Jeudi: Root Work

June has been the month for weddings since ancient times; June being named after Juno, the wife of the Roman Jupiter, King of the Gods.  To go along with all these weddings, if Hollywood is to be considered a mirror of "real life", there are a cartload of singles looking to find "the right one."  Curiously, weddings have always been an occasion where it was considered acceptable for young people to "mingle" if not actually engage in potential romance.  The more things change....  To that end, then, a little trick is always nice to have up one's sleeve.

In hoodoo, easy to make and use magickal oils are often considered just the thing to attract what we feel is lacking in our lives.  There's Van Van oil, famous in New Orleans voodoo, for luck and success, Four Thieves Vinegar to chase off jinxes and oils dedicated to various lwa.  The most widely used recipe for Attraction Oil as said to have been created by Marie Laveau.  This will work perfectly well regardless of your gender or sexual preference so please don't imagine it is only for ladies seeking gentlemen by any means.

Of course in the process of gathering and mixing your ingredients, you should always keep your intention as the focus of your thoughts.  What ever will help you do this - music, humming, a candle burning, the silence of a late night - should be used to best advantage.  You will need a six ounce bottle, preferably glass but plastic will work, with a tight lid so that you can shake your oils to mix them together.  You will also need a base oil.  I recommend almond oil.  Some root workers use jojoba oil.  Olive or vegetable oil is also used but please note that these will go rancid in a relatively short time compared to almond and jojoba oils.

For Attraction Oil, add 1/4 cup base oil to your bottle, then add in the following order:

12 drops Rose Otto essential oil
Note: if you cannot find or use Rose Otto (it is expensive and, depending on where you live, may only be available online), Rose Geranium essential oil is a perfectly good substitute.
12 drops Lavender essential oil
12 drops Sandalwood essential oil
12 drops Jasmine essential oil

Cap your bottle and shake it gently to mix the oils while envisioning yourself drawing desirable gentlemen or ladies to you whenever you wear it.

Store your Attraction Oil in a cool, dark place. Before you head out to your next social situation, anoint your wrists with this oil while again envisioning romantic success.  This oil can also be used to dress objects such as love mojos or jewelry, even a gift for a special person you'd like to know better.  Bonne chance ~

Header: 1950s cartoon via Mid-Century

Mardi: Herbal-Wise

Purge me with Hyssop; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow ~ Psalm 51

Even the Bible mentions hyssop as a cleansing herb, and to this day it is especially prized for lifting jinxes and purging negative energy.

Wiccans used the dried herb in sachets for protection.  It is also sprinkled around the house to lift negativity and open the way for positive progression.  Plants are grown in the garden or in pots in the home to help bring about the same result.

Hyssop is particularly popular in hoodoo, both in washes for the home and in baths for people.  A floor wash to reverse crossed conditions can be made by brewing a tea with hyssop and adding this to your wash water.  To increase the efficacy of this working, recite Psalm 51 as you clean and then dispose of your wash water at a crossroads away from your home. 

Likewise, hyssop can be muddled in a half cup of olive oil and then added to four cups of water to make a wash.  The process is said to remove personal jinxes and help to ease the repercussions associated with bad decision making a la the Wiccan "rule of three" - what we do to others comes back to us threefold.  The oil and water should be rubbed on the person in need starting at the head and working down to the feet while they stand between two burning, white candles.  While this is being done, recitation of Psalm 51 is again recommended.  The used bath should be collected, taken to a crossroads at sunrise and disposed of in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost (or your higher power as appropriate). 

This is an old bath used by root workers to take away the potential after effects of enacting evil workings on behalf of their clients.  In New Orleans, it is said that this bath was a favorite of "Voodoo Queen" Marie Laveau and the root worker known as Dr. John for just such purposes.

An easier, if less effective, bath can be achieved by steeping a muslin bag full of hyssop in your regular bath water.  Doing this once a month or so is said to crack off that negative crust that our modern environment can to easily inflict on us.  Bonne chance ~

Header: Interior With Two Tapers by V. Hammershoi via Old Paint

Mardi: Herbal-Wise

Tansy, known in certain parts of Europe as Buttons because of the appearance of its yellow flowers, is specified in folklore for use in maintaining health and longevity.  These qualities morphed when the herb came into the hoodoo botanica.  The granting of health became protection from a sometimes unhealthy authority: the law.

In European wisdom, which doubtless came from Greece via the Romans, tansy was associated with Ganymede, the cupbearer of the gods.  He drank a tansy tea to make him immortal and therefore people would drink a weak tea made from tansy and/or carry a bit of the plant to lengthen their lives.   Please note here that tansy should not ever be ingested by pregnant women and that it is always wise to consult your doctor prior to undertaking any herbal regimen.  Better safe than sorry.

Tansy tea is also used to cure fever.  Following this path, people would tuck tansy into their shoes to ward off fevers and plagues.

In hoodoo, that same pinch of tansy in your shoes is said to keep the authorities off your trail, particularly if you’re up to something less than lawful.  People in shady businesses are advised to bathe in tansy tea and old New Orleans legend says notorious pirate Jean Laffite was given a powerful tansy tea by the famous voodoo Queen Marie Laveau to help keep his smuggling business free of trouble from American authorities.

Tansy has also been utilized for centuries to deter ants.  Sprinkle flowers and leaves in your pantry and other places where the little thieves show up, particularly in the summer, to get them to back off.  The bonus is that tansy is much safer than chemical pesticides around children and animals. 

