I thought this would be an interesting and interactive way to create a blog post that answers some of the important or common questions I recieve. I posted on my Conjured Cardea Facebook page, asking if there were any questions about myself, or my practices, anyone had. The result was just as I'd anticpiated, some wonderfully stimulating ideas! I look forward to creating more of these in the future so we can all share and get to know one another.
Mykull asks; "How do you energetically manage all of the deities and people you work with?"
I have always been a very energetic person who needs/wants little sleep. I do not drink coffee or caffeine or use stimulants of any sort. Since a child, I have only slept several hours a night, sometimes only a few. My dreams are very active and are where I receive most guidance. They are also when my Muse visits. I have always had a very active spiritual life. I believe this is partially due to the siezure disorder I developed at a young age. I have Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) which is very common in writers, artists and spiritual figures. You can find huge lists of famous creative figures who had some form of eplilepsy, especially TLE. I would like to believe that I would have remained the heavily spiritual and religious person had I not aqcuired eplilepsy but, of course, there is no way to know. Epliepsy is very common and the type I have is not an aggressive or violent type. So, since a child, my brain has worked differently than others. If I was tired from the spirits, I didn't know any better because I had always been that way. I was experiencing tunnel vision and black outs before each seizure, which I though were a daily part of everyone's lives since I'd always had them. While I am told these should have been exhausting, it was during these times I received messages and directions as to how to help others. For me, they were a great release. It was like a dam had been let down and information flooded in, renewing and educating me. Instead of looking at it as something that exhausts you, look at it as a means of strengthening and conditioning your mind and spirit. I began teaching my spiritual path and providing spiritual services at 19 which means I have been doing this for 13 years. You can ask anyone who has been at the same job for 13 years and you'll find that they're pretty damn good at it. They ought to be! 13 years is a long time. Now, I am no where near where I hope to be at 50 or 70 but I have a good foundation. There are a few "tricks" to working with spirits;
2) Stop asking for shit all the time. When I say "create a ritual" I DON'T mean "casting a spell" or "making a request". I mean creating ritual for the sake of honoring and respecting the spirits. If you're only interested in setting up an altar and inviting the spirits in order to gain something, this is not the path for you. Honestly, I don't know of any practice or religion that works that way.
3) Educate yourself. Find a pantheon that interests you, go to Amazon and purchase every cheap book you can afford about the history and correspondances of that pantheon. This way, when a spirit or deity visits you, you'll know who it is. You'll also be able to notice their signals from all that practicing which strengthened your focus. Sorry folks, but in my opinion, spirituality has a lot of education behind it.
Set an altar with a nice clean cloth, light a new candle and offer some food, flowers and spirits. Go ahead and sit there and pray or talk but if you find yourself always begging or pleading for something, get up and leave. They can enjoy the offering without your selfishness.
Mykull asks; "How do you energetically manage all of the deities and people you work with?"
I have always been a very energetic person who needs/wants little sleep. I do not drink coffee or caffeine or use stimulants of any sort. Since a child, I have only slept several hours a night, sometimes only a few. My dreams are very active and are where I receive most guidance. They are also when my Muse visits. I have always had a very active spiritual life. I believe this is partially due to the siezure disorder I developed at a young age. I have Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) which is very common in writers, artists and spiritual figures. You can find huge lists of famous creative figures who had some form of eplilepsy, especially TLE. I would like to believe that I would have remained the heavily spiritual and religious person had I not aqcuired eplilepsy but, of course, there is no way to know. Epliepsy is very common and the type I have is not an aggressive or violent type. So, since a child, my brain has worked differently than others. If I was tired from the spirits, I didn't know any better because I had always been that way. I was experiencing tunnel vision and black outs before each seizure, which I though were a daily part of everyone's lives since I'd always had them. While I am told these should have been exhausting, it was during these times I received messages and directions as to how to help others. For me, they were a great release. It was like a dam had been let down and information flooded in, renewing and educating me. Instead of looking at it as something that exhausts you, look at it as a means of strengthening and conditioning your mind and spirit. I began teaching my spiritual path and providing spiritual services at 19 which means I have been doing this for 13 years. You can ask anyone who has been at the same job for 13 years and you'll find that they're pretty damn good at it. They ought to be! 13 years is a long time. Now, I am no where near where I hope to be at 50 or 70 but I have a good foundation. There are a few "tricks" to working with spirits;
1) Do it EVERYDAY. If you swam everyday or rode a unicycle everyday, you'd get very good at it. It's called "practice". If you don't practice, you won't strengthen your mind or your relationship with the divine. For some reason, people forget this simple fact that applies to every other aspect in life they want to be successful at. They forget it because they want manual or directions for spiritual practice, but you have to-oh my god- TRUST YOUR DIVINE INSTINCTS! You have to really WORK, not just pick up a book and read once a month or join an internet group. Shut off you phone, shut off your TV, turn off your computer. That 2-3 (or more) hours you're spending on Youtube everynight could be used meeting a new spirit or guide, or getting important messages about your life. If you don't give them time to talk, how will you hear them? You must take the time and make the effort to make your mind strong so that you can develop a devotional ritual, ignore what has happened in your life during that day, and get rid of distraction. This all begins with making the time for a simple ritual each day. Skip that extra cup of coffee, light some incense and give a "thank you".
