Rootwork – Adventures of A Mage In Miami

New Year’s Rituals Everyone should know

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.

So let’s take a look at some of the stuff to do.

Flowering or Blooming Cleansing

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 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.

How I do it

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

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.

Feeding the Earth : The Story of the Jorojoro

This one was taught to me by my Babalawo Warning! Do not do this ritual. Only a Babalawo or high priest of Orula can do 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.

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.

It must have been terrifying.

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.

Cleansing with the Goddesses at the Beach

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.

Like you are talking a bath at the beach.

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.

Egg Cleansing with Elegua

From the Elegua ritual against Wickedness

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.

New Year’s in the Ozarks

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.

* How to make Epiphany Water, the special holy water blessed for this occasion

* The Ingredients for the Epiphany Ceremony & Instructions on how to do it

* A Simpler version of the instructions for the Epiphany Ceremony (but the simple version is only if you are already familiar with the ritual, which includes having a baby Jesus image enthroned in a manger to be part of the ceremony).

* An Explanation for the Epiphany Blessing

Central to this are three themes :

* 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, Christus mansionem 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.

La Befana’s name means “The Epiphany” in Italian. From “La Bafana : The Christmas Witch Italian Children Love“

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.

Traditions from Around the World

Making Lemon Pig Effigies for Good Luck

Scarfing Down Green Grapes in New Years For Goodluck

Walking in a Dark Forrest & Facing Frightening Beings to know the Future

CarolCooks2…New Years Eve 2022…Traditions around the World…

Witchcraft for the New Year

Keep money in your wallet for more money during the whole New Years!

New Year’s Eve Mojos & Superstitions by the Alchemist

New Year’s Eve Spell: Out with the old, in with the new by the Witch

9 Superstitions that are Actual Magical Knowledge (and are true) by the Alchemist

How to Cast a New Year’s Protection Spell by
Author Emma Kyteler

Take care everyone,

– M

The Dead Received : St. Mark’s Eve Results 💀

This year I did not divine on the Eve of St. Mark. Apollo came to me in a vision clad in black and told me there was no need. They would be revealed to me in a few days. And sadly he was right. Because by the next day (St. Mark’s Day) it was revealed that my uncle’s wife has an aunt who had a massive stroke.

And she’s expected to die. Yesterday I was told by my uncle that my great uncle was also hit by a stroke. We were told he’s expected to die within a matter of hours. Despite all of that, I am not upset. Mostly because I wasn’t too close with either.

But also because after my grandfather’s death predicted by St. Mark’s Eve, I am not scared or shocked anymore. It would have to be someone really close to me. Maybe that’s callous but it also happens to be true.

The shadow of death has fallen. In conjunction with Lord Hermès entering his retrograde. And with St. Mark and St. George who I believe are riding the winds in a sort of invisible wild hunt. The energy is changing all around us.

A reaping in Spring is what I call it.

When my relatives pass I might not be able to do readings or magic. It all depends on my emotional or spiritual state. I am also going to ask my high priest what is or isn’t allowed during mourning. For the ancient Greeks, there was a 13 day morning period in which the Gods could not be worshipped. The reason for this is because we are spiritually and energetically unclean during that time.

Not because we are “unworthy” but because death is a powerful negative force. And it leaves a temporary spiritual taint even in people surrounded by death. That lasts at least that long. For the Romans it was 9 days.

I am not sad but I do feel numb. So much death and so fast. Last year there was no one I knew who was going to die at that St. Mark’s Divination. So it’s been at least a year since I didn’t lose anyone. And lately I’ve been thinking about my pain.

And how to make it stop. I keep thinking about going to therapy again. Maybe I should. I think I need to refresh my brain. And truthfully what I really need is a vacation.

A real fucking vacation. Maybe Cuba. Go there and visit the Sierra Maestra mountains and meet the indigenous people there. Get a cleansing done. Visit the other spiritual people there.

Or Haiti. I have dreamed of Haiti since I started practicing Voodoo and Hoodoo. Since I have worshipped the Loa. And even had a strange dream about going there that had a lot of religious significance. I feel like Haiti is as much home as Cuba is.