And thus ends HQ's 200th post.  Bonne chance ~

Header: After Service by Edward Blair Leighton c 1921

Samedi: Pelerinage

Like most religions, Voudon has its own devotional pilgrimages. The places that draw the faithful in Haiti, though, are usually not buildings, churches or cities but are often bodies of water. Followers of Voudon may be led to personal places of pilgrimage; there are many cases of voudonists being told by a lwa or ancestor in a dream to visit a forest, park or seashore and they will make this a habit. There are also major pilgrimage sites that have become famous in their own right.

Two of the best known focuses of Voudon pilgrimage, or pelerinage, are the mud baths at the Plaine du Nord in northern Haiti and the waterfall at Saut d’Eau near the village of Ville Bonheur. The festival at Plaine du Nord takes place on St. James’ Day, July 25th and celebrates the lwa of fire, the forge and technology Ogou Ferraille. The town of Plaine du Nord surrounds what is known as Trou Sen Jak, a large mud pond which is said to have healing powers. The mud is warmed by underground steam and, because he is a “hot” lwa, it is not surprising that it is sacred to Ogou. The worshipers who flock to the little town bathe in the mud not only to honor Ogou, but also to receive healing which both the lwa and the mud itself are said to impart. The worshippers appear in blue clothing with red piping, trying to emulate Ogou who is frequently pictured as a soldier. They wear red head scarves and hope to be blessed with the courage and masculine energy of the lwa in spirit possession.

Saut d’Eau is a 100 foot series of falls outside Ville Bonheur where, in 1847, a vision of Erzulie Freda as the Virgin Mary was seen in a palm tree. The local priest had the tree cut down to discourage voudonists from worshiping there and it promptly fell into the water beneath the falls, floating away serenely. The priest died of an untreatable illness and the locals got the word out that Erzulie Freda had claimed the falls for herself. Now each July 16th crowds of voudonists and tourists swell the little village and participate in the purifying bathing ritual at the falls. All those who jump into the water remove their clothes and allow them to float off like Erzulie’s palm tree, taking their sins away with them and allowing them to emerge from the water clean both physically and spiritually. The village is about 60 miles north of Port-au-Prince and the festival has a carnival atmosphere with music, food and curio stands, drumming and dancing. The most influential and devoted voudonists never miss a year but those not accustomed to the festival should take special precautions. There’s a lot going on and, much like Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the criminal element never misses a year, either.

Of course we can’t all go to Saut d’Eau but there are places of Voudon pilgrimage in North America at least. The shrine of Sainte Anne in Quebec is a huge draw on her feast day in July. New York voudonists visit Prospect Park to commune with the lwa of the forest, Gran Bwa. And of course the grave of the famous “voodoo queen” Marie Laveau in New Orleans’ St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is an ongoing destination for those seeking her favor. It is the custom to make three Xs on the grave with a shard of red brick, ask for your desire and then leave a small gift for Madame Paris, as she is also known. Bon pelerinage ~

Header: Saut d’Eau via HaitiWiki (click to truly enjoy the beauty of the place)

Samedi: Saint Expedite

All lwa in Voudon belief have a corresponding Catholic Saint. This had to do with the African religion being practiced openly under the nose of Catholic slaveholders in what is now Haiti and what was then Saint Dominique or San Domingue. A statue or picture of the Blessed Virgin in her guise as the Stella Maris would be set up as the centerpiece for an altar to the mermaid La Siren and who would be the wiser? As the process of assimilation continued, the Catholic faith leaked into the African religion. Many voudonisants and rootworkers call themselves Catholic. The famous Marie Leveau, Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, stopped practicing hoodoo all together and “became a Catholic” in later life.

In the case of the Lord of the Ghede, Baron Samedi, the corresponding Saint is known as Expedite. This was not always the case, however, and is in fact not generally the case in Haiti. In Haitian Voudon the Ghede tend not to be represented by Saints. A cross will do nicely, particularly if it is painted black or purple. The association with St. Expedite (shown above on a prayer card) came out of the Crescent City and the story is not only amusing but a true tale of cultures mingling while they are still at crossed purposes.

In Catholicism proper there is no St. Expedite. Believe me. I was raised Catholic, did my time in CCD and have not only my jumbo book of saints for all things and days but my mother’s family Bible with the “Names of the Saints” section that includes such obscure entries as St. Cleopatra and St. Mel. Mom consulted it to come up with my name and never forgave Dad’s Creole kin for giving me a second, French version. “There is no St. Pauline,” she’d say. “She’s not in the book.” And, like Pauline, if there was a St. Expedite he’d be in one or both of these handy references.

The story goes that after the Louisiana Purchase but before Louisiana became a state, a package was shipped to St. Louis Cathedral from a Catholic Diocese in New England. The crate was stamped with the word “Expedite” as so frequently happened when mailing items to the unknown frontier but the Creole speaking Haitian men who were opening the mail had no idea what that meant. They read the word though and when they opened the crate they found a beautiful statue of a Roman soldier with golden armor, a gold halo and holding a cross. Surly, they agreed between them, this must be St. Expedite (pronounce “Ex-pa-DEET”).

The word got out and people began lighting candles before the new statue in the Cathedral. When it seemed that rootwork would be more successful and that success would come faster if St. Expedite was invoked, he got a reputation for helping things along. This, in turn, began his association with the lwa who watches over NOLA then and now, Baron Samedi. And all because of a stamp on a crate.

Is the story true? I would never be so bold as to say definitively “Yes!” because that would be foolish. As Hamlet told Horatio, there are more things in … Well; you know the rest. So for now, Au revoir ~