Yes this is a year ruled by Obatala and Oshun (or by Exu and Oxum if you practice Quimbanda). But the sign of the year is what seems to truly be reigning this year. Already, it seems that the Ajogún are on the move bringing with them misfortune and death. Yesterday, my friend got into a car accident. A little while later, I learned that my great uncle had died suddenly.
Between yesterday and today, some of my magical charms for protection against death, started to become overwhelmed. I had to call on the spirits to reverse whatever it was that was sending death this way. And I had to cleanse, re-bless, and recharge all of my charms. And right now as I am writing this, I found out that my neighbor whom I always talked with, died from a heart attack recently. Either just before or after New Years.
I didn’t want to ask the date because that’s disrespectful and insensitive to his poor wife. But it was recent. So either just before or just after New Years. This year is not a good year. It’s not a year that we should all be cheering for.
It is the year of Otura Niko, the Foreman of the Dead.
Friends, things are only going to get worse from here. Before in 2020, COVID was the force used by the Ajogún to spread terror and disharmony. But this year they are mixing the tactics up. Now it’s more like a mix of 2020 with 2019. In 2019 it was more personalized attacks sent to different people.
Personal problems. And 2020 was a massive problem that struck us all. This seems to be a hybrid of both those years. It has all the force if not more, of 2020. But disseminated in ways that will effect us directly.
A friend of mine who has mixed white and native ancestry told me something recently. Now his magic is strong. He works with indigenous spirits. And when my ass has been in danger, he’s protected me. But he has this thing.
And he had the feeling before I even knew it, that this year would be bad. And now here we are. But it gets worse. Last month a fellow blogger named Librarian of the Multiverse had also had a conversation with me. That she sensed that death would be coming this year as well.
In my head I was like, fuck because that’s really what we need now. Maybe it is. Because clearly humanity refuses to awaken from this walking coma we’re all in. I wonder if we have fallen so deeply asleep that the Ajogún have seen us as easy prey. That we’re being targeted now because they see us as dumb sheep that are easy to take out. But now I want to move on to something else.
The Divination (letter of the year) says to stay away from lakes and rivers and even rain water. A friend of mine who is a seer told me something that spooked me. You see, she had no idea what the letter of the year had said. I didn’t have the time to tell her. But she said that something is in the water.
That something is in the water that’s going to kill people this year. No, she’s not a nut job. No, she doesn’t normally say stuff like that. For the very first time in my life, I understood the true meaning of the term “my blood ran cold”. Because I felt ice in my veins hearing her say that.
I feel a rising death wave like in 2020. But this one is worse. Part of me feels like I’m on a roller coaster. I want off of and I am screaming my head off into the void. But no matter what no one is going to save me.
So with that said, I think I am going to give you all a simplified version of the Ebbos or karmic cleansings for this year. Along with some additional advice that may come in handy.
The Ebbos given for this year include animal sacrifices. Which I am against. But I also understand traditions and what not.
I am no one to judge my people and how they follow the ways of the ancestors. I just don’t like or agree with all the ways of our ancestors. I don’t always follow those ways. I actually considered saying nothing for fear of being rebuked by other Santeros saying I am “exploiting our religion”.
Or some other horseshit that the zealots in my faith come up with to silence dissent.
My spirits and my Orisha do not care about whether or not I kill an animal. They accept fruits and vegetable offerings. But they also accept cooked animals. In other words, instead of giving them an animal that is being sacrificed and discarded I give them food. If the Ebbo asks for a roaster, I go out and find a cooked roaster.
It’s not impossible to find. There are some animals that are sacrificed in Africa that don’t exist here. So with divination and research I find what they would accept and grant them that dinner. In places that are sacred to them. I also add the fruits and vegetables anyway as an added offering.
If blood is what they want that isn’t a problem either. There are butcher shops that are willing to grant the meat and the blood. As long as they get paid they don’t care. Again, this is how I do it because my Gods and spirits allow me to. Because my Orisha allows me to.
Do a divination, meditate, and find what works for you. And if any Santeros out there have an issue with how I approach our faith, I don’t care. It has served me well up until now. And until they (the Orishas) or my spirits tell me otherwise I will continue. I am accountable to them, not to you.
Now the offerings in IFA, you can skip because that’s for the order of IFA. The practitioners of IFA divination and magic under Orula. I am going to give you a simplified version of the regular Santero offering. A medium rooster and seven colored strips.
The seven colored strips symbolize the Seven African powers. The other ingredients are only for Santeros. So this simplified version is to ask the Seven African Powers for help. Tie them into different parts of the house. Such as door knobs and in windows to ward off death.
In fact consider making a bracelet of these seven strips for yourself. As an amulet. The cooked roaster is the sacrifice that will empower the charms. They will work against death. Which will be very important because there is an article I wrote which is about charms against death.
In addition to that :
– Honey for Oshun, Brandy for Eshu, Incense or anything holy for Obatala because he’s the King of Heaven. And because Santeria is mixed with Catholicism, Christian things like blessed white candles or incense for him will do.
– And you could get another roasted chicken for Orula, his wife Odu, and the spirits of IFA and ask for their blessings and protections. If you approach them with respect, they won’t care what faith you belong to.
Leave these offerings at a crossroads with three pennies for Elegua so that he will send the offerings to the Orishas. Also this is very important, to a point even more important than the offerings mentioned before.
You need to use any form of protection the dead can give you. Sacrifice to your ancestors. Light candles and incense to them, give them Hades Money, etc… don’t be stingy. And if you don’t already have an ancestor shrine to them, now is the time to make it happen. Because our primary protection comes from the dead.
And also our non human spiritual guides such as Angels, Nature Spirits, etc..we need all of their protections. So when you have a chance give offerings at a cemetery to Oya.
– Nine Purple Grapes
– 9 Red Roses
– Nine Pennies
– A Bottle of Red Wine
For her and for all the dead. You don’t have to enter the cemetery. Oya brings the dead to the front gates. Leave the offerings there and she will share it with the dead. Ask them and her for protection and blessing.
And for mass purification in all its forms. And dedicate that entire cemetery to her and the Gods of the Dead. You should feel different. As if something negative left your body when you pray to her. When you are done, leave a candy offering to Elegua in his Eshu form.
And ask him to send these offerings to Oya and the dead. And then leave without looking back.
Now it’s important to also work within your own religion. If you don’t believe in Santeria but want protection, research these Deities and find someone in your own religion who matches them. For instance, if you’re Christian, the Archangel Gabriel is the Messenger of God (Elegua is the Messenger of the Gods) and he’s one of the Angels of Death.
So he’s perfect for this. And instead of a crossroads or all these offerings, you make a massive donation to your church for him in Jesus name. And Jesus died and rose again. So any offering to him works. And he’s the intercessor between humanity and God which makes him a messenger as well.
Any offering you give to him, give with an open heart and perfect love. If you’re Hindu, do this with Ganesha. And look up who the God of the Dead is. One you are comfortable with and work with them instead. If you are Celtic, work with Morrigan.
