Friday the 13th: Myth, Superstition or Reality? - The Voodoo Muse Online Magazine of Sweet Tea and Conjure

Obviously, it is impossible to determine the exact origin of the superstition surrounding Friday the 13th. That said, there are innumerable superstitions related to this day and date that warrant mentioning simply because people observe them—a LOT of them—and they aren't going away any time soon.
Read more at http://www.voodoomuse.org/friday-the-13th-myth-superstition-or-reality.html#KOlErxmWJAWWSleU.99

Friday the 13th: Myth, Superstition or Reality? - The Voodoo Muse Online Magazine of Sweet Tea and Conjure

Folk Magic Formulary - A New Course at Crossroads University

Did your life come with a book of formulas and instructions for using them? Formulas for dealing with any life situation, be it physical, mental or spiritual?

I know mine didn't. I mean, when I was born I wasn't given some big book of magic formulas to make my life easier.  Once my grandmother died, however, I did receive a large recipe book with lots of scraps of paper with a variety of things written on them. Tips and hints for running a smooth household, home remedies and of course, wonderful recipes for delicious food. 

In the past, family receipt books were commonplace. These large books were written by ordinary housewives and sometimes men or doctors who were under the assumption they knew how to run a household and advised women accordingly. These family receipt books contained everything from how to make candles, to how to cook and to how to cure livestock from diseases. They also contained home remedies for treating the family for many common illnesses of the day, because most people could not afford to go to a doctor or have a doctor visit. So, it was the Mother's place to learn these things and take care of the family. Moms were the family doctor.

During the 1800s, we see many of these receipt books published for the general public. These books became a primary way of passing down common folk knowledge to subsequent generations.

Within plantation households, slave masters often relied on the herbal curing knowledge of the slave men and women - the rootdoctors - for healing illnesses that were not considered major illnesses. In fact, many times the slave remedies were recorded in these receipt books without acknowledging the source of the knowledge.

One of the oldest folk remedies is the herbal liniment. Liniments have been used for thousands of years, harnessing the natural and medicinal qualities of certain plants for the external treatment of certain conditions. An herbal liniment is a medicinal liquid formulated with herbs in a base of ordinary rubbing alcohol or Witch Hazel, or made into a salve using a light oil base. A good therapeutic liniment is effective for conditions like sore and inflamed muscles and joints, relief from arthritis and rheumatism and circulation problems, for example.

Many times, an herb or root used in a folk remedy also possesses magical properties and is ideal for use in rootwork. Solomon's Seal (polygonatum biflorum), for example, has fabulous medicinal properties and equally as fabulous magical properties. Medicinally, it works well as a liniment for tightening or loosening tendons, ligaments, muscles, and joints.  It is a valuable connective tissue anti-inflammatory, and is known to help moderate the symptoms of osteoarthritis and repetitive use injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome. Magically, Solomon's Seal root is associated with all things success, to gain wisdom, ward off evil and contain or "seal" harmful energy. In our Folk Magic Formulary course, we focus on many such herbs with this dual medicinal/magical capacity and teach our students how to harvest, harness and use them to enhance and improve their daily lives.

For more information, visit Folk Magic Formulary

Star Bigot of the Day: Arnis Osis - The Voodoo Muse Online Magazine of Sweet Tea

 

 

I tell y'all, sometimes the emails I get are just the epitome of ignorance and bigotry. Take this one I received today by an individual whose return email is signed "Arnis Osis."

Look at my pictures. I'm happy and my life is wonderful! But yours is miserable, like garbage!

St*pid Belial worshipers

Read more at http://www.voodoomuse.org/star-bigot-of-the-day-arnis-osis.html#BYCEJe4YqrkjXrRF.99

Star Bigot of the Day: Arnis Osis - The Voodoo Muse Online Magazine of Sweet Tea

The Secret to a Life of Abundance: Using Magick and the Law of Attraction to Create Wealth

Wealth & Prosperity Conjure Paket

It seems that one of the most pressing concerns to many people is how to make ends meet. Every week I get emails from folks wanting to know money spells and the secret to gaining prosperity and wealth. The truth is, we all have a lot more power to change our situation than we realize. However, we tend to get conditioned to a particular state of being; we get used to struggling, we get used to things going wrong, and we settle for a life that is less than we want or deserve.

