spellmakernovitiates

Loss

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. 

 

Love, Khouzhan Lucy

www.spellmaker.com

 

Peace and Wisdom

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.

 

Love, Khouzhan Lucy

www.spellmaker.com

 

Image courtesy of rakratchada torsap at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

AND then....we float

In a time when social media is the main staple that holds a person's life together, more and more people are looking to just unplug. Sometimes I feel like I just need to get away from all of it and center myself again. My mom has been in town visiting from NY, and I wanted to treat her to some nice relaxation time too.

Maybe you have heard about the deprivation chamber or maybe you haven't. Man, that sounds really scary! Basically, you are getting into a 4X7 "tank" that is filled with about 10 inches of salt water. I think it is something like 100,000lbs of epsom salt in there. 

So there you are...in a tank that you are supposed to shut the door and effectively be in the pitch black! There is no light or sound, as it is sound and lightproof. The water is the same temperature of your skin, so once you get settled, you can't even tell that you are in water. It just feels like you are suspended in air, drifting off on a cloud.

The idea is the deprivation to your body allows your brain to slip into theta state. While I was shut of from the outside world, that didn't necessarily mean I was shut off from the lwa. What a great time to get some guidance! No distraction other than the input you are getting!

I highly recommend that everyone give this a try! It is refreshing for the body, mind, and soul! I also knocked out some great adjunct work that night and slept like a baby!

Love and Light,

Khouzhan Delilah

www.spellmaker.com

This Week’s Papa Legba Story

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. 

 

Love, Khouzhan Lucy

www.spellmaker.com

 

Image courtesy of vectorolie at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Success

 

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!

 

Love, Khouzhan Lucy

www.spellmaker.com

 

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Ok, that's not true.

 “Men and women among you who act as mediums or who consult the spirits of the dead must be put to death by stoning."

Leviticus 20:26-27

Voodoo Doll art by Shanna Hare

 

Welllllllllllll.....that escalated quickly didn't it?!

Nothing could be further from the truth though. We won't stone you for becoming part of the spellmaker family.

 

Love and Light,

Khouzhan Delilah

spellmaker.com

 

 

 

Renewal

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. 

~ Greg Anderson

 

Love, Khouzhan Lucy

www.spellmaker.com

 

 

Image courtesy of marin at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Peace, Love, and Understanding

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.

 

Love, Khouzhan Lucy

www.spellmaker.com

Beware the Ides of March

Today is the infamous Ides of March, BEWARE!

But ok, what does that all mean?! I have heard people referring to it like it is something similar to Mercury Retrograde..

WELLLLL....it isn't as sinister as you might think. Ides is just the middle day of the month, and do each month has an ides. March has 31 days, so the middle is the 15th. It was just that Julius Cesar was warned to "beware of the ides of March!" And low and behold, it was the day that he was executed.

  Bad luck for him, not really much of anything for you :)

 

Love and Light,

Khouzhan Delilah

St. Patrick

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.

 

Love, Khouzhan Lucy

www.spellmaker.com