the barrel as I did it, then put the rolls back inside.

In no time, the barrel filled with rolls of cash. Eventually, I bought a fine bottle of whiskey as a thank you offering to the Treasurer spirit housed within.

My mother worked hers in her own way. She placed money inside, spoke to the vessel, and on occasion took some to play the lottery or buy scratch-offs. Her winnings increased. Not always grand, but consistently better than before. Once, she won $2,000 on a scratch-off after feeding and petitioning her Barrel Treasurer.

Making the Treasurer

Each Barrel Treasurer is built with layers, like a body:

• The Wash and Smoke: each vessel is ritually washed and fumigated to cleanse and open it as a house for spirit.
• The Skin: the wood is inscribed with sigils — Jupiter and Sun for growth and radiance, along with conjure marks that serve as contracts tattooed into the vessel.
• The Heart: a cowrie shell sits within, loaded with powders crafted from two priesthoods — Ajarn Apichai’s Thai sorcery and my own work as Tata in Quimbanda. These powders are medicines for drawing money, holding it fast, and causing it to grow.
• The Breath: offerings of coins, smoke, drink, and words awaken the Treasurer as a spirit who eats and gives back.

The barrel itself is not symbolic — it is the body. Its wood and iron bands are the bones, the shell is the heart, the sigils are the tattoos. Once consecrated, it becomes a treasurer spirit in truth.

The Work of the Treasurer

The Barrel Treasurer is designed to:

• Attract money and opportunity into your life.
• Strengthen your relationship with wealth, turning it into something alive.
• Boost fortune in games of chance and risky ventures.
• Guard savings and prevent loss, teaching the keeper to hold what has been earned.

It is not a tool to sit idle. It must be fed, spoken to, and honored. The more you give it — coins, smoke, drink, intention — the more it grows strong and pays back in kind.

A Spirit-Bank, Not a Curiosity

The Barrel Treasurer is not a novelty or a decorative piggy bank. It is the outcome of lineage guidance, personal exploration, and spiritual collaboration across traditions. It carries medicines from two priests of different currents, brought together for a single purpose: to create a living banker-spirit clothed in wood.

This is not a bank you visit. This is a bank that visits fortune upon you.

The first release of my Barrel Treasurer spirit-banks will be at the Hallowstide Market on Saturday, October 4th at Mills 58 in Peabody, MA — hosted by Salem Witch Fest.

Anything remaining after the market will be made available online through the Manticore’s Den website.

— Gary Noriyuki / Tata Ezundu

Manticore’s Den