Burnt Offerings : A Dark Cleansing Fire of Scorpio

The Ancient Hebrews performing a sacrifice. Burning a goat or ram (can’t tell from this image) to Adonai. You see Adonai depicted as Zeus at the very top riding the smoke. It’s said the smell of his animal sacrifices when burned attracts him. The fire is how he eats. Burnt offerings are done for a variety of reasons. Including expiation of sins.

For those who don’t know, we had a combination of a New Moon, with a solar eclipse in Scorpio last Sunday. It lasted until Wednesday. Wednesday was when the solar eclipse happened. New Moons naturally belong to the dead and to dark spirits. And so are Solar Eclipses.

The Sun Gods enter their chthonic aspecks as Gods of the dead. This is the perfect time for the removal of negative energy. Or sending it out. I call these dark cleansings because we are working with dark energy to take the bad energy away. Like the Bloodmoon, a Scorpio based Eclipse (and really eclipses in general) force you to face that which you fear the most.

They force you to confront problems and burdens you’ve been holding onto for a long time. They also end a chapter of your life to start another. In my case, I had a very personal journey to make.

Dealing with the Sins of the Past

Lost in the darkness, seeking the light

I got into an argument with someone from my past. And this person reminded me of a time when I wasn’t so spiritual. And in fact I didn’t care who I hurt as long as I got mine. Even people who loved me. And who I should have loved back.

When I was younger, and far more foolish, I was a misogynist. I didn’t think I was a misogynist back then. In fact I thought I was a feminist. What I was, was one of those wanna be “woke” assholes thinking I believed in equality. It wasn’t all fake.

I truly believed I was a feminist. Part of the reason I turned against Christianity was due to the way most churches treat women. Especially my church. I was raised to believe that men are above women by divine right. Or some other horseshit like that.

Because Adam was born before Eve etc.. even though the original Hebrew Bible says that Lilith was created at the same time as Adam. And she was his equal in all respects. I was a womanizer. A compulsive liar. I constantly cheated, and I didn’t fully understand that I was controlling.

I learned this abusive behavior mostly from my dad. But also from the church, and the culture of toxic masculinity that pervades the West. And even when the person I was with was a genuinely good person, I couldn’t be faithful. Sometimes when I cheated I convinced myself that I was “loyal” and that this other person was just a side person. Someone to satisfy me when my regular partner wasn’t around.

I look back on that now and feel disgusted with myself. I wasn’t the best big brother growing up either. I was a teenager and I was so caught up in my own bullshit that I didn’t see that my sister needed me. And my Mother and Paternal grandmother were at odds with me as well. For different reasons.

How could this have ever been me? I’m 36 years old now. Not some young, cocky, asshole. After opening my eyes to several truths, I began to change. To remold myself and cast aside the bad things in my heart and mind. To become a better person.

After becoming a Pagan and a Magician that quest took off to even greater levels. I learned about the Mother Goddesses. I formed an especially close link to Hera, Nemesis, Demeter, and Gaia to name just a few. To Inle and Oshun, and to Chang’e and Kwan Yin. I learned I had a lot of work to do.

And they had no issue kicking my ass from left to right in my mid 20’s to get me to learn. My relationship with my mother and grandmother was better. I made amends with my sister eventually. And I am still changing. Still learning.

But I no longer cheat, no longer lie, no longer think I am some big “woke” feminist ally. I pursue the goal of just being a good and decent person. When I can achieve that, truly achieve it, then maybe I can be called a feminist. Until then I feel that it’s an empty title. The Cuban Exiles tend to be homophobic.

Tend to be womanizers and liars. This isn’t me hating my own culture. I’m just being honest. For years I had decided to turn my back on all religion and spirituality. I went headlong into hedonism.

And I stopped caring about people. Which led to a lot of heart ache both for myself and the girls I dated in my youth. After the nasty experience I had last Saturday, I realized I was deluding myself. I had a reading done by a friend of mine in Utah. And she told me that until I apologize to the women I have hurt, I haven’t made any amends.

Little did I know, that all of this was playing out for a reason. Because Scorpio’s influence on the New Moon and the Solar Eclipse was moving karma around. This has been a burden on my soul for a very long time. And I had kept it deep within myself. I buried this part of my past because I didn’t want to admit I had ever been this ignorant.

I began calling up women from my past and apologizing. I sent more than a dozen emails. I even wrote letters by snail mail. Some didn’t care anymore. Others forgave me.

Some said they don’t know if they can forgive me, but my apologies gave them closure. And others I am still waiting to hear from via the letters. I had begone to make amends. I was ready to begin the dark cleansing with Scorpio.

Priest burning the body of a sacrificed animal to Adonai

I had to draw on my training to figure out how to perform this cleansing. A cleansing that would be strong enough to do this. To channel the power of the Scorpio fueled new moon and solar eclipse. I decided to do a burnt offering. Thing is, I have no intentions of ever hurting an animal.

An artistic representation of the Pharmakos

The Pharmakos is the human version of a scapegoat. Humans would be chosen (or sometimes volunteer) to represent all the bad energy in a town or city. And then they would be thrown off a cliff after having weights of some sort attached. I know this is just an over simplification. So I linked an article from Harvard on this practice.

With the death of the Pharmakos, the bad energy was killed as well. In modern times, we use dolls or some other idol to be our Pharmakos in Greek expiation rituals. So I decided to incorporate the burnt offering practice with a Pharmakos.

My Pharmakos paper at the Hearth

My spirits reminded me of the power of burning magical papers and petitions to get things done. So I took a piece of Bible paper from my old catechism Bible. I collect Bible paper. It’s an old Bible so the pages started falling apart little by little. I mostly use them as paper talismans.

I drew the Triangle of Solomon on it. Now this is normally used for conjuring, trapping, and controlling a demon. The triangle protects the conjuring sorcerer. And the circle forces the entity inside and binds them. I summoned the sinful and bad parts of my soul into the circle.

And the triangle was keeping me safe so that as it burned, the bad energy couldn’t return or spread to anyone. I didn’t film it or take a picture. The last thing I needed was an image captured of negative energy burning. The paper was only beginning to be blessed by the Hearth in those images. So those images are safe.

I performed a technique in Yoruba religion called Sarayeye. This means you ceremonially use a spiritually charged item like an idol, herbs or flowers, food offering, stones or sticks, etc.. to absorb all the bad energy from your body. You take the chosen object and rub it from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet. And you say words of power calling upon all bad things to leave your body. This can be anything, including bad luck and disease.

“May any harm or thing that causes harm, be displaced from my body and soul and bound into this offering,”

– Simple charm taught to me by an Elder in Santeria

In this case I did an hour long prayer. I poured my heart and soul into it. I even started shaking and crying at some point. Broke out into a cold sweat as if I had a fever. I felt nauseous.

The Gods spoke in divination later and told me I had “shed my sinful soul,”. As if I had separated from an evil twin. When the last of my wicked soul had left my body (well, as much as a normal human can shed) my body slowly went back to normal. I finished 10 mins before sunset. And I took the paper and burned it outside on a crossroads.

The smell of Bible paper was sweet. It almost smelled like Palo Santo to me. When the paper burned I felt a strange sort of relief. And the feeling of something that broke in me. And I felt what can only be described as spiritual pus leave my body.

The next day, I felt like shit. I was sore all over my body as if I had lifted a thousand pound truck. The holy fire of the hearth match and the paper’s own inherent holiness channeling the celestial fire. It felt as if the holy flames had burned what was evil inside me. This isn’t a magic bullet that makes my old selfish ways okay.

But it’s a starting point towards the path of redemption I hope. I also prayed to Zeus Meilichios for purification. Confessing my sins before his idol, and allowing him to take as much miasma away as possible. It’s a harder process than I thought. Each time it’s harder to talk to someone I hurt.

I wish the universe could have given me a warning ahead of time.

Karmic Structures and their destruction

My Buddhist Shrine

After I had performed the ritual, I prayed to the Laughing Buddha. He’s always been a Buddha who has walked with me. A Patron and protector. I asked forgiveness for what I had done years before. And to find a way to be redeemed. I spoke to him out loud about everything.

An then I stopped suddenly. Suddenly I felt this disturbance. Like a rock thrown into water. And I felt him in my heart. Almost like having a conversation but without words.

He told me that my rituals and my attempt at amends weren’t enough. I needed more.

The Journey of Jetsun Milarepa

Milarepa’s Cave where he lived surrounded by his animals and nature.

The story of Milarepa is a really messed up one. It starts like this. He came from a wealthy family. But when his father died, his aunt and uncle who were very greedy, stole all the property. As well as the money and left him and his mother nothing.

So his mother sent him away to learn the black arts.

Not Tibet, this is a depiction of Black Magic in China, but for the purpose of the story I thought I would use it. From this article

When he returned as a powerful dark magus, his aunt and uncle were throwing a party. Their son was about to get married. And many people had come to attend to feast. He used his power to summon a giant Scorpion monster to raise the house. And 35 people died.

The aunt and uncle lived however. When the villagers came to kill him, he summoned a hailstorm that destroyed their crops. Which forced them all to back down. After years of wandering the land as a black magician, his heart grew heavy. He began to hate himself.

And to regret his past sins. He decided to learn new ways. And he found a Lama or “chief”. This is the Buddhist version of a Guru in Hinduism. It’s a teacher of the Dharma.

Marpa the Translator

His Master would be Marpa the Translator. One of the greatest Buddhist masters of all time. Marpa was a hard Master to serve. The guy made him go through hell in order to prove himself worthy. I’ll spare you the long history lesson.

But he ordered Milarepa to build three towers and then destroy them. He later told Milarepa the reason for this. Each tower represented all of the bad karma and suffering he sent out into the world. The task had to be difficult because it was a sort of penance. Each time a tower was constructed, it was instantly imbued with all the bad spiritual energy.

And when it was destroyed, the karma was destroyed. That’s what the laughing Buddha told me to do. I have to create a karmic structure to destroy. In penance for my old ways. It was revealed to me by him what I had to do.

And how many times I had to do it. That part of my ceremony I won’t talk about. It’s just for me to know. I started on that already. And hopefully I can continue to make amends.

What I can say however is that it’s not a large structure. And it isn’t as many times as Milarepa. While my past self may not have been too enlightened, I never summoned a giant scorpion to kill people. Here’s hoping I can continue my path towards making amends.

St. George’s Eve (Don’t go out tonight)

All manner of Spirits, evil, neutral, and some good wander the night

The feast of Saint George the Dragon Slayer is normally a good Feast. But on the Eve or vespers of a Saint’s day, evil spirits and evil witches gain their strongest powers. It’s their way to mock holiness. But contrary to popular belief it isn’t just evil spirits out tonight. All sorts of beings are out.

