I Work With: Baron Samedi

Baron Samedi, the lwa of the dead, is always hungry. He is perhaps the most iconic of the Vodou lwa, in appearance and attitude. Renowned for obscenities, vulgarity and a lust for life, he walks a fine line between the living and the dead.

In my experience, Baron Samedi is interested in personal transformation, the protection of children and magic. He communicates using the vehicles of sleep and trance. He has expressed himself most vividly to me during shifts in consciousness. Like most well known lwa, he has certainly been known to walk a personal path with his initiates. He strikes a Shamanic balance with the world of Vodou. He is, in my mind all, an excellent teacher and mentor. His caring, sensitive side is often underplayed in public forums.

Offer Baron Samedi rum, whiskey and cigars as his favorite staples. Remember that when we are discussing spirits, we are discussing personalities. As such, the Baron is fond of music, spicy foods and sunglasses. He has tastes, likes and dislikes! Once I offered him red wine and he showed up in a dream afterward to insist I never offered it again! His totem colors are black and purple. He is known by Papa Gede in Santeria. Baron Samedi can affirm your faith in spirit, in life after death and your own intuition. He can teach us all to value life.

I Work With:Saint Jospeh



San Giuseppe, the patron of carpenters, the
unemployed and people providing for their families has a long history with folk magic. As related in a previous entry, the benevolent saint entered my orbit during a time of unemployment.  Since then, he has become my patron saint.

Saint Joseph is petitioned for a variety of needs and reasons in magico-religious traditions. As Saint Jospeh the Worker he helps the unemployed secure employment and the employed stay at work. As a builder of homes and provider he is traditionally invoked to sell houses. Traditionally, his statue is buried in the yard or, in apartments or buildings where a lawn is lacking, a flowerpot. He is also invoked for a peaceful death, as he was surrounded by Jesus and Mary at his end.

Renowned for his compassion, Saint Joseph may ask you to exercise charity in your own life. He is often depicted with lilies, the death flower and yellow or purple robes. Yellow is the color of his novena candles and purple relates to his place in Heaven. With his special place in God's court, he can relate our petitions to the highest levels. For this reason (and to demonstrate his familiar compassion) he is shown carrying the infant Jesus. His special day is Sunday. Remember as you are praying or working with Saint Jospeh, that you are forming a relationship with this generous, gifted man, a humble but energetic saint.

I Work With: Danballa and Aida Wedo

In Haitian Vodou, Danballa is credited with creating the earth or world egg. He is usually depicted as a white serpent with his wife Aida Wedo, the rainbow. The two serpentine lwa (spirits) are inseparable and never travel without each other, according to my earliest teacher. Indeed, in my experience, one is never very far behind the other.

I first encountered Danballa when I was praying to the Hebrew deity Asherah (often viewed as the estranged wife of the Judeo-Christian God in the Old Testament). While meditating, I sensed a white tower and later, the vision of a black man in a white robe appeared. Later, I discovered this man was Legba, though I never heard his name or read it at this point. Suddenly, the skeletal outline of a snake hovering through space filled my mind. In the next instant, I heard my name. It was loud enough to break my concentration, as I was sure it came from the room. What I did next surprised me. I sat on the floor and cried. That's how beautiful the voice was.

This is the only experience with Danballa I can share, though I have experienced further contact with the lwa and his wife. The nature of these incidents are far too personal to share on a blog. In person, I've been happy to share the faith affirming stories, with friends and extended family. Personal miracles and affirming faith are, in my mind, some of their specialties.

Danballa is often snynchronized with Moses or Saint Patrick. He appears, to some, as a tall old man with a light skin tone and long white hair with a long white beard. Aida Wedo is often depicted as an actual rainbow or a woman with a serpent's head. They both enjoy offerings of white food (eggs and rice, especially) and candles and, in my experience, frankincense.

I Work With: Saint Michael

 

We are all familiar with Saint Michael: Christians, Jews, ceremonial magicians and faith healers. A favorite icon of synchretic animism, he has been likened to Hermes, Mercury, and Danballa. In the Judeo-Christian context, he is the most prominent arcangel and the leader of God's armies.

