Negative Forces are around us since before the end of last year
I didn’t want to comment on this. Largely because as someone who believed in the Paranormal, I am trained to debunk everything. I thought it was just me seeing something that wasn’t there. But I have since changed my mind. Last year, my dog Sheldon was attacked by an American Bulldog.
He’s saved my mother from that dog. Fought like a champion to save her life. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just him. There has been an epidemic of attacks on dogs and dog owners since then. When I translated the Letter of the Year of the IFA Priests, I noticed something.
They said “dogs would bring good luck,” this year. And after that I have seen that all over Florida dogs and dog owners are getting attacked. As my mother and dog had been attacked. I began to see a pattern there. And I divined to ask the spirits for guidance.
Near as I can tell, the Ajogún (warriors of evil) which is what the Yoruba people call demons, are all over the place. Feeding off of the chaos of humanity. Most people believe that human activity is all caused by spirits. But sometimes the reverse is also true. What humans do in our world causes spiritual activity.
Like a massive tremor in the spiritual world. The conflicts in different countries, global food prices going up, inflation and political division. All of this is food for the Ajogún. Negative spirits feed off of negativity. It’s like food and steroids for them.
It increases their powers and gives them a larger foot hold in our world. The Ajogún consist of corrupted spirits. Some were once human.
The Ajogún in their world
And others are forces of nature that have become perverted. So these demons are not like the devils with horns you would see in movies. Not saying there aren’t horned versions of them. But they are living forces, or sometimes even nature spirits that have become bad.
Imagine gravity if it were evil. Imagine a force like the Devil, in a million forms at once. And just having this force visit you is enough to bring bad luck and death. One of the ways in which the Ajogún visit is when you have a “bad head”. If you are angry or depressed or generally have a negative attitude, that’s an invitation for them.
The Ajogún can actually see your negative mental energy from their shadowy world. It’s like a beacon to them
And it’s also food for them and other negative spirits. They will feed off of your energy. Increasing the bad luck and making things worse for yourself. It acts as an invitation for them to come visit you and run amok with your life. And because these negative spirits are forces of nature that are so massive, you wouldn’t know you had a spirit messing with your life. It certainly wouldn’t come out in most divinations. Unless you knew what you were looking for, you wouldn’t know what was going on.
These forces are also called Osorbos, Osobos, or Bears. Due to their aggressive and predatory nature. And those words are also synonymous with bad luck. It’s my opinion that based on this violent wave, and other factors, these entities are running amok this year. And one of the ways it’s doing this is by targeting people’s dogs.
This may sound ridiculous. But remember, they are trying to strike down the sources of our luck. That which protects us. And it won’t just be dogs either. Anyone or thing that protects you is up for grabs.
A person in your life who keeps you safe. Charms that protect you. More than likely any other animal that acts as your guardian which would substitute a dog. The Osorbos are on the attack and we must be ready and prepare to strike them down. Now you must be thinking, What the hell can we do? These aren’t even normal demons.
You’d be right. This is the equivalent of trying to use holy water and prayer to attack the Leviathan. It might effect a small portion of his skin cells, but he’ll barely feel it. No. You need to call in someone who can defeat them. These are the specific Osorbos I believe are involved in all of this :
1) Ofó (Loss)
The living embodiment of loss of loved ones, missed opportunities and so fourth.
2) Iku (Death himself)
Not a God of the dead, though he is a Deity of the Dead. He is the embodiment of death. Like Thanatos in Ancient Greece. It is he who is being used the most.
3) Arún (Disease)
Self explanatory.
4) Oran (Problems)
Again, self explanatory. A force that is the embodiment of problems and obstacles.
5) Ijá (hatred and war, conflict in general)
6) Eyo (tragedy) though I think this one is more a by-product or companion to the others mentioned before.
Now I am not a Babalawo. I am not even a full Santero yet. I’m just an apprentice in training. I have used what I do know to identify these things. I see patterns and I try to identify how to alter or stop certain things.
The only way to stop the Osorbos is with their opposite. The Orishas. So I would give a sort of feast to Elegua the Orisha of the Crossroads. A massive feast asking him to get all of the other Orishas involved to fight the Osorbos. It doesn’t have to be anything too ceremonial.
Elegua, the God of the Crossroads, Magic, Guardian of all dimensions. He is the Master of the Keys and Gatekeeper of all.
Just get a lot of food and drink. And offer it to him. And he’ll ensure the assistance of the Orishas in your general area and especially to you. And then your normal ways of protecting yourself should be empowered by them. Made stronger.
The Babalawos usually do their own ceremonies with tons of food and other offerings. But since not everyone can afford those services, I am giving you a simpler version you can use. Elegua loves lots of food. He also loves fruits like mangos and bananas, and he enjoys rum. His number is three.
He eats everything except pigeon. He will not touch that. And while Coconut is sacred to him, I don’t offer it to him because Coconut is supposed to be his head.
Offerings for Elegua
Elegua’s younger, child-like Avatars usually get candies and toys. But the older Avatars love hard candies, toasted corn or popcorn. Eleggua also eats goat, rooster and bushrat, as well as smoked fish. Now you don’t have to kill any animals. You can serve a cooked chicken dinner to him.
Smoked fish is easy to offer. That should be enough. Make sure you put all of these offerings at the crossroads or on a railroad track. Whichever is closer. Start the offering with a libation of rum, and finish with three pennies.
The Orishas
Three of each offering is good. And at your house, you can burn three candles and offer up three Abre Camino (road opener) incense sticks. Ask him fervently in prayer for help. To bring down the other Orishas to battle the Ajogún. And then finish with three pennies.
Then cleanse and bless your home as you normally would. Keep your head down, and your eyes open. And try your best to avoid conflict, negative attitude, or anything else that could screw you up. That sounds like a tall order. But it can be done.
Especially with prayer, focus, fasting, and meditation. May the Divine Powers protect us all.
