Since we use lots of candles on our witchy work, we end up with lots of leftover wax. We made this votive candles using that wax and making the wicks with braided embroidery thread. Today I will make several adornments for the wedding with them.

How we made them:
- First, we separate the wax in colour schemes and cut it into chunks, mixing it well.

- Then, we made the wicks braiding embroidery thread and priming it with white wax, also from leftover candles. Priming is just melting some wax and putting the braids in it for a minute – after that, you take them out with pliers and set them to dry on wax paper, trying to keep them as straight as possible. The primed wicks were set aside for one day.

- The following day, we prepared waxed party paper cups and cut the wicks to size, holding the wick with a small bamboo skewer to the top of the cup.

- Double-boiled the wax, preserving some for refilling later, and when it was melted I added a couple of drops of oil perfume, pouring it immediately and setting aside to dry.

- About three hours later, we added the refilling wax et voilá! Beautiful and FREE candles to make scented adornments for the wedding .

A graceful, pensive spirit holding a magickal bird on one hand and making a magical blessing mudra (magickal hand sign)with the other.
Colour pencils and designer marker on fine arts paper. No digital editing done except for adjusting colour balances as close as possible to the original drawing.
10×15 cms/ 4×6 inches, printed in high quality photographic paper, with enough border on all sides for framing. All prints will be numbered and signed by me. All prints come with a regular size white envelope.
You can find it at The Hoodoo Shop at Etsy.

We spent the morning giving a good clean to our roof garden – Fernando had just finished this new table made with salvaged paillet wood, to be placed on the west wall where the sun hits for more hours now. For us, this is like the beginning of Spring. Plants are growing like crazy and many seeds that were afraid of the heat are now starting to sprout. We are expecting a new shipment of seeds next week and we have to make more room for future pots.

Yesterday I collected and set to dry all the african violet flowers to make a gorgeous herbal tea, and prepared five bottles of Santería waters: Florida and Kananga Waters, Satyr Water, Pomba Gira water and a special bottle of extra-perfumed rose water for my personal use. They smell like Witchy heaven!
- Florida Water smells like a garden in full bloom, with touches of rose, lilac and other flower perfumes; it is used to clean and bless yourself or your ritual space and tools.
- Kananga Water has a vibrant, fruity scent that is made to protect and clean your aura while smelling like a tropical queen.
- Satyr Water has been infused with indigo powder and has a manly, powerful scent of sandalwood, myrrh and other powerful oils. A wonderful all-purpose protection spray for the warlock in your life .
- Pomba Gira Water has a base of homemade rose water and a mixture of perfumes that make this water sensual and rich to the senses. Made to unblock energies and open opportunities, as she is the female Eleggua.

Santería waters can be used as cologne, used as floor washes, sprayed on beds and all absorbent surfaces like sofas and curtains. They clean, energize and protect energy and they are a quick, invisible way to cast a spell anywhere. My customers buy it in this big bottles and then buy a small spray to keep some always in their purses. As soon as I find safe plastic bottles to save you shipping costs, I will list a small amount of them.

The rest of the day has been spent reading, studying, and taking slooooow notes for the Santería ebook. The more I write, the more I have LEFT to write. Every day, new topics arise that I’d like to write about – but I’m feeling a strong wish to finish it, as if it was its proper time, and it’s a feeling I recognize well – being a daughter of Eleggua makes you quite aware of change. I’ll ask the cards later.

Happy Weekend Everyone!

This post is a MUCH shorter version of one of the chapters of my upcoming book, Understanding Worship In Afro-Caribbean Religions. Hope you enjoy it!

Hoodoo and all Afro-Caribbean religions share a lot in common with Traditional Witchcraft; as all Witches, we use lots of herbs, burn candles, keep altars, use divination oracles, etc. But of course, there are products that belong only to this religions, and that you may read about in books and articles on the topic.

When I started reading about Santeria, I noticed that writers usually spoke about stuff I had never read about, and there where little or no explanations about what that stuff was, what was it for, and how could I make it or buy it. Here is the list I wish I had found on any of those books!