Saint Michael has been credited as the patron of soldiers and faith healers. He is also petitioned by folk magicians (especially the Italian strega and the Mexican bruja).  In these systems he is called upon to break curses, protect individuals from enemy snares and help us shield ourselves during work with more dangerous saints like the Santa Morte (or Santa Muerte in Spanish).

St. Michael, as God's protector and the friend of humanity can also protect the god in you. It is best to approach St. Michael traditionally, with his established prayers and red candles. You can recite folk prayers (they exist in abundance) or a Catholic novena. Spend some time meditating on his image and properly get to know him. He is always available.

I Work With: Isis

Isis is the Greek name for Auset, an Ancient Egyptian spirit of sovereignty and magic. Like Hera, her worship is believed to predate the worship of her contemporaries. Her roots may stretch back to a predynastic avian spirit archaeologists dub the Bird of Prey Goddess. Isis, in the historical meantime, has been called many things--Great of Magic, Power of the Throne, Queen of Heaven, Savior of the human race. This last one is most interesting to me, because it makes Isis accessible to common people.




Isis is worshipped as a goddess, as a divine being, but she was also depicted ruling Egypt as the first queen. As Osiris is away on his travels, Isis is depicted introducing weaving and spinning into our world. When her husband dies--physically dies --she grieves for him. Clearly the word "god, " had some less abstract conotations than it does today. As Osiris is the first person to die, he becomes the king of the dead, of the Underworld. While Isis and Osiris are envisioned as living, breathing people, they are also something more, as the two were born from the personifications of the earth and sky. In my mind, Isis is a precursor to human kind, a kind of ancestor.

Another of her appealing aspects to me is her capacity as a magician. Isis is a talented sorceress. She uses her magic again and again during Egyptian myth. In order to revive Osiris, on a temporary basis, she collects pieces of his body from all over the world. He is painted green in Egyptian art, representing his association with vegetation. During this time she conceives Horus. Her magic is also used to wrest the secret name of Re, the sun spirit, giving the sorceress and her son the highest power in the Egyptian pantheon. Isis then, is the most powerful being in the Egyptian universe, having authority over Re, Osiris and Horus. She is often referred to as the "Mistress of Magic."


Isis was historically worshiped by slaves and the lower class by the time her influence spread to Rome. Not only was her status a threat to conservative Roman religion, it also presented a problem to budding Christianity. The worship of Isis in all its sincere devotion could not be erased completely, so her iconography was transferred to the Virgin Mary, another exceedingly human divine figure.

It is interesting to note that the Romans and the Hellenes displayed her in black, considering her worship in Italy. My teacher, Marie Antonia, has told me that black is predominantly worn by streghe because as Italians, we're always mourning. Isis, after all, is mourning her slain husband.


Isis, in my mind, is the perfect witch's deity.
She was a living, breathing person who helped herself become more divine, who in the end reached Gnosis. My Isis altar depicts her in her Roman form, simply because this representation speaks loudest to me. Truth be told, I am still crafting a relationship with her, as she only recently announced her presence to me, during a period of emotional upheaval. If anyone works with Isis in a traditional framework, void of Neo Pagan paradigms, I'd be happy to hear from you! I'm particularly interested in speaking to folk magicians who work with Isis. Thank you for your time. 

I Work With: Hera

 

There are few spirits from the pre-Olympian world as attainable and self aware as Hera. A creatrix in her own right, Hera is written as the elder sister of Zeus. This tradition --well remembered by the time oral lore was recorded by poets like Homer--reminds us that Hera, as an historically worshipped entity, is older than Olympian religion, Zeus worship and what we now call Greek Mythology.  Authorities believe the conflicts in her marriage with Zeus reflect may reflect historical struggles between their respective cults. So Hera, as a spiritual energy, emanates as a varied figure through multiple planes.

In the context of epic and sacred poetry, Hera is often emphasized as the wife of Zeus. Within this unbalanced role, she has plenty of room to engage her vindictive side.  Often times Hera is shown punishing Zeus's lovers or the children born from their affairs. She turns Europa into a cow and takes every step to ensure Alcmene, Heracles's mother, is unable to deliver her baby into the world. In one version of the story, Hera sits on Alcemene's doorstep with her fingers crossed together, sympathetically binding her womb. In retaliation over the birth of Athena (or Zeus's boasting that women were unnecessary in creation process), she strikes the earth and causes Gaea to unleash the demon Typhon.