She hangs out at the crossroads and she’s associated with the dead. There’s so many options out there. Protect yourself well. But most importantly of all is this.
– Personal offerings to your spirit guides
Whoever your guide is. A God. An Angel. A Faerie. A Ghost. As well as all of your ancestors.
Whoever it is, divine with them and ask what they want and keep giving it to them all year long. By feeding your spirit guide, you are keeping yourself safe. And sacrifice to your loved ones Spirit guides as well. Even do it for your pets. I am.
Finally, I leave you with this. These were special warding rituals I did when the pandemic hit. They kept me and my family safe at the height of the pandemic. We survived 2020 without getting the disease. Even though my Mom is a healthcare worker and she had to enter places that weren’t safe.
Meanwhile people around us were dropping dead. Even those who were supposed to be safe. This protected us. So please, read this old blog carefully. And adapt the rituals for what’s happening now.
Just like on that blog I will keep you updated on events with updates here. Do offerings to all those spirits and Gods. And make the same kinds of charms. Do the same things I did back then. Just adapt them to whatever fresh hell we are going to suffer this year.
There’s all manner of rituals and magic for protection and cleansing in the New Year. There’s some amazing things in tradition that one should consider adding to their practice. My witch sister (as in my actual sister) has been practicing magic here with me. Preparing for the New Year’s as well. These traditions come from different groups.
Also known as a Growth Cleansing or a New Year’s Bath, this is a bath with flowers. It opens up the spiritual channels in a person’s body. This is to allow them to release negative or unnecessary energy. While also allowing good energy to enter. The following is a formula we use in Spanish folk magic.
One prescribed by mediums for the new year.
Ingredients :
Note* ingredients must be natural and freshly harvested
1) 5 Sunflower petals
2) 5 Red rose petals
3) 5 White rose petals
4) 5 Pink rose petals
5) 1 Rue branch
6) 5 Jasmine branches
7) 2 yellow candles
8) 2 Rosemary branches
9) 5 Daisy petals
Instructions :
To start doing the bath, heat six liters of water in a pot or saucepan. You’ll have to leave the water heating about 10-20 minutes. Until it starts to boil. Once bubbles begin to appear in the water it means that it has reached the ideal temperature. Remove the pot from the heat and carefully put all the materials in the water.
Once this is done, place the pot back to heat. But this time you only raise the temperature a bit and stir the materials. After another 15 minutes, put the pot to cool. When the water cools put it in the bathtub with the other ingredients. If that water is not enough to bathe, you can put a little more water without any problem.
Essentially the water you prepared, will bless and charge the regular water.
Once everything is ready, light the two yellow candles and take a bathe. Imagine yourself illuminated by the energies of the flowers. Allow the souls of those flowers to enter you. All things are alive. And when you bathe in flowers, the souls of those beings enter you.
So this isn’t just a normal cleansing. It’s a soul cleansing. It washes through you and over you by using pure souls. Those of the flowers themselves. That’s how this works.
Embrace them. Feel the negative energy disintegrate inside you. And then be flushed out naturally from your energy pathways. Allow the calm, nourishing, energy to enter your pathways. Feeding them.
Renewing them. Once you finish the bath, dry with a white towel. This is because white is a color associated with purity. If you have a special color that empowers you, you can use that instead. Then do a regular shower.
And scrub with soap as you normally would.
As my Druid Master recently told me : in our tradition, any form of washing with water is a cleansing. And this is true in more ways than one. In Jewish mysticism, it’s said that water loves bad or impure things. It was made that way by God to absorb the impurity out of things and people. That’s why most cleansings use water as a basic ingredient.
How my sister does it
My sister’s special batch
My sister uses the same traditional flowering formula as described above. The only difference is that she uses Christian Magic to empower it further. In conjunction with the new moon prior to the new year. She also used my balcony shrine which is filled with various plants and astrological idols to empower it. She also adds a few secret ingredients to make hers stronger.
She also added some power to it from a portable altar she brought with her.
But because they are a secret taught to her by her teacher, I can’t reveal that. What I will say is that she combines it with Catholic Masses. She does a mini mass in the bathroom with a specific Gregorian chant playing on her phone. The combination of the potion with the holy music adds to the power of the cleansing. She uses special rites associated with the Catholic Church.
As well as the new moon, and Saints to empower the water. New moons are good for new beginnings.
I do it also not only with Christian Magic but with Santero magic as well. I appeal to Ossian the Orisha of nature and plants, Aroni his faithful servant, and Inle the Orisha of Medicine. I do special Santeria prayers with them. And I charge the potion on my balcony shrine as well. It’s a shrine to both nature and the astrological signs and celestial bodies.
I ask for them to charge it with their powers over night. And once I do this, I leave the potion in a plastic container for the night and allow them to fill it with their Ashe (divine grace). It’s pronounced Ahhh-sheh. Sometimes it’s spelled Ache by Cubans. Which confuses the hell out of English speakers.
I also add Cascarilla and some secret ingredients to the brew like my sister does. Though mine are different. Once charged, I wait until New Year’s Day to bathe. Like literally a few minutes after midnight. Then I try to dress in light colors.
I have a specific color I use to be empowered.
Santeria Cleansings & New Year’s Traditions
Orisha shrines to Yemaya and Oshun
These are cleansings taught to me by my Godmother in Santeria. The traditions here I also learned from my Babalawo. First up is the feeding of the Earth.
This one was taught to me by my Babalawo Warning! Do not do this ritual. Only a Babalawo or high priest of Orula cando this. I am just outlining the basic ritual and the origin. Doing this the wrong way can actually kill you. This isn’t a joke.
You’ve been warned.
According to our sacred texts, it’s said that when the daughter of God ile Oguere reincarnated, she became the planet Earth. Orula the God of Divination and Magic told her she needed to do a special cleansing called an Ebo. This is sort of like a karmic cleansing to change your fate. She did not. As a result, her children (humans) abuse and hurt her.
The Ebo would have prevented that.
Mother Earth herself
A few years later after humanity had populated the Earth, the Orishas (Gods) had invented death itself. This was to prevent overpopulation. They assigned Iku to be the Orisha of Death. And everyone hated Iku. They all wanted to live forever.
What was worse is that back then when people died, their bodies just lay around. Burying a body hadn’t become a custom yet. Imagine seeing your loved one’s body just laying on the ground. And it looks as if it’s still them. Just sleeping.
One day ile Oguere and Iku were spending time together. She complained that her human children abused her. And he complained that her children hated him for doing his job. So she had an idea. She made a pact with Iku.
“If you kill as many of my children as you can, I will absorb their bodies into my body,”
The problem was, it was going to be difficult for him to do it on his own. So he said,
“My wife Arun (disease) will have to do this work with us. She must be given power over everyone equally. The rich and the poor, the young and old, kings and their vassals, the wise and prideful, thieves and honest people. Everyone equally,”
She thought about it, and finally said,
“I accept, however I demand that all people grant me tribute of whatever food they eat. And if anyone does not do this, you will be in charge of collecting their debts,”
From that day forward, Iku sends natural disasters and all manner of unnatural death to fall on humans. And in exchange, ile Oguere will suck down human bodies into her own body. When this happened, human bodies began to decompose. Because the Earth began to call them home. Now since then, many rituals to appease the Earth have been made.