I’m going to start this by saying that I have no idea what’s going on. Not by any measure I know of. In the past week, people I know have had car accidents and nasty arguments. A witch I know received death omens and has since seen that the omens were true. And I lost someone very special to me.
My friend dreamed of the dead. And since then many people at her job died off. I lost my dog Shelby just two days ago. He died the most painful death ever. This is not a normal time.
This is a time of violence.
Something else is at play here. I’ve decided that in addition to my usual mourning rituals, I’m also going to work with Chiron the Wounded Healer. He’s the legendary Centaur healer and scholar. The trainer of heroes. He gave up his immortality to save the Titan Prometheus.
Chiron the Centaur, foster son of Apollon, trainer of heroes. And the best of all Centaurs.
I am also going to work with all Gods of the dead. Specifically I will meditate with Terrestrial Hermès, the aspect of Hermès who rules the dead. Also with Eshu Kaminalowá the camino or avatar of Elegua that works with the dead and with Babalu Aye. And finally I will be working with the dead. My one and only suspicion is that Mercury Retrograde which is coming in May is so strong, that it’s generating an aura that is effecting many people now.
I can’t back this up because I am not an astrologer. This is just a suspicion. Maybe something else is going on. But if you find this post in your email today, do yourself a favor. Treat this like a really nasty retrograde.
Cleanse yourself and your families and homes. And ward yourselves well.
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.
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,
A monument of an Angel crossed with Themis, the Goddess of Blind Justice, carrying a fallen Mambi soldier from Cuba.
Many in my personal life who read this blog are already aware of this. But last Tuesday my grandfather Juan had passed away. My grandfather did not have an easy life. He had a life marked by pain and by isolation. John Donne said that man is not an island. But with respect, he never met my grandfather.
And while his poem praised human unity, very few humans ever lent him a hand. He was born out of wedlock to a Babalawo and to a white woman of Spanish blood. A woman with a deep interest in the Occult. She loved her Babalawo despite the fact that he was a married man. The two conceived my Abuelo Juan.
His uncles hated him. Because his father was biracial, they told him he wasn’t really a part of their family. Instead he was a “negro they found in a hill somewhere and took pity on”. This was Cuba before the Revolution. My great grandmother had to hide him on that farm with her uncles and mother.
A child born out of wedlock and born of two ethnically different parents. It was a scandal and a shame for the family. And especially for early Cuba. My grandpa had to go through beatings and emotional abuse until he became an adult. His grandmother to her credit, loved him.
And didn’t care that he was mixed. She loved him and took care of him and defended him from his uncles. And was always making sure that he was alright. His mother would visit him on the weekends. He always blamed his father for everything.
Said his father was too much of a coward to tell him who he really was. My family said that his mother kept his existence a secret. She was afraid to ruin his father’s life. My grandfather spent a lot of time alone. He had his friends but he loved his solitude.
He absorbed himself in books, in poetry, in history and politics, and in writing. He was a bit of a ladies man and seduced many woman. He even warned me to be careful with any Cuban girls I date. Because they could accidentally be related to me. Which would put a dent in my dating life to be sure.
But despite all the womanizing he did, there was one person he seemed fixated on since his early years : my grandmother. In his youth, he fell in love with her. She was 17 and he was 14. And while she didn’t pay attention to him at the time, he always vowed that one day she would be his wife. She married a violent and corrupt Batistiano Captain of the police.
He beat my grandmother and was responsible for war crimes against the people before and during the Revolution. My grandfather was a soldier of lower rank under this man. He waited for the bastard to drink himself to death so that he could approach my grandmother and propose to her. And she said yes. Something I don’t think she ever thought she would do because of the age difference.
They were both involved in the failed Counterrevolution on the island and ultimately divorced. But he still loved my grandma. So much that before she died he almost seemed to sense it. And he said to my mother,
“Hija, if one day your Mother should die, please don’t tell me. Because I know I’ll fall apart if I know. Just tell me she’s still alive,”
Unfortunately, he did find out and he went into a state of shock. Which led to him having two strokes and developing Alzheimer’s. Just as he told us, my grandmother’s death undid him. He seemed to go into an accelerated physical and cognitive decline in just months. He was rapidly turning into someone else.
Each month was like a decade for him, and soon the man who helped raise me as a child was disappearing before me. When I was a boy, my grandpa was one of the best and greatest people in my life. He defended me from my father when he got abusive. And asked my mother what the hell was going on and what she planned to do about it. He warned me about the dangers of cult brainwashing.
You see I was raised in a Fundamentalist church and he didn’t want me to blindly follow the doctrines of men, disguised as ‘divinity’. He claimed to be an agnostic, and once said that he believed,
“In the God who created Heaven and Earth. But I don’t know who the fuck this Jesus guy was. He was probably a delinquent and that’s why they crucified him,”
To my very Christian and very horrified mother. He also “shit on the Seven African Powers” and “Shit on every Saint in Heaven!” whenever he was angry. I always laughed and he couldn’t help but laugh with me. He would also write vulgar poems about Christian people, including a certain sect that knocks on doors to preach the good news.
“The Jehovah’s Witnesses say that soon Armageddon will come, but I laugh, I dance, and I shit on the Mother of God,”
I remember that when he took me out to eat at a Cuban diner. It was the very first memory of him I have. I think it was our first outing. He gave me an unlit cigarette and put it in my mouth and said,
“There, now you’re a man damn it!”
I think I was 6 or 7 at the time. My Mom went apeshit when she found out. It was awesome! Since that time we would go together to Little Havana where we would hang out with his friends on the side walk. Where we would work together on the farms with the animals. We would even make deliveries to places of bird food and sometimes the unsavory deliveries of animals to be sacrificed by Santeros.
Something I vehemently oppose to this day despite being a Santero myself. I would actually wake up at 5am on Saturdays to go with him to have a good breakfast and to plan out our day. We’d go to a Santero Botanica where I would go to help him bring in merchandise. We’d go see old friends of his, which included a couple that got married thanks to him (long story). Other times we would meet random strangers and talk over cortaditos about random things.
