Dedicating the merits of your practice

This one goes out to all the yogis and wannabe yogis and folks who feel ridiculously blessed (or challenged which is also a form of blessing) and simply don't know what to do with themselves.  There is a practice in many 21st century American yoga studios of "dedicating the merits of your practice."  You can dedicate merits to someone, a cause, an affirmation, even a Deity.  As best I can tell, this idea comes out of the Hindu practice of asceticism (and it was picked up by Buddhists later in a very similar manner).  Ascetics--usually of the Brahmin class but not necessarily so--were individuals who dedicated themselves to doing tasks of great difficulty.  Often these tasks were physical in nature, for instance, the Goddess Uma seduced and captivated Lord Shiva by standing on one toe and surviving on nothing but dried leaves for over a year--how's that for unconditional devotion?!  Occasionally the tasks were more specific and intellectual or spiritual in nature--chastity for eons was another popular form of ascetic practice.

Behind these traditions lie two powerful principles: the first is that the physical body and the sensations it experiences are largely illusory and the second is that through an understanding of the first principle an individual can pierce through the veil of the unreal and discover powers within him or herself that have the ability to manifest real change in the physical realm.  Now, on some level if you have ever exercised in your life to lose weight, increase muscle tone, or repair an injury you already believe these things because your physical self imposed some kind of limitation (impossible weight gain or an injury), you agreed that through effort and work you could positively impact that limitation, pierce through it and go beyond it, and once successful you discovered that your efforts did indeed cause physical change.  In traditional Hindu parlance the act of effort is known as karma--yes, karma comes from the sanskrit root kr which means to "act or do" and it is where we get such words as create, and what is generated by this effort is tapas or heat.  Again, physical exercise is a really great place to look at this because it is grounded and we have all experienced it--what happens when you make a physical effort?  You get hot and sweaty.  Well, as it turns out most major religions believe that a similar phenomena happens on a spiritual/energetic/soul level when you engage in certain ascetic or devotional practices.  This tapas in turn creates a kind of merit--in our words today it says that you give a damn about something greater than yourself, and this merit in turn carries a kind of power.  And, as a favorite comic book hero was told, Power can be used for good or evil.

So…back to dedicating the merits of your practice.  Now in today's world most of us are not standing on one toe and eating dried leaves BUT I talk to people all day who are willing to follow the example of the Hanged Man tarot card and make efforts to secure what they want/need/desire.  Not spending money can be an effort, not eating the cookie can be an effort, being nice to your brother when he is super difficult can be an effort.  Yoga teachers talk about dedicating the merit of your practice because yoga is an effort--on multiple levels at the same time.  If you are feeling blessed, loved and illuminated by the universe then give back--to your family and friends, to your favorite charity, to strangers you have never met. Blessings are meant to be shared, not clutched close to your vest in miserly desperation.  If you are feeling stuck or challenged ask yourself: am I making an effort here?  Be honest.  Can you make more of an effort?  Be honest.   What is your practice around the people, situations, and life areas that cause you the most difficulty, pain, anger, and stress?  What might a sustainable practice that could improve these feelings look like? And then, don't make the effort with the expectation of the reward.  Make the effort because you care about more than your own situation--dedicate the merits of your efforts to someone or something that really needs it.  All I can say is that you'll be surprised at the results and it worked for child birth--but that's another story.

Why I use the word "ritual"

