Peace be with you my friend! As you may know, we are in the middle of a very important time of year in the Voodoo calendar called Fête Ghédé in which we honor the ancestors and pay particular attention to the family of lwa called Ghédé. Service are performed at the cemetery in honor of Baron Samedi and Maman Brigitte who are the king and queen of the Ghédé family and stand at the gate between this world and the other side.
Baron Samedi and Maman Brigitte are the king and queen of the Ghédé family.
It is common in New Orleans and many places around the world to visit the cemetery and honor departed family and friends with offerings of flowers and candles. In Mexico, November 2nd, El día de los muertos, takes on an almost carnival like atmosphere with colorful decoration and sweet treats molded in the shape of skulls, coffins and bones. This is to mock the idea of death, which is an inevitable for all, but in reality is nothing to be feared since there is something better waiting for us on the other side.
This is one of my busiest times of year, but I just wanted to share these few lines with you and wish you the choicest of blessing during this most special time of year. May the Ancestors and all the Saints bless you abundantly during this Fête Ghédé!
Spiritual Baths
Peace be with you my friends! I hope you are enjoying this most magical time of year. I have been incredibly busy with requests for readings and spell work as is common for the month of October. Aside from the obvious association with Halloween, I have long been convinced that the Fall months are magical for a number of reasons, the most beautiful being, that the Earth gives us her final fruits before going to sleep for the winter. I urge you all to take advantage of the powerful energy that abounds this time of year and try to cast a spell of your own. I have included a recipe for spiritual baths below, or if you' prefer, contact me and I will be happy to perform any service on your behalf. Also, I will be holding my major service for the Ancestors and Ghédé Lwa October 31st and ending January 2nd. If you'd like to have an offering made or a spell performed, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.
I urge you all to take advantage of the powerful energy that abounds this time of year and try to cast a spell of your own.
Lately I have been getting a lot of requests for spiritual baths and my spirit guides have been prescribing various herbal baths to people during readings, so today I thought I would share with you a simple spiritual bath that requires few ingredients that you can to with the intention of drawing luck or love.
Spiritual Bath Recipe for Luck, Money or Love
Ingredients
Rose Water (available at most grocery stores)
7 Shiny coins, pennies work well (if your intent is luck/money)
The petals of one pink rose (if your intent is love)
Green or gold candle (if your intent is money)
Pink candle (if your intent is love)
Draw a warm bath to which you add the entire bottle of rose water. Add the remaining ingredients, depending on your intention, and light the candle next to the tub. Sit in the tub as long as you’d like and meditate on what you would like to draw into your life. If you are doing the good luck version on the bath, you can keep the 7 coins for good luck after draining the water.
The above bath is simple and highly effective. If you decide to try it, please share the results with me!
Before ending this post, I would like to mention again, as I know I have in previous posts, the one of the most effective ways of ridding yourself of negative energy and bad luck is to bath in salt water. I take a salt water bath on the first of every month to start the month fresh and to not carry over any negativity from the previous weeks. Another simple one ingredient ritual you can perform to attract wealth good luck to pour a bottle of beer, sparkling wine or ginger ale over you head in the shower. The idea is that the yellow color represents gold and the bubbles lift you to a higher place in life. You can perform his luck bath any time of year, but traditionally it is done on New Year’s Eve.
If you have more questions about spiritual baths or you would like me to prepare an herbal bath for whatever purpose, please contact me! Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I hope your October and especially your Halloween are filled with Magick! May the Ancestors and all the Saints bless you abundantly!
Pumpkins-Autumn’s Magic Gourd
Peace be with you my friends. It is once again October and I have decided to repost one of my favorite articles about pumpkins and their magical properties. In the photo, notice the spiritual orbs floating around the pumpkin! I hope you enjoy and I wish you many blessings during this magical time of year.
3 Magical Pumpkin Spells
Fall has finally arrived and it is truly a season of magic for practitioners of all traditions. I’ve decided to write on how to make use of those beautiful gourds that are so iconic of this time of year with 3 magical pumpkin spells. The pumpkin is powerful beyond what words can express.