Oh, and then there was the Cuban-Chinese Restaurant. He’d go there not to eat Chinese food. He went there because they had “the best rice and stake he’d ever eaten,”. My mom used to tease him about it. “What? It’s true,” he’d say.
Mostly it was the solitude we both enjoyed. I loved talking to my grandpa about everything. We had no secrets. He quickly learned that he wasn’t so happy by himself after all. I was his partner.
I remember spending an hour eating cold pizza in his old truck. The windows down, the breeze of a nice day. The grey skies that promised a dark and stormy day. Oh how we both loved that kind of weather. Or at least I do.
Maybe he just enjoyed it because he knew I did. I remember when he bought me my first black leather jacket for the cold. I wore it even until the leather went bad and when I was hot. People thought I was crazy or that I was trying to be a punk rocker or something. But really I just enjoyed it.
When it was cold and early in the morning we would go to a diner and have a good breakfast. Then just enjoy the cold weather with a hot cafe con leche and eggs and ham. I knew all of his friends and they knew me. But despite that, he was silent as a tomb about his most private affairs. I dare say I probably know more about some of the things he went through or experienced than most people.
Only my mother knows more.
As a teenager, he loved the cemetery for example. He would spend hours immersed in the silence and the solitude. He’d even go there after school to do his homework. It was also one of the few places where he felt truly at peace. Death didn’t really scare him.
I’m sure like a normal man he feared the pain. But the act of being freed from this world did not bother him. What he feared if anything, was a life un-lived. That gusto for lifetook the form of travel, strange adventures with friends, the occasional brawl (even with younger men, he always won), affairs with younger and older women, and a lot of laughter. He even had an affair with his land lord’s wife.
I remember facepalming myself and going “Ay Abuelo tu eres tremendo,” (Oh Grandpa, you’re something else). I figured he’d end up having to find a new home. But as it turns out that is not what happened at all. He discovered that the man was beating his wife. So one day in their kitchen with both present he promptly said,
“She and I are together now. So, I don’t give a fuck if she’s married to you. She’s not your property. If you touch her again, I am going to crack your skull open and you’ll have a closed casket funeral,”
He said this nonchalantly while both the man and his wife where in the room. The story was told to me by her. That’s how I even know it happened. My grandpa had many flaws, but he loved you and was loyal to you. And he defended you with no care to what would happen to him.
Needless to say, while they were together the beatings stopped. I remember how bizzare that relationship was. That this guy had a tenant he knew was sleeping with his wife. And that the wife treated my grandpa like her husband instead of him. She even cooked breakfast or special foods for him.
My grandpa really seemed to like her. He once told me that talking to her he felt better than if “he fucked the princess of Spain!”. And he meant it too. Which made it funnier. This man could write poems in old Spanish verse yet that’s how he described his personal life.
One time, after he was already sick and looking like a corpse, my mother was “dating” some asshat that had a reputation for hitting women. She didn’t know that when she decided to give him a chance. But grandpa sure did. He sized this guy up, literally looked him up and down. So he looks at my Mom and says,
“Hija what is your size and weight?”
She replied and he said,
“Good! If some piece of shit ever lays a hand on you, you take your fist and you hit him as hard as you can under his chin and fuck up his jaw. He’ll live to regret it,”
The guy laughed nervously. He knew my old man had him pegged nice and good. And even while he was so weakened from his first stroke, that one hard gaze was enough to make even a younger man think twice. This was my second father. In many ways my real father, as he had influenced me in ways that my own could never do.
I remember visiting him at the retirement home for the first time. I took a Lyft to travel from Sweetwater to Miami Springs. I remember it was a beautiful sunny day and I actually enjoyed the little trip. But no one told me, no one warned me about what I would find when I got there. I liked the building, I thought it looked nice from the outside.
I searched for his room in the hallway. That rancid smell hit me all at once. That smell that lets you know there are elders who have not bathed yet. Like a smell of dust accumulating. People who can no longer move on their own.
Who need constant supervision. Then I found his room. He was sharing it with three other people. How can I describe seeing him turn from a strong man, despite his age, into a living corpse? I was shocked to say the least. Holding my emotions in was no easy task
That first day when I got to the Home he had to be placed in and saw him in that bed I hardly recognized him. I’m not exaggerating when I say he looked like death itself. He had lost so much weight, his skin grew so pale as if no blood flowed through his veins. And to make it worse, he couldn’t even stand up anymore. Now he required a wheel chair and a diaper.
Most of his friends weren’t around. He had fallen out of touch with all of them by this time. But not me, I’m your partner remember grandpa? Till the end. I stayed with him all day as he slept. I only left to eat in some little Restaurant around the corner.
I came back and I stayed until 5 or maybe 5:30pm. I knew it was late because night was breaking through. I took another Lyft home and felt mixed up inside. Confused. So, so confused.
I took pictures of him and shared it with my uncle and with my sister. For three years almost without fail myself, my mother, and my sister visited grandpa every weekend. We would bring him Cuban cafe, and chocolate pudding. Sometimes jello. He would devour it and then sing lewd songs aloud.
Mostly he would change the lyrics of Guantanamera to “Juan Cagalera” (Juan Shits alot). He would also sing about a man taking a shit. And that he saw that he had a small gun and a sack with two bullets. My mom was trapped between being embarrassed and laughing at the same time. I’m pretty sure he did it to piss off all of those old society ladies in the home.
The ones who wore fancy pearls and thought they were Spanish aristocrats. One of them was named Daisy. She came up to us to try and complain about my grandpa. My mom quickly defused the situation.
“My what nice pearls you have Daisy!”
“Why thank you child, I’ve had them since I was a little girl,”
Then my grandpa said,
“Coño (damn) they must be over a 100 yrs old. Quick! Run to an Antique Dealer, you’ll be a millionaire!”
My mom, sister, and I tried so hard not to laugh. We went red in the face. And Daisy walked off so pissed we thought she’d have a stroke herself. Gradually, this became the new normal. And my mother said seeing him like this was even worse than watching my grandmother die.