As well as many rituals to ward off Iku. And some ceremonies like this one, do both. The Jorojoro is a hole, representing the mouth of the Earth. Usually, a group of Yoruba practitioners led by a Babalawo go into a barren land. They open the Jorojoro, and perform a ritual which has many prayers and components.
But part of it is a technique called Sarayeye. Basically, this is cleansing your body or a place with a ritually charged object. This can be an idol. Food. Or even the body part of an animal like feathers.
In this case, everyone carries a plate full of food and perform Sarayeye with that food. The cleansing absorbs all the bad energy. Bad luck, death, disease, curses, obstacles in the New Year etc…then one by one, the food is dumped into the JoroJoro to feed the Earth. The Jorojoro has to be deep so that it can absorb all of the food. Then, the ritual is closed, by sealing the Jorojoro shut.
The Earth Mother will be appeased and she will give you powerful blessings. At the same time she is draining all the osorbos or bad energy away from you. Including Iku or death. This is done every new year by Babalawos. The ritual is expensive but well worth it.
But I must warn you that only a Babalawo has the authority to perform this ritual. If anyone tells you they can do it without being a Babalawo, run away. Because doing it incorrectly angers ile Oguere. And it results in death. This is because the Earth is hungry.
And the worst thing you can do, is to leave the hole open. She will devour the energy of the person who didn’t perform the ritual the right way. Pull their soul down into death.
This cleansing was taught to me by my Godmother in Santeria. Oshun and Yemaya are the Goddesses who symbolize cleansing and prosperity the most. Inle does too. But a lot of people leave Inle out. What you do is take a bottle of melao or sugar cane syrup to the beach.
And once there, you pour some in your hair. And the rest into the water. Obviously you have to be in the water when you are doing this. This is an offering to Yemaya, the Goddess of the Seas and Oceans. Really all water everywhere belongs to her.
She is the Mother of the Earth in our tradition. Because without water, no planet can survive. Now, when you do this, it’s an even more powerful cleansing than the flowering ritual mentioned above. Yemaya can open your roads to greatness and bestow blessing so powerful than no force or enemy can stop you. It may take a while with the flowering bath to disintegrate the bad energy.
As well as renew your strength. But this cleansing with the beach is faster. It’s also more powerful because this is a loci specific ritual. A ritual that uses the power of a location to help you.
A variation of this ritual, uses a honey comb or honey. Personally, I prefer to use a honey comb. You can buy those in the supermarket. It’s like a bar of soap made out of honey. You can scrub yourself with it.
They’re usually in square plastic containers like this. Though if you can’t find honey combs, just rub regular honey on yourself. Then pour the rest in your hair. Like the offerings of the sugar cane syrup. Oshun is the one you call with this cleansing.
And you are asking her to pull all the impure energy out of you. All bad luck, everything out of your energy field. Then, you toss the honey comb into the water as far as you can. That will be the offering for Oshun. But I would recommend you bring a change a clothes with you.
Bring shorts or a bikini to enter the water. Because regular clothing in sea water smells like a rotten animal. Better to remove the wet clothing and change back into your normal clothes afterwards. Bring a bag with you for your wet clothing to seal it up until you can wash it. Likewise you can do something with Inle as well.
She is the Doctor of the Orishas. And has great power to heal. What I normally use for her are vines and leaves which symbolize healing. I ask the Earth to charge it with great power. Then when I go to the Ocean, I ask Inle to drain all that is bad from me, to the vines.
And all the good energy from the earth and water to enter me. Then I toss the vines into the water far away from me. And that will be Inle’s offering.
We have already discussed the powers of the Sarayeye technique. And how ritually charged objects can be used in cleansings. This is such a cleansing. My Godmother taught me this one too. The one and only ingredient here is an egg.
If you want you can bless the egg to make it stronger. That’s up to you. On the first Monday of the new year, in the morning, rub an egg from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet. And pray to Elegua. Ask him to take all the bad energy out of you from the old year.
You will wait until you feel lighter. As if everything that was on and in you will be devoured by that egg. Eggs are living objects. They have living organisms inside them. So they are the best things to use for a sacrifice.
Once everything has been pulled from you, you throw it backwards so that it will break. Do not look behind you. Because if you do, whatever negativity you had removed, will return to you. And worse than before. Now you cannot eat eggs for seven days.
Because if you eat the same food you cleansed yourself with, it will also return the negativity to you. Seven days is the cut off point. After the egg fast the day after the seventh day, you will be able to eat them again. You can wash the egg with holy water to give it an added charge. Or anoint it with a holy oil or powder.
If you can’t do this in the morning then do it at night or the afternoon. The point is doing it while it is still Monday. Elegua is the God of the Crossroads in Yoruba religion. He opens all roads and brings success in all things. No ritual or prayer can be done without giving the first and last offerings to him.
He is the Lord of the New Year and Old Year and will open and close all doors. Doing this ritual with Elegua will be sure to remove all obstacles. He is the divine child God and Prince of our religion.
Throwing Water out the front door, the Window, or the Balcony on New Year’s Day
In Latin America and Spain, people throw out a bucket of water at the very moment of midnight of New Year’s Day. Others like the people of Uruguay, do it from December 31st. The water absorbs the old energy of the old Year. So when you cast out the water from your home, you are casting out the old year. Santeros have our own variant of the ritual.
My Godmother puts Cascarilla into the bucket so that the positive energies of the new year can be invited in. Some use a bucket of Catholic holy water.
Puerto Rican women of the older generations also did the same thing. But they would follow that up by burning church incense inside the house to bring blessings. They’d be doing this and praying deep into the early hours of the night. And to ward off evil. I burn Gold Rain incense that I dedicate to the laughing Buddha to bring in money.
The Christian Magicians in the Ozarks in Arkansas have similar beliefs. They believe in sending out the old year. And bringing in the new year. But instead of using a bucket of holy water, they open their windows. Just a crack, not open all the way.
The old year slips out through the same small opening. And at the same time the new year slips in. There are other beliefs concerning the New Year’s in the Ozarks. Namely that a visit from strangers isn’t very good. But especially not from a woman.
Why that is, has never been explained, at least not to me. Only that your year is supposed to be crap if a woman is your first New Year’s visitor. That actually happened to me once. And it wasn’t just any woman, it was an extremely neurotic neighbor. One that drove her family crazy.
Like literally every once in a while there were cops or some other trouble in that apartment. She visited us to wish us happy new year just as I was about to throw the water out the front door. I actually debated tossing the water at her.
“Maybe if I throw the water at her crazy ass it’ll exorcise the bad year or cancel it out,”
I didn’t. And man did I regret that decision. Because it really was a shitty fucking year. I don’t know if it was the power of suggestion or not. But at least that time it was right.
