Omiero (With Saint Michael’s Help)

Omiero is a cleansing and blessing liquid made with fresh herbs and flowers, water and other elements, and was one of the first Santeria works I learnt how to make. There are many different recipes for different needs, but the basic idea is always the same: herbs and flowers must always be fresh (so recipes are adapted depending on the season), and no knife or scissors must be used to crush the herbs, which have to be crushed by hand or with a pilón (a huge wooden mortar). Some people like to add only herbs, some add oils and perfumed waters; some use it immediately, some let it rest overnight; as with so many things in these religions, it really depends on the practitioner. The last “must” is that Omiero cannot be kept after use, and all the remaining liquid after cleansing must be offered as a libation to the land spirits. Omiero is used by sprinkling it/spraying it on people (we use a few branches of wormwood tied together), adding a portion to a bucket of water as a floor wash, and even drunk if herbs are edible and there is nothing else added to the mix.

Saint Michael always makes the best omieros, specially for protection and cleansing. On this pic, you can see him on the dish we used to make the Omieros, blessing the mix. The waters and herbs have been added; then the statue is removed, and the herbs crushed by hand carefully for about an hour. All along the process, one of us light candles and incense and cleans up the altar, asking for the blessing of all the Spirits.

Here, you can see the herbs crushed. An oil lamp with three Mechitas has been added, and left to empower the Omiero for as long as needed, while praying/chanting/drumming or whatever we are making for the Spirits that day. After it has “cooked” long enough, the oil lamp is placed on the altar and the Omiero is strained and used – this time we were using it to bless the whole house, so we just placed it in a pot big enough to dip the wormwood bouquet on it and use it as a aspergillum.

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Just Listed: Garden Of Ochum Necklace

The Orisha Ochum, sister of Yemanya, is the Queen of rivers, lakes, streams and falls, and of all the natural abundance that these type of environments bring. She is also the Orisha of love and sensuality, the enchanting dancer, the maker of potions and keeper of secrets of aphrodisiac herbs and foods. Generous, kind hearted and lover of children, she is one of the most revered Orishas in the whole world, so right after the Yemanya necklace (now sold), we wanted to honour her with a very special piece!

Using the traditional beads used in Santeria necklaces, I entwined several strands in her colours (honey, orange, green, red, mauve) along with many others, creating a cascade of flowers and colour. Beads include frosted glass, cat’s eye, and a selection of resin bell flowers. As all Santeria necklaces should be, this has been threaded with double extra-durable cotton thread, making it perfect to accept offerings or to be used as a Mazo necklace during ritual.

Necklace measures 23 inches/59 cms. (fits all sizes), and closes with a secure lobster clasp. This piece cannot be reduced in size, but a chain extender can be added at no cost at your request. Since this is a One Of A Kind item, it has been listed at our Zibbet shop only.

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Customers Please Read: Asking For Help!

As you know, we are taking care of a friend who has just been through a very complicated surgery. Since our friend resides in Madrid, her and her husband have had to move here for the surgery, and for the following month of recovery. She is a self-employed animal caretaker, and her husband is unemployed: a very frail situation that has left them completely broke since both of them have no income at all right now, and are far away from home.

They are staying home with us so their most urgent needs are covered, but we can’t help them with the coming bills, rent and such, because we barely make ends meet ourselves; but we firmly believe there is always something you can do to help others, so we have created this auction.

Rules Of The Auctions

- Each item will stay up for auction for 3 days, to give enough time to all our customers worldwide to bid. There is no minimum bid. We will continue to add items along the week.
- Please send your bid to magickshop@gmail.com. If you’re the higher bidder, I will communicate with you via email to let you know, and to ask for your Paypal and shipping address.
- Shipping costs are NOT included in the price of the auction.Those will be calculated according to your location and added to the Paypal invoice.
- Invoices must be paid in 48 hours.
- If you want your items to be kept until auctions are over, so they can be shipped together, we will gladly do so.
- Donations are, of course, more than welcome. We will pay Paypal fees from our own pocket, and give all the money to our friends.
- If you can’t bid or donate, there is always something you can do! Share this page on your Facebook page, email it to a friend, or simply send a prayer! The power of devotion is much stronger than you think!!

