June is Papa Legba month! Here at Spellmaker, we love Legba so much that we offer a special free ritual. Send your intentions in to papalegba@spellmaker.com to have them included in the prayers. This is done by Mambo Sam, not to be confused with the monthly ritual where you may join us Sunday, June 26th at 2:00 PM Eastern (1 PM Central, 12 PM Mountain, 11 AM Pacific). You can get double the prayer energy this month!
What do I mean by the Gateway Lwa? In a literal sense, Papa opens doors and gates and clears paths for us. This includes paths of communication and information. He is the one we ask to open the gate so we may communicate with other Lwa.
This makes Papa the “starter” Lwa when exploring an interest in Voodoo. I know that often people feel drawn to a particular Lwa, perhaps because their realm, colors, or symbols are appealing. Besides opening the gate, Papa Legba can help you learn more about the Lwa, where you might get to know other Lwa who are good for you.
Legba himself needs love, too! The Legba page has information on how to serve him and also some wonderful products dedicated to him.
Yes, I’m on about Prince again. News stories say he most likely overdosed on painkillers. Strained from the extreme dance moves of his younger days, Prince danced on his own grave — but he did live a life of magnificent creativity and performance. Years ago a co-worker told of her views on self-medicating, that she would not do it, not even aspirin. To me, there are times we need to help ourselves and have the means to do so immediately. I found an article with a different point of view, that “difficult” patients had the best chance of success and survival. They meant people who did not simply cooperate with the doctor, but questioned everything. They come at their condition from a great deal of knowledge from various sources. A friend of mine became gravely ill when her pharmacist gave her the wrong pills for her prescription. She told me that there are resources online where you can double check based on what they look like. Now that I know about that, I check it, too. As with many things, there is a balance needed between trusting doctors, trusting your own gut, and the need to take care of yourself. If something does not feel right about treatment, you can get a second opinion. Many people have coping methods that are addictive, which can include drugs, alcohol, work, food, and sex. For most of these, we expect to have them in our lives. People are different, including the amount of something it takes to cause damage, and tolerance of pain. Some of it can depend on how we were raised, some is genetic, and sometimes it’s the combination of diseases and environment that we’re in. What works for one person, even for the majority, fails for others. My point with all of this is to ask that you be kind and forgiving when you hear what people are going through. Look up Spoon Theory to understand what they are living with. Don’t presume to “take over” the management of someone else’s condition, but assist when asked. I never liked to have my identity defined by whatever condition I had, when there was so much more about myself to share. I do recommend the Healing Egg and also the Self Improvement Doll from Spellmaker. They are not a substitute for medical care, but can help in so many ways, including guiding to the best course of treatment or professionals who are good partners for healing.
A while back, we Khouzhans did some projects about Baron Samedi and Maman Brigitte. I mentioned this back in January in a status update; sometimes we would note people who personify the Lwa, and two who came up were Prince and David Bowie. What a shock to lose both within months of each other.
One aspect of Baron Samedi is that he’s well-dressed. Fashion was a hallmark of both stars, also known for experimental, androgynous, and even feminine use of makeup — while still oozing masculine sex-appeal. Both embraced life, love, and creativity with a vengeance. As the tributes and memories come pouring in, we learn about what they did for people, as artistic inspiration and mentors, through the power of their lyrics, and charitable works.
Something else very Baron-like of Prince was the positivity of sex and mixing it with spirituality. Our society still lives with the medieval and Victorian ideas of sex as sinful, especially the wantonness of modern music. Prince is the reason for Parental Advisory labels. Music was the opposite of religion, and then Prince came along and put it all back together.
Khouzhan Delilah just wrote a great post about the benefits of “unplugging” from the hectic world. There are Lwa who can help with that, too. Damballah and Ayida Ouedo are the oldest and wisest of the Lwa. Damballah, especially, is known to quiet and slow things down so that we can hear the guidance we need. Ayida is served with all the colors of the rainbow and Damballah prefers white. I like how calming it can be to see white clouds — when was the last time you looked for shapes in them? And rainbows just make me happy, they are such a lovely gift after the rain. Please join us on Sunday, April 24th at 2:00 PM Eastern (1 PM Central, 12 PM Mountain, 11 AM Pacific) to serve and petition Damballah and Ayida Ouedo. If you want to learn more about them, see Spellmaker’s knowledge base.