Werewolves

Werewolves are out and about on this night. Some of them are good and others are bad. Some of them are shape shifting witches who learned to transform. Some are people who were cursed. And some gained an ability from a relative to enter Wolf form.

Who knows what they’re up to tonight? At least the Romanian version of Werewolves. In North America they’re active on St. Mark’s Eve not St. George’s Eve.

The Blutbad Holly Clark, from the Tv series Grimm. It basically means “big bad Wolf”

Will-O’-the-wisps

A Ghost Orb from Malaysia

Then of course we have Will-O’-the-wisps also known as Ignes Fatui (giddy flames). Also known as Ghost Lights and Corpse Lights. These are spirits that take on the form of the classic ghost orbs you have probably seen or heard of from television. Not only do they exist in European culture. But also in some indigenous American cultures.

But not all Will-O’-the-wisps are ghosts.

In Mexico they are normally Hags or Demon Witches. Practitioners of black magic who delved so deeply into the darkness that they became demons while still alive. In death they get even stronger. This is not to be confused with the title of Hag used by some Covens. This specific hag is not a human witch.

Hags in the form of fiery Will-O’-the-wisps

It refers to a whole class of formally human witches who became demons or demon-human hybrids through sinister practices.

But most of these lights are associated either with Faeries or with deceased human souls. The main belief in Europe, is as follows. When Saint George’s Eve comes around, the dead, and even spirits associated with treasures (which includes a few demons) will appear as flames or lights. These lights will then hover around places where there’s buried treasure. Really brave (or greedy) people will venture out at night hoping to find such spirits.

And then either dig up the treasure then and there. Or mark the place somehow to find it again the next day.

Corpse Lights, spirits of the dead in Orb form

Granted, this is a dangerous practice because the spirit could kill, curse, or even possess the would be treasure hunter. Something I recommend is to never steal treasures from spirits. My Native Shaman had been haunted by a spirit who buried money with her dead father. We never knew how they acquired this money together. But we figured it probably wasn’t legal.

But we let his soul stay with that money. My family had a similar run in with the spirit of a dead land owner from Spanish colonial times. The house they lived in had previously been his property. But the treasure was under some kind of Boulder. And no matter what was done, the rock wouldn’t break.

Not even with drills. My grandmother who practiced magic, correctly concluded that the treasure would never belong to us.

A Faerie creature with its ball of light behind it

Some of these spirits are dead pirates or road thieves who buried their treasures prior to death. Perhaps even being captured and hanged before they could enjoy their stolen bounty. Or sometimes regular people who hid their treasures to feed their families later. But had died before revealing their locations.

Vampires

Moroi, the human vampire born from two Strigoi

The Moroi are a type of Vampire that falls under two distinct categories. One is a physical psychic vampire that drains the energy of the living. The other is a non-corporeal Ghost Vampire. Much like the Asian Hungry Ghost, feeds on the energy of living creatures. Moroi are often the subjects of debate.

Moroi as a Parasitic Ghost. Image from DeviantArt

In one story they are mortal Vampires. In another a vengeful ghost who feeds off of energy. Sometimes the Moroi are said to be demonic spirits who possess the living. This includes animals such as Bears. Living Vampires also become undead Vampires in death.

This is probably why the Moroi appears as all three types of creatures. In death they may have the option to become a regular parasitic ghost. Or a demon.

Their Parents

Strigoi Mort are a type of witch vampire. In fact the word itself is actually for witches. Simply it has become so associated with these vampires that extra terms have been added to tell the difference. From the Latin word Strix for witch. Italian Strega.

And Slavic Shtriga. In order to differentiate from a human witch or wizard they use different terms. Such as Strigoi viu, or Strigele, living strigoi or living witch. The undead vampire witch are called Strigoi Mort or dead witch. In Romania dead evil witches tend to become vampires.

However, it’s all confusing. Because some argue that a Strigele is like a Moroi. That it is unholy and will become a vampire witch in death. But to me that’s just Christian bias. They think witches are all satanic.

Obviously not all Romanian Witches become these creatures. There are several types of benevolent witches that use sorcery to fight these creatures. And even create talismans and amulets for protection. In several legends, Romani people (Gypsies) have played key roles in fighting and defeating vampires and other demons. There are legends of Gypsy vampire hunters as a matter of fact.

But that’s a rabbit hole for another day.

Strigoi Mort are immortal and also have magical powers. They are said to control the Moroi. Some legends state that the Moroi are the living children of two Strigoi who mated. So these vampires are interrelated. Why the immortality isn’t passed on isn’t explained.

Because they are also witches, they have a wide variety of powers. From invisibility to shape shifting. The Strigoi are thought to originally have come from Dacian religion. The belief that these are condemned souls. They were unworthy to enter the heavenly Kingdom of the God Zalmoxis.

And thus spend their eternity as vampires. From the Dacians, the Romanians inherited these creatures.

Conspiracy

From LP Bestiary

It’s said that the forces of evil meet at the boundaries of their cities or towns at sunset. These could be vampires, evil human witches, evil werewolves, or straight up fallen spirits from hell. Here they plan and plot what they are going to do to people until next St. George’s Eve. The Vampires steal life essence from people and animals to power themselves up. When doing this, they also steal skills or abilities the animals or human has for themselves.

For instance, if they feed on the energy of a venomous snake, they will produce the same venom. And the poor snake is left with nothing. If they feed on a computer programmer, they will gain his or her knowledge of programming. And the knowledge will vanish from the minds of their victims. And still yet it can be something else too.

Let’s say your talents are something else. Maybe you have a special charisma with someone of the opposite or same sex. This vampire can take away your charm for themselves to mate. And you’ll be as charming as a penny on the road.

“May.—I found that my landlord had got a letter from the Count, directing him to secure the best place on the coach for me; but on making inquiries as to details he seemed somewhat reticent, and pretended that he could not understand my German. This could not be true, because up to then he had understood it perfectly; at least,

He answered my questions exactly as if he did. He and his wife, the old lady who had received me, looked at each other in a frightened sort of way. He mumbled out that the money had been sent in a letter, and that was all he knew. When I asked him if he knew Count Dracula, and could tell me anything of his castle,

Both he and his wife crossed themselves, and, saying that they knew nothing at all, simply refused to speak further. It was so near the time of starting that I had no time to ask any one else, for it was all very mysterious and not by any means comforting.

Just before I was leaving, the old lady came up to my room and said in a very hysterical way:

“Must you go? Oh! young Herr, must you go?” She was in such an excited state that she seemed to have lost her grip of what German she knew, and mixed it all up with some other language which I did not know at all. I was just able to follow her by asking many questions. When I told her that I must go at once, and that I was engaged on important business, she asked again:

“Do you know what day it is?” I answered that it was the fourth of May. She shook her head as she said again:

“Oh, yes! I know that! I know that, but do you know what day it is?” On my saying that I did not understand, she went on:

“It is the eve of St. George’s Day. Do you not know that to-night, when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have full sway? Do you know where you are going, and what you are going to?” She was in such evident distress that I tried to comfort her, but without effect. Finally she went down on her knees and implored me not to go; at least to wait a day or two before starting.

It was all very ridiculous but I did not feel comfortable. However, there was business to be done, and I could allow nothing to interfere with it. I therefore tried to raise her up, and said, as gravely as I could, that I thanked her, but my duty was imperative, and that I must go. She then rose and dried her eyes, and taking a crucifix from her neck offered it to me.

I did not know what to do, for, as an English Churchman, I have been taught to regard such things as in some measure idolatrous, and yet it seemed so ungracious to refuse an old lady meaning so well and in such a state of mind. She saw, I suppose, the doubt in my face, for she put the rosary round my neck, and said,

“For your mother’s sake,” and went out of the room. I am writing up this part of the diary whilst I am waiting for the coach, which is, of course, late; and the crucifix is still round my neck. Whether it is the old lady’s fear, or the many ghostly traditions of this place, or the crucifix itself, I do not know, but I am not feeling nearly as easy in my mind as usual.

– Excerpt from Chapter 1 of Abraham “Bram” Stoker’s Dracula

Things to watch out for

Beware of the things that hide in the deep shadow

There will be an influx of Calling Ghosts or Calling Spirits. This is an umbrella term for paranormal entities across a wide spectrum that are well known for calling out your name. Sometimes they even make themselves sound like people you know, women and children or animals in trouble. This is all to lure you away to a secluded spot for nefarious purposes. Don’t fall for it.

In Cuba we’re even warned to never answer a voice calling your name unless you know who it is. During this time, there are vampires who call out your name to try and get you to answer. Avoid being outside especially on the road or sidewalk. But as stated before, this is a time when evil spirits congregate and plan out what they are going to do for the rest of the year. So watch out.

This is the first Eve of Saint George. But there’s another in May. So be prepared. The best way to protect yourself is with garlic which wards off evil spirits. I use garlic salt.

Best of both worlds. Spirits try to enter homes through every nook and cranny. Vampires for instance can enter through keyholes. So make sure you have warded your home and yourself. If you think all of this is old superstitions and nonsense, then good luck.

– M

Sources :

1) Vampire Universe : The Dark World of Supernatural Beings that Haunt us, Hunt us, and Hunger for us by Johnathan Maberry (2006)

2) “Beware Saint George’s Eve” Supernaturally Speaking.com

3) “Saint George and the Powers of Witches and Vampires” from Daimonologia

4) Dixie Spirits: True Tales of the Strange and Supernatural in the South by Christopher K. Coleman (August 2008)

5) “Will-o’-The-Wisp: Bioluminescence or Otherworldly Spirits?” from A Little Bit Human

6) Moroi from the Vampire Encyclopedia

7) Strigoi Mort from the Vampire Encyclopedia

8) “Calling Ghosts” from Occult World

The Mourner

I was supposed to have written this account last year. But I was so busy with everything that I couldn’t write a single word. So here I am finally committing words to blog. This happened to my baby cousin. And I was called in to help her.

What I am going to talk about is probably one of the weirdest experiences I’ve ever had. It even tops the Witch Bird case from a few years back.

Let me start by saying that the term Mourning Women is an umbrella term for a special type of spirit. They are the opposites of the Llorona or Wailing Women, they can be good or bad, human and non-human. The good or at least neutral ones, are always human souls.

Women who for whatever reason have decided to stay behind because they are mourning another person. And they decide they have to perform funerary vigils for that soul even when they themselves are dead. There’s one famous Mourning Woman in Mexico called La Dama Enlutada from San Luis de Potosi, who visits several churches just to pray for the souls of the dead. This class of Mourner are obviously good spirits, and they may even be psychopomps (guides of the dead) who cross them over.