To see all the auction items, please click HERE.

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Just Listed: Rose Of The Ocean Necklace

One of a kind necklace inspired by Yemanya, queen of the Oceans and mother of all Orishas. Three strands of glass beads, glass pearls and rose-shaped carved acrylic beads are tied together with four connectors enchanced with tiny crystals. The center piece holds five pendants: two fishes, emblem of her kingdom, two bell flowers as this is her favourite offering, and an abalone shell with a mermaid charm, as the mermaid is one of her most common aspects.

The necklace has a lovely carved clasp with a security chain with a lobster clasp, and measures 18 inches/45 cms at its inner side, making it a M/L size. This necklace cannot be extended or reduced, so no size customization is available on this piece.

Perfect as a gift/offering to Yemanya, or to wear during ritual, and one of a kind! I would like to add that part of the beads used were a gift from the Yemanya Priestess of the House Of Eleggua Temple, adding tremendous value and spiritual energy to this piece.

Since this is a OOAK piece, it has been listed at our Zibbet shop only.

EDIT – SOLD!!!

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Restorative Tea Recipe

This tea has been created for our friend’s recovery. Since she has to take a lot of medicines, there are several digestive herbs, that will keep the health of her digestive system. Sedative herbs have been added to help her sleep as much as she needs, to encourage the natural recovery of her body; finally, a good dose of Nettle will keep her iron levels high – and just because Nettle is one of those good-for-all herbs.

This tea has a really good taste, so it can be taken with or without sugar/honey, and hot or cold as you prefer. We made a bottle of it, and kept it in the fridge so she can take it all day long as she desires. I always recommend this method, as it is an easy and effective way to take herbal medicines, instead of making one cup at a time, which is obviously much more work.

- Two parts Spearmint (Mentha Spicata) – digestive;
- Two parts Orange Flower petals – sedative;
- Two parts Nettle (Urtica Dicoica) – nutritive;
- Two parts Fennel (Foeniculum Vulgare) – digestive;
- One part Chamomile (Matricaria Camomila) – sedative + digestive;
- One Part Lemon Verbena (Aloysia Triphylla) – sedative + digestive.

Boil one litre of distilled water. Turn the heat off completely, add the herbs, let sit for 7 minutes, strain.

I thought it would also be an excellent tea to recover from colds, specially for those people who get stomach sickness with colds. Another use for this recipe would be during menstruation, as several of those herbs reduce cramps, it is very high in iron and the taste is really comforting. Hope you enjoy this wonderful herbal medicine!

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Back To Business :)

Our friend will be released from hospital today and coming to our home for her recovery, so we are back at work. Readings and spellwork will stay off until next Monday at least, because we need to recharge batteries after so many hours in such an energy-draining place as a hospital. In the next days, blogging and listing will go back to our regular schedule. Once again, thanks so much for your patience, your good wishes, your prayers and your candles!

Now, off to finish cleaning and making my Super Quick Recovery Magical Soup :D.

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Our Friend’s Surgery Update – Thanks So Much Everyone!

We just arrived from the hospital, and I wanted to let you all know that our friend has passed the surgery without any complication, and even though she still has a tough recovery ahead, she is as ok as it is to be expected. We could only see her a few minutes after a wait of more than 10 hours, but she was awake and at least we could let her know how much we love her.

Also, I wanted to send a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who have been sending messages, praying and setting candles for her. I have been showing every message and pic to her, and I will continue to do so when she comes back, most likely on Tuesday. I am quite sure your positive energy and prayers have definitely helped!!!

Hopefully tomorrow she will be taken to a room (she’s at the post-operatory room for the night), so we’ll be there all day, but I wanted to give you a quick update before getting a huge shower to scrub off the hospital smell and crash into bed until tomorrow.

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As Promised…

…today I will delight you with some images of last year’s Tenerife Carnival, and a brief introduction about it.

The Tenerife Carnival starts at the end of January and lasts for a month, not on the exact same days every year. This year, from Friday 17th to Monday 20th of February are the dates when (literally) millions of tourists will join us in the city of Santa Cruz, and on a much smaller scale in other cities, to celebrate on the streets during a whole 4 day weekend of pure Bachanalia. Costumes are a must, no matter if big or small, simple or complex, and of course there’s lots of partying, alcohol and general debauchery.