I know in the Ozarks it usually is right. On New Year’s Day they tend to stay home. Almost in lockdown pattern. Until the next day. They also seem to have a taboo against taking something out of their home.
They seem to believe removing anything from their houses on New Year’s Day will bring poverty. For a visitor to be allowed in, that person has to bring something inside with them. Even if it’s a twig. This symbolizes prosperity. Now with me it’s the opposite.
I throw shit out as quickly as possible. I like my energy uncluttered. But every place has its own set of rules. All of this information comes from a Folklorist known as Vance Randolph. His research on the Christian faith healers and magic users of the Ozarks is considered Gospel.
Even by the faith healers themselves. He did everything he could to properly catalog, analyze, and preserve Ozark culture. Especially the magical and mystical aspects of their folk religion. He’s in essence, the Eliphas Levi of Ozark and folklore and folk magic. His second wife was a premier folklorist named Mary Celestia Parler.
And together they created the Arkansas Folklore Society. Unfortunately the society which was started in 1950, ended in 1960. But any books or papers you can get from them are good. For they are necessary if you really want to understand the culture and faith of these amazing mountain people. I became fascinated by Ozark magic and folk religion years ago.
I thought this entry would be incomplete without mentioning them.
Chalking of the Doors : Blessing your home for the whole year with Baby Jesus and the Three Kings
The blessing formula drawn over the inside or outside of the front door to bless the home
It was once believed by Christian denominations from Europe, that Satan temporarily losses his powers. Every year around the time of New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. Some believe it’s on Christmas Day. Still, it’s important to perform special wardings and blessings. The most common blessing during this time is the Catholic Epiphany blessing.
In fact, practitioners of Hoodoo also perform this blessing themselves. While traditional Catholics only allow a Priest or the head of the family to do it. Anyone who practices the root can do this. When a Priest does this, they do it as a representation of Christ. This is commonly referred to as in persona Christi(in the person of Christ).
This is a fascinating concept. It essentially means that the Priest is making themselves empty of their personal nature. And they ritually “become” Christ. They allow themselves to be filled with his authority. Like a form of divine possession almost.
In Christianity, divine possession doesn’t always mean that a spirit takes you over. Sometimes it refers to inspiration. Gaining prophetic visions and such. In this case it’s the actual authority of Christ being transferred to the Priest temporarily. When this happens, any blessing performed by the Priest, is the same as if Jesus himself were doing it.
Traditionally, a Priest does this. But the father of the family can also do it. I find that kind of sexist because the head of the family could be a woman. So really any head of the family can do it. As long as they are baptized.
Because then they are, they’re included in the “universal priesthood” (belief that all Christians are priests of Christ). In addition to this, practitioners of both Voodoo and Hoodoo can also perform this ritual. In fact this was an old tradition for many years. I was going to write about this. However, there are some amazing articles I found that I decided were better than anything I could write.
* Worship of Jesus in his child form (Divine Child) a theme you can find in many religions
* Worshipping him through a household ceremony as if the house was his house
* Calling on the Three Pagan Kings to aid in the warding and blessing of the home for the whole year until next year by chalking the door.
Using the Blessed Chalk to make the inscriptions
Then
* Blessing the home with Epiphany Water and special prayers.
Again this is me dumbing down the ritual for you. The actual ritual is a ceremony the whole family just participate in. And you are giving cultus to the Christ child by using an image of him. Now, the Catholic Church explains that the formula for blessing the house is Latin. And that the initials mean, Christusmansionem benedicat – (Christ bless this house).
However, these are also the initials of the Three Kings. Casper, Melchior, and Balthazar. And as I said, this is an old tradition done even by Rootworkers in the old days. Granted when we do it, it’s normally just the initials C.M.B., the plus signs are crosses and the numbers are the year the blessing is taking place in. For instance, the formula for this new year will be 2023 so the formula will be,
20+C+M+B+23
Rootworkers also believe that this chalk blessing offerings protection against witchcraft. It calls on the power of Christ and the three kings to block any malevolent influence. Be it magic or evil spirits.
How I do it
I do follow this formula almost identically to the way it’s performed by the church. I find that the chalking formula they use is better than just writing CMB. However, I don’t just write what is there. I add some things to the blessed incantation. For one, there was a Fourth Mage King known as Artaban.
He followed Jesus all his life. There are stories of heroic deeds and even people whose lives he saved along the way. But he never did catch up to Jesus. Finally he died almost at the same time Christ was crucified. And Christ himself crossed him over.
Saying that in everything he did, including saving the lives of the innocent, it was as if he had done those things for him. And There was also a Roman Witch the Magi Kings were friends with. We don’t know her true name. But she is known as La Befana in Italy. So over there it’s a Christmas Witch and not Santa Klaus who delivers gifts.
She was to join them to see Jesus as a child. However, she said she couldn’t because she was too old to make the journey. Later she regretted it. And tried to catch up to them, but it was already too late. So the sack of gifts she intended for the Child Christ, was instead given to the needy children of Rome.
So my formula is :
20+C+M+B+A+LB+23
To invoke all of their protections.
Other Traditions
There are a bunch of other New Years traditions to mention but they are all too numerous to write about here. So instead I brought you links and pictures from Atlas Obscura.
Although this was the last forecast of 2020, this covers a whole bunch of things. The other thing that catches my attention is that it comes on a Friday. Friday is usually for ending things. Not for starting new projects. This means this next year will more than likely be about finishing projects or taking care of problems that need to be taken care of.
Not about embarking on new projects. This is about fixing our lives and ending the nastiness of these last few years. If you already did that and think you can manage embarking on new projects, awesome. More power to you. The new year has come on the back of the Long Night’s Moon.
Also called the Full Cold Moon or simply the Cold Moon. The Moon of Midwinter which reaps and destroys negativity. This Moon influences our new year. So again, this year is for ending all of the bad from the last few years. Work with the moon on this.
It does so in the sign of Cancer. This sign belongs to the negative polarity. And it’s a water sign. So it magnifies cleansing. And it’s also a psychic-empathic sign.
A total cleansing of the soul. So this year is the time for reaping. Killing the dark things that no longer serve you. And planting and preparing for the things you want. For planting in order to harvest later, but before you can do that, you need to kill all the weeds.
Capricorn Horoscope for 2021
When I was praying to the Gods of the New Year, I had this heaviness hit me from the crown of my head. This was strange because I cleansed. I protected myself well. Followed all the rituals and then some. This new year comes with heavier baggage than the last one I think.
The Babalawos from Cuba have a different and more positive take. And in their divination we are going to be ruled by the Orishas (Yoruba Gods) Olokun and Oshun. Olokun is a very mysterious Deity. It’s unknown whether Olokun is male or female. All Gods and especially the Orishas are transexual entities.
The Letter of the year in Spanish. This is the document I did the translation from
They don’t really have a gender because Gods entail all things. Deities do normally have a set gender they like to use as their default. A preferred form they like to use amongst many. But Olokun is unknown. The story goes that this Orisha had taken human form once.