A Mourning Woman ready for a soul. From the fake “Spirit Photography” of William Hope. Still cool though.

However, there’s a second class of Mourning Woman who are demonic. Either human souls that have been demonized in death, or pure demons that have never been human beings. For whatever reason, they enjoy the motif of a mourning woman.

They take this form as a way to mock their victims. These tend to be what Paranormal Investigators call “Soul Collectors”, evil spirits that capture the souls of the dead who have not crossed over, and enslave them. These poor souls from that point on, are bound to the soul collector until someone is able to bind the entity and free the souls. Unfortunately, this was the type of Mourner that was haunting my cousin.

For a few weeks, I started to get a bad feeling about my cousin. The dread slowly began to build. Until I finally decided to text her. I figured I was being silly right?;

“Hola Mama, ¿Cómo estás?”

(Hey Mama how are you?)

“Eh more or less. Hanging in there,”

“What’s wrong?”

“I keep seeing this woman dressed in black. I don’t know if it’s for real or if I’m going crazy. But I can barely sleep. She’s in my nightmares too,”

Now obviously when she said that, I said screw the texting and called her. I asked her why the hell didn’t she pick up the phone and call me. She said she wanted to but couldn’t seem to find the time for some reason.

It should be noted, these beings can manipulate humans into forgetting. Making us too tired to seek help, or making us second guess ourselves. I have no doubt that’s what was happening here. Especially with how fatigued she sounded over the phone.

I got all the details surrounding this spirit. Which wasn’t much. It was just that it appeared seemingly out of no where and didn’t leave. Then my Mom, who doesn’t practice, but has the gift said the name of a deceased family member. A nasty family member.

“It’s Leona, she’s there for some reason,”. Now this family member was a witch in life. A bad one. She was my great aunt. Despite all her claims of being an Evangelical Christian, she was well known in our neighborhood and in our family as being a black witch. My mother’s side of the family are full of practitioners. So they don’t go around calling people “devil worshippers” unless they mean it.

They really meant it with her.

In pretty much every culture, when an evil witch dies, they can become these demonic or semi demonic spirits in death, then haunt the living. Some hurt the living by feeding off of their vital energy. Others just seem to be happy tormenting and killing people in strange ways.

They gave her a Christian burial thinking that would be enough to put her to rest. But even before she was buried, she had been causing trouble. Her spirit returned to haunt my cousin’s mother. It had violently pushed her to the ground.

It kept making trouble in her house with Poltergeist activity, all this before she was even buried. My older cousin suspected it was Aunt Leona. But she pretended it wasn’t real. It wasn’t until I told her that the strange activity was was due to Leona’s presence that she finally admitted she wasn’t imagining it. Leona had raised her.

So she loved her, but she also wasn’t a fool. She knew what kind of person Leona really was. Still she had no idea why Leona was attacking her in death. I had to do a major reading and call some of my strongest spirits. In life I’d never dared gone against her.

In death she would be twice as powerful. I didn’t want to face her with just my normal spirits. I conjured some extra help. The spirits told me that Leona had made a pact with something nasty. It was never officially revealed to me what that was.

Faust selling his soul to Mephisto

Not a demon per say, but something else. Maybe something that serves demons. Maybe some kind of mutated spirit. But whatever it was, it demanded one thing in exchange for the powers she sought. It wanted my cousin and her daughter.

At first, because she was my relative, my cousin asked me not to banish her. But to do special funerary prayers for her. Try to pacify her in death. For a few months it worked. But then she came back.

And this time she didn’t come back alone.

She had completely infested the house with scores of evil spirits. Some former humans and others were clearly never human to begin with. It was one room in my cousin’s house. A room, filled with Leona’s old things. It was shrouded in a dark field of energy.

As thick as pea soup even for my sight. I could not see through whatever was in that room. My cousin and her family was physically sickened just by being near it. Something attached itself to a teenage friend of my little cousin, and before you knew it she was being spiritually oppressed.

Again, it was fucking Leona whom I had seen there. With that nasty, smug, smile. Victory was practically written over her face. In death, she looked like she was in her twenties. Not the 80 yr old whom we buried months before.

The spirit was too strong to enter her friend’s body. But via oppression, it gave her enhanced strength. I had to call on the Hindu Gods and the Ancestors to force this entity to release her. She was finally freed. I told them they needed to dump all of Leona’s stuff on a crossroads far, far away from there.

That time, I had consigned Leona to hell in the name of Lord Shiva. I told her to stay there and be judged by King Yama, the judge of the dead. That time, I saw her spirit sucked into a vortex of infinite darkness. Finally she was gone. Or so I thought.

I finally know now why ancient peoples went to such extremes to keep the dead, dead. Putting boulders on their corpses. Placing blades around their necks to decapitate themselves. The whole nine. It’s because of people like her.

The dead who won’t stay dead.

My banishing and binding had worked for a few months to a year. But then, my older cousin died under mysterious circumstances. Without going into detail, we think foul play was involved. But an autopsy showed nothing out of the ordinary.

It was still a strange death though. We think to this day that it was murder. But we could never prove it with forensic evidence. So it was officially labeled an “accidental overdose” and the case was closed.

But soon after, her daughter, my little cousin began seeing that a tall strange women dressed in black mourners clothes was in her house. This happened out of the blue. It was always around her, she was afraid to sleep. Because when she did, this thing was in her sleep.

And as stated above, it was my mother who revealed the entity’s true identity.

Leona herself. But she looked so different. So different in fact that when I saw her in this form I had no idea it was her. I would never have known this was her. She had changed so much, looked so different.

When I saw Leona the first time as a ghost, she was in her younger form. She was 20 years old, dressed in a short black dress, with long reddish brown hair. She would have been beautiful if not for that sinister smile.

But that had been back when I banished her. This time was different. I had sent her straight to Hell where she belonged. Now I could see that the time spent in the abyss had perverted even more than before.

She was taller than she was in life. Unnaturally tall. Her face was covered by a black mourners’ veil. Human no more. Now she was something else.

I kept seeing her in my mind. And I couldn’t shake this horrible feeling. The feeling that if she lifted her veil, the face underneath would be something so ugly. So deformed, that it could scarcely pass as human. But then I had an even worse thought.

What if there’s no face under there? Not all Mourners have a face. The ones who are faceless, are the worst ones. More powerful for some odd reason. I think the ones who are faceless are given a higher authority. Maybe the lack of a face symbolizes the lack of humanity or compassion.

I know this sounds like a horrible thing to say about a relative. But I just wanted her to go to Hell and stay there. Permanently. So I called my cousin and we did a remote ritual together. First I sent her images of my indigenous spirit.

A near identical replica of the statue I have. I won’t take a picture of mine because the spirit inside doesn’t like it. This one was made by Samuel Lightfoot

He’s inside a statue. His soul resides there, I don’t actually know if he’s a warrior or not. I can’t tell. What I do know is he has powerful magic. He must have done many great deeds in life because he has many feathers in his headdress.

Regardless, he has never failed me. I sent an image of him and of a Animal Spirit that he has with him, a separate statue. I told her to look into his eyes and enter and accept him there with her. Moments later, she felt him and his animal appear.

The Mourner formally known as Leona was very angry. She started trying to attack my cousin. Which was a mistake. Both my spirits took the opportunity to absorb her attack and turn it on her. Restraining her in the process, but Leona wouldn’t leave.

Some power was allowing her to stay. So I needed to upgrade to an even stronger guide. I had them restrain her while I called him down. For this I used a sort of Jewish-Christian and Muslim ritual that I devised. All three religions worship the same God.

So I called on my Guardian Angel in the name of Jesus, Enoch, and Muhammad. I drew the symbols of all three faiths with Cascarilla chalk on the floor. And did separate prayers to God for each faith. Then I just sat kneeling and asking Yahweh for help. Yes, Yahweh.

The God El’s incarnation as a God of war. That’s the version of El that Christians worship. Hence why he’s kind of bloody in the Bible. But I digress. I beheld my Angel, he was cold and hot at the same time.

A warm heat on a cold day. But also a refreshing arctic wind on a hot day, an aura that reminds me of the aurora borealis. I told him the cliff notes version of what was happening, and he instantly departed.

When he did I heard my cousin give a huge sigh of relief.

From Fine Art America

This is the closest representation I could get to what he looks like. But his body is weird, he looks like a giant, like a human with the giant disease. That gives them a bigger frame.

His wings are golden and emit a kind of solar energy. But the center of his body emits a white and cold light. When he turns down his bioluminescence for me, I have seen that he looks like a dark skinned middle eastern man. His black hair slicked to the back. His eyes also glow golden.

“I can feel him,” she said as she sighed. “I feel so good right now,”. The Mourner tried to run. But even if my two other guides weren’t restraining her, she didn’t stand a chance. My Angel is too powerful.

My cousin said she felt his presence like a warm wave of positivity wash throughout the house. Like all the trouble and problems she had just washed away under that warmth. He removed her at once. This time for good. That’s what I should have done in the first place.

But I believed my necromancy and my banishing was strong enough to keep Leona down. No matter how strong in life she was. This time she wouldn’t be allowed to return. Since she had such fun in Hell and clearly had a lot of friends, we sent her somewhere else. I asked him where else in the afterlife could she be sent.

He replied.

“Her demonization must be lifted first. That will take some long time. And when it’s done, we can send her into the void of reincarnation. Let her live life times with her karma as judge and jury,”

So that’s where he took her. Good riddance to bad rubbish. Let her own sins become a burden to her when she comes back to Earth.

I also requested he stay with her for a week, healing her and removing all bad energy from her. She said she slept good for the first time in a long time. A few months had passed and she encountered another Mourner in her house. She thought it was Leona.

This one was weirder than Leona herself. But it wasn’t her. My guardian is too strong, and the place he sent her is sort of like Jewish Purgatory. Before she is to be reborn. See Jewish Reincarnation.

“The Curse of the Faceless Woman,” by Urban Legends Online

I interrogated the entity and discovered she was a familiar spirit to Leona. She told us Leona had worked with Mourner Spirits before. And that’s when they met. Shortly thereafter a pact was formed between witch and her new guide. But this guide like I said before, was strange.

Leona had ordered this familiar spirit to appear as her, to act like her, and to have all her memories. In case one day her spirit would be bound or banished somehow. It was interesting to hear this from her familiar.

That Leona had become so obsessed with immortality, that she ordered her Mourner to become a backup of her. Almost like a clone. Her mind and memories absorbed by another Mourner prior to death. And unleashed the moment Leona was taken out for good. I also learned that she kept setting her free every time I banished her.

