My sister sent this picture to me not too long after January started…….
I have this plastic black shelf. It used to be my main ancestral shrine and underworld altar. But I have a far bigger one. So I used this as my shrine to Persephone and Demeter. For the Eleusinian Mysteries.
It’s part of the shrines of the dead, but it’s also for the living. So it’s an independent shrine. The ghosts who live and sleep there are what I call Green Ghosts. Spirits of the dead who watch over nature. The Fae who live there are nature spirits that live side by side with the dead.
Look who decided to put their cocoon in there for the winter.
Fresh out of the cocoon
I interpret this to possibly mean we are getting an early spring after all. Which would explain the accelerated winter we’re getting right now. The darker forces of winter are being kicked out a little earlier this year. This can also mean that now is the starting point to create something good and positive. Despite all the negative forces around.
Oko (Croatian for “Eye”) a photograph by Marko Popadic, who took this photo the moment the butterfly entered the eye socket of this human skull. It is said that butterflies symbolize the soul. So this could have been the dead saying hello.
” O holy Persephone, leave now the underworld. And become Kore, the maiden of spring, once more. We need you in this world. Now more than ever before,
A depiction of an anima sola or lonely soul in purgatory from freepiks.com
Latin American folk magic, has a heavy dose of Catholicism. So many of the beliefs and points of view of Christianity are in folk religion and magic from the Americas. A big one is these is the anima sola. As we have entered the darker half of the year, where the dead walk. August is the festival of the Aztec dead.
But this year it also coincides with the Hungry Ghosts festival of Buddhism. Halloween is soon approaching. So I figured this was the perfect time. According to the Catholic Church, an anima sola or lonely soul, is a ghost trapped in purgatory. The Catholic Church views purgatory as this dark and shadowy place.
Often in the form of a jail cell or even a hellish place with fire. Supposedly this isn’t meant as a punishment. The fire is the oven of purgatory meant to cleanse a soul of wrongdoing so they can eventually enter heaven. I have seen purgatory and in my experience the oven isn’t for everyone. Just the most messed up souls.
Almost on the way to hell. Limbo to be precise. The Purgatory I have seen is more akin to a dark forrest or field. Or some parts of it can be a desert or an ocean. Mountains.
Or even an alternate version of our world. Purgatory is an intermediate dimension. Between all universes and realms. But it’s just one such place. And it’s usually for the dead to go to.
A place for regular people to go to. Not too good and not bad. In Pagan traditions there are dark souls. We call them the restless and forgotten dead. They’re not always bad.
Just toxic. Due to being abandoned or forgotten by their families. With no prayers or offerings on their behalf. They just become beings of pure shadow. Totally out of balance.
And over time they become these resentful beings. In Ancient Rome such beings were called Lemuers. They were angry, dark spirits of the ancestors. And had to be warded off in elaborate exorcism rituals. In Judaism you have the Dybbuks.
Which are souls trapped outside of heaven. Mostly due to being bad. But sometimes due to how they died. And even a Dybbuk can have a chance at uniting with their God. There are many variations of the same kind of dark ghost.
Such as the Eggun Buruku in Yoruba religion. The Hungry Ghostsof Buddhism, and the Preta of Hinduism. And yes there are differences. But I mostly think the differences are different forms of the same spirits. Or different levels of transformation.
In Japan you have the Yūrei which is an angry type of dark dead. A vengeance ghost who attacks and even kills all who encounter them. Unfortunately, that same anger annd desperation a dark ghost has, is exactly what opens them up to being taken advantage of. In Latin America it is a popular practice that a person will pray to the Anima Sola spirits. They do it as if they were saints.
Then ask them for favors.
In exchange, they promise to go to a church. And do a funeral mass for their soul. Or pray for them to cross over. Catholic tradition states that a soul can crosses over into heaven faster with prayers. And if enough people pray for them, they can go to heaven sooner than anyone else.
The purification progress is sped up. And that soul is unshackled from the intermediate state. But there’s a problem with this. You see, the reason people ask lonely souls for help, is usually for morally gray things. Like a love spell.
Or a binding. Or to hex a person. Some people ask them for wealth and power. Others for longer life or a job. Now, there’s nothing wrong with asking for money, love, or even power.
The problem is how you attain such things. You can get all of that through hard work. Which includes faith in the Gods and the spirits. And giving proper offerings to spirits. Such as nature spirits.
Or even one’s own ancestors. But the point is that you do the work. And part of that is proper compensation to the spirits and the Gods. Not working them like slaves. The way Anima Solas are “compensated” is like a pyramid scheme.
You get most of the benefits. But they get pennies. If even that. Because a lot of people promise to do funerals masses. But very few do it.
Think about it. If an enslaved spirit accomplished what you asked it for. You might start to think why would I free them. So you keep on promising them things. Keeping them like a lap dog at your side.
And meanwhile they are trapped in near eternal servitude. There are even some people who pass these ghostly slaves on to descendants to use. And an unscrupulous witch or psychic can be even worse. They won’t even bother bribing this spirit. They will just raise and bind them with magic.