Is there anything that makes anyone feel more stupid and helpless that being locked out of the house? It happened to me this past week. The exterminator was over for the annual termite inspection, and we were looking at the door with a suggestion to seal up some cracks. Then we stepped outside and CLICK — oh no! It was pouring down rain and chilly, and I was in a t-shirt. The exterminator realized he couldn’t do the exterior inspection because of the rain, and was going to come back another day for that. He was really worried, and perhaps felt he had some fault for the door. “It’s ok,” I said, “My next-door neighbor is a locksmith.” I could see his service van was out front; he was home. I went over to the neighbor’s and luckily dog-who-barks-at-me was not in the yard. (He’s a good dog, but still needs some understanding due to the previous owner’s incompetence.) I explained the situation to Mrs. Locksmith and she said she would send her husband right over. So he came over with a handful of tools and… a jacket. Mrs Locksmith realized I was cold and sent it over with him. As he got to work, he asked if neighbor-on-the-other-side had a key to my place. I went over and asked. (He was also at home that day.) He brought out a box of unmarked keys, and pulled one out that was a likely candidate. Once I got back to my house, the locksmith was done and in. Then he wondered if he might have a key to my place. I’ve been in my house for 15 years, but the locksmith had a key that was given to him by the previous owner. So he did some work he didn’t need to do, but I was in and happy and getting dry. The moral of the story is that it’s good to know neighbors. I really lucked into a neighborhood where people get to know each other and care. It’s unusual these days, but well worth the effort. And thanks to Papa Legba, a Lwa of open doors who likes keys. Even when they are keys to my house in the hands of my neighbors. But I do need to ask Papa to help dog-who-barks-at-me to feel more at home here and get used to me. I give him treats occasionally, which he gulps down between the barking.
In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can.
~Nikos Kazantzakis
This is an important concept for spellwork. It’s easy to get discouraged, sometimes without giving it much of a chance to work. Belief is an essential part of the process!
The single overriding objective in wellness is creating constant personal renewal where we recognize and act on the truth that each day is a miraculous gift, and our job is to untie the ribbons. That’s the Law of Esprit: living life with joy.
With all the recent political coverage, what comes immediately to mind for me is How Can People Think That Way??!! There will be some differences in densely-populated areas vs. rural, or regarding national decisions that affect a small area. There seems to be more to it than that, though, and this article made some sense of that. Within the discussion was the map of eleven American Nations, regional cultures in North America. American Nations is also a book by Colin Woodard, one that I just ordered to learn more about it. Another work cited is Albion’s Seed by David Hackett Fischer, an earlier work which discusses four cultures but weighs in at 950 pages to Woodard’s 370. I plan to read both, but admittedly the smaller book will be first as it will be easier to carry on my commute. I moved around quite a lot growing up, with seven childhood homes in four different regions. I can understand how some places are familiar and some feel more foreign to me, and how they shaped my affinity for the place I chose as an adult. What I realized recently, though, is about my mother’s relationship with where she lives. She is 1300 miles away from where she grew up, but it’s still the same region. She’s in a neighborhood with many people of the same age and interests. Because she is from the north and now lives in the south, though, she feels like an outsider. There are some different political views, but plenty of values in common. What I see in her is what I see in much of the news coverage: a concentration on the differences instead of on the similarities. People all want the same things, but just have different ideas of how to get there. We want to be able to contribute with pride. Besides the basic needs of life, we want beauty and happiness, and to see that future generations will enjoy the same. How is it, then, that people are so easy to divide? I’m hoping that the books will give me some better understanding, and I’ll let you know how it goes.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! St. Patrick is usually pictured with snakes, which is why he became syncretized with Damballah. Damballah is served with white foods, such as an egg, milk, or flour. He is a powerful lwa of calm wisdom, and with his wife Ayida Ouedo they are the original, oldest Lwa.