And was chased away by dogs to the bottom of a river. So Olokun never leaves the water and is hidden so deep within the caves and water ways that he/she is never seen. The main belief is that Olokun represents the mysteries of water. And Oshun is the Goddess of love, prosperity, nature, magic, and many other things. She also rules rivers.
Ika Fun is the sacred text or Odu (oddun) of the year. The main message is,
“A blessing of firm and safe health on Earth that Orula will provide”
Also, this year’s flag is blue with yellow trims. The colors of Olokun and Oshun.
– A sacrifice must be made to Obatala. One quail. Sixteen slices of bread. And Cacao, Cascarilla (egg shell powder), and two white candles.
– In addition to this, we are told to mop the floors of our houses with the Eight herbs of Obatala (This is a recommended house cleaning for the new year.)
– Another sacrifice must be made on behalf of Oshun and Olokun. The sacrifice is one rooster, one river stone, river water, bread crumbs, dirt from sixteen different places, clothing drenched in your own sweat, eight strips of (cloth) of different colors, and other ingredients.
Phrases of the year :
“He who laughs last, has the best laugh,”
“Sometimes what you don’t like is exactly what you have to do,”
Orixa is the portugese spelling for Orisha. The Candomble religion is similar to Santeria. Only the slaves that went to Brazil preserved other Orishas that the slaves in Cuba didn’t. Their priests also perform a divination to see who rules the year. And in theirs it’s Oxum and Oxalá (Oshun and Obatala).
In both divinations we see Oshun take a prominent role. And even though Obatala isn’t the reigning Orisha in the Letter of the year, he’s still clearly important. Usually the divinations go in polar opposite points. Different Yoruba Deities and different messages. Which makes sense because each person divines for their own land.
And also because Candomble and Santeria have different traditions mixed with Yoruba religion. But this year it’s interesting to see just how close the divinations were.
“The ruling Orixás of 2021 are Oxum and Oxalá and, with them, the next year will benefit from protection, unity, learning and patience . Through this co-regency, you will feel the divine blessings of the two entities in different aspects of your life,”
“As the first day of the year falls on a Friday, 2021 will be ruled by Oxalá, known as the ‘father of the orixás’. However, he will not be alone in this command, as the ruling planet will be Venus, the planet that represents Oxum, called “mother of the orixás”. In addition, Oxum is represented by Odu (the numerological sum of 2021) with the number 5,”
“Therefore, the ruling Orixás of 2021 symbolize the role of mother and father of all human beings. In other words, the energy of family unity, the valorization of the sacred feminine , tranquility and harmony is expected. With Oxalá in charge, you will be blessed by his light and protection. With that, you will feel safe enough to develop personally, professionally and spiritually, as the Orixá brings wisdom and patience as virtues. On the other hand, Oxum indicates that the year will be driven by forces of prosperity, independence and balance.
In this way, the orixá will act on the self-esteem and confidence of people, especially women. Both Oxalá and Oxum as the 2021 regent Orixás carry the importance of maintaining a good family relationship as a principle. So don’t be surprised if you see that your friends are getting pregnant and raising their own families,”
“In Umbanda and Candomblé, Oxalá is the orixá that aligns the forces that connect people and nature, thus establishing harmony between all living beings. In this way, it brings, in addition to peace and quiet, the peace and calm required to end a cycle. This is because the ruling orixá of 2021 represents the end itself, that is, Oxalá defines the moment of the end of situations, periods and even lives. With the awareness that nothing is eternal, you can understand this orisha as the guardian of the balance of the Universe. Known as the ‘father of the orixás’.
He has two ‘identities’. As a young man, he receives the name of Oxaguiã and adopts paradoxical characteristics, because, while he is calm, he is also quarrelsome; already older, his name is Oxalufã and assumes a calm, patient and fair personality,“
What’s interesting here is that this part aligns with what I said in the beginning of the report. My divination with the spirits and Gods told me this year was to finish business. To reap or destroy the things we don’t need anymore. To end cycles. It seems that is what Oxala/Obatala will be doing this year.
“Oxum is the female orixá that governs feelings such as love and affection. Furthermore, it is she who maintains the natural order of the Universe, including fertility. For this reason, Oxum is symbolized as the ‘mother of the orixás’ and intercedes for all human beings as if they were their children. In Umbanda and Candomblé, the orixá is the daughter of Oxalá and her image is represented by her feminine strength and beauty. In this way, Oxum can be found in the calm of the fresh waters of rivers and waterfalls by those who seek to heal their wounds, especially those of love.
Therefore, the 2021 ruling orixá is frequently sought to resolve love issues. But Oxum is also known for bringing peace, stability and balance to distressed lives,”
“Oxalá and Oxum bring the importance of valuing both your spiritual and family side. Under the command of these two orixás, 2021 will be considered a period of closing cycles for the beginning of another, as it will be a year of personal and material growth, hard work and rewards,”
Oxalá and Oxum forecast as ruling orixás of 2021:
Spiritual peace ; Balance; Family union; Stable relationships ; Professional effort; Elimination of the superfluous; And open paths.
“In addition, with the strengths of Oxum and Oxalá, you can fulfill your dream of becoming a mother, as 2021 promises to be a very fertile year. Knowing the right moon to get pregnant, you guarantee the growth of your family, next year,”
“The last message about the influences of the ruling orixás of 2021 is that Oxalá and Oxum arrive to guide you to cut the bad by the roots. So, learn to listen to them, however difficult it may be, because, by eliminating bad energies, your life will take the right direction,”
And again, they seem to have caught onto the same energy that my spirits and I felt in the divination. Amazing. They also took a very positive stance for this year just as the Babalawos did.
Ruling Planet of the YearAstrologers from Brazil believe the ruling planet of the year is Venus. A planet love Goddesses such as Oshun rule. They believe this means that contrary to Chinese predictions, we will have peace and mutual respect. With a cool head for negotiations. Honestly, no one force rules it all.
Maybe we will have some positivity after all. But beware, I doubt we’ll have peace on Earth either. The Sun will enter Aries on March 21st of this year. Supposedly we’ll all be a lot more social and feel lightness. I’ll believe it when I see it though.
Venus favors rewards and many blessings. And again, it favors peaceful negotiations.
Strangely enough, when my Hellenic Temple and I celebrated the Athenian New Year just a few months ago, the Priests came to a similar conclusion. For my temple, the year belongs to Herakles and Aphrodite.
Herakles brings stability and strength just like Obatala and General Yang Xin. And Aphrodite is similar to Oshun in bringing love and unity. So it seems we are all tuning into the same frequency.
And finally, I finish this with a list of various New Year’s traditions
Obatala the White Robed King, and Oshun the Queen of Love and Nature
In my post “Angry with the Gods,” I wrote that the Gods had disappointed me greatly. In the Letter of the Year done by the IFA masters, it was said that Obatala and Ochun would reign. And myself and many others in my community figured that meant this year would be way better than 2019. That 2019 was the worst and that finally, we would see good things. So when 2020 ended up being the worst of the years I have ever lived, I began to grow angry and bitter.