Write my stories again. Gods know I would love that. If only I could fucking afford it. I just need a day off. A real day off.

At this point the dead have more of a vacation than I do. Hermes is their tour guide. How sad is that?

I have decided to do shadow work again. It’s been a long time since I confronted my shadow self. I need to listen to him again and see what the root of my problems are. And also apologize to him for not being the best caretaker. I care about everyone else but not me.

I think things were better when I was selfish. Then I didn’t need to care about anyone else. Just me and whatever I wanted. I look back on my earlier life. And I started thinking : I may not have accomplished much but damn it I had some fun.

More fun than I’m having now. Ever since I became Mr. Save the world I don’t have as much fun. You know there was a funny fortune cookie that once said,

“Nostalgia is realizing things weren’t quiet as bad as we thought before,”

Or something like that. I wonder if I will look at this time with nostalgia. I have a feeling of impending doom almost. Waiting for the other shoe to drop. The waiting is killing me. And what’s worse is thinking I am crazy for waiting for something bad to happen that might not happen at all.

I need a cruise….whoops, sorry Charon not that kind of cruise

Sorry for being Emo. Its annoying as hell I know. But I can feel a mass reaping coming on. Maybe it’s the war in Ukraine or maybe it’s something else. Either way now is the time to prepare and do rituals and prayers to ward it off.

If you are into apotropaic magic now is the time to do special rituals to protect yourself. I would also recommend special cleansings. Since both Saints Mark and George’s feasts passed recently I think I will appeal to them. Well that’s all for now. Take care of yourselves is all I can say.

I have to go Adult and actually treat myself good (damn it)

– M

Ritual to bless and make Cascarilla (blessed egg shell powder) from Santeria

Traditional Cascarilla powder sold in Santero magical stores. They are usually round egg shell powder. First finely turned to powder, then made into a kind of chalk. From ConvenienceBuy on Etsy

Today I am going to explain how someone can make blessed eggshell powder at home. It’s very simple. The technique I use comes from Santeria. From how I was taught. Combined with my personal studies into the Orishas.

It can be used by any culture and by anyone. I have even seen rootworkers and wiccans use it as a matter of fact. It’s not some big religious taboo, it’s a magical ingredient.

Cleaning and Drying the Eggshells

From Grandma Pearl’s Backporch a nice article on how you can give egg shells to wild birds for calcium

First of course are the eggshells. You can just wait until you are making an omelette or frying some eggs. And instead of discarding the shells, clean them out with soap and water. There is usually a transparent and slimy membrane still inside the shell. Once cleaned, you can also heat it up in a preheated oven for a minute or two to kill the bacteria.

Ritual for cleansing and blessing eggshells

This is how I was taught to bless them. I exorcise the shells with holy water. Most Santeros use exorcised water from a Catholic Church. But I use water I ask Yemaya herself to bless. I dip them in her salt waters.

And I ask the Orishas of the oceans and seas to cleanse them and cast out all impurity from the shells. And to grant them the power to dispel any impure force. Once that’s done, I place them on a white plate under the sun. And I pray to Aganyu the Orisha of Volcanoes, Fire, Heat, and the Sun. And I ask that he blesses the egg shells with the energy of the sun and it’s life giving rays.

To fill them with much Ashe (divine grace) so they can be used for any and all magic. And then I leave them there to soak up the energy of the sun and light until nightfall. Charged with power as talismans, they are now ready to be made into powder. Most people make them into a chalk for various reasons. For instance, drawing magical symbols or sigils on places.

Some people prefer to make them into actual chalk like this,

Which is better for the drawing of symbols. But to make the powder into chalk you have to do something else.

To make them into Chalk

To the crushed eggshells you must :

1. Add 1 part each of hot water, cascarilla powder, and flour.

2. Mix into a thick paste.

3. Mold a piece of the paste into a chalk shape and roll snugly in a paper towel.

4. Leave several days until set and dry.

(Source : The Witch and the Wand)

This is how it becomes the chalk we’re all so familiar with. But the eggshells need to be ground into a fine powder for that. With either coffee grounders or the traditional motor and pestle.