2) Stop asking for shit all the time. When I say "create a ritual" I DON'T mean "casting a spell" or "making a request". I mean creating ritual for the sake of honoring and respecting the spirits. If you're only interested in setting up an altar and inviting the spirits in order to gain something, this is not the path for you. Honestly, I don't know of any practice or religion that works that way.
If you've got a neighbor always showing up asking for a ride, or five bucks or to borrow something, how long will it be before you stop answering your door? The same thing will happen with spirits. If you just keep asking for shit over and over and don't create a relationship, that foundation, and show humility and respect first, they're not going to come to the door much. Instead of greeting you with guidance and messages it's going to be "Oh Christ, it's that guy again...." They may help you, but the spirits get tired just like everyone else as they still possess many human qualities.
3) Educate yourself. Find a pantheon that interests you, go to Amazon and purchase every cheap book you can afford about the history and correspondances of that pantheon. This way, when a spirit or deity visits you, you'll know who it is. You'll also be able to notice their signals from all that practicing which strengthened your focus. Sorry folks, but in my opinion, spirituality has a lot of education behind it.
Set an altar with a nice clean cloth, light a new candle and offer some food, flowers and spirits. Go ahead and sit there and pray or talk but if you find yourself always begging or pleading for something, get up and leave. They can enjoy the offering without your selfishness.
Put yourself in their position.
Another tip is that I set aside 2-3 days a week JUST for services and working for clients. I don't squeeze them in between orders or household chores. I also keep a datebook where I can schedule all of my clients preffered days (some like to choose feast days or particular days of the week) several weeks in advance. I can also look and see which day would be best for their working according to planetary and moon phases as well as any holy days coming up which will boost the energy of the work. This also insures I am not overworking myself. If the datebook it booked for the week, I don;t take on anymore work. Being highly organized is a MUST for a spiritual worker. I also schedule similar workings togther so I am not jamming different energies into the same space and time frame. I schedule love workings, legal matter workings, prosperity workings etc. all within the same few days. It makes no sense to evoke Erzulie or Oshun for love mattes than jam Ogun in between for a legal working. It just doesn't produce a good flow and makes for a chaotic house in which there are already a lot of spirits residing.
The next question is from Ciera;
"What would be your best advice to a non-initiate who wants to/feels called to work with the Orishas?"
I'll be answering this one a bit later in the week, so stay tuned folks! If you would like to ask a questions, feel free to comment here. Thank you!
Ashe'
"What would be your best advice to a non-initiate who wants to/feels called to work with the Orishas?"
I'll be answering this one a bit later in the week, so stay tuned folks! If you would like to ask a questions, feel free to comment here. Thank you!
Ashe'
Thank you for this. I see I need to strengthen my relationships with spirit and tomorrow I will start.
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah! One thing that I've been wondering is about offerings. If you have an altar with many statues and pictures of different deities, are offerings always personal to one spirit? I know that each spirit has their own favorites, but when you light an incense or offer a slice of fresh baked bread, can it be shared for all or is it just for one specific deity? Is there some kind of "rule" how to make it right.
ReplyDeleteAlso, when I set up this special altar does it matter which color candles I use? I work with a few certain ones (Erzulie Freda, Legba for starters). What color candles would you suggest? And this should be separate from my working altar, correct? Thank you! Just want to be sure I'm doing it right.
ReplyDeleteIf you plan on this being a permanent altar, reserved only for them, then you may want to separate it from your working altar. The spirits I work with most often have space on my working altar but those who need their own space, such as the Three Brothers or Santa Muerte, have separate altars. Erzulie Freda's colors are pink and yellow while Legba's are red and black so you can begin with those color candles if you have them, if ot, white always works. Remember, the whole point of the article was to trust your divine instincts, so there is no right or wrong:)
ReplyDeleteGot it. Thank you XO.
DeleteHi! I wonder about the offerings (when honouring and giving thanks). When you have an altar with many statues and pictures, are offerings dedicated to only one at the time or all of the spirits? I mean when you light an incense or offer a slice of fresh baked bread, is it for one specific spirit or can it be offered to all of them? Do you give offerings on your working altar? Thank you for these informative posts :)
ReplyDeleteHello Lunaria,
ReplyDeleteEach day I offer fresh water or spirits, food and incense to give "thanks". This thank you is directed towards any spirit that has helped my clients, that is helping clients, that is residing in my home or that may even be new and I have not yet built a relationship with. The statues on my altar may be none of these, all of these or some depending who is residing there at the time and who I have been working with for my clients. The offerings are not for the statues and photos but for who I am giving thanks to-which is anyone listening to hear the "thanks". They are a gesture of gratitude. I always leave offerings at every altar, especially my working one because that's where I spend most of my day and I can better focus my gratitude on the offering when placed there. Plus it just makes sense to me to offer the food where the spirits are most often honored. Thank you for reading!
Thank you for sharing this information. I feel like I have a lot to learn yet. Everything you post and share is so helpful.
ReplyDelete