Leona ordered her to hurt my cousin. To kill her in fulfillment of some pact. On the off chance that she didn’t finish it herself. I ordered her to tell me who the pact was made with and how to break it. And she told me the name of a Demon whose name I will not repeat.

But this entity is female and well known in Jewish lore. You probably already know just by that. She’s also a demon in ancient Sumer. So I called on the Angels Sanvi, Sansanvi, and Semangelaf to empower my curse breaking ritual. It’s the same ritual for breaking generational curses that I wrote about here.

The curse was broken. But something still felt off. Turns out my cousin still had some of Leona’s belongings with her. A cross or a Bible that turned out to be cursed, can’t remember which. I told her to bury them in a separate crossroads.

After that, the hauntings had stopped. No more Mourners. Everything went back to normal. But that was one of the strongest entities I ever had to banish before and I hope to never see one again.

If you see a Mourner, know this; prayers and the normal stuff you use, won’t work. These are really nasty, and really powerful demons. Even protection spells can fall short here. Because these are the children of that demoness that I won’t mention here. But those three Angels can banish and bind her and her children.

The Mourners serve her, they are a type of hag or demon-witch hybrid like she is. So you’ll need to step up your game if you’re going to face off against one of these beings. That’s why since then I have tried to learn all that I can about fighting them back.

The names of those three Angels and also the names of Adam and Eve can be called to drive her out. Especially when written around a Star of David. Of all the Hags or demon witches I have studied, Mourners seem to be the top tier ones. I don’t know why, but they are.

I will keep you updated when I find better defenses against them. But for now, my cousin is better.

– M

Danger and Demons: Yemen’s Mysterious ‘Well of Hell’

Surrounded in mystery and tales of demons, the Well of Barhout in Yemen’s east — known as the “Well of Hell” — is a little-understood natural wonder.…

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Halloween in September : The Haunted House That Inspired The Conjuring

In the mid-19th century, as the story goes, a woman named Bathsheba Sherman wreaked some havoc on the townspeople of Burrillville, Rhode Island. This…

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Ghost Month 2021 : What are Dark Souls?

A Flame Mouth is a Hungry Ghost who cannot eat food because it will turn into fiery coal in their hands. From Best Price Travel’s article

I decided to take advantage of this festival to write about a little talked of subject : Los Muertos Oscuros. The Dark Dead. This is something that is universal amongst all traditions, both old and new. Even Reiki practitioners have talked to me about the use of Reiki to help or aid the dead. Especially those lost in the darkness.

But first, what is this festival about?

Today at Sunset, the Hungry Ghost Festival begins. For those who don’t know, this is when the dark or toxic spirits of the dead are released. Specifically those who died and went to Hell for their sins. Hell isn’t entirely a Christian concept. Many faiths have their own version of Hell under different names.

Or states of hell. Sometimes referred to as “reincarnating into the lower realms.” Although lower realms isn’t always hell. Sometimes it’s limbo or even reincarnation as an animal. Though I personally don’t believe reincarnating as an animal is “lower” at all.

It’s being a part of nature. Humans after all, are animals. Typically, Hungry Ghosts are classified into three groups : Needle Mouths, Flame Mouths, and Corpse Mouths. A Needle Mouth is when a hungry ghost has a throat that is so tiny, it’s like a needle. Which is why they cannot eat food.

Flame Mouths are people that cannot eat food because it will burn up or transform into coal. And Corpse Mouths are the very worst. Those are people who were so evil in life, that they become decomposing corpses. They can’t eat because their mouths rotted away. This is a testament to their very literal rotten character.

For many generations there was very little that could be done for such people. It wasn’t until the Buddha’s two disciples, Maudgalyāyana and Sariputta had to face the fires of hell to save their mothers. Both of them had selfish and greedy mothers, who when they died, went to Hell and became Hungry Ghosts. If you want to read the whole story, go to my 2018 Article on the origins of the Festival. This also covers the rituals needed to appease them and ease their sufferings.

In addition to Buddhism, the same entity exists in Hinduism, known as a Preta. Which becomes a flesh eating undead revenant.

A depiction of a Corpse Mouth

In addition to not being able to eat because of their mouths, Hungry Ghosts have large distended bellies. This is for them to eternally starve to death without starving. Now, most religions also have what I call Dark Ghosts. Toxic spirits of the dead. They aren’t necessarily people who went to Hell.

Not everyone believes in Hell. But various religions have something akin to limbo or purgatory. And in this place a spirit with no light as we Santeros say, or divine energy, just keeps getting darker. And then more violent and nasty. Until they become something far removed from who they once were in life.

A soul that was put into a blender and so messed up that it’s unrecognizable as who it once was. In Santería we call this an Eggun Buruku. Literally the dark dead. In fact I believe the Shadow People mentioned in modern paranormal accounts are these types of spirits. Not demons but really dark souls.

Although at least some of them, do become demons according to certain folkloric beliefs. In Catholicism they are called Anima Solas or “lonely souls” that live in purgatory. In Ancient Roman beliefs they were called Lemures or Larvae. The root word meaning “mask”. Because their visage was so horrible that they were masks of fear to those who beheld them.

And of course we have the Jewish Dybbuk. The soul of a sinner who, unable to become one with God, is hunted and beaten by Angels for sport. So they must come down to our realms in order to escape. They are called Dybbuks because the root word in Hebrew is the word for “attachment”. They attach themselves to the living or outright possess them.

Whether they be animals or humans makes no difference to them. Symptoms of Dybbuk possession include speaking with someone else’s voice (dead person’s voice). Having any ailments or pains they had in life like back pain or anything else they had. Or total personality changes. In certain spiritual circles the belief of a deceased soul doing all of this to a possessed person is identical.

Dark, but not always Evil

Not all of these dark souls are evil or even punished by God through the Angels however. Some Dybbuks are just dark because of how they died. Such as suicides. And they stay in a state of constant purification until they are ready to become one with God, like the Anima Solas in Purgatory. A Rabbi once told me that such a spirit will be attracted to someone who acts like them.

So if a Dybbuk committed suicide, they will go to someone thinking of it. If a Dybbuk was a murderer, they will go to someone thinking of it. Once there, they possess and oppress the person. The person starts getting visions of this dead soul in life. And they relive all the things the deceased went through.

The person in theory, understands that killing themselves or someone else won’t give them peace. So they change their ways and live out their lives. The Dybbuk departs from the human. And they having fulfilled their duty, are fully purified. Thus allowed to enter Heaven.

This is just one of many ways that the dark dead are able to be purified. It’s not always about sin but more often than not, miasma. Negative energy from some event holding them back. And by being unable to release this bad energy, they stop themselves from going forward. Usually, what happens is that a descendant doesn’t remember their ancestors.

There’s this modern belief that the dead are automatically fine. That when they die, they go to God and that’s it. Some go to Heaven, others go to Hell, done. But it doesn’t work like that. Even in Purgatory, there are many different forms and dimensions.

Same with reincarnation. Not all reincarnation is the same either. But I digress. When people forget their ancestors, that’s a nail in their spiritual coffin. When they don’t give them offerings of food and money or drink or incense and candles etc.. the soul becomes like a homeless person.

Alone. Trapped. Always hungry and thirsting. Always cold or hot because they have no home to protect them. Always alone or in the company of spirits that make you feel alone.

This is why on Hungry Ghost Month Hades Money or Hell Money is burned. It’s a kind of fake currency that is charged with prayers or belief. Once it’s burned in honor of a specific person, that person has the spiritual version of it with them. And to them, it’s a real currency.

Here we back our currencies with gold or natural resources. Their, faith, belief, power, energy is what backs such a currency and makes it real for them. I knew one woman, who would burn the paper using a holy candle. The holiness of the blessed candle would be permanently infused into that money. So that the money would appear to the dead person she offered it to as a talisman.

It wouldn’t run out.

Warding

In many traditions we have some kind of altar or idol for the nameless and forgotten dead. In Yoruba practice, we have statues of Babalu Aye and Oro who are Orishas that have power over the nameless and forgotten dead. They are placed outside the house. And offerings are given to them to make sure these spirits are pacified and won’t harm the living. Special idols for Hekate are placed outside of household doors to ensure bad spirits stay away.

Or just plain using sea salt barriers to block anything or anyone from coming in. While everyone is in danger of being effected by them, the sick, the elderly, children, and pregnant women are most at risk. Animals should avoid being outdoors at night as well. If you keep them outdoors, you need to ward your front and backyards. As well as ward their places of sleep.

Bless their food and drink and ask the Gods to fill them with protective grace to ward off enemy spirits. By enemy I mean anything that could harm you, even if unintentionally. Do extra protections. These are some links with information with good advice on what to do during this month.

Staying safe through Hungry Ghost Month

While Vietnam had their own Hungry Ghost Festival on July 15, this is still good advice and applicable to this festival.

Ghosts and other Myths : How Vietnam celebrates the 7th Lunar Month

Hungry Ghost Month & the Star of Yin Gate (More Good Advice for this month)

Finally, if you do decide to give offerings this month you need to be very careful. The Hungry Ghosts congregate all around people giving offerings. You need to charge your food and drink for libations but ask the Gods to put a timer on when the energy can be released. So that once you put it outside, it won’t release the energy until you have left and are safe. And wait until you are outside and far from home.

Pray to the Gods and ask them to charge the food and water. And that even if it is devoured right away in the physical world, it may endlessly replicate into the spiritual world until morning. That way many souls will be free. Or alternatively for the blessings on the food and water to be a gigantic bomb that will liberate an entire night’s worth of spirits when eaten. Cleanse the whole home.

Hungry Ghosts, like most spirits will possess an animal to eat on their behalf. The Hungry Ghost eats the energy inside the food, and the animal eats the physical food. Give your home an extra strength blessing. Do it for your Cars in case you need to be out late. Wear a protective charm with you.

And anoint yourself with oil. Or holy water. Bless any food or drink you have before you eat it and pray for protection. That way you will be given divine grace to protect yourself. Don’t offer the food to them when inside your home.

Because that will be an open invitation to them. And next thing you know, you will have legions over running your house. So when you do this outside, first have protection. Cast a circle, or wear a protection around your neck, have a charm bag etc.. even a salt circle around your car will do. Make it large enough to walk inside of.

Choose a place far from your home. Then what you need to do is pray to the Gods to charge the offerings. Either to ascend or elevate whoever will eat them. And that in exchange for them being crossed, for more good spirits to enter our home instead. That’s my advice.

Also, for this month it is very good to offer incense to your Gods and spirits for good Karma. Have a good Ghost Month everybody.

