Just Pics :)

Images of what’s been going around here in the last days. I can’t help trying to make beauty last a little more by photographing it – a true therapy for counting your own blessings!

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New Items: Leather Pouches And Altar Trivet

Three new beautiful upcycled (but unused) leather pouches, handsewn by Fernando and adorned by me with gorgeous vintage ribbons.

Strawberry Magick Altar Trivet: This piece has been crocheted from first quality green moss wool, and hand embroidered with felt appliques representing a branch of strawberries. Then, a red outline was crocheted and finally the piece was backed with green felt. Use it to show off gemstones, to place under your cauldron or incense burner to preserve your furniture from getting too hot, or simply as a teapot trivet for your Special Magick Tea Time :). I have pictured it here with my glass ball, as it does wonderfully with heavy items.

You can find these items at The Hoodoo Shop at Etsy.

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My Etsy Favourites Goes Green: In Honour Of Earth Day III

What would be better to close this Earth Day weekend posts than a selection of some of the prettiest upcycled/eco-friendly items I have found for you. Inspiration for a greener life!

Plantable Handmade Paper Butterflies With Flower Seeds by Recycled Ideas

Lime And Grass Upcycled Table Pad by SallyRags

Upcycled Tree Limb Bird Feeder by NaturallyupNorth

Seed Balls For Guerrilla Gardening by Wall Flower Studio

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New Listings This Week At The Hoodoo Shop

Pomba Gira Cards: On the front you can see a restored reproduction from a very old card I have in my collection, that depicts Pomba Gira as a demoness, as she is worshipped in Brazil. On the back you can read a (very) shortened version of her traditional prayer to bind a lover. The card measures approx 5×8 cms, the regular size of a business card. Use it to build a mini altar, keep it in your wallet, your car or anywhere where you need her protection. The card comes in protective ziplock bag and has been printed on high quality photographic paper.

Hoodoo Scapulars: A scapular is a devotional item of Catholic origin consisting on a small piece of felt with either a religious image, a symbol of adherence to the worship of a saint, or simply a cross. Scapulars protect, keep negative energies away and are beautiful and powerful talismans.

We have chosen a selection of the most popular Hoodoo saints and made this scapulars just for you. All scapulars measure 2×3 cms (0,8 x 1,2 inches) and depict antique holy cards from our collection. The images have been printed on high quality photographic paper, laminated and backed with red felt. A small loop of red ribbon was added to help you attaching it to your clothes, wallet, rosary, etc., or hang it at your altar as you prefer. All scapulars have received a blessing from me.

AVAILABLE SCAPULARS:
- Saint Anthony Of Padua (Eleggua): Opportunities, luck and crossroads in life. Protection for children. The Hoodoo saint of the GLBT community.
- Saint Barbara (Shango): Justice and protection from enemies.
- Saint Dymphna: Protection from evil spirits and ghosts. Patroness of exorcists.
- Saint Expedite: Quick problem solving. Patron of difficult causes and stagnant problems.
- Saint Francis Of Assisi (Ochosi): Faith, communication with the Divine. Protector of animals.
- Saint George (Ogum): Empowerment and Justice, Service. Protector of the forest/jungle and of craftsmen.
- Holy Child Of Atocha (Eleggua): Opportunities, luck and crossroads in life. Protection for children.
- Saint Isidore (Osain): Protector of farmers and herbalists.
- Sacred Heart Of Jesus (Obatala): General Protection and blessing. Protector of balance and harmony.
- Saint Judas: Difficulties and stagnant situations. Patron of lost causes.
- Saint Lazarus (Babaluaye): Physical healing and charity. Protector of the ill, the poor and the homeless.
- Saint Martha (Mami Wata): Power over enemies and addictions. Patroness of troubled women.
- Saint Patrick (Damballah): Protection and spirituality. Puts away evil spirits.
- Saint Rita (Oba): Sacrifice and generosity, patroness of difficult causes and marriage.
- Saint Theresa (Oya): Ancestor worship, business protection, enlightenment. Protector of Spirits.
- Virgin Of Guadalupe: General protection and blessing.
- Virgin Of The Sacred Heart: General protection and blessing. Holiness and motherhood.