My faith was shaken. I started to wonder “What the hell is this?” If our Gods love us so much then why are they letting this happen? And then after my grandpa died of the Coronavirus I really questioned the hell out of everything. Then reading someone else’s blog on Santeria I realized something : the Letter of the year never said that this year would be better. That was just the assumption we made because Obatala and Oshun reign. And because this year there wasn’t a laundry list of maladies people were suffering from like the 2019 Letter of the Year.
Instead there was only one malady that was listed : Disease. I had completely overlooked that. I figured it would just be diseases in general being strong this year. It never crossed any of our minds that a pandemic was coming. So the Orishas had indeed warned us.
And then I started to realize something else, the Earth is regenerating during the pandemic. The largest ozone layer in recorded history was sealed shut again by a polar vortex. Water and air is starting to become cleaner too. It was even reported that the air hasn’t been this clean since World War II. I also forgot that the practitioners of Quimbanda had said that while Obatala and Oshun were partially ruling in their system, Xango (Shango) was in charge with others.
And that this year, justice would be done against injustices. That Xango would execute his justice. Humanity has been ruining the Earth for a very long time. And now the Earth is finally fighting back. Simply I didn’t want to hear all of that.
I was and am like everyone else, tired of living in constant stress and conflict. I have even wondered sometimes about just being a hermit and letting the world burn. Then I realized how selfish that would be. Every Santero and indeed everyone who comes from an ancient belief, are supposed to defend and protect the Earth.
You can’t do that if you’re sitting somewhere far away, without a care in the world as to what is happening in the planet or current events. But I am overstimulated. Just like everyone else. And just once I hoped we could be given something on a silver plate. Just once I wished manna would fall from heaven.
But sadly it doesn’t work like that. Everything has a price and a counter balance. And in this case, the price is that humanity needed a major wake up call. Because if we didn’t, we would all march into oblivion in a straight, neat little line. Now I am not sure that this is the work of the Gods.
I personally believe that this is nature in the scientific sense, fighting back. And negative spirits. It’s my belief based on Divination that this plague of death is a result of souls not in rest. But regardless, these lockdowns are a wake up call to what will happen if we do not change. For example, people are reevaluating their lives.
We now know that having a job or a nice car isn’t going to do shit when it comes to a Real Emergency. So all those mid life crisis be damned. You can’t eat money. And having a million degrees and being successful is virtually useless when in the face of something like this. We all need to be more practical.
We are now seeing that we have the means to end pollution. We don’t need advanced technology, we just need common sense. Contrary to that idiotic “Paris accords” which was nothing but politics. All it was, was creating a time table to make a time table o end pollution because by that time we would “have the technology to do it,”. What we needed was to not go out so much.
To not engage in wasteful activities. To stay home more often and at this point, we even have fewer Earthquakes now because of decreased activity. Heck, maybe even the face masks we are wearing are probably decreasing pollution. You never know. So I must once again humble myself before the Creators.
And admit that I was wrong. This is the best of the years….for the Earth. For balance to come, disbalance comes first. Just another version of “things get worse before they get better,”. In my humanity, I did not stop to see how what is good for humans is bad for Earth.
And vice versa. Again I am brought to my senses by the Wisdom of the Gods. And again, as in my last post, I have come to realize the truth. That even with truth presented to my face, I am unable to direct my own steps. And I need the Gods in my life just to be able to walk, let alone run.
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.
First my apologies, I have written this all on my phone. And wordpress doesn’t seem to like that.
The Yoruba people of Nigeria have a very interesting and complex religion. Among the many wonderful cultural gems they have, are the Priesthood of Babalawos (Fathers of the Mysteries). The Babalwos are members of the IFA order. Fa is the Orisha (Deity) of destiny. So IFA is the way that we understand our destinies and our place in the Universe.
IFA specializes in every aspect of destiny. I have seen them help to break generation and karmic curses. I have seen them correct people’s life paths. They have done wonders with their magics. They gain their powers from Orula, the Orisha of Divination and Magic amongst other things.
Every year Cuban Babalwos in Santeria engage in the the Letra del Año or letter of the year. They do special divinatory rites in which certain letters of IFA come out. Each letter has it’s own significance. The letters are tied to ancient stories known as a Pataki, which is our version of Biblical accounts. Our Legends. Our sacred texts.
The Babalawos will then interpret these stories in order to tell us the will of the Gods or sometimes the spirits around us. They do a letter of the year to tell us what we can expect to happen in the New Year. This begins with the name of the Reigning Orishas of the year (sometimes they can reign for two years). The colors of the Orishas put together in a flag. And of course the Ebbo or cleansing of the Year.
This is a cleansing to ensure prosperity and good energy. Or to protect from negative energy and bad influences. Usually I see them in English posted on New Year’s Day. But from what I can see they’re only in Spanish now. So, I’ve taken it upon myself to translate them in English for all of you.
Some words translated aren’t Spanish at all. Because they’re in the language of the Yoruba people.
Here’s a small glossary of terms :
1) Otan
An idol made up of sacred stones in Santeria and in the older Yoruba faith. Essentially the stones are part of the representation of the Orisha being honored. They are ceremonially charged with magico-religious rituals and then become a living embodiment of the Deity. In other words, the Divine Spirit of that Deity dwells in the Otan and lives with the worshipper inside their home by means of the idol. This is not idolatry.
We know very well these are idols. We do not worship them. We venerate or respect them because they carry a spark of the Divine embued by the rituals.
2) Ebbos and Adimmus
A special set of offerings for an Orisha. Usually to achieve specific goals. There is a very good article on what these things are is or at least the various definitions given here:
A ceremonial cleansing either with herbs or by rubbing a living animal like a chicken over your body to remove negative influences.
4) Paraldo
This is a very complex ritual that can only be done by a Babalawo or high priest of Orula. It’s too complex to start talking about here. But needless to say it is more than just an herbal bath. It is transferring a dark spirit of the dead who causes harm, to an animal. There are other ingredients and things that must be observed.
I don’t think that there are any English sources on this. So I will translate as soon as I have the chance. And the animal, a chicken, has to have it’s face covered because if not, looking into it’s eyes will allow the entity to return to a person to cause harm. Do NOT attempt this on yourself because you need a high priest of Orula. And don’t go to just anyone because you’ll mess yourself up.
5) Palo Rompe Hueso (Bone Breaker Stick)
In Yoruba practice, the use of magic sticks is very common. This stick is called Bone Breaker because it causes Spiritists to enter such a trance, that sometimes in their hysteria they will hit walls or tables so hard that they break their own bones. The scientific name is Casearia sylvestris.
The original in Spanish version of this year’s Letra can be found here:
Recommendations and warnings that should be followed throughout this year to manage to protect us from all obstacles. Babalawos of different religious branches of Cuba have returned to meet led by the Yoruba Cultural Society. And the Council of Senior priests of IFA, to make known their predictions for the year beginning this Tuesday January 1: The letter of the year 2019. The ceremony began this last December 31 and has been extended until this January 1. From the IFA Oracle the following recommendations and warnings come out that should be followed throughout this year to manage to save from all the obstacles.