I want to share with you a secret to a life of abundance. Many of you have no doubt heard of what I am about to share, but still find yourselves in the same predicament that you were in before learning about the secret. Why is this? Why have you become so complacent?

The secret is based on the law of attraction (I always get a kick out of the fact that the acronym is LOA = Voodoo Spirits). The law of attraction is based on a natural law that like attracts like. This includes how you think about things. Indeed, thoughts do become things. This is true according to the Law of Attraction, according to basic magick principles, as well as psychology.

This is what doing magic is about. Magic provides a means of focusing energy to make what we desire manifest. If you want to be a stronger, more powerful practitioner, you will embrace the LOA, because anyone, anywhere, can learn to make financial abundance a reality in their life.

What are you thinking about right now? The Law of Attraction states that "whatever we think about, we bring about". This law may initially seem like new age fluff but believe it or not, there are scientific merits to this proposition. The top quantum physicists of our time have discovered that our universe and our reality is very much directed by the "observer".

When studying quantum particles (the smallest observable unit of matter), these scientists discovered that such particles behave in accordance with the person conducting the experiment. If the scientists predict that quantum particles behave in a certain way, they do. And yet, if the scientists predict that quantum particles behave in another way, they do. It is the "observer" that dictates the outcome of the experiment!

What does all this mean for us magical practitioners? Well actually, these scientific experiments have far reaching implications for us as our world is made up of these same quantum particles! In this case, we are the observer, the director and the creator of our reality, our world and our experience. We literally conjure our own worlds with the thoughts that we think.

So, be careful of what you think about! For example, have your thoughts ever begun with the following phrases?

• I don’t understand…
• I don't want...
• I’m frustrated that…
• I hate my…
• I can’t figure out …
• I’m stressed about…
• I’m worried that…
• I should be able to… but I can’t…
• Why am I having so much trouble?

The Law of Attraction states that whatever you think about you will attract into your life. When you think "I don't understand why bad things always happen to me," you are "attracting" bad things into your life. When you think "I want to get out of debt," you are attracting more debt into your life. When you think "I'm worried I will get sick," you are attracting sickness into your life! The Law of Attraction brings about what you focus on even if it is not what you want. Get it?

If you understand this principle, here are some examples of how to make the law of attraction work to support you rather than to act against you. Try observing your thoughts and changing your thinking in the following way:

• "I want to get out of debt" to "I want to earn amazing riches."
• "I hate my boss" to "I look forward to owning my own business."
• "I don't understand why he is so lazy" to "I love it when he helps out around the house."
• "I'm stressed about this project" to "I always create amazing results in my projects."
• "I'm worried about getting sick" to "I experience vibrant health daily."

Now that we have a better understanding of the Law of Attraction, it is not hard to see why so many people struggle with regards to money. It has been said that "the rich get richer while the poor get poorer." This is actually the Law of Attraction in action. Because the wealthy have money, they often think about how to best use their money and hence, they attract more money. The poor, on the other hand, often think about their present lack of money and unfortunately, that also attracts lack into their lives. Currently, 96% of the world's wealth is being earned by just 1% of the population! That's just insane when you think about it.

This is why using charms, mojo, gris gris and doing prosperity work is so important for magickal practitioners. It helps us keep our minds focused on drawing abundance and prosperity, as opposed to focusing on our lack of abundance. If we don't have the right mindset, we won't attract what we need. Instead we just stay stuck where we are, or dig ourselves deeper into a hole of desperation and hopelessness. There are terms we use in psychology  for this unproductive mindset:  learned helplessness and self-defeating behavior.