Protection Jewelry:
All these pieces have received a protection blessing from me – they have been made with natural materials like wood, coconut, shell, glass, bone, etc., several of them feature my hand-sculpted totem animal charms. Please see detailed listings at the shop.

You can find all these items at The Hoodoo Shop at Etsy

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In Honour Of Earth Day II: Our Little Piece Of Nature

Our roof garden, also called The Rara Avis Magick Garden, is our little piece of Mother Nature and our Temple. Made almost completely with salvaged and upcycled items and using saved, wildharvested and heirloom seeds, is an example that there are no excuses/obstacles for stubborn urban gardeners like us :). Enjoy the eye-candy!

Our Garden Goddess, irradiating beauty, wealth and growth. The altar is not finished, but we have plans ;) .

Plantain, Motherwort and Valerian. This looks like a fairy planet to me. As you can see, most of the pots are “adorned” with glass pebbles, marbles and shells for the Fairies to play with.

Spearmint, one of my favourite herbs, and so much more than just a digestive aid!

Safflower, also known as Fake Saffron – we’re expecting the seeding of the several plants we have very soon.

Canarian Sage – it has just finished seeding and is growing strong again after the winter.

The very, very rare and gorgeous flower of the Air Carnation, an aerial plant.

Creeping Thyme fairy-size forest – I would have a full size one if I had the space :).

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In Honour Of Earth Day: Eco-Friendly Crafts

As you know, here at Hoodooville we are crazy about the Earth :) – there is hardly a day here where we don’t recycle, upcycle, forage or remake. I have to admit I do not like much the concept of Earth Day because we firmly believe it HAS TO be Earth Day every day, or else this Earth won’t make it for too long – but, it is actually a wonderful excuse to show you some of the Earth-loving crafts that we make around here :).

Lace-Covered Jars: my sister saves all the jars at her household and brings them to me. We use them mainly for herbs and craft stuff storage, but here’s a prettier use – you just clean the jars to take off the tags, and cover them with scraps of lace. You can sew it or glue it, and embellish it with scraps of ribbon, yarn, cord… we used jute cord and wooden beads to fit our “tribal victorian” decor. As you can see, they make wonderful tea light holders, pencil jars, vanity room decor (for face scrubbies, make up brushes), and even mini-planters, if you put a small plant inside.

Wood Paillet Garden Table: made from salvaged wood, nails, white glue and love.

Bed Base Greenhouse: made from two salvaged bed bases and roofed with a reed screen that was a gift from a friend. Our summer is so hard that we need to protect some of the plants we have from extreme heat and sun; so, our greenhouses must be open for air drafts instead of closed to prevent freeze.

Rag Rugs: This is a Jarapa, a traditional Canarian rag rug, made by us from discarded clothes given to us by friends.

Recycled Candles: we recycle all the leftover wax from our devotional candles – first, we make the wicks braiding cotton thread and prime the wicks with wax, leaving them to dry for a whole day. Then we cut up the wax in small chunks, separating them in colour ranges and melt it in a double boiler. Pour the melted wax on the containers and voilá! Recycled candles.

Woodcarving: Fernando handcarved this gorgeous herb spoon from salvaged pine wood.

Gift Giving: Hand-dyed vintage cotton fabric, tea-dyed lace and an evening of sewing made this beautiful pouch for my best friend’s birthday. 100% recycled materials.

House Keeping: handsewn potholders, 100% recycled materials.

Well, I hope this has inspired you – and remember to make 365 Earth Days a year!!!!

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Handpainted Holy Mother And Child Statue (Sold)

Note: This piece is sold already.

This unique piece has been made handpainting with the utmost detail a chalkware image of the Virgin of Mount Carmel. My idea was to move away from the traditional images of Mary and Jesus into more colourful figures; I wanted to concentrate in Mary as the Mother aspect of the Goddess, more than in the Catholic idea of Her. This is the first piece of a new series in our Catholic Hoodoo products.

Her clothes and adornments, in cyan, turquoise and green blues, represent the Atlantic Ocean. They have been adorned with gold paint featuring stars on the dress and roses on her headwear, two symbols that are highly related to the Goddess. Her dark-tone skin was inspired both in the beautiful Canarian woman, tanned by the sun, and by the Black Madonnas that are so famous in Spain and that are closely tied in history with the Templar order.

