Cooking For The Spirits I – A Small Banquet For Shango

Today and tomorrow we are working on making three big offerings for Shango, Oya and Eleggua for one of our most loved patrons. That means cooking, cooking and more cooking, so much that we couldn’t fit it in just one day.

While other paths require very little amounts of food (or none) when making offerings, the Afro-Caribbean religions go completely overboard when it comes to feeding Deities. Usually, this is managed by a whole community so each time a Saint/Orisha/Spirit day comes, the altar rooms become loaded with plate after plate of delicacies, as each family cooks their specialties, along with the foods that each tradition assigns to the specific Spirit. For us, being just two people, is not that easy, but still we manage to prepare as much as we can.

Cooking for a Spirit is not just cooking. The kitchen and ourselves must be completely clean while working, and it is required to bath and purify yourself and wear clean clothes. No other foods are prepared while doing that, and the kitchen must be constantly pristine, so while one cooks, the other washes and dries the implements. While everything is done, prayers in honour of the Orisha, and in this case a specific petition, are repeated to bless the food. The table must be prepared with the utmost care, and every plate is washed right before serving the food, no matter that they are already clean. After being served, more prayers are said while the Spirits feast, and usually drumming and chanting is performed in their honour.

First offering today – Shango. Free-range coquelet in *very hot* (as he loves it) tomato sauce with organic potatoes, fried bananas with honey, kneaded gofio in the shape of the double-headed axe (his symbol), apples, Dutch beer, herbs from our garden, candles and incense. Shango is one of the Orishas that eats more happily and abundantly, so he requires a small banquet! Although as usual traditions differ about his origin, I was taught that he is Eleggua’s brother, so Shango is Uncle Shango in our home, a much loved and very spoiled Uncle whose visits are always a reason to rejoice and feast.

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May 30, Day Of The Canary Islands

Tomorrow is the day of the Canary Islands. It is a local holiday, and we will be joining it by honouring our Guanche ancestors. Since everyone in the island will be partying, bbquing and going to the beach, we will stay at home – we have been thinking of some traditional crafty activities besides the usual offerings, but to be honest our activity plans (baking bread, spinning some yarn, gardening) sounded like every other day of our lives; proof that we are already as traditional as we can be (LOL).

Realizing this, I won’t deny it, made us really proud, because we were both raised to run after money and accept slave jobs just as anyone else, and making the change into a more conscious, self-sustained life took a very real and long effort, and even though now it seems completely natural for us, it wasn’t always like that. The understanding of the real value of owning your time, of working with your own hands, of creating an environment of sustainability, are priceless pieces of wisdom that change you slowly and quietly, turning you into a new person almost without noticing. And then, one day, you realize you have actually changed, and that you won’t see the world again with the same eyes.

So, to start celebrating the day of the Canary Islands, I am going to add to this post several Canarian legends – I published this text on our Newsletter last year, so some of you may have already read it; but for those of you who haven’t, well, here it is!

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Canarian Legends

The Garoe Tree
In the island of El Hierro, there was a tree considered specially sacred by the Guanches, the Garoe Tree. A giant specimen of this tree, an Ocotea Foetens, was worshipped at the Tinor Mountain, its trunk having five feet in diameter. Its branches were so high that they would pick up the mist of the low clouds and create a phenomena of rain dropping slowly from the condensation on the leaves. The Guanches had built a fountain at its root to collect the water, and all the ground around it was used as a farming are because the earth’s fertility was superior to the rest. Offerings and sacrifices were made at its feet.

The existence of this magical tree was widely documented by the Spanish – in 1610, a hurricane uprooted it and a deathly drought fell on the Bimbaches, the inhabitants of the island. It is believed that the Bimbaches hid the location of the sacred tree from the Spanish conquerors, but a young Guanche woman, in love with a Spanish soldier, betrayed the secret – as the Spanish knew of it, a curse fell on the Bimbaches, and the end of the Garoe Tree was the beginning of the curse, that ended in many Bimbaches dying of thirst during the drought.

Photo: the alleged location of the original Garoe Tree.

The Island Of San Borondon

The Island of San Borondon (Saint Brendan) belongs to that series of myths about hiding or disappearing islands like Avalon. Allegedly placed on the north of the Islands, the myth is tracked back to Greek authors like Ptolemy; it got its name from Saint Brendan of Cluainfort, who claimed to have arrived to the island on the year 512 with a group of monks.

As it happens on many European fairy tales, Brendan and the monks believed that they had been only one week on the island – discovering after the went back home that they had spent a whole year on the island, which was described as a paradise on earth. As in the Avalon myth, the island was supposed to be hidden by a thick mist that made it invisible to other ships.