Who was Hera before the Olympic age? Ancient art depicts her in the crown, garb and gestures of an entity we call the Great Goddess (in modern times). We also know that Hera was revered as the "Flowering adolescent," the wife and the widow. Each function was given her own temple in Arcadia. An all female game now called the Heraean Games, were held in her honor each year, with prizes given to victors from each age group. What remains of Hera historically from this context is hazy, but her personality, as related by the poets, reveals an embittered, multi-layered individual with power over heaven, earth and the underworld. 

Concerning her connection to Juno, the Italian spirit of light, and her importation into the Roman world, we'd have to examine The Aneid. The Queen of Heaven and wife of Jupiter is heavily based on Hera, perhaps hinting at a preconceived syncretic worship well in place throughout Italy before the Roman Empire. In my mind, they are truly the same spirit.

So how then, do I work with Hera? How do I understand and empathize her? To me, being an animist, I often use the word spirit instead of god. But Hera seems to be farther reaching than the everyday spirit. I work with Hera as a sort of Great Sprit, to introduce a Native American concept. Hera is the face of the universe, when I feel the universe needs a face. She is a spirit of agendas, capable of amazing compassion and spite. She is not unlike the god from the Old Testament. She will favor her children and harm their enemies. Concerning her presence, I've experienced her at my bedside before I even had an altar to her. Her presence is easy to detect at home or indoors, if you call to her personally. It's also easy to experience her outside, on long walks beneath her totemic skies, being both rural and urban (Hera is often depicted seated in the halls of Olympus, but was also said to wander earth and hell lonesome by herself).

You may approach Hera any number of ways. I will often invoke her with white candles and and the recitation of her Homeric hymn. She enjoys gifts of jewelry and higher quality incense (nothing synthetic, please). Arrange peacock feathers around her altar, if you'd like. I have a handful from a lot near Albuquerque, where they wobble lose on the street. I've cut the eyes below the stems and scattered them around her gifts. Hera also enjoys crisp and cool fresh water and a glass of wine or pomegranate juice. The whole fruit will do as well. Aside from peacocks and hens, her favorite bird is the cuckoo. The months of February and June are important to her, in her role as Juno. Approach Hera with respect and sincerity. This is a spirit who has been historically worshiped as a queen.

I Work With: Legba

What can I say about Legba? He approached me before I knew his name. The bulk of the story is too personal for the Internet. It was a teacher of mine, a mentor skilled in Goetia, Vodou and folk magic who confirmed the drifter's identity when I related the encounter, that of a black man wearing white who looked like a "twisted preacher," making the sign of the cross with a bottle of rum. My mentor laughed. "You just ran into one of the most popular spirits in Vodou, Papa Legba."

I'd never read a book on Vodou. I'd never known a Haitian person. But here was this spirit visiting me when I slept and when I tried to meditate on external issues. He stood behind a fence in one vision, his face hidden by a white bandana. I told my teacher. "A revelation is coming," was his answer, before my world utterly changed. Yes, Papa Legba, the ancient spirit of the crossroads, who jokes and smokes and opens the ways, synonymous with Elegua and St. Peter of the Christian faith.

What have I learned from four years of praying to him? I've learned that the spirits, the lwa, animism--all of it--is real. I learned that they do not need for us to believe in them to exist. I've learned that these are not allegories we are working with, but personalities! This is one of the ways Legba has opened the door to the spirit world for me. I've also learned that spirits have none of the borders we set for ourselves. I did not have to be initiated into Vodou for Legba to approach me. I could also believe in Jesus and Hera and St. Michael. It makes no difference, really. Spirit, as I've often said, is spirit. 

If Legba has visited you or you feel a connection to this seasoned spirit, I recommend dedicating a permanent altar to him in your home. Like Hecate, I always feel more comfortable addressing him near a door. Keep the altar minimal at first. Keep a statue, a cross, a lock and key or a white candle in his name. Because it is such a worthwhile experience, I would let Legba tell you about Legba. If you know folk magicians, rootworkers or individuals involved in any kind of Diaspora, ask them about, what he likes, how he works, et cetera. Avoid Wikipedia or over analytic, mundane sources. Forge an organic path to Legba by simply encouraging him, when you're ready.