My Cascarilla

Mine is broken into dozens of small pieces. But it’s not a fine powder. In fact they still have their sharp edges. I do this in order to make them spiritual weapons. Each edge is like a blade against an obstacle or an enemy.

By keeping it in a spice bottle, the little filter also ensures that I don’t use too much of it. Just the right amount.

Now this is the basic ritual and ingredients. But every person can add to it. I have known children of Oshun the Orisha of love and prosperity to add honey to their Cascarilla. It’s for good luck, love, and general positivity. I add my own secret ingredients to make my Cascarilla more magical.

Also they’re far easier to carry without making a mess. So make them how you want to make them. This is a magical technique for making a special ingredient. You could apply it to your own culture as well. After all, traditionally it’s cleansed with Catholic holy water which is a foreign element not associated with African culture.

So clearly, being foreign isn’t a problem. We use an element of a hostile religion intolerant to our practices in our magic. So if we as Santeros can abide that, then we should also abide other religions being able to bless Cascarilla as they wish to do it. In fact It’s a nice little home project and a starter for someone interested in making powders and potions.

Uses

Anointing the soles of your feet with a Cascarilla Cross from : El Poder de los Rituales (The Power of Rituals) blog.

If you make it into chalk, you can anoint parts of your body like the back of your neck and your feet for protection. You can also place some on the floor of a ground into a cross to ward off evil from your home. Sometimes even your hands to fill them with magic. Or sigil work. They can also be used as an ingredient added to a magical spell or ritual.

Or it can be used all by itself. I have used Cascarilla in cleansing baths. I have used them in rituals to call up elemental spirits. I have used them to bar negative spirits from entering a home. The uses are basically endless.

You can use them even for spells. With only your will and intention, the Cascarilla will read you and know what you wish it to do. Cascarilla can only be used for positive magics. Not cursing or anything like that. The one and only time they are “negative” is when protecting you from an enemy spell caster.

Or a harmful spirit. Because then, the healing powder determines that the spirit or person harming you is a disease. And what is healing if not antibodies killing a disease? So that is the one exception. Just like how holy water is used for healing and blessing. But for a demon, it would be like acid on their skin.

Cascarilla can even be used against psychic attacks. Eggs and their shells have natural healing capabilities. It’s said that they are the pure manifestation of Olodumare’s Ashe. Hence why they are only harmful to someone or something harmful. Drawing crosses with them on the inside of your shoes protects your steps and your ways from harm.

They also open your roads for prosperity. So, use this technique wisely. And save the ritual and the preparation technique.

– M

The Halloween Moon in the sign of Aries

There’s something very strange this year’s Halloween

To say this year is weird is an understatement. It feels like a bridge between one era and another, Trump and post Trump. The Pandemic and us trying to undo it. Like a slow recovery from a long disease. And it’s fucking annoying.

But it seems to be going on overdrive as our year draws to an end. The energy lately seems poisoned. At least through some of my friends and associations. Something odd is going on. I plan to do a separate divination on that at a later time.

For now I am going to focus on the Full Hunter’s Moon in the sign of Aries. The Hunter’s Moon is a warrior’s moon. So add Aries to the mix and you have a semi violent lunar event. I say semi because I am sure many annoying people out there will talk about how it revitalized their lives. Or they experienced it differently.

Or it gave them energy and blah blah blah you must be morning people so no one gives a fuck what you think. I’m not sleeping well and I am grumpy as hell. Can you tell?

The God of War is kicking my ass right now. So perhaps this is happening to a whole mess of other people. Here are the cliff notes version. The God of war is all about self control and self discipline. Taking control over your own life.

This is something that he and his siblings all have in common with their parents Zeus and Hera. The ability to take control of one’s destiny. Of one’s life. Unfortunately, that also means you have to face the issues in your life that are after you and going at you. And that part is me speaking.

I didn’t get that from any article. My experience with Aries is that sometimes he causes conditions similar to a retrograde that causes turmoil in your life. Nor everyone feels that way. Some people find themselves energized by it and they’re jumping up and down happy ready to take on the world. I hate those people. Those people tend to be sports people or socialites or whatever the fuck.