Learned helplessness is when we become conditioned to responding to situations in a certain way or not at all based on our experiences with failure. We either expect someone else to come in and change things for us or just give up on trying to help ourselves. Every effort we make at changing our circumstance has no positive effect; thus, we have learned to be helpless. We have lost our power. Then, what happens is we continue to engage in the same behaviors, often expecting different results, even though there is no rational reason to believe something different will happen. These behaviors are self-defeating because they do nothing but keep us stuck or make our situation worse.

Magick, therefore, can be liberating and empowering. A change in thinking, coupled with the Law of Attraction leaves us unstoppable. We can open the doors to new possibilities and new opportunities we never knew were available to us before.

If course I have many products on my website Creole Moon that can help you focus your intentions to that of success and prosperity. For example, Algiers Fast Luck oil is a powerful Fast Luck formula oil straight from the Algiers New Orleans Voodoo hoodoo tradition. It is used to attract money, better business, good luck, love, and the better things of life, and to remove negativity and clear away obstacles. Use as a dressing oil for fixing candles for spells, add to the bath, add to floor washes, use as a lucky hand rub before gambling, or wear as a magical perfume. You can find Algiers Fast Luck Oil here.

Another option is a Crown of Success Gris Gris. Gris Gris bags are excellent for keeping your mindset focused in a certain way because they only work if you work them And, to work them you must use them, hold them, feel them, and visualize your goals with them.  Check them out (and many others) here.

May success and prosperity be yours!

St. Helena, Patron Saint of the Cross and Divorcees

 

St. Helena is known by Catholics as the Patron Saint of the Cross and Intercessor for converts, divorce, difficult marriages, archeologists, fire, thunder, needle makers and empresses.

Born to pagan parents, she knew nothing of Christianity for the first 60 years of her life. Helena had one son, Constantine the Great, who ruled the Roman Empire until 337 AD. During Constantine’s reign, with the aid of his mother, Christianity flourished. In addition to many other Christian works, Helena is credited with finding the Cross, which hung the Savior of the world.

Saint Helen met her husband Constantius in Asia Minor while he was there working. There marriage was small and for quite some time unknown, but eventually news spread of their wedding.

Around the year 270, Helen had her only child, Constantine. However shortly after having the baby, Constantius left Helen for another woman. He left her with Constantine, and they never heard from him again.

Constantine did not care that his father had left because he and Helen had such a great bond and love for each other. Helen raised Constantine alone, she never got married again. She lost contact with many people after being left by Constantius.

Saint Helen and Constantine were never separated during their lives. When Constantine was named emperor of Rome around 306, she traveled with him and continued to live with him as well. She spent her hours praying to God, and becoming extremely religious. She advised Constantine and loved him very much. She had Constantine let prisoners go often and would attend Mass daily with the normal citizens of Rome, which was unheard of since she was royalty.

In the year 330, Saint Helen passed away due to natural causes. This devastated Constantine, who remained by her side during her final hours. Her feast day is celebrated on August 18th each year.

If you are in a difficult relationship or going through a divorce, St. Helena can be an enormous source of emotional and spiritual support. Check out our St. Helena Gris Gris  Bags.

 St. Helena Gris Gris  Bags

Lucky Buddha Bottle with Lucky Louisiana Green Rice

Lucky Buddha is an actual deity in Chinese and Japanese folklore. In Chinese, he is referred to as Budai or "Laughing Buddha" and in Japanese he is called "Hotei." His name means "Cloth Sack" which refers to the sack of belongings he usually carries. He is typically depicted as poor but content and always happy and smiling. This Lucky Buddha is holding up a bowl filled with gold.

According to Chinese lore, Budai was an eccentric monk known for his good will and character. He is admired for his happiness, plentitude, wisdom and contentment. As these are characters humans strive for, his presence in the form of a picture, figure, charm, amulet or bottle keeps these qualities close, ever reminding us that attitude and perception are often the only things standing in the way of our ultimate success. It is popularly believed that rubbing his stomach will bring wealth, luck and prosperity.

In Japanese lore, Hotei exists as one of the Seven Lucky Gods (Shichi Fukujin) of Taoism. 