Black Salts: a black powder made of charcoal, salt, camphor and many other elements. It is used to banish annoying neighbours or simply to put away people from our lives. Sprinkle it where the people you want out will step on.
Camphor: the ghost repellent of Hoodoo. It is usually added on floor washes and outdoors smudgings. Very, very powerful banishing all kinds of negativity if hung on a black flannel bag just above the main door.
Cascarilla Powder: made mainly from powdered white egg shells, though some practitioners add powdered chalk, blessed water, ashes… used to make a thorough spiritual cleaning, rubbed on the skin or sprinkled on places with negative energy.
Florida Water: a soft scented flower cologne used to clean mostly everything, from your own aura to your home or business. It is also widely used to clean altars and ritual items, as it “refreshes” their energies. Other regular waters used in Santeria are Kananga Water, Rose Water, Hoyt’s Water – they are all similar products.
Graveyard Dirt: the blessed ground from a cemetery. This dirt has two main purposes – one, empowering ANY kind of spell you make; two, working as a vehicle in spells that incorporate communication with the spirits of the dead.
Goofer’s Dust: the dust picked up from a tomb. Used to make curses. I don’t use it, but I had to add it for informational purposes.

High John The Conqueror Root (Ipomoea Jalapa): the mandrake root of Hoodoo – wherever you add it, preferably the whole root, it empowers and multiplies the force of a spell or amulet. It is usually carried in a red flannel bag. Makes a wonderful oil to anoint all kind of candles.
Hot Foot Powder: see Black Salts for use. This powder is made mainly with red brick dust, powdered jalapeño peppers and other elements.
Mojo Bag/Nation Sack/Mojo Hand: a red flannel bag containing several elements that form a talisman. Other colours of flannel are used depending on the practitioner. A Mojo Bag needs to be “fed” regularly, either will anointing oils or whiskey.
Red Brick Powder: the powdered clay of red bricks. Used to protect oneself or our house, to be added in protection amulets and in the drawing of Veves.
Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum Multiflorum): In Hoodoo, this root is used as a talisman for protection against evil eye, curses and hexes. You can powder it and sprinkle around your whole house or burn it to clean places of bad energies. Works wonderfully with angelica root, in a green mojo bag, as a protection for travelling businesses.
Van-Van Powder: a white powder with lemon and mint scents, used to protect and empower spells or people.

Yesterday I was invited by The Noble Pagan, a new community for pagans worldwide, to be their Hoodoo/Voodoo/Santería expert. Of course I said yes immediately! I will be posting new articles once a week and I will be doing my best to stay active on the forum. In their own words:
“The Noble Pagan is a community of pagans, witches and other nature based spiritualists dedicated to educating inquisitive minds by promoting tolerance and acceptance through education and open mindedness. You are not required to be defined by a label, a faith or a religion to be a part of our community.

While we are dedicated to promoting religious tolerance through education with pagan religions and belief systems, you do not need to be a pagan to participate in our community discussions. Our forums are open to anyone and everyone who has an open mind and is willing to bring their life experiences and knowledge to the table to help educate (the process goes both ways). We welcome you to The Noble Pagan with open arms and open minds.”

I love the fact that this site is NOT a selling-promoting venue. After so much promoting on Facebook, Twitter, and all the others, I like to spend a portion of time not talking about the shop, but about Witchcraft itself. I will do my best to be a good teacher, as I’m sure I will learn a lot too. If you are interested in participating, please visit the site clicking HERE.

Edited Later: The first article has been published!
What Is Hoodoo?

The fact that a day is considered sacred, like Fet Gedé, does not mean that we dress up in velvet purple robes and summon the Dead among incense smokes – that’s really not our style. Our Sacred days try always to honour the everyday activities, as this is what I think makes a Witch really walk among worlds; once the simplest thing has become really Sacred, it builds as much energy, prosperity and happiness than any spell. This idea of going with the flow is always much more productive than planning for us – don’t think we don’t make spells though; we make them, but on everyday activities. Brooming and dusting is done along smudging and spraying rooms with potions, from the bottom of the house to the front; mopping includes a pich of salt, vinegar and camphor in the water; and the kitchen becomes a temple of scents, textures and tastes to be enjoyed. We bless our own food, the food of our pets, the abundance of those who gave us the food, the generosity of the Earth that provides such beauty.