I love it. No, I LOVE IT. I come from a family of seamstresses and January was always a busy month at home – as soon as Christmas was over, costumes were designed and my two grandmothers and my mother would spend weeks sewing costumes for the Gonzalez side of the family, who have the Carnival inserted on their blood. Since this events are mostly for adults, me and my sister would get nice costumes for the school Carnival day, and maybe for our hometown parade, which was way smaller than the ones in Santa Cruz. On the night of Monday, everyone was dressed, make up and wigs were applied, cocktails were combined and off they went to party all night, while my mother and my two grandmothers fell into a exhaustion-induced coma. I never saw them once in costume as I grew up.

As an adult, I find the crowds a bit too much to enjoy, but recently the City Hall has been working on a lot of day events during that week, so we may be joining them this year, if we have the time to create some new costumes. But even if we don’t participate on the big events, the Carnival is simply all around. People in costume are a common sight everywhere as hardly there isn’t one Canarian that is not involved with the Carnival in one way or another. There are the murgas, which are comical groups that create songs to criticize the government and society; the comparsas, amazing dancing groups very much in the style of Brazil’s carnival; and the three acts for choosing the Queens of the Carnival – a child queen, a young woman queen and a senior queen.

Member of a children’s murga.

Comparsa dancers.

Pictures of the amazing costumes of the queens below – yes, each one of those is only one costume, carried by one person! Around 25 of the biggest businesses on the island pay a small fortune to provide for these costumes, and they are usually made by a hoard of crafters that start working as soon as October the previous year.

And then, there’s the Drag Carnival Queen, my all-time favourite event, which (sadly for me) happens on the island of Gran Canaria – but more of that on a future post…

Important Note: these images are not mine – they were found HERE and HERE – they are shown for educational purposes only.

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Sunday Afternoon Reflections

This has been a really exhausting week. On top of spellwork and/or readings every day, it has been one of those weeks where it seems all the people I love is going through some sort of stress, and needed comfort and company. I am not the most sociable of human beings, and I need huge doses of solitude and silence regularly – so, to say that I’m tired is an understatement, really. An understatement, but not a complaint, because there is no bigger honour than giving a little peace of mind to a worried person, even if it’s just by listening and sharing the weight of their lives. When I signed to be on the Orishas’ side, I knew well I was devoting my life to helping others, and that my personal interests, which as you know are many, would always stand behind the priorities of a life of clergy.

My friend’s husband will arrive from Madrid tomorrow, so we are cleaning and organizing the work’s week today, so we can enjoy some quality time together before my friend’s operation on Friday. We want to bake him some treats since his birthday was yesterday, and maybe create some last-minute gifts for him. Fernando already made him a leather coin purse and I have some books I want to pass on to him, now that he’s completely immerse in the study of acupuncture.

We got some lovely gifts from our friend Lucy in the UK – thanks so much again Lucy, I have been all week reaching for my little purse full of magic, and enjoying the wonderful energy of your gift! We are so lucky to have met so many wonderful people online, that most times words are not enough to describe how we truly feel about you.

Even with all the madness, there has been some time for crocheting, specially during late nights. My friend asked me for a new pair of mittens, and I obligued of course.

Lucky dumpster find this week – this gorgeous copper and while glazed bowl. This is going to become Eleggua’s tureen, after we find an appropiate dish to act as the lid. The tureen is used to keep the Orisha’s sacred attributes, offerings, necklaces, and the Otan, or sacred stone that keeps the Orisha’s Aché. It will be given to Eleggua in a big ceremony with lots of offerings, which I hope to have ready for Mardi Gras eve, the biggest day of the Carnival week here – though that date is still undecided until our friend leaves hospital and we know for sure how long she’ll have to stay here afterwards.

And speaking of the Carnival, I really can’t wait for it this year. But more of that on next post!

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Quick Update

We just knew our friend’s operation will be on Friday January 20, instead of Wednesday as we were told first. So, we will be working until Thursday and our days without Tarot/Spellwork/Candlework services will be from Friday January 20 to Tuesday January 24, both included. We will work during the weekend as promised, so there are still several slots available – just contact us if you need anything!

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