In Afro-Caribbean magic is represents wealth, abundance, prosperity and love. In the Lukumi tradition is sacred to the orisha Ochun who is herself the embodiment of love, sweetness and all that is good and peasurful in life. In Eastern Europe there is a commonly held belief that if pumpkins are kept too long, wandering spirits may take up residence and clause them to move about and even bleed by night. From Ireland comes the tradition of the jack o’ lantern whose original purpose was to frighten off aggressive, mischievous spirits who roamed the countryside on All Hollow’s Eve. It is hard to imagine that one particular vegetable could be held in such high regard by seemingly distinct cultures from around the world. The only conclusion I can draw is that there is something innately magical growing on those vines! It is my pleasure to now share with you three simple spells involving these magical gourds.
Sarah’s Pumpkin Seed Prosperity Spell
You will need:
A tall Glass of Water
A Bag of Salted Dried Pumpkin Seeds
My friend Sarah, herself a Wiccan High Priestess, learned this spell as a child from her grandmother who is a powerful kitchen witch in the New England tradition. I have learned from various sources that this particular spell was in common use as early as the 1920’s and quite possibly before. This ritual confers a double blessing since it acts as a spiritual cleansing in addition to attracting wealth and prosperity to the individual that performs it.
Sit in a place where you can meditate quickly for a few minutes. Open your bag of pumpkin seeds and count out 9 seeds. Eat the first seed. You may choose to break the seed open with your teeth and eat the soft inner seed, personally I like to eat the salty hard shell as well. Slowly chew the first seed and wash it down with a drink of cool water. Repeat the process until you consume all nine seeds. After you swallow the last seed say to yourself aloud or silently may the seeds of this holy gourd cleanse me of all negativity and fill my life with wealth and blessings. You will be surprised at how effective something so simple can be! I have heard of people winning jackpots at casinos and encounter long lost friends after performing this easy ritual.
Caribbean Pumpkin Money Spell
You will need:
A small sugar pumpkin or Caribbean yellow pumpkin
Holy Water
Honey
5 Shiny Pennies
Paper Bag from the Grocery Store
I have seen versions of this spell done by practitioners of Obeah and Santeria, two beautiful Afro-Caribbean regions. This spell invokes the aid of Ochun, the Yoruba goddess of love, money and sweetness who is closely associated with Our Lady of Charity, the patroness of Cuba. This simple ritual can confer wealth, attract good luck and even bring about marriage.
First remove the top from the pumpkin and scoop out the insides as if you were carving a jack-o-lantern. Next, cut a square of brown paper from the grocery store bag and write you wishes, desires and petitions on it. Place the paper inside the pumpkin. Next toss in the 5 pennies and drizzle honey inside as well. Lastly, sprinkle five drops of Holy Water into the pumpkin and replace the top. Take the pumpkin to a river and toss it in. Then wait for Ochun to work her sweet magic in your life!
The Jack-O-Lantern Spell
You will need:
One large carving Pumpkin
A candle
Jack-o-lanterns have their origins in ancient Celtic religion. Originally they were meant to frighten off and confuse all evil spirits that roamed on All Hallows’ Eve. Originally, the Irish had used turnips, but when they began immigrating to America in the 19th century, they adopted the pumpkin native to the Americas which was much easier to carve. So this Halloween when you carve your jack-o-lanterns, remember the original meaning of this tradition and as you set your lantern outside whisper the following prayer, may the light of this lantern frighten away all evil spirits who whish to do as harm and light the way for all good spirits and ancestors who wish to visit us this night. And remember always that Halloween, All Saints’ and All Soul’s Day are above all a time to honor and pay respect to the dead who have walked the Earth before us and will one day greet us on the other side.
I hope you have enjoyed learning a bit about pumpkin magic. Please, if you try any of these spells, let me know your results. If you have any questions or wish to inquire about my services, please do not hesitate to contact me. As always, I wish you peace, love and the sweetest of blessings!
Moon Energy
Peace be with you, my friends! In our last blog entry, we talked a bit out the phenomena of mercury retrograde and how it can effect spell work and our lives in general. I would like to continue along the same lines and discuss the importance of the phases of the moon in any spell or energy work. I will state before continuing that Voodoo does not traditionally pay attention to the phases of the moon like other forms of magic, but I have noticed in my personal workings that the moon does seem to have an influence of the efficacy of energy work.
The moon does seem to have an influence of the efficacy of energy work.