– M

A play based on Hungry Ghosts I found this very interesting

Tales from the Continent: The Business Man Pt 2

After my client Alvaro told me everything

I needed to know (or so I thought) I decided to do a little divination. Nothing he told me made sense as to why someone would want to hex him. I knew he was holding something back from me. And I wasn’t going to stick my neck out for him. I took this job because I needed the money.

He was hesitant at first. But then he agreed he would give me a good donation (which also turned out to be a lie). He did go into detail about the strange hauntings in his house. A feeling of “phantom weight” he always seemed to carry, but didn’t know why. And his infant son would scream his guts out in fear at night.

At first he told his wife that it was normal for babies to be scared at night. But then he got the strange feeling that someone was inside the baby’s room. He said he thought he heard a deep voice speaking within the room one night. And a few times he had the feeling of being watched. I hate cases with kids involved.

The situation becomes more volatile. So I took a few weeks to plan and meditate. I also broke out my old spell books and charms and started experimenting with what I should do. In the end I opted for necromancy.

He did eventually tell me part of the problem

And boy was it a doozy. He went into a haunted cave at night. When he was younger he said that he went with a few friends there on a dare. The local folklore says that witches go there to do Black Sabbats. Obviously not good witches.

Or even normal witches. These are what are known as Hags. Now everyone has an opinion of what a Hag is and I want to talk about this for a second. In regular traditions a Hag is just a witch. In fact it may have been a word that the word witch evolved from.

From Haegtesse, the term Elder Hag is often used for an elder witch. But as is the case with many words and terms, there is a positive and a negative connotation. In Christian or semi Christian traditions, Hags are either demon witches. Or in the case of the Appalachian mountain people in the US, human practitioners of black magic. I understand many of my witch brethren would find that disrespectful.

Regardless, even in the South amongst the original slave populations, they had stories of Hags. The most famous being the Boo Hags. Specifically the Gullah culture talks about Boo Hags. The idea is that these were once human witches. But they delved so deeply into the practices of black magic that they eventually developed demonic powers.

They themselves becoming demons. Now I refer to such people as Demonists. In my personal practices those are witches that are beyond a normal warlock (unethical practitioner). This is another class of black witch altogether. Then there is what I call a True Demonist, someone who actually succeeds at becoming a real life demon while they’re alive.

Something which to me is rare. In that category, I put in the Native American Skinwalkers. And also the Penanggalan of the Philippines and Malay culture. Hags of this kind, the demonic kind, can be found in almost every culture. But the term also refers to positive Goddess or spirit beings as well.

So it’s important not to get it twisted. It’s important to know that this is a word that could be positive and negative. But in this case it was the negative. The demonic types of Hags are said to be the children of the Demoness, Lilith. Before she was the demon of Jewish lore, Lilith was a Sumerian Demon Goddess.

Tied to the storms and also to infant mortality. she was said to take the shape of an owl woman. I should make a post dedicated to her one of these days. But anyways, in Latin America, there are many such creatures like that. And sadly in this guy’s country, there are infestations of such beings.

As a former monotheistic Christian I used to think these were tall tales bred from superstition. But after I began to practice and learn from other people, I started to realize these were real modern accounts. Skin Walkers for example are a type of demon witch. That’s why many Native Americans have such a stigma about being called a “witch”. They associate it with unethical practitioners of magic.

Granted that’s largely due to European Christians drumming the idea that a “witch” was evil into their heads. Some more colonial brainwashing at work. Getting back to the topic, this guy said he didn’t believe in such things. He thought it was BS. So he goes into the cave to impress the girls.

Everyone in that little town he visited says that night Hags use that cave. These women shape shift into owls (again the connection to Lilith). They are so familiar in their owl forms that owls are seen as demonic animals in this country. Indigenous shape shifting witches like this exist all over Latin America. Once inside, they all smelled this godawful stench.

He said they had found these large brown paper bags that were bloody. Flies were everywhere and in some cases there were maggots protruding from these bags. These are probably sacrificed animals. They also found strange things he found hard to describe. And finally, he said they found a large Saint statue with its arms broken off.

I instantly got a flash in my mind from my spirits. And I learned that the statue had held some kind of dark spirit. In witchcraft, a popular method of exorcising a spirit, is to draw it out of a place or person and then send it into a vessel. Sometimes holy icons or idols are used. And sometimes when a dark entity enters an idol, the idol gets partially broken.

And even dark practitioners do exorcisms. For clients or sometimes even when they summon something or an entity goes out of line. And they have to trap them somewhere. Though I also think the statue was purposefully desecrated. So I ask him,

“Alvaro, by any chance did you get too close to that statue?”

Then he gets very quiet. Clears his throat and says,

“Well… I was young. And the girls thought it would be funny if I took a selfie with that statue,”

(Jesus Fucking Christ)

So it became apparent that the “phantom weight” wasn’t just whatever Sanchez had done to him. It was whatever he had absorbed from this statue. It had probably been haunting him for years before Sanchez. And he only began to notice it years later. I had my work cut out for me.

I had no idea where to start

So I decided to do a time honored tradition. I went to the dead. There’s a random roadside memorial where I used to live. Some guy whose name I will not mention here out of respect for his family. I became friends with him a few Halloween’s ago.

I didn’t have a cemetery close to me, so I decided to leave him offerings instead. I used to walk past his memorial on my way to a local mall. I left him a chocolate cupcake with a birthday candle that I blessed. I lit the candle and left it to him. Then I heard “Gracias”out loud. Now at first I jumped half way out of my skin, because I thought it was a living person who said that.

It didn’t sound psychic or telepathic. I realized then that this was a powerful spirit. I could tell he was loved. The memorial is filled with things including a cross made of plastic flowers. I turned around and said, “De nada amigo” (don’t mention it friend).

After that, I started visiting him a lot more regularly. Leaving him money in the form of pennies. So that he could buy things in the afterlife. I left him food and poured him libations, sometimes I left him Piedra de Alumbre (Stone of illumination). It’s not really a stone.

It’s this mineral thing we use in Santeria. It’s like a rock but it dissolves in water. The spirits of the dead eat it when we place it in sacred water vessels on their altars. In his case it would break into pieces until it became dust. I came to him for help.

I poured him a libation. Then I sat down with my cell turned off, pretending to be texting someone. I’m pretending that I am waiting for a car or something. He’s clearly amused by this and says,

“You must be really desperate to be making a long distance phone call like this,”

“Very funny,”

“What’s up?”

“Take a look and see for yourself,”

He enters my mind. And it feels like someone stuck a psychic USB drive in there. I can feel him looking into my memory I want him to see and hear the conversation for himself. Then he starts projecting images in my head and talks.

“This man here, Adonis, is a problem yes. But your client has other problems,”

He starts showing me all these shadow people and shadowy things all around him. It’s like a zoo of dark things. And he says,

“No offense, but you couldn’t find someone more trustworthy than this guy ? He’s even got a small portal inside his body. How much do you want to bet that he’s played with a Quija Board?,”

I was going to say that he didn’t seem like the type to own a Ouija board. But then again what do I know? I’ve never even seen this man before. We only talk via internet.

“What should I do?”

He stayed silent for a few moments then answered.

“Ask your new guide, the one you got from the Palero to deal with this. Ask him to bring an army of the dead to fight off what’s there and cleanse this guy. It’s not fancy, but it’s effective. And it will take care of this problem,”

I waited till there were almost no cars. And I buried 9 rusty pennies in the dirt near his memorial and said,

“I pay you (name redacted) in the name of Oya. Thank you for helping me. May this money given to you be an investment in your afterlife. May you never be poor. And instead always carry prosperity with you for all your needs,”

A random car came back and some lady saw me burying the coins and talking in the direction of the memorial. Fuck my life. All these nosy ass Karens in this area watching everything you do. It’s getting to the point that you can’t even fart or piss in a bush without one of them noticing. She was still staring while the car went away.

So I scratched my balls in front of her. The look of disgust was so funny that I busted out laughing. I could barely walk home from the laughter. I think most of the cars passing me by thought I was crazy or drunk. Well, I talk to dead people so maybe one of the two allegations was true.

I came home

Showered and ordered some take out. As I waited for the Chinese food to get to me, I decided to give a primary offering to Hestia. In Greek Polytheism she is the Goddess of Hearthe and Home. I also included in this offering Elegua Agbanukue, the Household version of Elegua. Who is also a God that watches the home and protects it.

I started naming the various Household Gods one by one. And the spirits that protect the home as well. I poured some olive oil in their honor. Then I sat back on the couch and rested my eyes for bit. I realized I should probably talk to my Palo guide. I got up and sat in my red chair.

I took his idol out of the Altar I have for native spirits. Even though he is a guide connected to Palo Mayombe, he’s the spirit of a dead indigenous man. I made eye contact with the idol and said,

“Hey friend, do you have some time to talk?”

I could feel him talking to me. This is a very different kind of spirit. Paleros use advanced spirits. Even their ghosts are stronger than the normal ones. He spoke not as a voice, but as feelings.

He was asking why I took so long to call on him. He was basically scolding me and telling me he was here to help. If only I would accept such help.

“Fair enough,” I replied. “I’m asking now,”

I could have done the psychic usb thing but I was tired. And when I get tired, images and information is fuzzy. So I took the time to speak to him the old fashioned way. Anyone watching me talk to this statue in my hand would have thought I was crazy. But the spirit within that vessel is very real.

He told me he had “brothers and sisters“ he could call on. That in Palo they were all one. And they would work together to help me. I bowed down my head, kissed his statue and said,

“Bless you sentinel of the home,”

Then I placed a bottle of whiskey on the altar next to him.

“I offer this to you and your Kin. It will be poured down at the crossroads when you defeat the enemy,”

After this was done, the delivery lady showed up. My family and I ate good food. Discussed our day (well I left our certain portions for obvious reason). And I hunkered down for the night. I sent Alvaro a message via the signal app.

We coordinated how we were going to handle this. We agreed upon a day, and off to work we went.

From left to right, Taino women representing the indigenous ancestors, center is an Adjule or African wild dog who is often seen as a phantom animal, and finally from Palo Mayonbe is Sarabanda, the great God of Smithery and Magic.

The final operation

I opted for sunset on a Friday. In many religions, there are times that belong to the dead. And all of those times as far as I have discovered, are at or around night time. In Santeria, the time of the dead is at Sunset. Nobody does readings at that time.

Or at least they’re not supposed to. Some Santeros I have met are so nyctophobic they wouldn’t even do Rosary prayers at night for a deceased soul. They believe Satan and his demons are all out around that time. I am one of the few Santeros who are not afraid. I had training in other religions prior to Santeria.