There are spells and then there are rituals.  What's the difference?  Using the word spell is highly descriptive and straightforward, ritual has a more mysterious quality to it, but it also implies more in the way of the sacred.  Some people perform magical workings without any religious or spiritual framework--I have spoken to atheists interested in learning the basics of candle magic on many occasions. But for me and the type of work that I do--every component is heavily based upon my understanding of the Sacred.  Ritual does not have to be fancy or formal--the act of simply lighting a stick of incense or arranging flowers can be imbued with a sense of ritual, but there is a discernment, precision, and impeccability captured by the word ritual that spell just does not articulate.  I have described the ritual work that I do on many occasions as being a form of moving prayer or prayer with props.  My understand of the nature of the work that I am honored to perform on behalf of others is that of the petitioner.  I petition a higher power for aid, assistance, and succor in a specific individual's life usually for a specific situation.  The connection with the Source is the most crucial aspect of what I do, the herbs, oils, roots, incense, baths, washes, and curios that I work with during this moving prayer are also essential but they are absolutely secondary to that connection.  Furthermore, all of my working have a beginning (invocation), middle, and end.  They are performed in sacred space and time with a heart full of devotion and a mind fixed on what is eternal, unchanging, absolute, and divine in each of us.  To me, this describes a ritual mind set and goes beyond the scope imagined by the word spell.

Fields of Gold Herb mix for abundance-wealth-prosperity

Hi everyone--I was up late Saturday night/early Sunday morning as the full moon was at its brightest and shiniest concocting this delicious herbal blend for abundance, wealth, and prosperity!  Each biodegradable bag contains a piece of iron pyrite and a custom blend of over 13 herbs and roots that came out of my private stash.  I only had enough to make 6 5  4 bags of this fantastic blend so its a limited edition kind of thing.  As with all of my herb blends Fields of Gold can be used to dress candles, fill mojo hands, doll babies, honey jars, bottle spells, burned as an incense or even combined with epsom and kosher salts for a spiritual bath!  The bled includes five finger grass, cinnamon, blue flag root, alfalfa, grains of paradise, alkanet, sassafras and much, much more!  You can purchase a bag for yourself here.

How-to: Set Up an Altar

This is a question that gets asked on a pretty regular basis--how you you set up an altar or what is the "right" way to set up an altar.  For starters, it really depends on what tradition(s) you might be working in.  Someone who is a practicing Catholic is going to have a very different looking altar than someone who is Baptist or Hindu.  Furthermore, in many folk magic traditions altars are not necessary or are even relatively late inventions.  However, there are some general rules to consider when creating an altar or sacred space for yourself.

• What do you do?  Do you light a lot of candles?  You probably need a place for matches as well as candle lighting tools, if you use oils you need a dark cool place to store those as well.  If you work with needle and thread a lot then you might want to consider dedicating a part of your craft or sewing room to your ritual work.  If you write recipes and petitions then you writing desk might be where you do most of your work.  An altar is a place of honoring the Divine and a place where you can do your sacred work--it does not have to be in any one specific room or locale.
• East is for gain and West is for decrease.  This idea comes out of the very old tradition of following the sun--the sun rises in the East so on a spiritual and metaphorical level our desires, fortunes, and dreams can rise and gain strength with that fiery star.  It sets in the West allowing our fears, bad habits, and negative issues to go down with it.  If you want to set up a prosperity altar you might think that given the above rule you would place it in the East, but I encourage you to think about what the biggest challenge to your prosperity is.  If you really need to draw more money then make that altar in the East, but if you really need to decrease debt you might want to consider a Western banishing altar.
• Altars need to have tools that you actually use.  If you are going to use your altar for prayer then have your rosary or mala or prayer beads and sacred text ready to go.  If you do a lot of hands on ritual work at your altar have the tools that you need for that--do not try to have a high magic ceremonial altar unless you actually are a ceremonial magician
• Altars need to be private--usually this is true--an altar needs to be in a more private place so that when you are working at it you attention and intention are clearly focused and uninterrupted.
• Altars should be beautiful--consider your tradition and influences, build something that is pleasing to you and to your Higher Power(s), don't skimp and remember: simple can be beautiful.  You are also not limited to only working with table top space--decorate the walls and floor around your altar as well.
• You might need more than one.  If you are an active amateur or a professional then I recommend you have at least 3 altars--2 are for clients: one for increase and one for decrease and the third is your own personal altar where you go to reground and pray or meditate.  If you find yourself doing a lot of one type of work you might want to consider creating an altar specifically for that as well.
• Altars are not magically shielded from dust and debris--at least mine aren't--like everything else they require consistent upkeep and cleaning.

