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 Ghosts of 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 Yลซrei 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
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.
Cheers,
By Koral Garcia
– M
Adventures of A Mage In Miami 