I Work With: Bast

We live in a vast universe. The spirits of Ancient Egypt, skilled in Shamanism, are perfectly equipped to navigate it. Their anthropomorphic natures give them inherent skills and highly evolved senses human beings lack. The Egyptians, who were excellent observers of nature, witnessed these spirits in an animistic universe. The Egyptian pantheon as we call it, offered their services as protectors, farmers, embalming experts and artisans. Bast, like many a spirit named the Eye of Ra, was regarded as the avenging, offensive hand of the imperial sun. Her protection extended to Lower Egypt, as the northern counterpart of Sekhemet. She was not, as SD Cass attests in his award winning essay, a less feral, sated version of the aforementioned lioness. It was Artemis, after all, cunning,  solitary, huntress Artemis, who the Greeks associated with Bast (and by extension, the Italio-Roman witch queen Diana, I suppose).

Bast seems to me a keenly realized deity whose bright eyes are always observing me. She is clear and crisp as peppermint. Though I don't mean this in an amorous context (Bast is , after all, not a spirit of sexual or romantic love), there is a romantic side to Bast. It's in her refined, displaced nature, like the aloof desert cat or strays I met in Albuquerque. She also has the ability to change her shape as the Egyptians early on depicted her with the face of a lioness. Even after she became represented as a woman with a cat's face, she held in her hands an aegis bearing the face of an angry lioness.

It should be noted that Bast is still a mystery to us in the modern day. What little information survives from the ancient world comes from pyramid and wall texts. There are no prayers from these bygone days preserved to her. Much of her activities relate to her relationship with the pharaoh, the state and Ra. We do know that the Egyptian people prayed to her and that countless cat statues were offered to her by everyday people. She and Sekhemet were similar in prominence to Uadjet and Nekhebet, the transcendent bird /snake goddesses found in innumerable artistic scenes and the pharaoh's crown. For my part, I felt Bast's presence gradually, but when I finally acknowledged her, she produced some vivid actions in nature. In the end, only Bast can teach you about Bast.

 Bast can help us travail new Shamanic depths. If you feel endangered or that an enemy intends some sort of wrongdoing, Bast can deflect or defend you from these actions. If you feel you've been cursed, if you lack good fortune, Bast may be of help to you. She can rip away negative energy and associations. Hexes are no match for her. Bast is also a provider who can teach you how to access the universe's abundant nature. I have known Bast to attend and save her totem animals, to return them if they've wandered off from home, though she is not strictly the "Goddess of Cats." She responds favorably to chanting and drumming, like the lwa of Vodou and African Diaspora. Offer Bast fresh water, flowers, exotic incense, bars of chocolate and jewelry. She is the kind of spirit who needs communication from her followers. It is best, when you're ready, to create a shrine or space on your altar for Bast and to pray by candlelight with incense or another gift during petitions. Try not to attend this skilled spirit empty handed. Remember, as a teacher of mine once said, honor should be given simply for the sake of giving honor.

Creating a Book of Shadows

Charles Leland believed that Italian witches penned their own books from family secrets.  In Aradia, he writes that his tour guide Maddalena related this information.  In the modern day solitary witches compose their own "Book of Shadows," long term attempts to organize their collection of spells, prayers, rituals and sacred stories. It's a difficult task, unless you have a firm outline in place.  My own teacher has encouraged me to assemble a Book based on the rituals and magical materials contained in her syllabus (which I keep private).  While I'm not at liberty to reveal the designs for my own family book., I'd like to present a framework those of you interested in stregheria, folk magic and traditional folk magic can learn from.

0.  A dedication or title page. Every Book of Shadows needs to be filled with personalized power.  This is why it is preferential to hand write their final form.  And what better way than to have it personalized?  Give it a name, if you must.  Keep a picture of a mentor, your ancestors, your patron spirit on the first page. 

1.  A table of contents.  Every journey needs a map.  This will help you craft your project in the early days and find your way when you're searching for resources before a spell or ritual. 