I love being a spiritual artist because it makes me happy among other things. This is one of my hand painted with 18 carat gold paint Lucky Buddha Bottles filled with hand crafted Louisiana Lucky Green rice with shredded money. The cork is peyote stitched with a lucky Chinese coin and tiny Swarovski crystal. Open them up and they smell like Algiers Fast Luck formula (which is a blend of wintergreen, cinnamon, vanilla and patchouli - yes it is a unique but very pleasant fragrance). I love these bottles and have so much fun making them...it was Mitchell Tibbs who introduced me to the Lucky Buddha beer and since I don't drink I was happy to discover it is very cheap beer, lol so I can go buy a case at a time and paint away. I've painted them in red and lavender, but I am partial to lavender. Keep one on your prosperity altar, with your money, or anywhere you want to be reminded that wealth and abundance can be yours!

To Punish a Book Thief

I'm not sure which situation is the best indicator of having "arrived" in the world of books, but I do know which one I don't appreciate, and that is the pirate.

My books have been pirated so many times, that I once calcuated on one site alone that if I had one dollar for each download of the Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook I would be a millionaire, and that was 5 years ago. Oh how different life could be without the pirate; but alas, they don't care about authors and starving artists.

There are two kinds of pirates. One is the small-minded book thief who feels that if it is on the internet, it should be free. Period. Never mind the months or years it may have taken for the author to write the book, WITHOUT PAY. And, contrary to what some of these folks believe, even after publishing we don't see a payday until any advances are paid back and then hope we sell enough books to get somewhat of a paycheck.

Then, there is the calculated, evil book thief who sets themselves up for a payday on our hard work. They upload the books to torrent sites or other pay-to-download sites where an individual can purchase the download, illegally, for much less than if purchased legitimately. And where does the money go? To the torrent site and the scum bag who uploaded it there.

One might wonder the thought process of pirates who steal the work of witches, warlocks and hoodoos. Clearly they do not believe and stealing our work is not only stealing from our livelihood, it is a mockery of our work and for many of us, a mockery of our belief systems. Ok, that's cool, you don't have to believe. Just call me Honey Badger, because I really don't care if you believe or not.

But I do care that pirates are getting paid from my hard work. And in the world of hoodoo, payback is a bitch.

So, I decided to have a little fun at the expense of the first pirate I discovered completely accidentally, when going to upload a promotional video for the book on You Tube. I mean, the book hadn't even been out 2 weeks and this guys got a promo video for it with a download link.

Xiaolu Guo, it's time to play, New Orleans style!

You have so thoughtfully left me a tail of taglocks to use, so thank you for that, I truly appreciate it. For those of you who may not know, a taglock is a term used in image magick for a personal effect that links to the person to whom it belongs. Taglocks can be physical things like hair or fingernails, signatures or photographs, or simply names. In your case Xiaolu, I have your name (whether or not it is your real name doesn't matter - you have "signed" your name digitally to your YouTube account and in the world of magick, that counts), you have linked to your blog where you are offering countless authors' books for illegal download, so I can use your website header image as another taglock, AND you have provided a link to that wretched torrent site who is also on my Voudou hit list. Download Genius has been enabling pirates for years and its time they get in the hoodoo payback game too.

It's the Voodoo Doll Spellbook in action y'all! Are we having fun yet?

Stay tuned as I take a break to go create my pirate voodoo doll using image magick concepts to link Xiaolu Guo's soul to a conjure doll...I'll be back with photos and the details and my plan for revenge on behalf of all book authors who are victims of pirates across the globe.

Laissez les bone temps rouler! 