Creating altars should be invigorating and fun!  If you start to really stress about it then stop--don't force the issue--altars have a way of letting you know where they need to be and when they need to be created.  Trust yourself to know when the right time is.

Personalized High John the Conqueror Roots Just In!

If you have not worked with High John the Conqueror before and you are into roots, herbs, and magical talismans then you are totally missing out.  This lil guy is the root to end all roots according to some folks.  I love High John and I love placing them in mojo hands, on altars and around candles.  The root is purported to bring good luck, strength, mastery, skill, prosperity and acumen to its wearer--with all that good stuff its amazing that everyone isn't carrying them around.  Somehow the idea has gotten around the High John is only for me--that is just not true--women, including moi, work with High John and experience great success and fortune when doing so.  And there are a bunch of places where you can score generic High John root for a relatively inexpensive price.  However, sometimes your work needs a little more punch or maybe you are working on a project that has a very specific goal.  In those cases you may want a spiritually clued in worker to do some customizing for you--anointing a root in your name, perhaps over your picture, maybe with a petition, covering it with prayer and good fortune vibes.  If you find yourself nodding and wanting such a root NOW then I recommend you head over to my Etsy listing where you can order yourself a fantastic and personalized HJC root today!  Please note that the ritual I perform to personalize these roots is 7 days--so your special root won't ship out immediately.

Got Purpose?

Got Purpose?

Have you ever met someone and watched in awe as their life just seemingly fell into place?  The right job came along, the right living arrangement, the right partner, the right child, the right opportunity to rock it?  Some people describe this as being "in the flow" and some people describe it as being "damn lucky."  Most of us have had glimpses of what life can be like when it unfolds this way but that's it--a glimpse and then its gone and it feels like we are back to trudging uphill, knocking on a closed door, shouting always louder and still never being heard.  I don't think that flow or luck have much to do with this phenomena of rightness--in my experience a beautiful life takes blood, sweat, tears and a lot of hands on, do it yourself work. The people around me who objectively have the best lives revel in their lives--they love life and they love the way that they live it.  There is a word for that feeling--purpose.  Living in a world undergirded by ritual and a belief in the unseen (as I do), it is common and easy to chalk up frustration to bad juju, crossed conditions, jinxes, and bad luck.  I believe in those things more than most--I have seen first hand how they can screw things up BUT I see and talk to more people suffering from a lack of purpose and experiencing frustrations, blocks, and obstacles because of that as opposed to bad juju.  A friend of mine who is a reader herself and I were talking several weeks ago--she posed the question--how do you know that you are on the right path, that you are doing the right work?  Then she answered her question--because your life works for you!  If you feel like your life is working against you and you have prayed, cleansed, fasted, and prayed some more but don't feel improvement then what you may be looking for is your purpose.  I believe that each and every soul on this planet is unique and uniquely gifted.  You can do something with more grace, beauty and perfection than anyone else can--your job is to figure out what that something is and nail it.  And this doesn't mean that you quit your day job so that you can go find yourself--it means that you look at your job, your work, your family and ask yourself--what am I bringing to the table here?  What are the people around me bringing to the table?  Is this the best that we can do?  Is it the best I can do?  Then be honest with yourself.  If you are doing your best and your life still isn't working something needs to change.  Confucius and Jesus both recommended when making changes that individuals begin with themselves--only after your own house is in order should you go around trying to mess with other people's houses.  What do you need to do to put your house in order?  If you are not doing your best--then why?  Is it because your lazy?  You don't care?  You are trying but somehow not getting there?  You need support?  Inspiration?  Satisfaction?  Accolades?  These are the questions that can help you point yourself in the right direction, the direction of YOUR work and YOUR purpose--the work you are supposed to do and the reason why you are here, on the planet, right now.