We never thought this would happen to him. We never thought he would end up in a home. We are a family that takes care of our elders. All my other grandparents lived with the family. With their children and grandchildren.
We wanted Abuelo Juan to live with us too. But he was so stubborn. He didn’t want to be a burden on us. He lived on his own and had his own place. But with his cognitive decline, the owners of his building began to tell us that he was falling asleep in the hallways and forgetting where his apartment was.
We never thought a retirement home was where he would end up. It was unheard of in our family. But with each stroke and the growing Alzheimers he needed help only professionals could give him. He’d more or less become accustomed to his new surroundings. He believed it was a new apartment building.
He’d talk with other people but it was just small talk. The only people he really talked to were younger, attractive nurses. He would hit on them and make them laugh with his jokes. And would speak gibberish that he claimed was Arabic or Russian. But he only really came alive when he saw us.
Especially me.
“Pepito Carajo! Que bueno verte,”
(Pepito Goddamn it! It’s great to see you).
He was the only one I allowed to call me that. Pepe is my father. And I hate being seen as similar to him in any way. But somehow my grandpa changed the meaning of the name for me. The last peaceful memory I have of my grandfather was the last time me and my mom visited him.
My sister had already moved to another state. It was a calm Sunday afternoon. Sunny outside and the light coming from the window cast shadows that made it look as if the room were under water. You know what I mean? Like the reflection of water from a pool. He was already almost immobile by this point.
He never wanted to get out of bed now. Although he seemed more alert and happy strangely. He stayed awake talking to us for a bit and asking me how old I was now. And as usual, when I said 33 he would be shocked. He remembered me as I was in my teenage years.
He thought I was 15 again. He started drifting to sleep. And then we left. And that was the last time I saw my grandpa alive. Because then the pandemic hit.
And his retirement home was shut down. My uncle and mom were able to see him through the window and talk to him. Or sometimes talk to him through the phone. He started developing a cough and we began to get worried. We suspected it was the Coronavirus right away.
But they assured us it was a case of pneumonia. Nothing more. They took forever to test him, if that is what they actually did. And claimed he tested negative for the virus. My mom breathed a sigh of relief for the first time that day.
So imagine what it was like the next day to be ordering dinner and finding out that he passed away. My mom said she had felt a heaviness in her heart. That she knew something was going to happen but not what. She had left work earlier that day to give him a visit but no one answered from his room when she called out. Not even a nurse.
Not his usual protests of “shut the fuck I’m trying to sleep!”. Nothing. The nurses claimed they came in with his food and found him dead at 5:30pm. I had to be the one to break the news to his friend from his old job that he possibly died of Coronavirus. The assisted living facility we took him to, had apparently had 106 cases of Covid 19.
We learned about all these cases nearly a week after he died. We were starting to get grounded. We were starting to come to terms with what had happened. Only to watch Univision at 11pm for one of their daily Coronavirus reports and see this.
I just found out that the Senior Living Facility my Dead Grandfather was living in has 106 Confirmed Cases of #Coronavirus! It was called #FairHavens @ 201 Curtiss Pkwy (#MiamiSprings) they told us he died of Fucking Pneumonia! https://t.co/K8F9I2pJ7i
— Adventures of a Mage in Miami (@MiamiMagus) May 2, 2020
My rage, my pain, my anger. So much hurt in so little time. This had to be the shittiest week of my life. Nothing else could ever compare to this. I used to think my ex leaving me was bad.
I wanted to marry her and have a family. But this was far worse. In fact it set the bar for just how much worse something could be instead of a breakup. Someone you dated leaves you? Big Deal. There’s someone out there for everyone.
You just have to go out and find them. But there are some losses that one never truly gets over. Losing someone that you have loved since you were born, the first person who held you as a baby. That’s a fate worse than death. Or perhaps it is a death of some kind.
It’s as if my life force had been sucked out of body. As if something in the Universe just went cold. I feel numb and almost cold inside. I have had to keep myself from crying and grieving because my mother needs me. She just lost both of her parents now.
She’s not going to see them again for a very long time. Until her time comes to depart as well. I’ve been sleeping on the floor of her apartment so she wouldn’t be alone. And today I heard her talking to her husband (who is stuck in Honduras now). I pretended to still be asleep.
And I heard her crying on the phone. Telling her husband that she’s worried about her brother. Because their Dad’s death has so deeply effected him. That he blames himself for his death. Because he had power of attorney.
Because he trusted the scum from that facility to care for his Dad. That he would be safe and cared for. As mother’s day nears, it won’t be quite the same. For all intents and purposes she’s an orphan now. They have a cliche for this kind of thing.
You know, the one that says that with a person’s passing, the world gets a little dimmer. Well, it’s not a cliche. It’s truth. In Judaism, God is believed to be this gigantic swirling pool of light.
And all of us come from that pool of light. We’re all pieces of Adonai’s great cosmic soul broken down into human form. So when we die, our souls or our light, returns back to the Source. And that Quantum Source is God. Or comes from God.
So when we die, we are dimming the world. Because our light flees this place to go home. We leave the world dimmer and darker than when we first started out because our presence made it a better place. So the dead are not whom we mourn, but ourselves. The dead find peace (usually).
As long as they are remembered, as long as they are not forgotten and the proper rituals and prayers are offered, they are well. It’s only when they are forgotten and unloved that they suffer. No, we mourn ourselves because just a little bit of that light left our world and went back to it’s source. And we are left in a world far less bright, than that which we lived in before. How did I do Abuelito?
Did I succeed at condensing your long, eventful life, into one gigantic post? I found it hard to do. I feel that the Earth has shifted underneath my feet. That my hold over everything is lost. That I am lost. But I won’t mourn you Abuelo, I’ll celebrate you.
We will take our time to grieve yes. But not to feel bad about ourselves. Instead, to heal and to move on. To honor your spirit and your memory. To cherish all the fond memories we have of you.