Then use them as servants. Often times the spirit is so lonely, that they will agree to simply become a live in servant to a magic user. In exchange for offerings of food. Or even a place to live that is safe from some of the nastier spirits and magic users. Which again, if you know how to care for such a spirit, properly, I have no problem.
But it should be a partnership. A family. Not a master/servant relationship. I have prayed for the anima solas. Not to acquire things, but for their own freedom.
And it should be noted that sooner or later that spirit will find a way to get even with you. If you lie and make empty promises. Or if you try to bind and use it as a servant. One day it will get free. No matter what you do.
And then you could die. Or worse.
The Proper Way to work with such spirits
The intermediate states are often like a mental fog
These types of spirits are often unbalanced in the mental sense. They’re like a schizophrenic without their meds. Gradually getting worse as time goes on. What they need is help. Not someone trying to exorcise them and send them somewhere else.
All you’ll do with that, is send them to another realm. And then they’ll be lost and lonely there. And unbalance that world as well. Such souls are like the homeless and dispossessed people. They need to be treated as such.
Help lift them out of their spiritual poverty. And gain enlightenment. Which is like the rich resources of the earth in the hands of the poor. They need shelter. Food.
Dignity. And love. Most of all love. Especially love. I use the anima sola prayer as a way to call their attention.
And charge an offering for them to move on. I have a shrine on the crossroads so that any wandering spirit can live there. And be given rest. And the food and drink I leave there is blessed. This is similar to the spirit houses people have in Thailand and other Asian countries.
Which they place on their front lawns.
There’s a difference though. Those shrines are for ancestor spirits. Or other spirit guides. These shrines I make are for those who have no offerings. And even for those spirits you would normally would ward off.
Those people hate or fear.
This helps these spirits to move on as well as ease their pain. Those who chose to stay, become local guardian spirits. The nature spirits take them under their wing. Teach them. And show them how to live as land guardians.
So they stop appearing as shadows or hungry, starving people. Instead they start to glow green. And they become similar to nature spirits. Green Ghosts is what I call them. That is the proper way to work with the restless dead.
Help them. Don’t use them. Don’t abuse them. I don’t care what they did when they were alive. I am not a deity to sit in judgement over someone.
I help them when I can. I have made friends and lost them. But the loss wasn’t really a loss. They were forgiven by the Gods. And moved on their way to their homes.
Their real homes.
Others need more time to change. But they are sent to a place I call the ancestor lands. A place on earth shared by the dead and the spirits of nature. They receive our offerings and prayers there. And if the prayers and offerings stop, they are still able to elevate and move on with time.
They become important guardians. And will often find spiritual people to help, protect, and guide. That’s a proper relationship between the dead and the living. Especially the lost and forgotten dead. The anima solas, the most forgotten, and abandoned of the cemetery, abandoned and forgotten no more.
A sign left in front of the shrine of Mother Earth
Normally when I receive signs, it’s not near my house.
I walk my dog. Or I go somewhere to pick up groceries. I have never received a sign right in my own backyard. Literally. In ancient cultures, eggs were often cracked to reveal knowledge.
In magic, there is a form of divination called Oomancy. Using eggs for divination. But sometimes, especially in African practices, broken egg shells are used to divine the future. The way the egg shells break, are individual messages to a person. In this case it was both.
In this case, cracked shells and yoke. With a partially undeveloped fetus that’s still being devoured.
One of the lizards near the tree sucked the yoke out of one of the eggs. And the cracked eggs and part of the fetus fell near the idol. It almost looked like a sacrifice. And I learned that it was.
But that wasn’t what was weird. What was weird is the way the egg shells look. This looks as if a person had broken the shells for magic. I have laid egg shells exactly like that. But I know this wasn’t a person.
Ants are all over the shells. Hungrily eating what’s left behind. Sometimes when you see a sign, you get hit with something. An impression. Call it a minor “shockwave”.
But you know when it’s meant for you. Some spiritual cleansings are animal sacrifices. And I believe that is what this was. A sacrifice made by nature to keep me safe. Since I refuse to kill animals.
I invoked the spirits of the land. I called to the Earth Mother herself. And I asked what this sign was pertaining to. I already had an idea what it was. I do a Hoodoo version of geomancy.
Inspired* by the hakata method of talking to the Earth. With bones. For this, I called upon the Yoruba Orishas, the Loa of Haiti, and also the local Niiji (native) spirits. I needed their combined power to break through to know what was going on. I don’t normally need that.
The Ancestors and Land Spirits prophesy
This is a warning pertaining to a person I am helping. I was already going to write an article on that later. But for the earth herself and her creatures to warn me like this, is nothing small. This was a few days ago. Last night after inquiring the truth about this person’s condition from a Dark Goddess, I had a nasty dream.
My blood pressure rose.
I saw visions. Now I know how the hex was cast. I need to go undo it. And the Gods will want to personally handle this. The earth by means of the bones told me what I needed to know.
I’m on my way to handle business.
I’ll keep all of you updated.