We did night time rituals and we learned not to fear the night. It is true that there are negative forces unleashed at night. But there are also positive forces. I learned about an exorcism ritual done by the Babalawos (priesthood of Orula) that was done for people who had spiritual attachments. It was called the Paraldo Ceremony.

The Babalawos did it at sunset. Because the Eggun (ghosts) or even demons would start coming out. The reason for this is because the spirit would be fully formed and out in the open. It would be easier to cast the entity out. But I wasn’t using that ceremony.

For one, because I’m not a Babalawo. Doing ceremonies without proper knowledge and authority is just asking for trouble. And two because I refuse to murder animals. No I am not a vegan. No I am not some kind of heretic.

But I’m one of many Santeros who won’t sacrifice animals. And that ceremony requires grabbing a rooster by its feet and smashing the head on the floor. This is for the evil to be bound to its body. If the poor creature is lucky it will die instantly. I don’t do animal sacrifices.

I know Pagans who still do them. And I don’t stick my nose into their religious practices. But I tell everyone no matter the tradition that I will not. But one thing that I did take from that ceremony, is using the sunset. I waited till that time to do this.

The enemy spirits will be fully formed at that time. But they won’t be that strong. The strongest time for the dead is actually from midnight until 2am, and dark spirits at either midnight or 3am. I have a good understanding of their power levels at various times.

At sunset they’re just waking up from a long sleep. It’s not the same level of lucidity and power as at other hours. This gives me the secondary advantage that after they fully emerge, they’ll still be dazed and confused. Demons and other wicked spirits don’t necessarily sleep during the day. But at night their powers are far stronger.

Which is why if I have to go out at night I carry amulets. And I shield to make sure no matter where I go, there’s nothing to follow me home. But at sunset they’re still just charging up. But they can’t hide nor will they try. They’re usually too overconfident for that.

And that’s what I was counting on.

I did a special ritual of protection. Necromancy with the ancestors. I can’t talk about the specifics or the name of the ceremony. But it kept me safe. I was surrounded by the protective energy.

And I brought out my Palo guide and asked for his help. Then I did a protective shielding prior to calling Alvaro. I did a few Hail Marys and Our Fathers. As well as some more ancient prayers for protection. Then I called him via the Signal App.

He was way too calm. People are normally ready to be done with this. He acted like this was just another transaction. Like shaking a hand or taking a piss. Yeah I really don’t like this guy.

I just wanted this shit to be over and done with. So we waited until sunset came. And suddenly there was a shift in the ether. I felt something on the other side of the phone with him. And I know he felt it too.

Though he seemed to enjoy playing dumb. I took a picture of the idol of my Palo guide. Then sent it to him via signal.

“This is one of my guides. Stare into the eyes of the idol and invite him to come to you,”

I got the distinct feeling he thought I was quemado. How do I say it? Burned out. He probably thought I was some kind of crazy new ager. But idol magic goes back centuries. My priest in the Hellenic Temple I attend, even told me about a form of idol divination.

I have seen people do remote magic or long distance magic with nothing but psychic abilities. What I do, is use the craft to remotely send out energy and spirits. It’s a more powerful way to do it. But Mr. Know it all didn’t know that. So he was surprised when he felt my spirit appear before him.

“I feel something in the room with me. I never felt a spirit like this before. I feel my third eye vibrating,”

He admitted that he knew enough about spirits to sense them. And to perceive them via the third eye. I wondered if he and Adonis had studied together at one point. Maybe they had once been part of a magic group. He didn’t even bother trying to hide it.

He probably surmised that I knew him by now. I asked him to connect with my spirit’s energy. I showed him how to do it. And then a massive explosion of energy occurred.

We both felt it. I felt forces coming from the four directions all over his country converging there, at his home. An army of ghosts. Indigenous warriors from his land. Spaniards.

And also slaves, particularly slaves who I think were Congolese. Even recently deceased people had joined in, an entire force of ghosts had now appeared. And these dark spirits around him were trying to fight back. He started talking about strange sensations.

“I feel weird,”

“In what way?”

“I feel an onset of relief, as if a heavy presence was released from me. And then that presence returns. It’s as if the relief is fighting the heaviness,”

What he was feeling was the dark spirit (heavy presence) being fought by the light spirits that were now there. I was seeing their energies combating each other. At first I couldn’t distinguish human features. They had gone to their purest form as energy.

The dark spirits were the smallest groups there. They appeared as balls of deep shadow. But the spheres of light numbered in the hundreds. And each had different colors depending on the energy they were using. Some were red, and I think those were soldiers or warriors. Others were yellow, and those were spirits who died of diseases.

The disease ghosts were absorbing all the dark energy that was in that house. Like a self eating cancer. I had been trained by a Wiccan teacher that dark spirits or dark energies could be put towards positive uses.

Now I was seeing in greater detail what darker energies, when put to a positive use could do. And these fallen spirits around Alvaro were dumbfounded. They had no idea how to fight back against them. They were outnumbered and out gunned. I was trying to keep my excitement down.

Overconfidence was a killer. As I had intended, they fully emerged with the dark. But they were still too weak to use their native element against us. With one final push, Alvaro described the heaviness forced from him for good. The relief stayed this time.

I did see a few spiritual doors close. He did have a small one on him that resembled a Quija board doorway. But that paled in comparison to all these larger doors in his home. In my mind’s eye I was seeing these beach ball sized vortexes floating in the air. I was going to ask him some more questions when my Palo guide spoke again.

Through empathy, he told me that other spirits were there too. Good spirits and a few neutral ones. Dead souls as well as nature spirits. They all occupied the same space. His property has become a free for all.

He did some kind of fancy ritual that he couldn’t control. And this had been the result. He had played with forces beyond his control. The haunted location he told me about and absorbing that spirit was just the beginning. And my guide also told me to not bother confronting him.

He had an answer for everything. It wasn’t my business anyway. Instead I told him that these other spirits I sent had to stay for the night. They would spend the twilight hours until dawn fixing everything. Crossing over spirits and dismissing others properly. The guide I sent also closed the doorway he had in his own body.

The other spirits closed all the other doorways. I told him to check his email. I sent him a list of instructions. I taught him a few cleansings and rituals. And finally I told him to get his property blessed by a priest after he had done these things.

By the time it was done, he had reported that not a single paranormal event had taken place in his home since all this had happened. All was well. That was the good news. The bad news is that Richie Rich skipped out on the bill. He claimed he couldn’t pay for my services because the times had gone hard and blah blah blah.

I was so pissed that before I lost control I told him that I had to call him back. Later I had a friend communicate with him that he had agreed to pay for services. And I had been more than generous with him. But he never contacted me again. All of my friends had told me to send all that shit back to him as payback.

But after all the trouble I took to remove it, sending it back just seemed like a waste. Instead I did a prayer ritual with the Gods and explained what had happened. They scolded me and told me I should have known better. But after they were done, they said they would handle it. I don’t know how they handled it.

I just know they never punish the innocent. So ,whatever they did or didn’t do, it would be just not unjust. I did end up getting something in return though. A bunch of obstacles and problems in my life left after the ritual was done. The Gods told me it was payment for services rendered.

The whole event left me tapped out. And I have spent the better part of this month trying to recharge and regenerate. That’s why it has taken me this long to write this.

I’ve had to slow down a bunch of things. And I’ve been taking long naps. Falling asleep near 7pm or 8pm like an old fart. I hope all of you will please excuse me as it’s going to be a while. I won’t be able to do a solid reading or work for anyone until I’ve regained my lost energy.

I apologize for taking so long to do that. One thing is for sure, I re-learned my lesson. Rich people suck. Unless I have a lawyer who compel them to pay up in advance, I’m not helping another wealthy person. I have better things to do than to deal with them or their demons.

Fuck them all. Just do yourselves a favor alright? Stay the fuck away from rituals you don’t understand. And don’t go to haunted locations for the fuck of it. That’s a stupid thing to do.

• 

Tales from the Continent : The Businessman Pt 1

It’s been a while since I spoke to all of you on here. That’s because over the course of these last two months, I’ve been busy as hell. So here’s the gist of it. Figured I’d regale you with my experience. This one was an extreme one, even for me.

And it happens to fall into my Tales from the Continent series. Now because of the sheer number of things that happened in two months, I needed to divide this post into two parts. Anyone who knows me, knows that like most stereotypical mages, I’m a walking encyclopedia. I can’t help having in-depth conversations about stuff. From history and politics, to ancient cultures and my favorite subject…Food.

It’s why I have all this beautiful whale blubber in real life. Sure I could hide that and pretend I look like the guy in that picture up there. But it would all be Bullshit. And to make it worse, I’m Cuban. We talk a lot of shit.

It’s in our very DNA. That’s why at night we have trouble sleeping if we’re sharing rooms. We’ll keep you up all night with conversations. Unless we’re doing something else. In which case the only conversations we’ll be having is when we climax and speak in tongues.

Whenever I find something interesting on a website or YouTube I talk at length about it. Especially paranormal related videos. I do this in English and in Spanish. And there is a long ass comment on a video called “33 Velas” (33 Candles) that a Spanish para channel called Relatos de la Noche (Tales of the Night) or simply RDLN posted years ago. I posted my explanation of the ritual in the account.

Why the candles were used and why messing with them, removed the protection. Apparently a lot of people enjoyed my comment. Some were offended and told me witchcraft is “evil”. But most started seeking advice. So I got a lot of people asking for my email.

I provided my consultation email and I began to receive a lot of messages from people which I shared with you on here. Hence why I call these stories Tales from the Continent. Because these are stories from people who watch RDLN and they come from the Americas. It’s an homage to them. I used to think I had already gotten the strangest cases from Latin America already.

Turns out I was wrong. Because a businessman who used to work in a government position reached out to me. It was one of the strangest cases I have ever taken on. I’m translating it from the original Spanish. I won’t mention the country because since he had a government position it just bothers me.

He didn’t tell me anything too secret or it wouldn’t even be on my blog. But all names are changed and locations have been removed.

I’d been up all night,

I was busy helping a few of the people from that video comment. And I was exhausted. They all had minor hauntings or some weak hexes. I hadn’t realized just how much more prevalent this stuff is in South and Central America. Everyone and their grandma throws spells at each other.

And for some of the dumbest shit you could imagine. One guy actually got his car bewitched with cemetery dirt because of the way he parked his car. Granted, the man parks like an ass. I’d be pissed too if some idiot parked his car like Rambo and took half of someone else’s parking spot. But leaving a skull candle to burn on the hood of the car with what I can only imagine was cemetery dirt around his car is pretty fucking bad.