And to light your way so that you may be with the ancestors. Adios Juan, hasta la vuelta. Until I see you again grandfather. I love you.
Today we’re going to talk about something different. Something I am not sure I have ever talked about. Sacrifice and purification through fasting. So first we need to define each thing. People often believe that sacrifice in old religions is about killing an animal.
Libations are the most common form of sacrifice there is. Pouring water or another drink in honor of your Gods and your spirits.
I refuse to kill any creature. I’m even attempting to go vegan. I’m not criticising anyone’s traditions. But to me killing a creature as an offering is all about spilling someone else’s life in order to get cheap and easy power. Or to get a favor done.
To me sacrifice is actually sacrificing your time and your energy to a divine being. Be that being a God/Goddess or spirit. Because spirit guides and helping spirits in general require our sacrifices too. Not only our Deities. Of course I will accompany my sacrifice with sacrifical offerings.
Like food, candles, incense etc..and I’m not going to be a hypocrite. There are rare times when the Gods ask me for meat. But instead of killing an animal, I bring them specially prepared food from my favorite restaurant and I leave them that. Yes, an animal is still being killed. But unlike animal sacrifices where blood is spilled and the meat is left behind to rot, I bring an animal already dead and cooked.
“But M! The point of the sacrifice is the life energy!”
That animal’s Ashe or life force is not mine to take. Instead I infuse the food with spiritual energy to feed the Gods on both sides of the veil. I also offer up the soul of that dead animal. And ask that he/she and all the dead companions this animal is with to offer their own Ashe up to the Gods by going into the light. That way the full energy goes to the Gods and that poor creature, who no doubt lived a wretched existence on Earth, can find peace.
I only do this when what I am asking for is so strong that the Gods ask for the meat of an animal. And since I still eat meat because I am making the transition, I do this with all my food. In fact I do it also for the plants I consume as an offering. They’re alive too after all. But I digress.
I offer myself up in meditation to the Gods and their spirits. I do the proper rituals and prayers. I even make my own rituals and prayers to better suit my practice. Sometimes I give an offering before a ritual to initiate it. And sometimes after to seal it.
I better characterise a sacrifice by the way of the Nords. A Blot can be any kind of sacrifice. An animal, libations of mead, or fruit and bread. My sacrifices are incense, candles, milk, alcohol, fruit and candies, breads of many sorts, holy water, and prayer. So what is a Fast? A Fast is not always starving yourself.
A fast is a denial of pleasure. That’s what my Medicine Woman taught me. Native Americans often fasted either by going hungry for a certain period of time, or by eating only small portions. “Eat only to be full,” she once told me. “To be satisfied. Don’t over eat, don’t over indulge,”.
That also means not eating your favorite food. Just regular food. It doesn’t have to he super bland but nothing that has too many spices and flavors. I’m not very fond of either concept truth be told. I’m chubby and I eat like a starving man.
So instead, when I do fast I give up another pleasure : Sex. No, I’m not happy about that it sucks. Not even masturbation. It’s not easy. At first it feels like I’m in withdrawl. But by the third day a peace comes over me.
A spiritual peace. It sounds corny but it’s true. Still a pain, but it helps me focus my energies towards other endeavors. In this case the spiritual. I did this this last week for two holidays I was celebrating at once.
The first one was Maslenitsa. The ancient Slavic Pagan feast of Volos, God of the Underworld and Nature. This is a spring time feast which involves the worship of sun and winter Deities and the veneration of the spirits they command. It’s also when an effigy known as “Lady Maslenitsa” is set up first with beautiful clothing. Then later it is stripped little by little of all it possesses.
Finally, the lady is burned and the ashes of the effigy are mixed with the crops for a good agricultural year. It’s become a Christian holiday in modern times. But me being a Christo Pagan, that doesn’t bother me at all. I worship Volos first and foremost, asking all underworld energies of winter to be drained back into the darkness. Afterwords, I honor Koliada the God of the Sun along with Jesus Christ.
I ask them both to bring back the sun and spring. I make a small effigy from red mulch. And instead of burning Lady Maslenitsa, I tear her apart and throw her parts into a barren place where even weeds aren’t growing. Then I ask for the plants to be replenished and for the animals of the land to be well feed. I also ask for prosperity and abundance in all good things.
I also celebrating Omizu-Okuri (Japanese) where I fed holy water to the altars outside. This was to replenish the nature temple I have built in my whole apartment complex. I poured libations of cool water on my indoor altars. So that being done, when I asked for all good energies and sealed the rituals, I did my Road Opener Rituals to open the roads for all good luck. And with Papa Legba and the other gatekeepers and road spirits with me, I began to analyze the IFA calander I mentioned in my last post.
I also worked on a few paranormal cases. And spent time with family. Lol that doesn’t sound like it matches. But to me that’s just what I do every other day. When I did my divinations I noticed something though.
As part of my Soothsaying I do a lot of Land Divinations. That’s where I just observe the land and animals or general behaviour of the people on it. A lot of dead animals, specifically birds are appearing. Not in massive numbers. But I noticed enough of them that it caught my attention.
I interpreted this as meaning that the Reaping of this year is continuing even un to spring. But not an intense reaping either. This shows the dual nature of this year. Other than that, these two holidays were relaxing and good. I learned a lot about myself and the world around me.
How do you give sacrifice to the Gods or spiritual guides?
If you’ve read my posts before, then you already know that I often divine with patterns. This means that I take random (or seemingly random) bits of information. And from there I actually find patterns which show a bigger picture of events. I’ve done this with Chinese New Year divinations, and African Disapora Divinations as well. Every Month the IFA Priests do their divinations about which of the Orishas (Gods) rule which days, I have paid attention to what happens on those days.
And from there I began to map out the days based on the ruling Gods. Like a do or do not list to avoid trouble. Or to take full advantage of the good energy available for projects or work related issues. I also include any holidays on those days or sometimes not the holidays themselves, but the Astrological shifts happening those days. With all that being said, let me show you what I found for this Month.