The enlargement of the document will be released on Wednesday 2 January at one o’clock in the headquarters of the Yoruba Cultural Society of Cuba.
Regent Sign: Oche Ogunda 1st.
Witness: Ika Ogunda
Second Witness: Osa Kuleya
Prophetic Prayer: Osorbo Iku intori Ogu.
Orula Onire: An Adimu (offering) of a yam, a coconut split into 2 halves, everything must be muddied or splashed with Coconut oil, his Coconut and his candles.
Otan Onishe Ara:
Sarayeye with a chicken which is then given to Oggun, with the other ingredients and a bath with herbs of Paraldo.
Otan governing Deity: Oshun
Accompanying Deity: Oggun Otan
Flag: Yellow with green edgings
Ebbo: 1 goat (for Elegba) 5 Güiritos, to which they are given indigo, honey, Palm oil butter, Palo Rompe Hueso, and blood of goat and hanged on the door, and the other ingredients. (1)
(Note : Güiro is a type of plant. Güiritos or “little Güiros” are the fruit of the plant which is super hard. Almost like a rock.)
Sayings of the Letter
“The Knife itself does not achieve,”
(Sort of a rough translation)
“One does not receive the arrow without first going to the Battleground,”
“What is left behind is not picked up again,”
Diseases that shall increase this year:
* Stomach and Intestine Diseases
* An increase in STD’s
* Men becoming impotent early in life due to Prostate Issues
* Malignant conditions of the colon and rectum
Events of social interest:
* Continued problems in agricultural production due to issues with the fertilization of the soil. This will of course effect production and sales in these areas.
* The Sea will enter the land which will lead to flooding and collapse of buildings or infustrature.
* Rise in the conflict over immigration
* The dangers of natural catastrophes in all it’s forms will continue.
Recommendations (as well as warnings):
* Be aware of the dangers of wasting money or resources. Needless wasting in other words.
* Avoid of the ill uses of chemical products in agricultural production.
* Be careful of epidemics and disease
* Beware of confrontations and brawls
* Maintain an appropriate religious ethic
* We must find resources and help between all of us to achieve a common goal.
* Respect the Elders and find a religious orientation.
* Avoid troubles with the law
* Venereal diseases due to sexual debauchery
* Better use the Agricultural resources we have
* Equality in all orders
* It is recommended to reinforce your Oggun (go to your Godfathers for this)
(Note: Oggun is a Warrior Orisha who is also a master of magic and protector of nature. This means any idol of Oggun would need a reinforcement ritual done by a Santero’s Godfather for extra protection. If you follow another tradition and you have any protective idols or charms, going to your own religious authority for a reinforcement of protection would be a good idea for this year.)
* Parents must beware of spoiling their children or giving them too much
* Parents must give careful attention to the care of their children’s education
* It is prohibited to self medicate oneself.
We thank these outlets of mass communication which make it possible for these predictions to reach all the corners of the world and wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous 2019!”
When I have time, I’m doing to do some serious reflections on this Letra. And I will point out the common patterns as well as things that seem to align. Although if we’re going to be honest, this has been the most straight forward and simple divination in a while. The common themes seem to be with balance and curtailing our more destructive qualities which seem to be coming out in mass this year. It seems the darker side of our natures is going to be coming out this year.
This makes sense since Oggun is one of the reigning Deities. However, Oshun is the main Deity and she helps to bring balance to his warlike energies. Oshun is the Goddess of Love, Nature, Witchcraft, Prosperity, and many other things. So it goes down to how we react to adversity this year. Yin and Yang can fight each other, or one can learn to work with both.
You can read similar things in the Umbanda religion from Brazil. Ogum (Ogun) rules this year in their faith. Here is the report on that
(1) Now, No I do not engage in Ceremonial sacrifices. I try to get creative with my offerings to the Gods. They know I love animals very much. So they normally allow me to use replacement offerings instead. I check with my Godparents in Santeria for this.
There are times when my Godparents insist due to tradition. They however do it for me. I have the Eleke of Inle, the Orisha of Medicine. Because both Inle and my guides prevent me from the use of blood shed. It’s hypocritical to love animals and yet have sacrfices done.
My sacrifice is only for my Elegua and my Godfather will cook the poor Chicken to at least be dinner instead of just killed. I also intend to bury the bones in order to honor his spirit. But after that I don’t intend to do such things again. I’m going to ask my Godparents what offerings I am to give in replacement of some of these.
Sharing the IFA calender for this Month. And I have noticed some interesting things while reviewing it. Now, my observations have nothing to do with IFA. At least not all the way. These are things that I noticed based on my readings, divination (that I do for myself) every time that I update my calender, and Cuban and Greek folk ways.
I am not intending to misconstrue various traditions. Nor am I intending to offend anyone. This is my personal, mixed, theology and how I view things. Today I looked at the calender on my wall and remembered that I haven’t updated anything. As soon as I get astrological reports or the Monthly IFA calender from this site, I update my wall calender.
Off the bat, I realized that today is Thursday the 8th. Thursdays and the number 8 are sacred to Poseidon. So I did my offerings for him at a tree I designated for male Gods of Prosperity and I gave the offering in his name. Once I realized how important today was, and remembered that Thursday is a good ritually charged day, I decided to sit down and update my calender. In doing so, I discovered some powerful days with numerology.
Tomorrow for example is ruled by Sango and Oya and it is the 9th day (sacred to Oya). Oya and Sango are both warriors. And days they rule carry both prosperity and aggressive energy. So depending on how you look at it, you can either have a really good day or a really bad day. Moving on, Tuesday is the 13th.
Which carries power in Cuban and Italian tradition as Friday 13th. And guess what? Sango and Oya again. So, I added 4 (number of Sango) with Oya’s number 9 and got 13. So it’s a double 13 day. A day of great Mysticism and power.
On the 16th, the Planet Venus goes direct which resembles great prosperity. Since Venus/Aphrodite is not just a Goddess of love but of abundance. But, the same day Venus goes direct, Mercury goes into Retrograde which means everything goes wrong. In the IFA calender, the 16th of this Month will be ruled by Ochossi, Orisha Oko, and Ogun. While in my personal experiences with them, they bring forth prosperity, they are also warriors.
Well, Ochossi and Ogun are. Orisha Oko is seen as a Farmer who brings forth prosperity. Still the symbolism is clear : on one side, renewed abundance, on the other, conflict. Saturday 17th is ruled by Sango and Oya again. Saturday is normally a day for the dead and Oya is a Guide for the dead. The 21st (21 is often a number of destruction or dominance like 9) is again ruled by Sango and Oya. I did the numerology calculations of 13 (Sango and Oya) and the number 21, broke down the final number to a single digit : 7.