I had thought that it was a rival or some enemy. Instead, when I cast the bones, the spirits said he was hexed because his neighbors think he’s an asshole. I thought he was lying at first when he said he had no enemies. Instead I realized that no one has ever told him they find him annoying. And I had to find a way to gently break it to him.

Yeah, that went as well as you can expect. But luckily I had help from the spirits to explain it to him.

The bones said he had some kind of condition. Like a personality disorder that made it hard for him to click with people. Having some issues of my own I can relate. I managed to get him to understand . We got the hex off his car,

And he made a cake for his neighbors to show them his friendly side. I actually felt bad that I was impatient with him. I realized I was acting like an asshole because growing up with my own disabilities, people treated me differently too. Add to that, that I could see things as a child. I had a very lonely childhood and people treated me like shit.

So I learned to be sarcastic and to chew someone out real quick. We’ve become friends. And my cleansing helped change his luck. I’m also happy to report that my pointers and those of my spirits helped him become more social. Trying to get him into therapy next.

A good old fashioned support group goes a long way. I now count him as one of my good friends. So I was trying to sleep the next day because I was drained. And I have the bad habit of being a workaholic. As I was laying in bed to sleep the day away, I decided to check my work email.

The one I use for paranormal consultations. And this new email had been sent to me five minutes before. I was bored and figured I would read it and then answer later. This was the email he sent.

“My name is Alvaro and I found your email by reading some comments you made on a YouTube video. The one of the 33 candles of Relatos de la Noche channel. In which I found an interesting addition to the video, your comment. I liked the way you shared your knowledge and gave people your confidence, and your opinion. Among the comments you made, you pointed to a person that sometimes a sudden loss of luck and a lack of energy could be indicators that something was not quite right.

It is thus and for the same reasons that I contact you so that you guide me to know if those issues that I feel I have in my life are of a supernatural nature. Particularly in my professional life. I have suffered from a significant decrease in my income. And I wonder if this is due to some negative energy or simply due to all the changes that have been generated by the pandemic since last year. Which has led to a significant decrease in work for everyone. In advance I appreciate the attention you give to this email and awaiting your valuable response.

Alvaro,”

I honestly didn’t think this was anything out of the ordinary at first. In the Paranormal, we are trained to be skeptical. But being a witch I am trained to not judge a book by its over. What seems normal and mundane could turn out to be supernatural. Also there was something about his demeanor.

Analyzing him is what made me step back to re-evaluate him. His Spanish didn’t have any slang to it like most modern speakers. In fact he spoke so proper that even the English translation sounds proper. People who speak like that tend to be of the upper crust of their societies. Latin America still has a reigning elite that goes back centuries from the Spanish aristocrats to the land owners.

A lot of countries are like that. I have met wealthy people who are nouveau riche (new rich). They still talk like regular people. The stick hasn’t yet been firmly planted up their anal regions yet. He talks like he’s always had money, or had access to some fancy school.

I’ve had a few run ins with the wealthy before. This tells me two things. One, he’s probably not someone with an open mind. In fact I’d say that he must have had a fairly conservative education. So ideas about the occult or supernatural would be seen as silly.

He’s already tried to debunk his own paranormal experiences. He’s probably still trying to debunk himself. He may even be chastising himself for contacting a random “witch doctor” off YouTube. So he isn’t some overly superstitious person given to fantastical thinking. He’s probably even borderline atheist or at least agnostic.

Which leads to two. Something convinced him to consider the paranormal as being real. Something that’s serious enough that his logical mind can’t account for it. His explanations are falling flat on their face, before actual, tangible evidence. I stood up in my bed debating whether or not I should wait to email him.

My body said,

“Dude, go the fuck to sleep already,”

But my mind said,

“mYsTeRy”

So guess which one I listened to? I decided to email him back my opinions, still partially skeptical. And explaining that his loss of luck could be anything. That the world economy was fried. And that bad luck was already in the air due to the Mercury retrograde and the sign of Otura Oyeku which brought bad luck during this season. I’ll save you the long winded explanation.

But I even sent him links and offered to double check with the Gods anyway. I’m finally ready for bed. Because the long ass email with its detailed analysis made me more tired. Then not five fucking minutes passes by when I hear that familiar bing on my phone. No way I said to myself.

No way this guy read all of that and was able to reply so quickly. There must have been five paragraphs in my email. That’s two pages and a half. Only a sociopath reads and understands that fast. So I check thinking no way.

(Fuck me, it is him).

“Dear M,

First of all I want to thank you for the prompt response you gave to my previous email. In relation to the question you ask me about whether I have noticed something strange. I comment that the only thing that has me a little intrigued and uneasy about it is what I will tell you next. Last year I received a proposition to occupy a administrative position in my government that was coveted by a person. His name is Adonis Sanchez (he was named after another Greek God. I just changed the name).

Who did everything possible to get the person who tried to hire me fired. I only held the job in question for barely 15 days. After just 15 days they asked for my resignation. The job that I had and that I am telling you about was in a government office in the Republic of (omitted). Which was plagued with problems and many conflicts, I could even say envy.

I had to watch my back at all times. Many people tried “to trip me,” so that any blame for any problem would fall to me. They did this to preserve their own careers. But for me to get all the blame. Despite all the complicated work, I had the collaboration and support of certain people.

Those who worked in the office who allowed me to solve some of the tasks entrusted to me that seemed impossible to do. Until I accomplished these tasks. It gave me a lot of support and praise. Which was a double edged sword as you might imagine. For although my management was brief, it was very intense because during that period there were particular circumstances in which Adonis and other people were involved.

So the person who was my boss by hierarchy ordered me to report them pointing out the irregularities that they had committed in their job. Since these people also exerted pressure on others with gunmen, despite the fact that this is illegal. Which is why my then boss confessed to me that he feared for his life. So he asked me to make the complaint on the irregularities for him. Even though he had security of his own, he feared Adonis.

The complaint I made led Adonis and his own supporters to request my resignation at a very high level. Which they achieved, but I also learned that Adonis did not manage to get the same administrative position I left behind. Eventually he was pressured to leave the government because his own actions had finally angered enough people to expel him. Even then my departure felt like a relief for many reasons. Since I stopped feeling all that pressure and negativity from the people there.

It allowed me to accompany my wife at the delivery of our first child. With whom I have been throughout this pandemic (which could not have been if I had continued working). In addition to the fact that my departure occurred before one of the most complicated stages of the pandemic began where I live. I do not overlook that there is resentment on the part of Adonis towards me. I comment on the latter, because when it was my birthday, among all the messages I received, there was one from Adonis on my Facebook account.

(He wouldn’t tell me the details of what was said. I got the impression that perhaps there were threats).

When I finished reading, I looked up at a lamp. It’s glass screen inexplicably burst. At such a strange coincidence I blocked him from my contacts on that social network. I had believed that perhaps he hacked me. Maybe a hacker could use some sophisticated form of tech to do that.

But I knew I was fooling myself. I know technology well. No hacker could cause something like that with a few keystrokes. And this was a regular lamp not another computer. What could he have done from a computer to cause that from happening? Somehow I knew it had been him.

What caused it I still don’t know. I eventually convinced myself the event with the screen was a coincidence. Although I still have doubt as I tell you. Sometimes I feel very tired and sometimes without strength, it takes a lot more energy to do my job than usual. Despite this, I can tell you to this day I have not lacked money.

Since I have enough to meet the expenses of the house. I have to buy food and enough to cover the debts, which makes me feel blessed and not feel helpless. It is difficult to have that feeling of uncertainty and feel tense month after month not knowing if I will have enough. Especially for my wife and my baby. I really appreciate your help and the time you have dedicated to me.

As you say, possibly all this that I have told you is only due to the bad times that all of us are experiencing. So I will review the information you shared with me. When you have the opportunity, review my case. If you notice that it is nothing extraordinary, in advance I will appreciate the guidance. And light that you can provide me in these complicated and dark times that everyone is going through.

– Alvaro ,”

“Fuck,” I said to myself. I knew I wasn’t going to get any sleep.

A few hours later,

I was getting the specifics of everything from this man. I also asked him to use the signal app. It’s better than WhatsApp. WhatsApp is owned by Facebook now, so the previously private data is probably going to them. Signal was recommended to me by a friend who is always on top of tech privacy.

We began texting back and forth there. I was concerned that Adonis might be surveilling this guy. I didn’t want to find out if this prick could hop on a plane and come after me for helping his enemy. He assured me that he had his house swept for bugs once a week. And he had the means to make sure he was protected.

Alvaro seemed harmless enough. For a guy who knows to have his house swept for bugs. And even though he has “financial problems” he’s got the means to protect himself from someone as dangerous as Adonis Sanchez. I wondered if I should even be helping him. How do I know his story is true and he isn’t the one gunning for Adonis? I’ve had that happen before in the past.

I’ve had clients trick me into thinking they were the victims at first. I refused to be somebody’s pawn again. Instead, I was doing a divination the next few days to see who he was. And I was right. He wasn’t the pure dove he claimed to be.

However, this Adonis guy was way worse than I expected. The spirits I talked to said that Alvaro had understated just how dangerous and messed up Adonis was. I could see an image of someone of mixed indigenous and white ancestry like Alvaro. And he had an aura as black as a void in space. Nothing on Earth is supposed to have an aura like that.

He was frustrated he couldn’t kill off Alvaro. And he did have magic. Lots of magic. Western Hermitic magic I think. Through the divination I felt that Alvaro had a security team keeping tabs on Adonis.

I also felt there was far more to the story then he was letting on. So I tactfully asked him if there were other details I could use for the divination. He emailed me a short background for him and Adonis. A sort of origin story.

“Esteemed M

In response to your questions, I will tell you that I held the government position a year ago. I have not had contact in that area of government until then. I began to carry out my profession in the private sector so as not to be near those people. I am only involved in my local government; so I consider that I can speak freely with you on this subject. Regarding this man, Adonis, I can tell you that I met him many years ago around 2004 and 2005, as we were internship companions in an office while we were studying at the university.

At that time he was a very happy man. A very different sort to whom he is now. He was involved in a car accident due to drunk driving. He collided with a tree and his companion, his best friend, died. For this, he was imprisoned for a time until he managed to get out of prison.

I knew that event transformed him. And his time behind bars also transformed him into someone I no longer knew. I stopped having contact with him since then. Until we met again last year, during the job I told you about. I really appreciate the attention you give when reading my messages and I am attentive to anything you may need.

Sincerely,

Alvaro,”

His story didn’t add up. From what he told me, there was zero reason for this guy to be angry with him. And yet reading the story and reading the energy of the past, I could feel so much anger. It had boiled over time into a primal rage. Like Adonis wanted to tear Alvaro apart limb from limb.