If you haven’t read my last post about the Orishas who rule the IFA Calendars, click on it. Otherwise you’ll be confused as Hell. So, Shango and Oya ruled the first day, then it was Obatala, Egungun, Iyami, and Sanpanna, then IFA, Esu, Osun, Aje, Yemaya, and Olokun. Then we get a breather with Ogun, Ochossi, and Orisha Oko. Notice a trend here? Energy in motion is what I am picking up this month.
Constant conflict or battle, dead ends and restarts, etc..we only get one day to chill out before the madness starts again. I believe part of this is the Mercury Retrograde. But the majority of this is what the Babalawos were telling us about in their new year’ divination. This whole year we are being forced to confront our inner demons. Our bad habits.
Our bad luck. Forced to look into reality no matter how painful it is. Forced to confront our darkness. We’re not being given a choice. And to make that point clear as hell, we are suffering another late winter.
I wrote in my Imbolc divinations that light and dark are fighting with no clear winner in the horizon. But, the dark is doing it’s damndest to win. We have corrupt politicians doing power grabs now more than before. We have more plots in Latin America with Bolsonaro and Duque stealing the elections in Brazil and Colombia and now another US backed coup. We have Shinzo Abe in Japan being a corrupt war monger stirring up the pot against North Korea, while ignoring the wishes of his own people.
Even the so called “good guys” like Bernie Sanders, was pushing regime change narratives in Venezuela. And the Democrats are so far to the right, that with the exception of a few things, they might as well be moderate Republicans. So even the people we are told are good, are not actually good. More mass shootings, storms killing people, and mean while we’re being told it’s all naturally and okay. And that’s just the political crap we’re going through.
I’ve recieved a flurry of clients reaching out to me and my Shaman friend over malevolent paranormal activity. No sooner do we help one group of people, than we end up with someone with something far worse. Like seriously, what the hell? I was already helping a friend through a Generational Curse and teaching him how to cleanse and bless his house after we and our spirits helped break the curse and heal his family. Then we had a guy on his death bed practically. At this point we have to take weeklong vacations to rest before being asked to deal with something else.
To further emphasize this : Mercury Retrogade began the day before the New Moon. So, as one Astrologer that I introduced you to said :
“We’re ending things right when we are suppose to begin them,”
Because Retrogrades bring an end to something that needs to go. And New Moons are a begining period where we can start over. So the begining period here, is that we are meant to destroy the structures and monoliths of power that aren’t serving us anymore. I already covered this a few blog posts ago. But it seems based on how I have interpreted the pattern I see in the IFA Calender plus current events that March is a real shirtstorm in the making.
It seems January and February were only leading up to our current situation. These are days of note.
March 5-6 : Double Chtonic power
Retrogrades are mini seasons of the dead. New Moons in Hinduism are considered the time for dark spirits of the dead. Which is why, traditionally, people try to avoid doing things or going to places on this day. Especially after dark. Both these days so close together says to me, that this Retrograde period is a time of extra reaping and extra harmful energies and spirits out there.
March 8th (this Friday) : Double Prosperity
Despite that, Friday actually seems more or less good. That doesn’t mean nothing bad will happen. In this season, even lucky days can flip on you. But Friday is an Ogun, Orisha Oko, and Ochossi day which as I explained last time is normally good luck. It is the 8th day of this Month which is a number for stable prosperity.
However number 8 is also the number for Hermes (Mercury) so I get the feeling that in this current retrograde, Friday will be bad for some and good for others. And even more people will find mixed results on that day. Also, Friday is good for Jobs and making money. Witchcraft for finding work is usually done on Fridays. But given the retrograde, we would have to be careful.
March 9th : Mixed Results
Immediately the next day, we have Sango and Oya. Oya is the gatekeeper for the dead. The guide for souls who need to cross. Saturdays are days to honor the dead in general. And number 9 while it can be prosperous, is also a number for destruction or domination.
In Numerology number 9 can mean slow, but long lasting prosperity. Sango and Oya are royalty. So I don’t know for sure what will come of this day. The good and bad qualities may duke it out or cancel each other out. To mention just how mixed this day is : In Greek religion, 9 is the number of Aphrodite. But in Santeria 9 is the number of Oya.
While Oya does bring prosperity, the retrograde and New Moon just a few days before, and the day itself will probably mean Underworld power on full blast.
Sunday 10th : More Mixed results, but leaning on a peaceful day
Or it should be anyways. It all depends. Sundays are good for white magic and spiritual meditation. This Sunday will be ruled by Obatala, Egungun, Iyami, and Sanpanna. Obatala the white king of Heaven is obviously going to have his influence felt.
But the Iyami Goddesses are known for being violent if offended. Egungun is a dead child of Oya and is the embodiment of all the dead ancestors. And Sanpanna or Sakpata is the lame footed God of disease and cures for disease. Seems like it could lean in any direction.
March 13th : Tripple Cthonic Power, or Mixed Results. You be the judge.
Wednesday is the day of Hermes who is in retrograde form right now. It’s the number 13 which can be good luck or sometimes bad luck. And it is ruled : By Sango/Oya. And again they can bring good luck or bad luck. Depends on their mood.
March 17th Sunday : Begining of Light Week
This is where the good actually comes from the reaping. I felt that Sango and Oya were bringing good energy this day. And it’s also St. Patrick’s day. The days ruled by Obatala and his party and the days ruled by IFA, Esu etc..and their party started to feel lighter and better to me. From this point forward.
I began to feel spiritual light appear.
March 20th : Full Moon, Sun enters Aries/Spring Equinox
Ruled by Orishas Oko, Ogun, and Ochossi. The good energy ia starting to appear en masse. An energitic doorway is open on this day.
March 21 : Thursday (Thor’s Day)
is ruled by Sango and Oya. If you read my last post, you know Sango rules lighting storms like Thor. I felt that Underworld Gods will gain some extra power this day. But, Thursday is good for prosperity magics. And Sango and Oya are both King and Queen.
