Honoring Oya on a #9 Day

 

I'm sure you've heard me speak about Oya. She is the Afrian Orisha (spirit) who rules over change. In the Afro-Brazilian faith called Condomblé she is the Orixa known as Iansã. She is the natural phenomenon that is the storm. Oya, who is the winds of change and transformation. She brings clarity, courage the ability to objectively decide the best path to take. She can "clear the air" with regard to disputes. She can "clean house" of any people, situations or relationships that need to be removed from our lives. Her lesson can b quite painful and unpleasant. She is quite often more like a tornado, but lately I'm very fortunate to see the summer breeze aspect of her, which I didn't know she had! So I'm quite greatful for that! I still have a piece of glass in my arm from her coming down on me. Often times you will see her represented as St. Barbara, St. Catherine or St. Theresa.

She comes up in readings as the Queen and/or Ace of Swords. Wednesday is her sacred day and her number is 9. I needed to say thank you to her for several things so when I looked at today's date, I realize today was the perfect day to do so. It's Wednesday the 27th. 2+7=9. And it has rained with wind gusts ALL day long. One of the lesser blessings she bestowed was to hold off the rain and storms for the garden party my new friend in the UK, Tracey, was having last Saturday. Because it was supposed to rain and the wind was starting to get strong. Yet we got about 5 min f rain, the wind calmed down, and we even got one her symbols people often forget, the rainbow! The joy and blessings that come after the storm.

Another thing I needed to thank her for was a much larger blessing of no severe storms this year. In two days time, August 29, it will be 9 years since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Here is an article from the local paper, The Times Picayune about plans for the Gentilly area, which was hit quite badly. One cousin of mine had 14" of water in her house. He father a few blocks away had about the same. 9 years later, many empty lots remain. And the fact that where a multitude of massive oak trees, banana trees and mimosas, there are almost NO TREES at all for blocks and blocks makes it look down right creepy! This sight has a very interesting 11 Facts About Hurricane Katrina, one of which being #7. An estimated 80% of New Orleans was under water, up to 20 ft deep in places.

6. Today I used cards from my Earth Magic Oracle to honor her. Although we have another month to go before hurricane season is over, I am so grateful there have been no storms to affect the US thus far. I also gave a free mini reading yesterday to a client who is a child of her's. And today I left her an offering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I honor Oya. She is the Afrian Orisha (spirit) who rules over change. In the Afro-Brazilian faith called Condomblé she is the Orixa known as Iansã. She is the natural phenomenon that is the storm. Oya, who is the winds of change and transformation. She brings clarity, courage the ability to objectively decide the best path to take. She can "clear the air" with regard to disputes. She can "clean house" of any people, situations or relationships that need to be removed from our lives. Her lesson can b quite painful and unpleasant. She is quite often more like a tornado, but lately I'm very fortunate to see the summer breeze aspect of her, which I didn't know she had! So I'm quite greatful for that! I still have a piece of glass in my arm from her coming down on me. Often times you will see her represented as St. Barbara, St. Catherine or St. Theresa.

She comes up in readings as the Queen and/or Ace of Swords. Wednesday is her sacred day and her number is 9. I needed to say thank you to her for several things so when I looked at today's date, I realize today was the perfect day to do so. It's Wednesday the 27th. 2+7=9. And it has rained with wind gusts ALL day long. One of the lesser blessings she bestowed was to hold off the rain and storms for the garden party my new friend in the UK, Tracey, was having last Saturday. Because it was supposed to rain and the wind was starting to get strong. Yet we got about 5 min f rain, the wind calmed down, and we even got one her symbols people often forget, the rainbow! The joy and blessings that come after the storm.

Another thing I needed to thank her for was a much larger blessing of no severe storms this year. In two days time, August 29, it will be 9 years since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Here is an article from the local paper, The Times Picayune about plans for the Gentilly area, which was hit quite badly. One cousin of mine had 14" of water in her house. He father a few blocks away had about the same. 9 years later, many empty lots remain. And the fact that where a multitude of massive oak trees, banana trees and mimosas, there are almost NO TREES at all for blocks and blocks makes it look down right creepy! This sight has a very interesting 11 Facts About Hurricane Katrina, one of which being #7. An estimated 80% of New Orleans was under water, up to 20 ft deep in places.

6. Today I used cards from my Earth Magic Oracle to honor her. Although we have another month to go before hurricane season is over, I am so grateful there have been no storms to affect the US thus far. I also gave a free mini reading yesterday to a client who is a child of her's. And today I left her an offering.

 

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Serving Oya on Katrina's 8th Aniversary

*Oya - click to see this glorious deck!

Today marks the 8th Aniversary of Hurricane Katrina. There is so much detail I could give with regard to my own personal experience, but to be completely honest, I just plain don't want to right now. But I will tell you I sat in the airport for 8 1/2 hours that day. NOTHING but the power of prayer/positive affirmation got me the hell out of there or the city, trust and believe me on that!