The number of Mysticism. To me this symbolizes that out of percieved destruction comes creation. The next day which is the 22nd is the day before the full moon when I do my first lunar rituals. The next day is the 23rd. The 22nd is ruled by Obatala the King of Heaven, Egungun (the collective dead), Iyaami (Divine Priestesses), and Sanpanna the Lame Footed God of Healing and Disease.
The next day is ruled by IFA order, Esu (Crossroads God), Osun (Goddess of love and Prosperity and this is on a Friday like Aphrodite), Aje (the Grace of the Gods, their primal energy), Yemaya (Ocean Goddess), and Olokun the Orisha or Deity also of water who serves Yemaya (or is an aspect of her depending on your theology). Two very powerful days ruled by the Moon. Lunar magic in my experience works well both with the dead (Egungun) and with Water. A combination of several powers and wisdom. When I added the number 22 and 23 and reduced it to a single digit I received the number 9.
A number of destruction or creation based on your personal thoughts. Sacred to Aphrodite and to Oya. And with Egungun on the day before and Osun on Friday which is the day of Aphrodite, there is a lot of power to be had here. These are the days which caught my attention. I believe that this means a lot of reaping and rebirth are set to happen this month.
So watch out and prepare. November is looking to be a magnificent month indeed.
This is a picture of South Beach while the Moon is starting to become full. So, the Hunter’s Moon is just one of the many names for it. Thanks to Billie, who’s article is here I learned a few other names. I didnt know the Bloodmoon was the same moon. So why was I at South Beach? I had a Paranormal case that couldn’t wait till the full moon on Wednesday.
Last night, a friend of mine and I went to the Beach. He drove me and aided me through the ritual (sorry for that gigantic mellon you had to carry brother). The mellon was for Yemaya, the Orisha of the Ocean. It was also for Orishas Inle, Oshun, Olokun, and Nana Buruku. As well as Theoi Amphitrite and her husband Poseidon.
The Celtic Goddesses Elen of the Roads, Brighid, and Rhiannon. It was a massive Eclectic working under the light of the nearly formed moon. To make the long story short, the Mother of the family has an asshole ex boyfriend who refuses to leave her be. So he keeps hiring new witches to cast on them. This family is constantly beset with bad luck and bad spirits.
Their dryer almost exploded in their apartment. Glasses and dishes seem to break over nothing. One actually disintegrated with only a large piece still in her hand. And members of the family having broken objects and even birds literally crapping on them no matter where they went. I admit that these things were new for me.
I have never met spirits powerful enough to break almost anything or to make bad luck find a family anywhere. I have heard of it from the Elders in Santeria and Vodoun. Never experienced it. I was crapped on four times in one day when talking to them. The glass of my phone shattered while it was still in my pocket.
I hadn’t even heard or felt it. I stabbed my thumb and bled on one of the pieces. The message was clear : You are not welcome here. Leave or else. Then they found a dried up rose on their door step. After divining and talking with a few people I know, I discovered it was a false funeral.
A funeral ritual for a living person to call the dead to take a living person with them. It opened a gigantic gate which I learned later was effecting the entire apartment complex. So I called on one of my Native American spirits, a strange entity that appears as a ball of light, to aid me. He told me to get my copy of “Six Says” by Aidan Watcher and do a little Bibliomancy. What I discovered was that I had to use this full moon to seal the gateway.
The spirit planted visions in my head of how I was to do it while I read the passage in Watcher’s book about lunar energy and a practitioner. I was told to gather dirt from the four corners of the complex and take it along with a few Idols to the beach. There I had to toss the dirt into the waters with the idols. Thus establishing the Connection of the land to the sea. I took a water bottle to use as a Situla (Pagan holy water vessel) and took ocean water blessed by the Moon’s light.
I tossed the mellon into the waters and filled the bottle. Then somewhere between all of my invocations and spells, an idea entered my head. I have needed to get a stone from the Ocean for my Elegua idol. Every Santero has an Elegua to protect them. My Godfather said I needed a sea stone for my Elegua.
But I have had a hard time finding one. So I began to beg the Deities for the most beautiful stone to give, and I found maybe 5 or 7 of them. When I returned to the complex, I baptized each member of the family in the water, then I poured the waters over each of the four corners. I saw in my head like a flash, pillars of light and sea creatures appear on each corner. But I felt one of the pillars was weaker.
The one close to the river behind their complex. I realized then : the new witch was using the water to open a door way. Native Americans and other Nations believed since time immemorial that water was a gateway. Even Pen, who was one of my mentors in the beginning told me that water was a conduit for spiritual energy. The sneaky bastard opened a doorway this big on purpose.
What I had assumed was them being fools and accidentally opening a vortex that would engulf the complex by mistake, was on purpose. They didn’t care that a whole mess of people were being effected. My spirits told me to file that away for later and focus on the last corner. Finding the last corner was hard because the fence of the complex is crooked. But I let my spirits aid me in finding the proper spot.
Once I finished it, the beams all grew stronger, even the weakest one. They converged like a geometry equation and met at the center. Walls of energy, so thick I half expected cars to crash. Sea Nymphs appeared and began to chant and speak in a language I did not recognize. And I saw the portal for the first time.
It was Invisible for me until that moment. A huge worm hole or a black hole with blue green light. But instead of pulling things within it, it seemed to be expelling creatures from it. Ugly supernatural entities. It looked like something out of Lovecraft.
At that moment what appeared to me as a tidal wave of energy, swept over the whole complex. It was only after I felt it, and heard in my mind the entities screaming, that I knew it was holy water. Blessed by the Gods themselves. I saw their Astral forms react as if scolding water had blistered them. They all fell back in mass into the gate.
When the last one fled, what appeared to be spiritual bolts of lightning itched in the ground itself formed chains blocking the gate. I was told when the full moon reached it’s Apex the gate would close. No sooner than that. No new creatures have appeared since last night. The activity in the home has stopped.
Now they’re just having nightmares. I divined again today and my spirit told me that it was the banished entities. Since they can’t appear anymore, the only thing left they could do is disturb dreams. When the portal closes fully, they won’t even be able to do that. They have made threats to the family in dreams if they don’t re-open the gate.
I have told the family to use their Christian prayers and church music. That should be strong enough now to block the dark spirits. I’ve also called upon armies of Poseidon to invade the realms they were sent back to and attack if they persist in causing harm to the family. I believe this will be enough to stop further Activity. Unless called, I’ll be taking a rest until Friday night.
I’ll be planning my attack on the new witch or wizard being paid by the boyfriend. I’m trying to find a way to permanently get rid of them. I’ve avoided doing a counter death spell if only because the ex has children. I’m doing something interesting with Reiki that I hope will do the trick. Anyways that said, your links for this week.
I forgot to add that the Hunters Moon brings out nasty things within our psyches. So you might be prone to paranoia or sudden bursts of anger. Combine that with Venus Retrograde and the Reaping will be an extra pain if you haven’t learned to work with it. Have a blessed week everyone. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to do consultations again after this family.
Adventures of A Mage In Miami 