And they tend to be so damned optimistic that you just want to strangle th- oops sorry. I feel like I’ve entered the dark side of the force. Anyways, I’m doing my best to go through it. Because for whatever reason the higher powers are sending shit my way. And not all of it is mine.

This also happens to be the Halloween full moon. So we have a triple aggressive power here. A chthonic pulse which has been slowly growing since August. And is building up to a magical explosion. Now what that explosion is? I have no idea.

Mostly because everyone has a different path to take. And also cause Aries is a God. So good luck trying to find out his secrets and plans. This is also a time for power reclaiming rituals and ceremonies. Lord Aries wants you to re-examine what does and doesn’t work in your life.

And then, to get rid of it. Burn it in the ceremonial bonfire of the soul. Destroy it so completely and utterly so that you can get out all the things you need to get out.

Let the Fire of the Ancestors burn brightly within you

It’s time to work with Chthonic Aries and the dead. Now, we don’t have any of his old names or titles as far as I know because it has been lost to time. But there are ancient accounts that say he was considered a God of the dead on the battlefield. And that the blood of the dead satisfied him. So in this way we should we honor him.

Lots of Greek Gods had a Chthonic aspect. It would be weird if he didn’t. Because the primary function of a soldier is to kill people in war. Using Bombs for peace is like fucking for virginity as the hippies say. Although I have heard that there is an aspect of him as a God of peace.

So it’s not totally unheard of. As a blood red warrior he takes us down the path of destruction. So that from that destruction we can rise again. This moon is as important as All Hallow’s Eve is. It’s the moon of our ancestors.

The moon of our blood and our kin. Here are some more articles on the moon to read. From Cherokee Billie these two articles. Article 1 and Article 2

From the New York Post comes this article.

And from Paradise Lost this article.

It should also go without saying, that all about tough love. So my advise is, enter a deep meditation and actively work with him and this moon phase. And start destroying crap you don’t need and severing ties you shouldn’t have. For that I actually do have two recommendations: Shadow Work, immediately followed by a Hoodoo Cut and Clear Ritual. And maybe a healing and cleansing ritual bath after it.

That way you replace what you have destroyed in favor of something better. With that said, I have articles here on how to do these things.

Shadow Work for Beginners

Here are some more tips on shadow work

Now I use the term “Cut and Clear” because it’s popular. But that’s actually a modern phrase that isn’t tied to traditional Root Work. It’s always been called “A Clearance” or something else. All it is, is removing negative ties that hold you back. Bad relationships, bad luck, bad things you may have done etc…So I recommend doing a clearance after each shadow work.

Why? For the same reason you take a bath after a work out. Think of the Shadow work as an exercise routine. And the cleaning up after as personal hygiene. It’s all to be clean of what you are working towards removing. In fact you can actually combine the healing bath with a clearance and do them both at once.

For that I like to use herbal soap. My Godfather in Santeria makes them. I like Rue Soap. Rue has all sorts of magical powers associated with the breaking of hexes. And warding off of evil.

So to me it’s perfect. For you, something simpler or stronger may be needed. It all depends on you. But here is a simple advise on how to do it. You should be good.

Also give Aries an offering of food. Just make sure you have washed your hands in holy water before you do it. And give the first and last part of the offering to Hestia before you give him his portion. That way she will sanctify the offering and bring it to him. Be well my friends.

Death on the Horizon

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

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

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

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

IFA To Overcome Death from OTURAOYEKU

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

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

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

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

Terrestrial Hermes, the guide of the dead

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

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

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

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

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

Leading them to their eternal resting places

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

– Make offerings to Babalu Aye and Oro.

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

him.

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

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

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

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

– Wear a Cross or Protective Charm around your neck.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

– Beware when divining

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

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

– Don’t make decisions with a bad mind

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

It’s meant to take you backwards in life.

– Beware of dark spirits

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

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

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

– Treachery from children. Whatever that means.