There is a specific spirit who rules over storms, Oya. She is a warrior, the the keeper of the cemetaries, winds of change, and associated with massive transformation. When you need to release the things that no longer serve you well, you can call on Oya, but in my personal experience and that of those I know to have worked with her, she ain't for the faint of heart. You'd be well advised to only call on Oya when you are sick and tired if being sick and tired! She and her sister Oshun (with whom she does not get along) have both been all around me for the past 2 weeks, sending very specific signs and messages to me. As a matter of fact, Oshun told me I had to ask Oya to clear my path before she could bring in her gifts of joy and prosperity. (Note the phrase "clear my path". Ever seen footage of the path a tornado leaves when it cuts through?! It's kinda like that, it ain't pretty folks. In fact, to be blunt, it rather sucks I'd have to say!) The lady has been quite busy, and I can't say I'm not a bit worse for the wear. The thing is, your life is always better for it once th storm is over. She is the school of hard knocks.

Oya's sacred day is Wednesday and her colors are dark purple and burgundy. Items sacred to her are black plums, red grapes, red wine, eggplants, storm clouds, wind, and the machete she uses to chop down and clear out anything obstructing your path. In the tarot, she comes up for me as the Ace of Swords, the Queen of Swords, or the Death XIII card. You could call on her during a storm or when it is windy. Write or speak your petiton for the changes you need or want and ask her for the courage to weather the storm. Then place any of these cards in front of a purple candle with one of the items sacred to her. To show your gratitude, take any of these items to a cemetery, leaving it at the gate since she is who watches over it.

 

I brought her a gorgeous eggplant today and put it on her altar to say thank your for giving me the strength to withstand the massive changes going on in and around my life. It was also thanking her for keeping The Crescent Lady safe so far this hurricane season. And for the blessings, strength and courage that came from Katrina. The one new lesson I'm learning is to stop resisting the winds of change she blows and allow her to have you land where she sees fit and is best for you to start your path anew.

 

 

QofSw - Vampire Tarot Deck by Nathalie Hurtz for U.S. Games

Death - Tarot of Vampires by Ian Daniels

Ace of Sw - Dark Angels Tarot by Luca Russco for LoSacrabeo

 

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Don't Put Out Fires With Gasoline

I have been experiencing some pretty amazing spiritual occurrences lately. One of them is something that is occurring on my alter to Ezili Danto. (Given her extreme fondness for blades she is the Queen of Swords in the tarot) Some things happened that caught her attention and caused her extremely protective motherly nature to be quite heated. So much so that I had to take the advice that those with far more experience than I when it comes to dealing with Spirit and not work with her and do everything to cool her down. I haven't done anything more than say hello and change her water and not worn red in over 3 weeks. Danto's protection can be like bringing an RPG (rocket propelled granade) to a fist fight. It seems that she loves me so dearly that I don't even have to ask for her help. She keeps an eye on me like a Mom with eyes in the back of her head.

When you put water on alters you want it to be room temperature because some spirits are "hot" and some "cool" ones and don't want to shift that. But since I needed to cool Mamma Danto off, I had to put ice cold water on her alter. Anything less may be like putting jet fuel on a match cause she real fired up these days. Each time I do, something very interesting happens. Now I'm not well versed enough in physics to break it down but the short version is this. Bubbles that do not move when the glass is tapped and look almost like little glass beads form within about 5-10 min after I put the chalice on her alter. The way it was explained to me is that this can only occur when there is a drastic difference in temperature that has come in contact with an object. Meaning something very hot touched the cold glass in order for the bubbles to have formed like this. Tonight makes the third time it has happened. All I can say is the next time I question if Spirit is around me I'll remember what a dumb ass question that is lol!

*deck used is Tarot of the Sweet Twilight from LoScarabeo, quite possibly my favorite version of the QofSw of any deck. Not sure why the Blogsy app always distorts the images/angle of the photos of the cards*

 

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Fête Kongo 2013

The Twelfth Night after Chritmas is a very important one for several reasons. It is technically the beginning of Carnival Season. Mardi Gras is a day, Carnival is the season that leads up to it. It is also the Feat of the Epiphany, Adoration of The Magi, or Feast of Three Kings. The Haitian Lwa who represents the three kings is one of the Kongo spirits known as Simbi. (Actually Simbi is particular spirit with many diverse aspects.) He is represented as a water snake. To honor him my dear friend, fellow reader and traditional Haitian vodou priest Toby gave a spirit beautiful party (fête) for him and all of the Kongo spirits, Fete Kongo. It was a wonderful and magickal night! The synchronicites surronding everything leading up to it including the exact moment I arrived were astounding! So many Lwa came and I had unbelievable interaction with the one that I am closest to, LaSirene! I'll be post more on those things later.

 

Tonight I wanted to ask what I needed to take from that night and what did I need to share and teach others about here on the blog. It makes all the sense that I got two court cards and a major.