According to a variety of magical traditions, workings to bring about prosperity and good fortune as well as new love are traditionally cast during the waxing moon and cleansings, exorcisms and workings to rid oneself of an unwanted influences are done mainly during the waning moon. Any type of spell may be done on the full moon as the energy is so intensely strong that it will magnify any vibe being sent out. This is just a rough guideline, as I have had success doing various types of workings regardless of the moon phase.
Various cultures have placed great importance on the moon and have even gone as far as to create holidays to honor the moon and the blessings that it brings. This is especially true of Asian cultures. In China, there is a major celebration on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month which occurs anywhere from mid September to early October according to the western calendar. This holiday is known as the mid autumn festival which originally was to commemorate the goddess Chang’e. According to traditional Chinese folk religion, Chang’e is the goddess of immortality who happens to live on the moon. On this day people share a traditional sweet called moon cakes which consist of a flaky crust wrapped around sweet and rich fillings. These cakes often include messages and wishes or good luck and prosperity. In addition to the sharing of moon cakes, many people will also make lavish dinners and set the food outside on tables so that the moons rays and Chang’e’s energy may bless the food before it is served. For the last ten years, I have been holding services for the mid Autumn Moon Festival, which again is not part of traditional Voodoo, but is still none the less a beautiful and empowering tradition. In fact, since the 1920’s the 30’s many Chinese symbols and practices have been absorbed into New Orleans Hoodoo practice. I plan to expand upon this is a future post.
Lastly, before wrapping up this post, I would like to comment on the fact that the moon does have an effect of people’s behavior. I have many friends who work in the medical and law enforcement fields and they have remarked on the fact that during the full moon people seem to be drawn to the streets and do things that they normally wouldn’t do. I personally have problems sleeping during the full moon, but then again, I’ve always been a night person anyway.
I hope you have enjoyed this post and I think we can agree that even if it is not a part of traditional Voodoo, the moon does exude a powerful energy that we can and should use to our advantage not to mention stop on occasion simply to admire its beauty. I thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and until next time I wish you peace, love and the sweetest of blessings.
Mercury Retrograde
Peace be with you my friends! I've decided to blog a bit about an astrological phenomenon called Mercury Retrograde, which has just recently finished. Firstly, I would like to make clear that astrology is not a major element in Voodoo and spiritual workings in this tradition may be undertaken regardless of lunar and planetary phases. However, on a personal level I have experienced time and time again the effects of Mercury Retrograde and I have noticed similar effects in the lives of clients for whom I read, therefore I've decided to briefly discuss the effects of this astrological phenomenon and what we may do to combat and minimize them.
Mercury Retrograde, an astrological phenomenon!
Three or four times a year the planet Mercury slows in its orbit and appears to move backwards in reference to other planets moving through the solar system. This lasts about three to fours weeks. Since Mercury has dominion over communication and technology, it is not uncommon or computers to crash, cell phones to drops calls, e-mails to not be received correctly and communication between partners in relationships to be less than ideal. This is especially true in situations where tension and distance already exist. Also, I have noticed that the energy emitted during spell work can take longer to go into effect during these retrogrades periods. On a personal note, I have crashed at least four different computers during the retrograde phase, so I know how frustrating these periods can be!
Now that we understand a bit about this phenomenon and the effects it brings, I would like to share a few methods and techniques I’ve created to offset and even turn in our favor the effects of Mercury Retrograde. First, it’s important to be vigilant as to the date when Mercury goes retrograde, which can be found on any astrological website. When this occurs, I advise people to take a bath in some salt water to neutralize any irregular energies that may be attracted to one’s person as to go into the retrograde period spiritually clean. Then I would advise you to burn a 7 day Uncrossing or Road Opening candle which can easily be bought online or at any Botanica. Burning the candle will lessen the effects of the retrograde and actually make it work to your benefit to expose things that you need to work on to improve the overall quality of your life. Also, it’s advisable not to enter into any business deal, get married, buy a home, sign a contract or make any other major life altering decisions during these retrograde periods. In short, it is advisable to work on projects that you already have in place rather than embark on new undertakings.
I hope you have enjoyed learning about this interesting aspect of astrology. If you have any further questions or would like inquire about any of my services, please do not hesitate to contact me. Until next time I wish you peace, happiness and the sweetest of blessings.