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

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

– M

For my first readers

show_art_ParanormalWitnessS2_0 Hello new reader, This is my brand new blog. To tell you a little about me. I’m a Gnostic Magus, pretty much that means I believe all religions come from one source. My own view of Gnosticism is very different from the traditional version. But I’ll talk about that another day.

I believe all Deities and their spirits are real. I am a practitioner of African, European, and some Native American magic. I also study Christian and Jewish Mysticism among the magic and religions I study. I worked for years in the Paranormal trying to help other people. I believed that it was the mission of every magic user to help people in every aspect of life.

Especially in Spiritual Warfare. To say that I was disapointed was an understatement. I learned that most people in the Paranormal were out to get money. Even if it meant faking Para Activity at locations. Sometimes performing experiments on clients to make Activity worse for the sake of documentation.

I learned the Paranormal had an ugly side. A lot of Christians, mostly of Protestant denominations, were fanatical zealots. They enjoyed talking down to Pagans or other faiths in some of these groups. I had a position in a group as an organizer and moderator and I found that I constantly had to tell so called “Para Christians” to stop being nasty to Hindu or Wiccan members. Whenever I did my job, the other moderators (You guessed it, all Christian!) decided to jump on me and tell me I was being sensitive.

One time, I started making Christian jokes to see how long it would take for me to get called out (not even a minute). I was prepared with screen shots of what I was being “sensitive” about and then asked if my jokes were as bad as what they were saying. Every Pagan jumped on that Facebook thread and called out the hypocrisy. After that, those moderators stopped jumping on me while I seemed to be one of the few actually moderating. But I was also marked.

I got called out whenever I stepped out of line and that was it. I was eventually made to leave because I refused to unblock a moderator that was being abusive and speaking ill of me behind my back (the irony was, this guy was a Wiccan). I learned before I left that sadly there are just as many power hungry and greedy magic users as there were Christian zealots. People who claim to be love and light in public, and are hexing other users that they saw as threats in private.

Later I found out that he was messing around with the then, leader of the group. So I said, to Hell with it. Then later I worked with good friends on an amazing blog that is no longer really posting anymore. Again I was the one trying to keep another project alive and working while ignoring my own vision. For a time, I was also part of two different Paranormal Crisis Teams.

A group of Wiccan US Army Veterans formed Covens that were dedicated to Exorcism and Curse Reversals. We tangled some of the nastiest cases you could imagine. Even one with a Haunted Painting that someone had cursed to kill children. There was change in the group structure and a faction from the same group led by another soldier made his own group. He invited me to join and for reasons of my own I did.

But soon I found that it wasn’t for me and I left two weeks later. At the same time, the rest of that new group fell apart. I felt so alone. And so confused. I realized my life was taking me somewhere else.

I began to take apprentices. I taught some very promising new students in different states. I started to go into hermit mode. A group of investigators and I were supposed to get a show on ScyFy about the work that we did. And that hadn’t panned out either.

I suffered from a horrible disease that left me doubled over in pain most days because I couldn’t afford the operation I needed. I looked into the skies one night crying and I said “If you can’t heal me, kill me then,” and I meant it. Suicide had finally become an alternative in my mind now. One day, I was studying magic, for that was one of the only joys I had left at this point and something kept happening. I kept thinking about the Crossroads.

I started looking up my old spell books and I found a pact to do with Papa Legba for knowledge on the Crossroads. That anything you wanted to learn ever, you would do this pact and “things would come for you,” that they would teach you things. If you want to learn Hoodoo? They’ll teach you Hoodoo. You want to learn some other kind of magic? It’s yours. I just needed a specific item and I had to leave it in the Crossroads at Midnight on a Wednesday. So I did as I was told.

I expected it to be like the movies where you see creatures so lucidly that they become physical. I expected it to happen right away. I was disapointed but decided on patience. After almost month I started realizing that I had learned new things. I had no idea where I had learned this magic from.

It wasn’t in any of my books. I hadn’t learned it from my mentors nor did I learn it from podcasts or online articles. I just knew. I finally realized I was being trained in my dreams. But I couldn’t remember my dreams and had no idea how long I was being trained and by who.