Fabulous new altar material

Picked up some chalk cloth for the altars today, it is cloth that you can write on:

Drawing signs and symbols on the altar space before commencing with work has a very, very long tradition in various spiritual practices.  And if you have ever purchased a spell kit from lucky mojo you know that its one of the things we do in Hoodoo.  This cloth makes it really easy (and fun!)

Introducing hand crafted herb mixes!

We are very excited to announce the first in a line of custom blended herb mixes from Milagro Roots! Snap the Whip compelling love herb mix is a blend of herbs that facilitate loving and romantic relationships but also give an edge of command and mastery to whoever is doing the spell work--so its really a love compelling mixture.

Snap the Whip herbs and oils in their raw form

The herb blend is ground by me into a relatively fine blend that is perfect for dressing candles, using as incense or even as an all herb sachet powder.  Each blend is labeled with name, maker (mysel or Momma Hen), and the date that it has been made.  They will arrive to you in a plastic bag which can be recycled or placed in a composter because it is 100% biodegradable.  Unlike other commercially available herb mixes, Milagro Roots herb mixes are ready to work with right out of the bag, if you anoint your candle in oil the herbs will stick to them, they are perfect for dressing vigil candles, and they are already fine enough to use on charcoal bricketts for incense. And of course, each batch is prayed over by me.

 

Front and back views of a pack of Snap the Whip compelling love herb mix--made today!

New Candle Page up at SOUL

Most of you know that SOUL is the spiritual church that I and Momma Hen run.  SOUL is run exclusively on donations--every candle, deity figure, altar piece, decoration, and incense stick that goes into SOUL is donated or purchased with donated money.  But I don't like donations where you don't receive something in return!  So, if you have been wondering how you can help build SOUL then I recommend that you consider purchasing a vigil candle where 100% of the proceeds go directly to the church!  And for those of you who want something a bit different, I have just created a page dedicated to various Hindu Deities and the vigil candles we set for them and a Catholic Saints page is not far behind!

 

Candle Houses

As most of you know, I burn A LOT of vigil candles and for awhile now I have been thinking about where the best place to burn candles would be.  As we all know, burning vigil candles can be a tense experience because we don't want our homes or offices to catch on fire.  When I first started doing candle work in college I had large stock pots in my dorm rooms full of candles (smoke alarms were disabled of course).  Since then I have experienced with several different altar set ups--always wishing for something that was safe, beautiful, and most importantly dedicated solely to the practice of setting lights.  Vigil candles are incredible magical tools-I love the act of blessing, dressing, and setting each candle for each special client and condition.  Well, I learned about Austin Forge from my husband--and I cannot recommend their work highly enough!  Matt at the forge made me two beautiful candle houses (we were inspired by some of the candle houses at various Catholic churches around town) and he customized them for Milagro Roots!  I am thrilled with the results and have to show them off to all y'all!  Just as having your own dedicated space fo conjure work is an incredible experience, so is having a dedicated space for my candles--especially since more and more requests are rolling in after the founding of SOUL.

 

 

 

Sunday Miscellany

Sunday is my day of rest from the computer, starting today I am not going to be on the computer on Sundays at all--no emails will be answered, no blogs or websites updated.  However, thanks to type pad's awesome system I can write posts and schedule them to appear when I want--so all my readers will get a Sunday treat!  Today's post is more a road map, series of directions, of fun places for you to explore in your web meanderings.

First we have an interesting article on the connection between Gospel music and the civil rights movement which you can read here.  We are steeped in the delights of the month of May and vis a vis one of my favorite bloggers, Terri Windling, I offer this link to Katherine Langrish's blog Seven Miles of Steel Thistles which discusses the folklore and music behind the month of May.  She also has an excellent post on the symbolism of apples--and fellow practitioners of the art can see that cunning folk are not the only ones who use apples in love related magic.  Finally for those who are enjoying the green, green, month of May, here is a site devoted to lore about the Green Man or Jack in the Green.