He wasn’t telling me everything and probably never would. But whatever. It’s not my battle. If these two want to wipe each other out and then duke it out in the afterlife, that’s their problem. At this point, I’m only interested in two things.

One is getting paid good money. And the other is ensuring that innocent people don’t get caught in the crossfire. I began to have vague impressions about Adonis learning Hermeticism in prison. Someone opened Adonis up to that world. Showed him how to use magic.

And it served him well. Because it opened doors for him in business and in government. You’d think somebody with a record for killing someone while drunk driving would have a hard time getting a position anywhere. So how did he get such a lofty position? I also suspected he learned a lot about the world in there. Kill or be killed.

And something else too. Adonis’ magic should have caused Alvaro’s finances to go to the toilet. Even to cause health problems. So I started asking myself if Alvaro also practices . Or if he just had immunity from magic in his bloodline.

Some people have strong bloodlines from witch ancestors. And those ancestors watch out for them. Make them partially immune to sorcery. Or to bad luck in general. People who seem to have “the golden touch” and can make anything prosper.

A man with the level of magic that I sensed Adonis had, should have been able to take Alvaro out with sorcery. I also saw that Alvaro had spiritual portals all over the place. And lots of dark clouds in the spiritual world around his home. He’d purposely kept all of this out of his emails to me. So what else had he lied about?

I was going to find out.

Death on the Horizon

The Virgin of Mount Carmel or simply La Virgin del Carmen in Spanish. Mary as the Queen of the Dead. She has the power to free souls from Hell and Purgatory.

A few days ago, I got a nasty feeling. My land lady is a Romani woman. One of her animals almost died. And the red scarf around her neck that she uses to protect herself from the evil eye was loosening. Some nasty person whom she is already aware of had sent her a curse.

And said animal absorbed it. After the incident, I started getting a warning from my own spirits. And I am now doing special protective rituals for myself.

Leading the lost and angry souls out

Not too long after that, I received a blog post notification from an Orisha Temple in California. And they had a very interesting thing to say. They were warning of sudden death.

IFA To Overcome Death from OTURAOYEKU

In Yoruba religion, we have sacred signs. And they have different stories attached to them. They tell various stories that are sacred texts. But this sign I did not recognize. It’s called Oturaoyeku.

I had to call up an old Santero from Cuba to look it up. Apparently it’s referred to as “the devil’s mark” and a “sign of demonic power”. It means there are people plotting mischief or harm of some sort. Betrayal that could lead to murder. Curses from unethical practitioners.

Strange deaths, bad luck of every sort, the works. I looked it up later for myself and yes. This is a sign of corruption and vice. It symbolizes the “rot of corpses”. It means “even the Devil has a protective Egun” (spirit of the dead, a spirit guide).

This is a metaphor reminding us that everyone, even bad people, have spiritual protectors. And these evil spirits aid them in causing harm to good people. Speaking from past experience, that’s very true. Also we have a Mercury Retrograde headed our way next Saturday (Jan 30th, 2021). Which means Hermes is headed towards his cthonic aspect of Terrestrial Hermes.

Terrestrial Hermes, the guide of the dead

Hermes as a God of the dead. Their guide and protector. Hermes is a God of many things. From magic to technology, to languages, and business. Not just communication.

So when he enters his reaper aspect, everything he’s in charge of goes in reverse. Marriages break down, businesses go down, friends become enemies, etc.. And of course money problems. So now is not a time to make projects. Now is not a time to argue with anyone or try to prove yourself right. It will all backfire on you.

Now is the time to honor your dead through Hermes. Ask for his guidance. Retrogrades happen for a reason. And that reason is that things need to be corrected. And given the clusterfuck of a year we had in 2020, that’s an understatement.

Meditate, be a hermit. And stay the hell out of trouble. If someone mouths off to you, ignore them. Be polite and move the fuck on. It isn’t worth it.

Because all it takes is one confrontation. Just one, and you could get beat up. Or arrested, cursed, hell even killed. It isn’t worth it.

Leading them to their eternal resting places

So we all need to slow down. Don’t go out as much. Try to avoid dangerous situations. During a normal retrograde, accidents happen. But given that the Babalawos have sensed death in the air this isn’t something you want to tempt. And have a lot of patience because you need it.

They prescribe using Iyerosun. It’s a type of magical powder that comes from a tree named the Iyosun tree. Loosely translated it means Iyosun powder. It’s wood dust normally made by termites. And it’s blessed with ashe (divine grace) by the Babalawos.

The instructions are in their post. However, you should only do this if you are either a Babalawo or have some kind of knowledge on it. For non initiates that will be a lot harder. Unless you can find someone in your area who practices. If not I would suggest doing an offering to Orula and Odudawa for some heavenly protection.

You don’t have to be a Santero for that. I’ve seen Rootworkers pray to Orula and give him offerings. Do a divination and ask for help. Ask them what they want as an offering. Or even look it up.

It won’t have the exact same effect as what is prescribed. But the Orishas always listen to those who wish for help. Same with other divine beings. Just make sure you respect the culture and heritage. If you have questions book a reading with the Babalawos.

I normally offer that myself. But in these matters, these are high priests and have greater knowledge and spiritual authority. Or if you have a God you already feel comfortable with or a Saint or whoever, ask them. This isn’t a contest. Everyone has their own spirituality that works for them.

If you wish to work in your own culture, but need a few tips, book a reading with me. Studying folk magic prepared me for helping others to carve out their own rituals. Make it there’s. Regardless, there’s a few things that the Santero I spoke with gave me as advice during this time.

– He said I should pray to Orula and Odudawa. For protection of myself and family.

– Make offerings to Babalu Aye and Oro.

Babalu Aye handles disease. Oro is a very strange being that didn’t quite make it to Cuba. Essentially he is a God of the dead and necromancy, and he punishes the wicked. When he kills them, their ghosts join his group or entourage and they punish people for him

him.

A Babalawo first told me about him. But good luck getting any real information. His cult in Nigeria is a mystery religion, for men only. It’s a secret society. And when they do their night time rituals, people know to stay in doors.

There was a controversy in Nigeria a few years ago. It was over a Muslim woman at was out on the road at night. The cult was doing a procession in the streets with drums. People are supposed to stay in doors. But she was out at night and had encountered the men doing their rituals.

A taboo that hasn’t been broken in a long time. I can’t remember too much except that I think she got hurt. And it made a huge religious debate. The question was raised about whether or not everyone in a community, should be subject to taboos from religions they don’t practice. Regardless, Oro’s cult and it’s secrets are known only to those who initiate.

What I do know from a Paranormal case where I asked a Babalawo for help, is that Oro and Babalu Aye are often called upon together. They’re given offerings and called upon for protection from evil spirits. From Black Magic. From cursed lands and weird deaths etc.. So it makes sense this old Santero would tell me to call upon them. Apparently we are to ask from protection from them as well.

– Wear a Cross or Protective Charm around your neck.

He says that at this time, the Devil’s power will be at it’s strongest. That in his day, he was told to wear holy items around his neck if something like this came about. It wasn’t always a cross either. Sometimes he would wear some kind of amulet in the form of a small charm bag around his neck. At other times a tiger’s eye stone, or a medal of a Saint.

So no matter the religion, wear something protective around your neck. A crystal, a small bag or ring. He even mentioned having small family heirlooms blessed. You could wear that around your neck and it would work too. He didn’t go too deep into it except that it was a taboo he observed.

In my case I don’t have my necklace because it broke recently. So I am using a red band blessed by by the Romani woman with the medals of St. Benedict around my wrist. The use of charms is a very important taboo to follow now.

– Avoid all forms of negative thinking, action, or speech

What he was told when he was a young man, was that the bad spirits can hear you more clearly under this sign. So if you complain about something, or just say something nasty in general, they’ll make it worse. They’ll take it as an open invitation to come bother you. Even if it’s something nasty about a person who is nasty themselves. Don’t speak on it.

Don’t do curses or just retribution spells. Instead do offerings to your higher powers and let them handle stuff for you. These beings want to give you enough rope to hang yourself with. Don’t give them that satisfaction. And with a retrograde, that is likely to happen almost anywhere.

So don’t just quarantine because of the pandemic. Staying out of the streets is a good thing even if we didn’t have a plague on our hands.

– Beware of betrayal. And beware of gifts from enemies.

You have no idea what they’re really giving you. A special emphasis was made on witches who curse objects they gift you. These objects are supposed to turn your life upside down.

– Beware when divining

He mentioned something about these spirits trying to reach us when we divine. If we must divine it should only be in daylight hours. Never in the night. And only if we know how to block negative spirits from messing with our visions and messages. This is something very prevalent in this sign.

Especially with the use of cards I am told. Which is probably some kind of psychic interference these entities do in this sign. They seem to cause confusion and misinformation. Which leads me to the next taboo.

– Don’t make decisions with a bad mind

The bad spirits will make life more stressful. They will try to spin you every which way. To get you off guard so that you can make a mess out of your life. These are things that sound a lot like a Retrograde. But unlike a retrograde, this is not for your own good.

It’s meant to take you backwards in life.

– Beware of dark spirits

Specifically, beware of Eggun Buruku or “dark dead”. These are the angry ghosts of people who either weren’t good in life. Or they died in horrible ways, were forgotten and lost by their descendants etc.. They’ll be roaming the streets more than usual. Many cultures or faiths have their own version of dark ghosts. The Japanese even had their own books detailing what kinds of Yūrei (angry ghosts) were out there.

So probably brush up on your banishing rituals and recharge your charms. And when walking into your house, walk backwards with your back entering the home. Otherwise, certain spirits can follow you inside. This is something they do in Trinidad to break your tracks so entities can’t follow you in.

– Avoid being out at night if you can. If you have to be out, ward your car and yourself with charms and prayers.

– Treachery from children. Whatever that means.

There’s a bunch of other stuff associated with this sign and all of it is bad. But I think I made my point. Oh and one last thing, cleansing baths. And the use of holy water. To cleanse your soul and mind.

Or if you are good with herbs, cleanse with that. Cleanse daily to avoid dark energy in yourself and your body. Be safe everyone,

– M

Weird Christmas : The Devil and the Doctor

“Long years ago, so runs the tale, A doctor dwelt in Longdendale;” “Well versed in mystic lore was he— A conjuror of high degree; He read the stars that deck the sky, And told their rede of mystery.” (1)

Faustian Pacts: The Devil and the Doctor

As part of celebrating Christmas the way the Gods intended, time for some stories of the Paranormal. This is a most excellent blogger. I follow him. He writes about Folklore and Ancient History. Give him a follow.

– M