2.  A collection of essays on the framework of your spells or traditions.  This can be as small as a few paragraphs or as long as three chapters.  Do you work with a magical Catholic framework? Create a few essays on the world of the saints and angels.  Lay out the rules for your rituals.  Are you a Neo-Pagan?  Explain, in detail, the paradigm of your tradition.  What spirits do you work with?  Do you call them God and Goddess?  Have you been influenced by Vodou, Santeria, Arthurian legend?  Write it all here.

3.  Describe your own important myths, historical or religious stories.  Do you believe the universe was started by the Big Bang?  Describe it here.  Do you believe we are all emanations of the consciousness that created the universe?  Explain why.  Any creations stories, family histories or religious doctrine that's important to your practice belongs here.

4.  Relevant laws.  Do you believe in karma or the Rule of Three?  Do you take the Ten Commandments seriously?  Does "Do what thou will shall be the whole of the law" make sense to you? This is the place the inscribe the laws of your personal universe.

5.  A table of correspondences and a list of personal symbols.  Do  the planets impact your work?  Do you believe that the sun in symbolized by gold and the spirits Ra or Helios?  This is a good place for reference.  Do you have any symbols like the cross, the Star of David or the Hand of Miriam that are important to your spell work?  Describe them here.

6.  Create a catalogue of your botanical and mineral allies.  Any stones, herbs or plants that are important to you belong here.  Also create a section describing their uses, contraindications and correspondences. 

7.  Describe any tools that are relevant to your tradition.  Do you work with household silverware?  Do you have any instruments that help you with your most important rituals?  Describe them here.  It will be a good place to come back to. 

8.  A collection of spells.  These won't be the only ones you'll ever work with, but they will be the ones that are most important to you.  You can always leave space to include more later.  If it makes sense to you, try to break them up by intended purposes: spells for money, finances, protection, attraction, etc. 

9.  Write a collection of essays on divination, particularly the methods you use.  Do you scry?  Do you read palms? Is there a system of omens you look for in the natural world?  Do you read Holy Cards?  Describe your methods of divination here.

10.  Catalogue the rituals important to your practice or tradition.  Do you have a method to detect and remove the Evil Eye?  Are there any rituals you practice on the solar holidays?  Do you dedicate your tools and statues?  Did your teacher give you any rituals to use for protection?  This is where you will include them.

11.  Catalogue your most important prayers.  Do you work with a magical Catholic framework and recite regular novenas?  This is the place to include them.  Do you have any specific prayers to your pantheon?  This is where you will read them.


In the meantime: The following exercises will help you build momentum and organize your sections. 

• Keep a journal.  We all need to record our experiences.  This will help you keep a record of your project.
• Create a series of magical notebooks.  I have a few notebooks where I pen down rituals and spells, as well as herb lore.  It's important to keep them separate so you can reference them quicker.  It will also help you organize your Book of Shadows when it's ready. 
• You can also keep folders on your computer in place of the above recommendations.  It's easier to catalogue, but you will want to get in the habit of hand-writing your work to prepare for the final product. 

 If anyone has any tips they'd like include, I'd very much like to see them in the comments section below.  I wouldn't be opposed to any questions or observation, either. Thanks for sharing!

Santa Morte: Holy Death in Eurpoe

 

Growing up in an Italian-American family I saw a lot of death. Most of my aunts and uncles were geriatric so there was a funeral every six months. They died of cancer, of pneumonia, of calculated risks. When that happened everyone came. We had relatives in distance states who would fly in for the occasion. I remember the funeral home most of all, an old Italian place in a rusty part of town. Everything about it depressed me, the carpet, the lights, the eternally overcast sky. Nothing ever changed at Rossi's.

I preferred the churches and cemeteries, high ceilings and open sky, a promise of lunch afterwords. Catholic churches rarely depressed me, not even the older ones with their darker windows and stony floors. Recently I stumbled across some Italian churches built specifically for the dead. Santa Maria dell'Orazione e Morte is probably the most famous, carved with skull motifs and winged time pieces. Similar shrines appear elsewhere in Italy, built to house friars and corpses of the abandoned or unknown. We could say death was familiar to the people who visited and built these churches. They were used to it, considering the shear number of plague victims throughout Europe.