I have to say that, even today, there is hardly a family in the islands that doesn’t have a member that claims to have seen the island, or that know someone who has seen it first-hand. As fishing has been one of the main sources of income for Canarian families, legends about the sea and its magic are still alive; sadly, traditional fishing has been taken over by industrial fishing, and it is very likely that this belief will die in the next generations.

Photo: 1707 map – the island of San Borondon is the little yellow point at the left of the Canary Islands.

The Tibicenas
The Guanches believed that the sons and daughters of Guayota, the evil deity that lived in the Teide Volcano, were the Tibicenas, which had the shape of huge, hairy black dogs with fiery red eyes. The Tibicenas were born out of the dark, endless night that followed the abduction of Magec, the god of light, by the god Guayota. Guayota hid Magec inside the Teide, and in the complete darkness the Tibicenas came out from the deep caves and ravines that surround the volcano.

The Tibicenas had to be placated with offerings of honey and milk, placed in the deeper spots of the ravines, to prevent them from ravaging the Guanche villages. Their howling during the night was considered a bad omen – I don’t know if this tradition is related to the Tibicenas, but my mother-in-law told me that in her hometown, an area with plenty of very deep ravines, you must turn your slippers upside down (sole showing up) to make the howling dogs quiet during the night, as the howling is considered an omen of death.

Photo: Canarian Presa mastiff, emblem of the islands.

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Wildharvesting

We didn’t have any appointments today, so we decided to go wildharvesting. We prefer to do it during work days so we are less watched by curious eyes :), as wildharvesting is a concept that clearly has not reached Canarians. The first impression we got today is that we are going to have to stretch the areas we forage at, because the island is dryer than we’ve ever seen. We are already really frugal in our harvesting, but this year we’ll have to do it even with more care to assure next year’s foraging.



We brought home fennel, canarian ivy, fig tree leaves, milk thistle, almond tree cuttings and leaves, and common vetch and poppy seed pods. Everything “re-plantable” will be tried, as we want to have them for our own garden and for replanting around, guerrilla gardening style.

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More Pics Of Last Night’s Cleansing Work

Right after a quick and light dinner we started working on the cleansing of the house. First, a herbal incense was prepared with herbs, barks, resin, oils, and all the witchy bits needed for a strong cleansing and protection.

While the magic of the incense was brewing, we made a small pot of Omiero. I have posted about it before, and I cannot say enough good things of how wonderfully this brew works. Since I prefer to use only fresh ingredients, the herbs used are the ones in season on our garden. Even though it looks like the pic below was made in full sunlight, it wasn’t – must be the magic of the Omiero, because it was taken past 10 pm!

Both incense and Omiero steeped about an hour in front of the altar, along with the offerings. Then, we placed the golden candle and a charcoal on a brass bowl as you can see below, and started the cleansing sprinkling and fumigating the whole house, going through each corner, from the farthest point to the front door. Prayers of cleansing and protection were repeated along the whole process, and our pets were blessed too. After finishing the cleansing, the Omiero was strained and used in a cleansing bath for ourselves, and there was enough left to bless our car and give to friends. Not a bit of magic is wasted!

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Offerings

I love to make my devotional work on Sunday nights, probably because today is my first day of work of the week. The altar got a full cleanse, and offerings of food, drinks, incense and candles were made. After dinner we will work on cleansing and blessing the house.

Important Note: Newsletter Subscribers – check your mail inbox! The Jewelry Sale newsletter has been sent today! If you are a subscriber and have not got your issue, please check your spam inbox or message me. Enjoy the new jewelry!

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Untitled II

Some of you asked to see the first oil pastel work done – well, here it is. It was drawn from life – it’s a very old vase, one of those that come with a basin to wash your face in the bedroom, and among my most loved possessions.

As you can see, I’m really old-fashioned with art. Bizantine style old-fashioned :D. I have nothing against modern, abstract or digital art, but most of it doesn’t inspire me or interest me, and I am the first to admit that this is most likely my own fault because I haven’t had any sort of formal art education. I’ve always been fascinated by technique more than by subject; give me a 16th century still life with dead fishes, tarnished silver and lemons, and I’m in heaven.

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Untitled

Super lucky dumpster find this week – an almost full art case. Colour pencils, markers, oils, watercolours and oil pastels, all courtesy of Exu Okkada.

