Holidays, Services and Oshun

Today was spent cleaning my home and preparing it for a 5 day lamp setting for a client. The client had requested to find new, good friends, confidence and to experience the joys of life. What better Orisha to call upon than Oshun! Oshun governs all of life's joys; celebrations, family, friends, beauty, confidence and reciprocating love. This also makes the holidays a wonderful time to evoke her presence and energy as family, friends and celebration surround us.

This service took a few days longer to get to than usual as the holidays added a couple of extra days off in order to spend time with family. It is also important to perform services on the correct day. Friday is Oshun's day so though the service was purchased last week, it had to wait to be performed until a Friday was available. Though this means a bit of extra wait time for the client, the attention to this detail greatly increases the success rate of the working, in my opinion. A good spiritual worker will perform work when the time is right, not rush it to fit theirs, or the client's, schedule. Services and blessings are on the schedule of the spirits, which is important to remember. Rushing will not get you better or even faster results.

Today, after cleaning the house and scrubbing the kitchen, I set a cauldron of cinnamon and orange rinds over the flames of the stove to simmer. I find that this is a wonderfully efficient and inexpensive way to fill your home with the energy of whatever spirit you are evoking. The ingredients can be changed to suit the spirit you are welcoming. Such as apples for Chango or wine and plums for Oya, etc. This type of kitchen magic is a lovely way to feed the dwelling spirits of your home too.

I set a clean, vintage cotton table cloth with beach pottery shards, small shells, brass mirror charms-all given to me by clients. All of these trinkets are permanent fixtures of Oshun's altar which is right in the center of my kitchen on a butcher block used for preparing each day's meals. This is another way to work magic into the home-work it in right as you cook. Take each menial, seemingly meaningless task and give it purpose, energy and intent.

I then added fresh sweet bread, a clay dish of honey, pomegranate, and an orange rind lamp. The half peel of an orange makes a lovely, inexpensive and beautifully simplistic lamp. The "core" is used as the wick and all you need do is add a bit of oil of any type. I prefer sunflower oil when working with Oshun. A small mirror (also a gift), a brass pot of perfume and a small pumpkin-like gourd are all permanent fixtures to the altar as well.

I offered dragon's blood resin for it's powerful drawing abilities-to bring my client all that they desire. Yet this resin also possesses cleansing abilities, which I wanted in order to cleanse the client of their lack of self esteem, and self love. Like begets like, so we must care for ourselves before we can appreciate the effects of love of another in our lives.

I hope Oshun blesses all of my clients and readers with the little joys in life in the coming year. Friends, family, a party here and there, good food and small comforts-we are all deserving of these. I ask also that we be blessed with eyes of gratitude so that we may see the rewards in the seemingly small things. Be blessed!