1. What did I need to take away from Feté Kongo? The Quill Queen (Queen of Swords) - This particular card surprised me in a way to be honest. I was expecting The High Priestess to be perfectly honest because of LaSirene. This is who represents Ezili Danto. I made a post about her before. She is probably the second closest spirit I work with so I guess it isn't that strange. One of the synchronicites I had was seeing both of her sacred animals that night! While driving there I saw a black pig right on the side of the hiway! Crazy man, just crazy. Having spent a lot of time in rural FL, GA, and LA I've not once ever seen a boar of any kind let alone a black one! Then later on a saw a black hen, her other animal! And my bosses precocious and adorable little girl, Lily named her Lucky! What makes this truly amazing is the fact that one of the dearest people in the world to me is named Lucky and he has developed a very strong bond with Mamma Danto. As a matter of fact he just left my house this evening. After living in New Orleans for many years, he is leaving town. I will miss him more than words can say.

(I think this card is to let me know a few other things, not just about the party. To remind me of the synchronicites surrounding her. That the blessing Lucky got from her last week will keep him safe in his travels. That she will always protect me and keep me safe even though he won't be her representative to do so. This gorgeous Queen holds a quill. No matter where he goes, he promised to keep in touch and he will. Mamma will remind him. There are others meanings I will save for another time, but this is a wonderful card to see tonight, Queen of Knives, Queen of Air)

 

2. What do I need to have others take away from reading about the fête?

A. Triskelion X - My annual card for 2013! In the Incidental Tarot this is the Wheel. As I look at the various colors swirling about, I think of how gorgeous a fête is, all of the beautiful colors on the alter and the variation of races celebrating and honoring Spirit. The swirling motion reminds me of the dancing we did all night. This card says we need to embrace and respect our differences, be it religion, race, socio-economics, gender, sexual orientation, whatever. We must move past stagnant mentality if we are to move forward and evolve.

B. The Arrow King - (King of Wands) - This king is here to let those who've never been to a Spirit party know just how much effort and passion goes into putting one together. It is a true labor of love, but so worth it. There are some hot and firey spirits that show up. If you ever have the privilege to attend, treat them with the utmost respect.

 

I am so blessed to have been a part of such a wonderful night!

 

 

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Ezili Dantor and the Queen of Swords

There are many powerful Haitian spirits, or Lwa. One of the most misunderstood and most vilified is Ezili Danto . Tuesday is her sacred day. In the tarot, she is the Queen of Swords. In fact, blades are one of  her most sacred items. First and foremost she is a devoted mother and fierce protectress. Like the QofSw she is direct and to the point, no nonsense, very intelligent and a woman of action who gets results. She takes matters into her own hands and doesn't mind it one bit if they have to get a bit dirty. She is raw and gritty and makes no apologies for it. She is painfully honest and can see and cut straight through bullshit, deception or hidden agendas so you'd do wise to not come to her with any of the above. Think... Gemini female. They can be your best friend or your worst nightmare. The argument could be made that they are crazy and irrational as well as just plain mean. It could also be made that if you approach them with foolishness, dishonesty or a trickery, you get what you deserve. That could be a razor sharp tongue. It could be getting shanked. I'm jus sayin'... But if you are lucky enough to have one your side, you have a valiant ally.

You can seek Ezili Danto's assistance for a number of issues, but she is prone to show favor on certain groups in particular: single mothers, abused women and children, victims of violent crime, women with their own businesses, victims of rape or incest, gay and in particular lesbian individuals, and any one being oppressed or mistreated. Clearly, if you have caused any harm to anyone who fits into any of these categories, it would be ill advised to seek help from her. Items sacred to Danto are cigars, rum, red wine, yams, hot peppers, hot sauce, pineapples, knives/blades, sweet potatoes, red roses with thorns, Florida water, silver jewelry, and unfiltered cigarettes, Lucky Strikes in particular. Another great way to connect with her is by using her veve. Each Lwa has their own veve, or symbol. It acts as a calling card for that particular spirit. Danto's colors are blood red and royal blue. These things can be used on an alter to her, or to call upon her to ask for help or to show your gratitude after she has helped you. (And always put water on an alter to any of the Lwa)She does not require a lot, nor expensive or extravagant gifts in or for her to do work for you. But you must give her something to show your respect and appreciate her. It doesn't have to be complicated, just sincere. And if you make a promise, by all means keep it! If you say you will light red and blue candles and leave a bottle of Night Train or a 40oz and a pack of Kool's and a yam do so! She is a very loving but stern Mamma, not a woman to be toyed with or taken for granted. She will also help with prosperity. Now she most likely wont just give you money like other spirits will, but she will provide you with the opportunities to earn it, particularly if you need to provide for a child or to get out of an abusive or dangerous situation.

*my alter for Ezili Danto* One more thing that is very important to mention. This is Ezili Danto. Do NOT confuse her with her sister, who's name I won't even put in the same sentence. I will explain further in future post, but suffice it to say they do NOT like each other! Don't ask them to work on the same situation. And by all means do NOT have their alters next to nor facing each other.

Call on Danto if you need protection and the courage to fight and find strength when you need it. She honors vulnerability, raw honesty, hard work and will help you conquer fear by facing it head on teach you to survive as well as thrive in spite of adversity or oppression.
*Danto's veve*