For those who have been following this blog for a short time – Exu Okkada is the Exu that lives in the dumpster. We give him anything that’s not eaten or recycled from our offerings, any spare food that has expired, and any candles we have used for spells that were not consumed completely. I don’t know if this is different on other traditions, but I was taught that you cannot give him food that’s good enough to eat, or any kind of new items, or else he will think that you are wasting too much, and too carelessly, and will turn your luck around – something that reminds me a lot of those Fae folklore stories that warn you against giving too expensive gifts to the house fairies, or they will get very angry and leave.

The items are put together in a separate bag from our regular trash, and placed always on the same spot on the dumpster bins, safe from the stray animals that could open the bag (not because Okkada wouldn’t share with them, but because many human foods are toxic to animals). In return, he has given us tons of useful things, and some amazing gifts for pure enjoyment like this one – let me remind you that this is a very poor neighbourhood and that we have several “pro” dumpster scavengers that go through the bins every day, so it’s not like anyone has much to throw away here.

As you already know, we support recycling, upcycling and wildharvesting (in the wild or in the city) with a passion, and are involved in guerrilla gardening and charity projects along with the other Temple members. For us, Exu Okkada is a co-worker, because he provides for the poor, for the homeless, for the stray. We have never been homeless, but we have been, and still are, in need of Okkada’s help from time to time; so, he is also a patron, because my budget for art supplies is very limited, and I’m going to use all those supplies to the very last bit – and he knows it.

Now, if you don’t mind, I am going to attack the oil pastels. I haven’t had a new box of oil pastels since I was 15.

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Today’s Picture: Monarda Citriodora

Although this plant doesn’t grow here in the wild, we have managed to grow it from seeds bought from a US seller, and today I took this beautiful picture of the first flowers. Also called Lemon Balm* and Bergamot Herb** because of its citric scent, this herb is edible, contains strong antiseptic properties and can heal upset stomachs and lower fever. Also, it is a wonderful bee attractor, which is perfect for a roof garden like ours. Magically, I think it has just as many properties, and I would add it to the “good-for-all-uses” category of magickal herbs, as it has proved to be just as useful for love spells as for protection or cleansing spells. It has the spirit of a fighter (growing so beautifully while being so far away from it natural habitat speaks very loud of its power and tenacity), while giving us the gift of its delicious scent and taste, and of its absolutely perfect flowers. A keeper on our magical garden!

Note* – Lemon Balm can also refer to Melissa Officinalis.
Note II** – true Bergamot is a type of orange tree, the Citrus Bergamia.

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Trickster Week

It’s been one of those weeks where the Trickster gods are having extra fun, because we’ve had all sort of crazy things happening around here. Caring for a stomach-sick 50 pound, aging dog that poops all over the house, having the electric system of the house AND the water heater blow up suddenly, and being under the strongest and longest heat wave that’s been recorded in the century, all on top of the regular work we usually do, has left us exhausted.

On the other hand, good things have been happening too – because you know, Tricksters take with one hand and give with the other. Our best friend has finally found a job, we found a new fine arts shop that will save us a ton of money by bringing us items that we had to buy online, got some awesome news from a customer (it feels so good to know people’s obstacles are finally being removed), and some of the readings and spells I’ve made this week have brought hope and peace of mind to wonderful individuals that needed to reconnect with their Divine energy.

If anything, this is a lesson on sense of humour. Dogs get sick, but they heal; appliances die, but they can be repaired; heat waves take your sleep away, but suddenly a fresh wind from the Atlantic starts moving it and you are able to sleep a full night again. If life gets in the way, we must be thankful that we have life, let her get in the way, welcome her and offer her a cup of coffee. We are actually blessed to have an electric system, a water heater and a giant puppy that has been a loving friend and a guardian for more than 10 years. Not everyone is so lucky.

I think the best therapy against letting this small drama become big drama is to stop, take a deep breath, have a good laugh and just do something that simply brings you joy. I don’t support the “ignore the bad things” attitude because, well, bad things are there to teach you something and should not be ignored, but you shouldn’t allow those bad things steal your joy either. And what gives me joy? My dolls of course :). I already made a new post on my doll blog about yesterday’s work, and I intend to stay in the studio until Monday, working on my dollhouse and taking care of my giant puppy while Fernando fixes the water heater.

Have a wonderful weekend!

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More Peeks Into The New Jewelry Pieces

Handsculpted polymer clay beads, made without the use of any molds – each one is worked individually, which is really time consuming but I really prefer to work that way. They were textured with powder pigments and buffed to a soft shine. Today I will be making new pieces with them. Sorry for the not-so-good pics, these were taken last night at a very late hour. I have done a lot of miniature/doll work in polymer clay but not so many beads, so this is a really new experience for me – I’m loving the ethnic look and the meditative state you can achieve while working them; I see the beginning of a personal style, and I can’t wait to see how it develops.

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