– M
* Post Script *
Someone I respect had approached me in private to ask why I titled this Geomancy. I figured it would cause a lot of confusion. Because this doesn’t look like any kind of Geomancy most people are used to. Most Geomancy is complicated and used symbols that are drawn in dirt or sand to divine. And many geomancers are initiated into special societies to do this magic.
Let me explain.
Geomancy for me is not one thing or the other. I break it down to its simplest form : It’s clear communication and prophesy with the Earth Spirit. From Greek geomanteia (Earth Prophesy). Sometimes Manteia (μαντεία) translated as communication. Other people translate it as divination. Either way it all points towards gaining knowledge and talking to the Earth.
I am well aware that different traditions which use more complicated methods. Specifically geomantic figures (such as in Islam) or astrological signs. In Africa the Elders use bone castings to communicate with the nature spirits. To divine signs and etc….but they do it differently than in America. They don’t use divination mats for the bones.
As they see that as simply getting in the way of communication. They have to fall onto the ground. This is so direct communication with the Earth, the specific land I am on, and also the spirits which vary based on the land, can happen. This version is the Americanized (Hoodoo) version of Hakata which comes from different indigenous nations in Africa. It’s basically a hybridization of bone casting with geomancy.
I find it much simpler to use. The other forms are more complicated forms found in Western and Middle Eastern practices. I do eventually want to study those. And get initiated into such societies. But this practice works well for me.
And has suited me and aided me for years.
And it also feels more direct to me. It’s not always bones either. Shells, feathers, and other things can be used for this type of Geomancy. Because it’s a Hoodoo version, so it incorporates different cultures from Africa and Turtle Island. Because Hoodoo (Magic) and American Voodoo (the religion) were born from an eclectic mix.
The slaves lost many of their rituals in the Americas. So they had to make up for it with surrounding cultures. Everything from Germanic folk magics, to Judeo-Christian and other Western Magics, to Native American spirits, beliefs, and magics. Especially Native botany because they had to use the plants here. Since they didn’t have access to their traditional plants back home.
In fact they had to do that multiple times. Everytime they were taken to another land. I used Hoodoo here. Because the current issue this client has is so strong, that I needed a mixed practice to break through it. Sometimes you can’t hit things directly.
You have to hit them indirectly.
Some magicians and witches use really strong stuff. But they usually have one weakness. They have such linear thinking that the idea of someone approaching their magic differently, never dawns on them. They usually look down on eclectic practices. Or hybrid magics such as Hoodoo.
That’s what I needed to do here. Also while Hoodoo is eclectic, it is a strong and solid tradition in and of itself. I have met many who doubt it could possibly be that strong. And they have always regretted it.
There’s many specific systems of Geomancy. It pretty much depends on the culture. The Turkish form of Geomancy differs greatly from Sufi Islam’s version. And then I think (don’t quote me on that) the Hebrews had such a system too. Everyone prophesies with the Earth differently.
This one is a specific Hoodoo version I developed with Hoodoo teachers in Florida. Inspired by Hakata. I don’t use the actual Hakata practice. Rather I worked with my spirits. And those around me to use the bones castings. In a way similar to Hakata that I could understand.
And I did this with aid and blessings from two Hoodoo practitioners. Only a fool attempts something like this by themselves. Especially based on an older system. Even the Babalawos in IFA do a version of Geomancy with Iyerosun powder. Which is this golden powder from a sacred tree in Nigeria.
And they use the 256 IFA signs in the powder. I am not claiming to be doing these older systems. This is just my own American Hoodoo version of it. Inspired by something older. It has served me well.
And it has never let me down.
And later with my spirits. So I hope this answers and questions or doubts anyone has. I am not initiated into any traditional geomantic group. Some groups even have lineages. And you have to prove yourself worthy by doing a successful prophesy of the land.
I am not part of that.
This is just my version. I also take into account different things. Such as signs left by animals on the Earth. Like the shattered eggshells. And a few other things specific to my magical practice.
Which I will not divulge. But I hope this has made everything clear. I am no one’s “holy man”. Nor am I an elder. I am a student of many things.
Like any good magus. We are students, not masters. Even Mages who are masters consider themselves life time students. And I can only hope to achieve one iota of their wisdom in my life time. Cheers everyone.
Scientists said that this would happen due to solar storms
I don’t know if this is good or bad. The Inuit in Alaska always claimed that the appearance of an Aurora Borealis, meant the ancestors and other spirits were in the skies. Opening doorways between our world and the spiritual world. The veil is very thin right now. Are the ancestors coming to bring us balance in a world that has lost its way? Who knows.
I choose to see this as a good sign. In Santeria and other traditions, we use liminal times of the night and day for magic. Certain special times like this is perfect for asking for wishes to be granted. Or doing other kinds of sorcery. But you need to be careful.
Women on their period for example, are believed to be more open to the spiritual world than men. Pregnant women as well. So they are more vulnerable to the spirits. But if not, go outside and see the skies. And ask for your desires to be done.
Adventures of A Mage In Miami 