The figure measures 17 cms/6,6 inches without the halo. I have added a piece of real suede beneath it to avoid scratching. It is a One Of A Kind piece that took several days of work to complete. You can find it at The Hoodoo Shop at Etsy.

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Giveaway Winner!

First of all, we would like to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who participated – you are AWESOME!!! We wish we could send this gift to each and every one of you, but sadly that is not possible so… we had to let Lady Luck pick only one. Without further ado:

:D CONGRATULATIONS ROBIN FROM PAGAN IN THE ROUGH, YOU ARE THE GIVEAWAY’S WINNER!!!!!! :D

I will email you right now so you can send me your address and your gift will be shipped in no time!

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Canarian Witches – The Santiguadora

Santiguadora is the name given to beneficial or healing Witches in the Canary Islands. The pictures included in this post, which will be the first of a series, were taken by Domingo García Barbuzano for his book “Practice And Belief Of A Canarian Witch”, a real hard-to-find treasure that I’m proud to have in my collection and that has been out of print for many years.

The woman in these pictures made by him is Mrs. Eloína Expósito Mendoza (1887-1980), known as “Lugina”, who lived in the upper part of La Laguna, the city where I’ve lived most of my life. Her knowledge and practises were documented in this book. In this picture, you can see her holding her father’s lantern, which was used to scare evil spirits away.

As it happens with Witches on all traditions, her knowledge was orally transmitted for generations, from other healers in Tenerife. Since Lugina did not know how to write or read, she had to learn the prayers, medicines and spells by memory, just by being a helper for more experienced healers of the Anaga mountains. During her poor and difficult life as a peasant, she was a maid, a milk seller and a midwife, but as her work as a healer was known all around Anaga, she started working at her home and at villages all over the mountains, where she was required to heal and treated with much respect as time passed.

In Canarian Witchcraft, the roles of male and female healers are clearly divided; while women administrate and prepare herbal medicines and heal spiritual illness, male Santiguadores usually work on broken/dislocated bones and muscles and work against “evil” spirits. Of course, there are exceptions, as Lugina herself used to work on all that matters, but it is very usual that a healer is “specialized” in one or two types of illnesses; my own father, for example, knows how to “cut the Sun” (heal suntrokes), and that is all he does. His mother, my grandmother, used to heal “empachos” (digestion problems) with rue, but I do not know of any other healing activities that she practised.

In this second picture, you can see Lugina healing a child suffering from Erysipela, a very dangerous skin infection, using “Hierba Mora” ( Sanguisorba Officinalis, also called Great Burnet). I have to say that I suffered from Erysipela when I was a child and was healed by a Santiguadora in the town of Los Cristianos using this very same method. Erysipela can cause necrosis – that is, the death of body tissue; what antibiotics did not do for me, a healer did and I was cured after three days of prayers. I could have lost my right leg up to the groin – so you can imagine how much I believe in this practises after being a patient of these Santiguadoras myself.

I hope you have enjoyed this post! On future “issues” of this series, I will be adding recipes, traditions and more images of Canarian Witchcraft. Stay tuned!

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OOAK Magick Bottles Set Listed!

The box measures 4×8 cms (1,8 x 3 inches approx.) and is handsewn in olive green leather. The box contains four mini glass bottles with hand drawn tags and purple thread ornaments, each one featuring a magickal animal totem: the crow, the owl, the fox and the goat. The four bottles rest on a bed of beautiful wool in autumnal forest colours. The lid of the box is made of fine arts cardboard, leather and gold paint. The box is presented closed and tied with a natural jute string, in case you want to give it as a gift. The bottles are empty; you can fill them with resins, oils, perfumes, relics, animal bits… it’s up to your imagination!

I am in love with Medieval Witchcraft since I started studying the Craft; figures like Paracelso and Cornelius Agrippa are two of my biggest influences. This mini set is in many ways a homage to that figures, and a reminder of uniqueness as every bit (except the bottles of course) is handmade by us and won’t be repeated. The mix of textures – leather, wool, glass, cardboard – makes this piece tactile, experimental and inspiring for the senses; actually I was seriously tempted to keep it for myself!

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