Consider the following images from Santa Maria Della Concezione where an order of 4,000 dead monks line the walls. Now look a little closer at the photo to the right, depicting a tall skeleton with scythe and scales. Does any of this seem familiar? Could it be an ancestress, a forerunner of Mexico's death saint Santisima Muerte, the arcane spectre we know from botanica windows and head shops?  Shortly after researching this, I began spotting references to Italian death sprites like Dea Mors and the Greek Fate Atropos.  In most stories they were linked to Europe's dark Carnivals and a more obsucre figure from European legend called Santa Morte, or Saint Death. 

　

Most of what we know about Holy Death (Santisima Muerte) comes from Brujeria (Mexican Witchcraft) and Curanderismo. She is a product of syncreticism, believed to be linked to the Aztec spirit Mictecacihuatl. According to tradition, she is the archangel of death. Like the Madonna, she arrives in a variety of forms, each petitioned for different needs. La Blanca (White) has the power to heal and existed before Genesis.  La Roja (Red) is called upon for romantic endeavors, being the form she took when Adam and Eve made love in the Garden. She is also petioned for financial needs. La Negra (Black) is the form she took once Cain killed Abel.  She is petitioned for defense, murder and protection.

More recently, I became the student of a woman raised in an Italian folkloric tradition.  She agreed to teach me her family's blend of Stregheria.  One summer afternoon she mentioned "The Lady of Silence."  As it turns out, this Lady is one and the same with Santa Morte.  My teacher even referred to her as the Angel of Death.  While she isn't featured in every form of Stregheria, we do refer to her in our own, where she sits on my altar as The Lady of Silence.  What can  I tell you about this folk saint as she's petioned by Italian witches?  Very little.  Due to traditional Stregheria's renown security, we take special measures to preserve any symbolism and structure from traditions who might adapt them and misrepresent the stories or rituals in translation.  I can tell you that The Lady entertains her own fresh symbolism and a place in our credo. 

Concerning her influence over Santisima Muerte and Latin America, consider Spain's invasion of Mexico. Could it be possible that The Lady of Silence, a relic of Europe's Carnivals, influenced Brujeria and our modern understanding of Santisima Muerte? I think it's very likely, and find myself viewing her--and my family's customs--in a fuller, brighter light. Furthermore, if anyone works with this saint or has any additional texts, I'd love to hear from you. Please contact me or leave a note below.

On Venus

(Originally published May 28, 2012)

Venus, like Morta the Roman Fate, is inevitable. Everyone experiences her. To the Italians she was a spirit of beauty and vitalization evident in nature. Every spring she returned with Flora and Feronia, blessing flowers and gorgeous plant life. Venus is beautification and regeneration. She is the eternally stimulated woman, a patron of painters, whores and emperors. Eventually she attained the stories of Aphrodite and became the patron of human love and beauty as well.

Charles Leland believed she evolved over time from the Etruscan Turan. Turan supposedly became the more popular Turanna, a faery of chance and fortune similar to Fortuna. Leland claims she divined and blessed with cards. Her totem was the Queen of Hearts.

Scholars are quick to point out Venus's lack of worship in early Rome. Unlike Jupiter and Juno she had to gain strength slowly. By the time of Julius Caesar, however, she became the Roman Genetrix or "Begetting Mother" of the imperial race. Hadrian completed a temple to her as late as 135 AD.

In modern times Venus is snyonomous with love. As a planetary spirit she is easier to recognize in nature than Aphrodite. She rules love, romance, beauty, sexuality and lust. As the mother of Cupid she rules erotic and emotional impulses. Her sacred colors are yellow and red, easily translated into candle magic and ritual. When working with her, remember you are dealing with the mother of regeneration. Venus changed her form several times to become the presence we know today. In the end, she's retained her core character.

Madonna del Granato

(Originally published February 20, 2012)

Recently I began searching for a Madonna to place on my ancestor altar. I had a few interesting leads but the form that spoke to me was one "Madonna del Granato," the Madonna with the pomegranate. As a fan of syncreticism, I found special value in this apparition, a Mary tied to my patron Hera.
As a child I grew very attached to Hera.  She was a very resourceful female, unwilling to turn a blind eye when someone harmed her. As a teenager, I found this protection extended to her children.

