spellmakernovitiates

If you dread it, it will come...

How often has this happened to you: you see the potential for something bad (or inconvenient) to happen, and even though it's not what you want, it happens exactly that way? By now we're well aware of the power of positive thinking, and that negative thinking can work the same way. That worst-case scenario becomes just as bad as we imagine it.

I remember a situation like that when I took a reflexology class. There was a guy there who really set me on edge, sitting right in front of me, blocking my view, and interrupting the teacher with comments. In the afternoon we broke up into small groups and Noooooooo! He was in my group! Believe it or not, I ended up learning more with the annoying guy in the group. He did not do anything wrong, but was different enough that I could see more options. It was one of those gifts of the universe.

How often do we find ourselves learning from a "bad" situation? Better yet, when we are able to open up and welcome the opportunity! If we never faced rough times, never were tested, how boring it would be! Certainly I prefer it when things go my way. It becomes more rewarding, though, when I can find the lessons in the hardships and allow myself to grow with it.

Love, Khouzhan Lucy

www.spellmaker.com

 

Bed Sheets

Write a love letter on a bed sheet with markers. Sleep under it. ~SARK 

Sleep is a blissful thing.

Love, Light and Laughter~Khouzhan Sabirah

Bootie Call

I had this strange dream over the weekend, and one of the symbols in it was booties. Generally we don't go for a lot of dream interpretation in Voodoo, but sometimes a symbol or image stands out. I mentioned it to Sister Bridget, and she made a connection to Nino de Atocha. He is Jesus as a toddler or young child, and is also syncretized with the child aspect of Papa Legba. Nino de Atocha wears out his shoes while visiting and bringing food to prisoners, so baby shoes are left as gifts at shrines, such as the one in Chimayo. The shoes are eventually gathered up and given to charities.

I was fortunate enough to visit Santuario de Chimayo, which is a fair distance from me. With this new hint to honor Nino de Atocha, what can I do? There are charities for babies and children that do collect clothing, including booties. There are so many resources online that I don't want to link to just one. Hospitals collect clothing for newborns, and patterns can be found to knit, crochet or sew items.

The very act of making a gift of this sort, the work in itself is a service to Papa Legba. While all charities gratefully accept money, in these tough times we can also donate our time. Every Lwa has a cause dear to his or her heart, whether it's the natural resources of their home or a group of people under that Lwa's care. Your prayers and energy are added to further help the cause.

Love, Khouzhan Lucy

www.spellmaker.com

A Matter of Significance!

Khouzhan Buddy here.  Just wanted to share something with everyone because sometimes we do feel like we don't matter but we do.  Lots of Love, Khouzhan Buddy

 

A Matter of Significance
Recognizing Your Value

Sometimes we can feel as if we don’t matter in the world, but we all have something to offer.

It can be easy sometimes to buy into the illusion of our own insignificance. We may see large corporations or institutions, celebrities or successful people in our community, and compare ourselves to them, thinking that their fame or material power affirm how little our own lives amount to. But nothing could be further from the truth. Every single one of us matters—tremendously. Our very existence affects countless people in countless ways. And because we are each essentially a microcosm of the larger universe, our internal experiences affect the whole of life more than we could ever imagine. The world simply could not exist as it does now if you, or any one of us, were not in it.

Perhaps you are aware that on some level you believe your life does not matter. If this thought resonates within you, maybe it is time to explore why you feel this way. You may have formed self-rejecting or belittling beliefs as a child to keep yourself safe or to help you make sense of confusing situations. You may have felt unseen or unheard and decided that there was something wrong with you, rather than with the attention span of the people around you. Spend some time looking into where these feelings of insignificance first took root, and see what changes you might be able to make in your life and in your heart.

This one belief in your own unimportance could be limiting you and impacting your life in enormous ways. When you shift your perceptions around your own ability to affect your life and impact the world, you may discover wonderful parts of yourself that you had long ago forgotten. There may even be exciting new parts that you never even knew existed. When you gain awareness of how much your life really does matter, new sources of energy can emerge and your sense of connection with the world is renewed.

Impossible?

Today I came across this wonderful quote to ponder when you're feeling discouraged:

"It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow."

--Robert H. Goddard

 

'Nuff said.  Ayibobo!

Khouzhan Phoenix ♥

This

For every stop light I didn't make

every chance I did or I didn't take

all the nights I went too far

all the boys that broke my heart

all the doors that I had to close

all the things I knew but I didn't know

thank God for all I missed

'cause it led me here to this.

 

Khouzhan Delilah

www.spellmaker.com

 

Damballah

A beautiful video:

 

Much Love!

Khouzhan Veve Fleurette-Beauchamp

www.Spellmaker.com 

Ocean Post #3: Seaworthy Priorities

This is the third in a series of posts where I am sharing beach photos taken while spending some time with Agwe and LaSirene. Each week’s picture is accompanied by some ideas the photo has made me consider. Enjoy!

 

Have you ever fantasized about traveling back in time and meeting your past self?

If you went five years into the past and asked the old you what they value, what would the response be?

 

Now, let’s reframe the question. Ask the old you: “What are your priorities?”

Is the answer still the same?

 

Five years ago, my response to the second question would have been a teensy bit meandering;

“Um…my career, being with the perfect lover…uh, wait, let’s switch those two. Hold on- can I switch them back?”

 

Clearly, this isn’t a well-considered answer! It does not truly reflect what I, even half a decade ago, valued out of the whole of life. Careers are cut short and love affairs end. They are also ill-defined; if we charted out a spectrum of broadly to specifically defined aims, these transitory goals would fall somewhere in the lukewarm middle.

 

One method for finding a better answer would have been to first define the elements that I valued in life. I would then examine how these components fit into the question of what I want to achieve in my life and begin to map out my priorities.

 

This method is dependant on the strength of the values which the priorities are based on. If these values do not endure over the course of a lifetime, the individual’s priorities will no longer be authentic to them and need to be remapped. So, it’s important that the values we hold are strong ones!

                                                        

 

In this week's photo, we see clouds hovering over an expensive looking building. Personally, I see a big sailboat in the clouds.  I think of it as a reminder that, while the building will not be there forever, the spiritual values that the sailboat represents to me will.

Love, 

Khouzhan Menfó 

 www.spellmaker.com

 

 

 

Thought for the day:

When you start to complain that your "life is hard" stop and ask yourself, "compared to what?"

Khouzhan Echo

www.spellmaker.com

Keep the faith!

It's been a crazy, busy few weeks for me in the spiritual sense, riding that emotional roller coaster! And if you understand that, you're probably also aware of the availability of 911 readings both from Mambo Sam and Sister Bridget. Sometimes things feel really frantic, and it's good to know that fast help is available. As I continue my work, I also feel boosted by a few thoughts about faith:

 

He who has faith has... an inward reservoir of courage, hope, confidence, calmness, and assuring trust that all will come out well - even though to the world it may appear to come out most badly. 

~B.C. Forbes 

 

Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother. 

~Khalil Gibran

 

Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe. 

~Voltaire

 

We are twice armed if we fight with faith. 

~Plato 

 

I'm energized as I enter the battle, and I very much appreciate my spiritual network.

 

Love, Khouzhan Lucy

www.spellmaker.com