With Oya being the Matron of the Market place and businesses, and Shango often depicted in statues with black cauldrons of gold. He is King after all. I feel that this is definitely when they will aid with money.
March 22 : Friday
Obatala and his Party, normally give me days of wisdom and spirituality. The number 22 in Angelic Numerology corresponds to the Archangel Raphael. Who teaches knowledge such as the magical uses of herbs (Book of Tobit) and is the Patron Saint of Healing. I feel this day will lend itself well to wisdom, knowledge, and clarity.
March 23-24 : Mostly Good
There’s a partial Chthonic influence on both these days. Saturday because that’s naturally a day for the dead. But I can feel the retrograde dying faster here. It is ruled by IFA, Esu, etc..and it felt like a day of great blessing. The number 23 always reminds me of Psalm 23.
Which I use in special baths for cleansing and blessing. The next day I can feel the retrograde starting to wrap up. I felt a nasty bit of negativity coming out as part of our reaping. But other than that, mostly a good day. Orisha Oko, Ogun, and Ochossi rule here.
And Sundays are meant for good energy as I explained. But it feels off. Dark and gray in the spiritual sense. Murky is the best word for it. That same under world energy feels stronger the next day on the 25th ruled by Sango/Oya but in the retrograde death throes.
March 27th : Extra Blessed
Now at first I thought this was weird as Hell. And I will tell you why : Because the three day lunar festival of the Ancient Greeks is happening here. And the 27th is the first and worst day : Hekate’s Deipnon or feast. Hekate told me when I first started out to celebrate the three day feast the day before the last quarter of the moon at Sunset. I’ve followed her instructions ever since.
Everyone has their own ways for doing this. Many modern practitioners of Hellenismos will do it the day before the astronomical new moon. But back to the point, Hekate’s Feast is a very nasty day. It’s a day when Hekate collects all the nasty energies from every corner in the world and brings it to the crossroads to destroy it all. And part of that, is that she finds all the dark, angry souls of the dead, including murders and suicides and brings them there.
The Hellenic will then go to the crossroads at Sunset with food and drink and leaves it there to appease the dark spirits and the Deity. But now that I am looking back on this, it actually does make sense. The next day : Hermes-Mercury leaves the Underworld and turns direct which ends the retrograde. So the final end of the retrograde is actually this day. Also, Hekate’s Deipnon is a day to spiritually and physically clean the home.
You take the dust to the cemetery and leave the bad energy there. You also confess your sins to Hekate and ask for a clean slate. A sort of absolution. That’s something other practitioners taught me, not my priest. Hekate’s Deipnon goes on the next day till Sunset.
That also makes sense because the actual day it goes direct, Mercury still needs some time to leave retrograde and station direct. And the moment Hekate’s Deipnon ends (which coincides with us leaving retorgrade) it becomes the feast of Noumenia. The new Lunar Month. Which brings positive energy and good fortune and tidings.
I purify and cleanse and ask for good energy to replace the bad.
March 29 : Cleansing and Restoration
Now that said, negative after effects of a Retrograde can still be felt days after it ends. On the third day of the Lunar feast, it’s the day of Agathos Daimon (the Good Spirit). Now Agathos Daimon actually is a name for a Serpent God of Good Luck. He’s married to Tyche (Lady Luck). But as is the case with may Gods and spirits, Agathos Daimon’s name is also a name used for a specific type of spirit.
Particularly a person’s spirit guides. This day is sacred to him, your spirit guides no matter the culture they may be from, and the Heroes of Ancient Greece. The God Agathos Daimon, brings good luck by causing a person to shed their karma and negative or useless traits. Things that don’t work anymore are driven out of your life as a reaping for you to gain good luck. So we just got through a Reaping and we’re going through a final one.
It was explained to me in the Soothsay session that this is similar to giving yourself a final rinse of water before finishing a bath. I was also told that there is a balance of both light and dark happening this day. And it’s ruled by Sango and Oya. Who I saw both glowing gold and pleased in this session when asked about this day.
March 30-31 : Final Blessings, Wisdom
The final two days are ruled by Obatala and company and IFA, Esu and company. We end on a high note with wisdom and clarity after the long reaping of this season. So those are my impressions about this month. Please forgive my weird little divination rants. They tend to come out when I am doing trance work.
I’ll probably read this after it’s posted and go : “What the Fuck?”
As always, take my predictions with a grain of salt. Based on a person’s energy, things could be very different.
For those who don’t know, the IFA Calender is created by IFA Priests who divine who will rule each day of the Month. So the calender is not set. The Gods who rule each day are always different. My perceptions of these days are mine alone. Perhaps someone else with a different personality would view Sango/Oya days as prosperous all the time.
Or an O/O/O day as warlike. These are the following Orishas :
Sango or Shango
God of lightning and fire, masculine sexuality, and magic. He’s also a seer God. His Wife Oya, is the Goddess of the marketplace, storms, winds, change, and she’s the guide to the dead. She leads them to the front door of the Cemetery. So these are both powerful Deities.
And as both King and Queen they personify wealth.
Shango & Oya
So a day ruled by them may be prosperous or disastrous. Or both, it all depends on the nature of the day. Or how you choose to see it.
Ogun, Orisha Oko, Ochossi
Ex husband of Oya, and brother of Shango. The blacksmith of the Yoruba Orishas. A master of metal and weaponry, every blade made is usually owned by him. Unless he makes it for another God who is then gifted the blade. He also has a powerful responsibility as protector of nature.
Lord Ogun & his Altar of metal work
After losing his wife to Shango and the drunkenness which caused him to disrespect his family, he exiled himself into the jungles. There he grew to understand nature, appreciate, and love the animals. So, similar to Leshi (Ukrainian Green Man) he is a defender of nature. In Haitian Vodoun he is worshipped as a God of Revolution and Freedom. He is the Loa (Vodoun Deity) who inspired the Slaves and Free people of color to wage Rebellion.