Mary, like Hera and Juno, has been called the Queen of Heaven. She is synchronized with many ancient spirits including the huntress Diana. Her various apparitions appeared in many countries throughout the world and in Capaccio, Italy there is a church near Hera's Argonaut-built temple where she is called the Madonna del Granato. In ancient times Hera was depicted with her favorite fruit, the pomegranate, a symbol of fertility and promise. Predictably, when the pagans of present day Capaccio and Paestrum converted to Christianity, they applied the red fruit to Mary and the Madonna del Granato was born.

As a strega, this Madonna is particularly interesting to me. She represents a link to my ancestors and the powers of nature ruled by Hera. I've only begun to work with this spirit and I hope to share more with you later. Please leave comments or private e-mails if this topic appeals to yo

Jesus as Magician

(Originally published December 10, 2011)

For two thousand years Jesus has been invoked to protect the home, the family and the individual. He has been nailed to your wall and worn about your neck.  He is a living spell, a Word of Power and--according to some--a magician.

     For twenty four years I avoided him.  The trouble was everyone had an opinion I was supposed to subscribe to.  Jesus is lord, Jesus is King, Jesus runs the show, etc.  I never had room to interpret him myself.  I never made time to examine the kind eyes, the liberal agenda and the obvious metaphysics of his life. He was born of a virgin, cured the blind, raised the dead and drove off spirits.  Jesus also performs the highest goal of ceremonial magicians, unleashing his divinity.

     There were also ancient claims to Jesus's mystical life.  If we're to believe an Egyptian bowl from Alexandria (evidently conceived between the 2nd century BCE  and 1AD), the first written reference to Jesus describes a magician.  Interestingly enough, an enemy of Christianity named Celsus wrote an account between the 2nd and 3rd Centuries describing Jesus as a magician who learned his skills in Egypt, where the bowl was found.

     Modern evidence suggests that Jesus is a synchronized deity based on "god men" like Horus, Mythras and Heracles.  I couldn't agree more.  Jesus has many roles.  He can help you understand the mystic's life better than most modern magicians.  He can teach you tolerance.  He can help make you aware of spirit and acknowledge your inner-divinity.   Jesus's associations are diverse: he is associated with the sun, the color white, blood, the cross and the color 3.  In Santeria, Jesus is synchronized with Obatala, the creator of human form.

Frequently Asked Questions

(Originally published November 11, 2011)

"Are you Wiccan?  Is that how I say that?"  Many times people are surprised when I say no.  I'm also not a Pagan in the modern sense.  I'm an animist.  What's the difference?  For one, Neo-Pagans work within a pantheon of gods while animists work with spirits and energy.  As an animist I make no classifications between deities like Zeus and Catholic saints.  Spirit is spirit.  There are spirits and elemental energies presiding over your favorite plant and gemstone.  Tools and pendants can be charged as independent allies.  I'm not about to box myself in and work with only one group of energies.  I'm not the kind of girl who likes putting the universe in boxes: the Goddess, the God, etc, etc,  It doesn't work for me.  Animism feels more organic to me; it feels real.  At this point it's more of a nature than a religion as it fits into mundane life.

    "What is Stregheria?"  If you've been reading this blog at all you'll know that Stregheria is the Italian word for witchcraft.  It is not (as some people claim) the Italian version of Wicca.  But while witchcraft is not a religion it can be taught, practiced or celebrated as a tradition.

     "Is Stregheria hereditary?"  Some people will tell you they learned their craft from a grandmother or parent.  I don't doubt this is often true.  In my case, I grew up with very religious, conservative parents.  Witchcraft was always an interest whose origin I couldn't pinpoint.  As I grew older I learned to open myself to the knowledge of my ancestors, whose memories and experiences with things like herb lore, folk magic and mysticism have always been apart of me.

  "Are you Catholic?"   I enjoy Catholic imagery.  It appeals to me.  I love rosaries and religious pendants.  My working room is decked with images of saints. None of this is because I'm Catholic but because it keeps me closer to my ancestors.  My ancestors were involved with the same saints.  They pulled them from several sources.  I can't help but feel they helped instill this in me.