Bottle Spell to Get Rid of a Troubling Neighbor or Ex-Lover

To Get Rid of a Troubling Neighbor or Ex-Lover

   

If you have broken up with your ex but they just won’t let you go, if they keep calling you even when to tell them to stop, if they harass you or are stalking you, then try this doll spell to get rid of them. This spells can be adapted to get rid of anyone who is meddlin' in your affairs that you want to go away. For this spell you will need:

• A wide mouth jar
• A black doll baby that can fit inside the jar.
• Personal effect of your ex
• Brown paper bag
• Dragon’s blood ink
• Black pin
• Photo
• Black Witch’s salt
• Red pepper
• Graveyard dirt
• Lost and Away Powder

Attach a personal effect from your ex to the doll with a black pin. Write down their name and date of birth on a piece of brown paper bag with Dragon’s Blood ink and attach it to the doll as well. If you have a photo of this person, attach it to the doll. Stick the doll into the jar and add some black Witch’s salt, red pepper, graveyard dirt, and add some Lost and Away powder. Seal the jar shut and throw into a running river. If it is carried away from you, you can expect the person to leave you alone within 9 days. If it sinks to the bottom or is carried towards you, then you must repeat the spell, this time burning a black candle on top of the jar for 9 days. You should inscribe the person’s name on the candle and roll the candle with Lost and Away powder before burning. After burning the candle for nine days, take it to the river again and throw it in. If you still do not have any luck getting rid of the person and the person is stalking or otherwise harassing you, take out a restraining order and repeat the spell during a waning moon.

Formula for Lost and Away Powder

• Dirt from a Graveyard
• Mistletoe
• Powdered sulfur
• Powdered Orris
• Sage

Grind the dried herbs with a mortar and pestle until a fine powder. Then mix with the graveyard dirt and powdered sulphur.

Excerpt from the Voodoo Doll Spellbook: A Compendium of Ancient and Contemporary Spells and Rituals by Denise Alvarado

Find a selection of powerful and unique Bottle Spells and Container Spells at Creole Moon.

Marie Laveaux Bottle Spell

ANNIE CHRISTMAS: A New Orleans Voudou Loa, Daughter of the Mississippi and Defender of Victims of Bullies

 

Illustrators: Leo and Diane Dillon

She emits a foreboding energy to those standing in her presence who have done wrong, and a feeling of safety and security to those for whom she has come to assist. She's a daughter of the Mississippi Delta, born in the city of New Orleans, stronger than any man and a hero to every woman.

It is said she walks with a swagger, displaying a confident knowing of who she is and where she's going. But, she walks without the arrogance of haters and bullies because she is one with righteousness. And no one doubts that every ass she woops is more than justified.

Annie Christmas is a spirit who has not gotten the kind of attention she deserves; yet, I am quite certain she could be of assistance to many people in a day and age where bullies are rampant both online and offline. So if you have not heard of this incredible woman who has been elevated to the status of loa in the New Orleans Voudou pantheon, allow me to introduce you.

Annie Christmas is the epitome of woman power, often referred to as a female Ogun because of her traits. Though she is not an Ogun, she is another of the unique Spirits of New Orleans Voudou with roots in the folklore of the city. She walks alongside Joe Fer (Iron Joe) in the New Orleans Voudou pantheon.

One of the original characters in African American folklore, Annie Christmas is said to have been a woman who worked the docks along the Mississippi River doing many activities typically saved for men during her time. Defying the norms of both a male-dominated workplace and society, Annie Christmas became a well-respected keelboat captain. A keelboat is a shallow riverboat that is poled or pulled along the river. Poling a keelboat is a job that requires a tremendous amount of strength as the boats typically carry people and heavy supplies such as bales of cotton and other items. But, Annie Christmas was a woman with superhuman power. She was stronger than any man and feared no one. She was completely self-reliant and could protect herself and others better than any man could. She was reportedly six feet eight inches tall, and weighed 250 pounds. It is said she dressed in men's clothing typical of the day while at work on the docks, but in the evenings she wore a red silk dress and wore a hat adorned with with turkey feathers. She also wore her hair in an updo into which she would stick peacock feathers. Like Marie Laveaux, she could get away with not wearing the law enforced tignon required by all women of color and if she did wear one, it was because she wanted to and not because some racist society told her she had to.