He is acompanied by Orisha Oko and Ochossi. Orisha Oko or the God Oko, is the God of agricultural Prosperity. His altars are always outside of a house near grass or plants. He brings prosperity in the form of crops, food, and other necessary things. Ochossi is a master magician and shaman of the Gods as well as a hunter and enforcer of justice.
Ochossi, the Divine Hunter. Founder & owner of all prisons. Dispenser of justice. Mage & ShamanOrisha Oko in the field. Often synchronized with St. Isidore
The thing all three have in common is nature and prosperity. I personally view a day ruled by them as prosperous. Because Ogun makes things, Orisha Oko grows crops, and Ochossi is a Shamanic Healer. An O/O/O day for me, is always good and actually chill. It’s a day to do whatever you want or to focus on nature and spirituality.
For me an S/O day is usually for major projects, visits to the cemetery, or breaking curses and bad luck (or casting curses). There is prosperity in these days too but becareful.
Obatala, Egungun, Iyami, and Sanpanna
Obatala is the white robed king. Ruler of Heaven, second only to the Supreme Creator Deities. He’s the King of the Gods. Egungun is a child of Oya, Orisha of all the Dead. The collective dead.
This Deity is every dead person who has ever died or will ever die.
A man dressed as Egungun
The Iyami or “divine and mysterious mothers” are Goddesses of Ashe or divine energy. They are the guides of Olodumare (Mother Goddess) to all of us. They are the pure incarnation of the Aje or first energy. No one can directly make offerings to them. All offerings are done via Elegua.
One of the Iyami Priestesses
And Sanpanna or Sakpata is the Lame footed Deity. The God who heals or causes disease. To me, Obatala and Egungun symbolize tranquillity. And the Iyami Goddesses symbolize knowledge. Sanpanna is a Deity who is normally relaxed with me.
Sanpanna, Sakpata, or in Santeria Babalu Aye
I am not afraid of him. Nor does his presence make me feel uncomfortable. So while others would find this to be a turbulent day, for me it is a day of blessings and wisdom. Comfort and an energy toward action of some sort.
IFA, Esu, Osun, Aje, Yemoja, and Olokun
IFA is the spiritual order created by the God Orula. Orula is the Orisha of magic and divination. A powerful sorcerer deity, he created IFA as a science and religion. The science of understanding Fa, Orisha of Destiny. Through sacrifices or Ebbos, it is possible to alter the course of someone’s destiny.
Blessings of IFA
Babalawos or “fathers of mysteries” are the high priests. They even remove Generational or Karmic Curses. And they have been called upon for the removal of evil spirits. They act as intermediaries with the Gods. Esu is also known as Elegua in Santeria and Yoruba practice.
Esu or by whatever name you call him by, is the God of the Crossroads. Messenger and Gatekeeper of the Gods. Protector of the home. Much like like Hestia or any other home protecting Deity, first and last offerings go to him in any ritual. So Esu is the opener of roads.
The one who makes the way clear. He’s also a master magician who has learned the secrets of every single Orisha. The Patakis or religious stories, tell us of how in his child form (he can be a young boy or a grown man) he cleansed the Creation Goddess Olodumare. When she asked him how he came to have this knowledge, the divine child simply answered that he followed the Orishas and learned their knowledge. From that day forward, the mighty Goddess made him the Keeper of the Crossroads.
Giving him a key necklace as a sign of his Kingship over the crossroads. That’s also how he became the messenger of the Gods. So Elegua is one of the most important Deities.
Osun or Oshun is Oya’s mother and one of Shango’s other wives. She is the Goddess of Love, Nature, Rivers, Prosperity, and a Witch Goddess as well. She actually has an incarnation named “Oshun Queen of Witches”. Some have likened her to Aphrodite. And she does have similar qualities.
Lady Oshun
But, she also carries deep associations with nature that liken her more unto Demeter. As a queen of nature, without Oshun, there could be no life on Earth. When the male Orishas laughed at her and told her she was “too girly” to help build the Earth, she fled. The result was that the Earth started falling apart under their too agressive influence. When they panicked, they went before Olodumare and Olofi (The Supreme Father God and Mother Goddess).
Olodumare quickly figured out why creation was falling apart : Oshun wasn’t there to bring balance. When the Goddess of creation ordered them to find her, they were surprised to see that she actually turned her small corner of the world into a paradise. And that it was functioning without any of them. With Oshun alone, her Ashe or cosmic life energy kept everything working smoothly. The power of the Gods manifest in everyone.
It’s the same energy as the Hebrew Ruach or the Egyptian Ekat.
Yemaya is the Queen Mother of the Ocean. Santeros often call her “the mother of the world”. Because without water, there can be no life. She is also a powerful Witch Deity.
Yemaya, worshipped as La Virgin De Regla (The Virgin of the Rule) in Cuban Catholicism
But more than that, she is a Mother Goddess. She watches over Mothers and Catholicism.
Olokun is the Priest (or Priestess) of Yemaya. Some have argued that Olokun is just another Camino (Path) or Avatar of Yemaya. Others say Olokun is a seperate Orisha.
Olokun Altar
And no one knows what gender Olokun is. Because Olokun no longer appears on land. When Olokun had, dogs chased him/her back into the sea. That legend states Olokun was a woman. But other legends describe Olokun as male.
We’ll never know. Though another school of thought states Olokun is transgender. No that isn’t meant to be a political statement. All Gods and spirits are shape shifters. And Gods in every culture have taken a male or female form. Even Shango has a female Camino/Avatar.
Same with every male and female Deity. Oya can shape shift into a man to ride into battle beside her husband. That’s why she’s called “The Woman who puts on pants to go to War”. An I/E/O/A/Y/O day is a day that feels semi peaceful and semi conflictive. I say this because Yemaya and Oshun have a rivalry going on.
These are simply my impressions of the energy of those days. Tomorrow I will post my divinations on this month.
Adventures of A Mage In Miami 