I knew though, that “they” for I knew it was a They, had the power to answer my questions in real time. That they could actually manipulate the world around me to give me my answers. Whatever they were. Sometimes I would get a random phone call from someone with my answer. Other times, my human masters would check up on me and advise me.

And sometimes it would be the Cosmic Masters themselves as I learned they were called. I started doing research and found that in the Spiritualist movement there were people who believed that there were transdimensional entities. And that these entities could speak to a Medium and teach them things. Doreen Virtue claimed she was a Cosmic Medium and that she could channel these creatures. I don’t claim to somehow be possessed by these entities.

Or that I am the chosen one who will reset the Matrix! Pazzah! No, I’m just a regular Magus. But I had learned to develope psychic gifts I didn’t have before. I learned things from many cultures that only later I would discover were in books or taught by people in other traditions. Like I said, I view it all from the perspective that it’s all the same common knowledge. So I use many methods in my work. The Masters also sent me human mentors to aid me in my work.

And my disease was slowly being weakened. I still suffer from it, but not as bad as I once did. I began to treat people in my Community for Paranormal issues once again. I started connecting with people of communities like the Vodunsi and the Vodunon of West African Vodoun. The Hellenic communities of Greek Pagans, Native American Shamans, Powwowers and Yarb Doctors from Pennsylvania and the Appalachian Mountains, and even the Witches of the West Country in England.

I also like to study with Celtic practitioners of the old Faerie religion. Both from this country, Canada, and the UK. It has been quite a journey. A journey I never would have thought I would ever have had so many amazing experiences. The final piece of the puzzle came when I visited a Hindu Guru’s house here in Miami.

Her home had many disciples everywhere. I met a Cuban Criolla (Creole) woman who was dedicated to not just Hinduism but also Buddhism. Specifically, to Kuan Yin. I felt an instant repport with this woman. I ended up telling her most of what I have already written here. She then went on to tell me something similar about her.

The Gods eventually told her that she needed to leave the city for a while and go to the mountains. She said,” but how will I help anyone?” Kuan Yin herself told her that she needed time to herself and that the Gods would send her people that needed her new set of skills. When she asked what skills she was talking about? The conversation abruptly ended. So, she spent years living the life of a literal Hermit and became powerful from the knowledge she had learned during her years of introspection. She told me that from what I had told her, I was also being put in a similar situation.

A rebirth she called it. And so I finally realized why nothing that I tried before was working. I wanted all the wrong things and wasn’t appreciating what was being offered to me. I no longer had clients from other states or countries, but I had enough here. People who seriously needed help.

They taught me the value of being paid for my work. Not all of them paid with money, some paid with groceries, my electric bill, and even the occasional movie ticket. But they refused to allow me to help if I didn’t take something. They said it wasn’t right for a Pueblo’s Brujo (village or town sorcerer) to be helping people without a reward. So, I started charging.

And behold my life became more satisfying. I now have the ability to pay my bills and gasps* not starve! I had secular jobs including cleaning places and washing dishes. But thanks to the economy going under, more and more millennials like me were being fired instead of hired. I even had to drop out of college because I could not longer afford it. We were told to return to college to get degrees that would help us get work. Yeah didn’t happen.

I even went to a trade school but my instructor died, and the school decided to only have teenage students. They effectively terminated the adult student program. So I was without work and without school either despite all the advise the older generation was giving about picking up a trade instead of a degree and blah, blah, blah. Of course they were right about one thing : degrees are worthless. After doing my daily Road Opener rituals with Elegua, the Yoruba Orisha (Deity) of the Crossroads he asked “Why don’t you just make your own blog? Expand your magical business,”

And that’s what I did. I had believed that my business in magic was only temporary. But, as my Madrina (Godmother) in Santeria had already told me, from the very beginning, “Your true career is in magic. Stop wasting your time with these other endeavors,”. So here I am.

Trying to do my business and to help where I can. I’d like to give a shout out to T.P. Ward who was one of the many who believed in me and helped me on my spiritual path. So, I hope to get to know all of you and to help you all on your path, whatever that may be.