She was dark as midnight, with beautiful ebony skin and eyes sparkling with Spirit, effectively representing the Motherland. She had the reputation of being an annihilator of bullies; just let her hear or see a man act a bully and he never acted or spoke that way again. She would not only call out the bullies and haters, she would beat them down and make them sorry they ever thought ill about anyone.

Annie Christmas defied social mores by rejecting the usual plaçage arrangement popular during early nineteenth century New Orleans. Wealthy White and Creole men arranged common law households with women of color. These women were not legally recognized as wives but were known as placées, the word deriving from placer meaning "to place with." Plaçage relationships were recognized among the free people of color as left-handed marriages or mariages de la main gauche. A placee could be a girl 15 years old or even younger, placed in a "suitable" relationship after making a social debut in a very elegant ball (Miller, 2013). There were numerous financial and economic benefits from plaçage arrangements, including freedom for enslaved family members. Annie Christmas, however, rejected such an arrangement, viewing it as another male-dominated, racist social institution. Instead, she ran away to the frontier of the Mississippi River.

Annie was a three-barrel flatboat unloader. She could walk a gangplank with a barrel of flour under each arm and one on her head. Once in a fit of impatience she towed a keelboat all the way from New Orleans to Natchez, making her feat the origin of the saying in the river towns, "As strong as Annie Christmas."

Her necklace is a story in and of itself. It is said that Annie had a pearl necklace which she wore to parties. Every bead in it represented a man whose ass she whooped, an eye she'd gouged out in a fight, or an ear or a nose she had chewed off. When she died, the necklace was thirty feet long-a true momento-and it could have been longer, only some of the fights were so easy Annie didn't feel it was honorable to record them.

Annie was never married but had twelve children, all of them boys. Annie was a mean fighter and could hold her own with any man. She was known to have kicked many a bully's ass on the river. Her reputation was punctuated by the red turkey feather she wore in her hat that signified her status as a champion fighter. She even scared off the big, strong patronizing Mike Fink from the docks of the lower Mississippi. She told him in no uncertain terms that if he were to return, she would tie him to the bottom of a keel boat and send him on down the river. In fact, this is how that story went down:

Back when our country was still young, there was a woman named Annie Christmas. Annie lived in the city of New Orleans beside the Mississippi River. People say that Annie was as strong as an ox. She was at least seven feet tall. When she yelled, the ground started shaking. But she did not yell very often. No one dared to bother her, so she didn’t have much to yell about.

Annie Christmas had a boat on the Mississippi, and she worked harder than any ten men. She loaded things onto the boat and took them where they needed to go. Then she’d come back for another load. Night and day she worked, and she hardly ever stopped.

One day, a man named Mike Fink came to town. When he saw Annie Christmas, she was picking up a bale of hay to load onto the boat. Now Mike was a big strong man, but he was not very smart. He looked at Annie and laughed. “Why, Miss,” he said, “you should be home making socks and not trying to do a man’s work.” Well, the whole city went quiet, waiting to see what Annie would do.

Annie stood up slowly and looked at Mike Fink. “Mister,” she said quietly, “you seem to have a lot to say about who should do what and where.” Then she lifted that bale of hay over her head. Everyone thought she would throw it at Mike Fink, but she didn’t. She threw it into the river so hard that it caused a tidal wave ten feet high. That tidal wave picked up Mike Fink and carried him all the way to Natchez, more than 150 miles away. Annie went back to her work, and Mike Fink was never seen in New Orleans again.


Sources

Miller, B. (2013) Big River's Daughter. Holiday House.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pla%C3%A7age

Annie Christmas New Orleans Voudou Protection Ouanga Fetish

 

This New Orleans Voodoo Protection Wanga Fetish is made on the point of Annie Christmas to eliminate bullies and haters and to increase and enhance protection, defense, steadfastness, strength and productivity in your life. It combines the magickal powers of colors, herbs, stones, essential oils, and other magickal items such as a buffalo nickel for plowing over enemies and a chicken foot. It has a fabulous aroma, sporting one of my very own signature conjure oil formulas. For more information, visit my store.