Fernando’s parents sent us some vegetables and as usual it was too much just for us two, so we spent a good couple of hours cooking and canning. I made puchero, which is just vegetables and meat boiled together with spices – a very light and easy food, as most Canarian food; one of its essential ingredients are corncobs. I saved the “hair” for teas (it is very good for blood pressure problems, lowers blood sugar levels and makes excellent mojos for luck) and used the husks to make a corn doll – can you believe I had never made one? I had saved this great tutorial at Into The Dawn and this is the result . Once it is dry it will get some ornamentation; considering the heat we’re still going through it will not take much lol…

First thing today has been putting down the Dead altar and creating a new one – Fernando wanted an altar to the God this time, so we went for it. We like to make our altars temporary and on different places of the house, for different things – that means there is always an altar being created or dissolved somewhere.


If anyone knows who painted this Pan image, I would love to know! Fernando found this image online but we couldn’t find the author.

This is a vintage Canarian “cuarta” bottle, a traditional bottle used by wine sellers that holds a quarter of a litre. It is filled with wine and our homegrown jalapeño peppers. Spirits where peppers have been steeped is one of the favourite drinks of Baron Samedi, and as he is one of the aspects of the God, I thought it would make a perfect link between Fet Gedé and the God’s altar. Using wine (in Santeria, rum is the drink of the Gods) we would represent Pan/Dyonisus; using peppers, the Voodoo Spirits.

Another day of witching begins! I am working on some tea mixes and we have to go to one of our organic farmer’s place for some supplies. We’ll see what the day brings under the patronage of Pan!

Floor Washes
Floor washes are a “must” item in Santeria, Hoodoo and Voodoo – they are completely conspicuous, as nobody will know you have used them, and really clean away the negative energies as they bring new and positive ones. You can read a complete post on the use of floor washes HERE

Love Floor Wash: To Give Your Relationship A Second Chance

For lovers who are going through a hard time, but still want to have another chance to solve their problems – this potion, made to be used as a floor wash, helps soothing hurt feelings and allows forgiveness and understanding for couples who have been under negative energies. There are many spells to find love, but not so many to repair a broken heart!

Peace After Grief Floor Wash – To Clean Away Stagnant Suffering

This floor wash is made to clean away the residual sadness after a personal/family loss. Its herbs bring peace and comfort, allowing its user to relief grieving. The residual feelings after traumatic situations are very dangerous for our spiritual balance, specially if there are children in the house, and should be cleaned regularly – this is an extra powerful formula for situations that need a complete change.

One And Only Floor Wash – To Remove Obstacles In A Love Relationship

Send away all obstacles to find love! Do you have a rival in sight? Is your/his/her family getting into your relationship? Is your soulmate influenced by negative people? If you want to remove all interferences between you and your loved one, this is your choice!

Witch Bottles
Witch bottles are one of the oldest forms of Witchcraft. Glass has always been considered a wonderful channel for spiritual energy – so, any spell kept in glass increases its powers and YOUR ability to transmit your intent to the spell. Each Witch bottle is crafted separately, as a one of a kind creation, and a spell is casted over each one; as you can imagine, I do not make assembly-line spells! Most of them would be impossible to repeat as I am using very special herbs, flowers and other elements, so I cannot assure I will be able to replicate them. All the herbs of our witch bottles are either homegrown organics or wildcrafted. The bottles have been sealed with a little wax, but my recommendation would be to open it and add your specific petition and a little “bio item” – that is, hair, nails, saliva, blood – to the bottle. Re-sealing is optional; I have many customers that like to smell the contents of the bottles from time to time .

Venus Witch Bottle – For Love, Fertility And Creativity

This bottle has been made to attract the energies of Venus – love, fertility and creativity. It contains flowers only, of seven different herbs and trees, plus red coral chips and a japanese freshwater pearl, a gorgeous amulet ruled by water dragons.
Witch bottles can be placed in your altar, given as offerings to your patron god/goddess, kept under your bed, etc. To increase its power, add a drop of love oil inside the bottle on each full moon.

Jupiter Witch Bottle – For Luck, Money And Business

This bottle has been made to attract the energies of Jupiter – luck, money and business are under his wise and benevolent protection. The bottle contains eleven herbs devoted to him, aventurine chips and a piece of antique gold leaf. To increase its power, add a drop of money oil inside the bottle on each waxing or full moon.

Hecate Witch Bottle – To Enhance Psychic Powers, Clairvoyance And Spellcasting

This bottle has been made to attract the energies of Hecate – it is a powerful tool to carry near you when making your Witch work. It will enhance your aural energies, connecting you with the powers of the Dark Witch Goddess. The bottle contains thirteen herbs, flowers and roots and amethyst chips. To increase its power, add a drop of protection oil inside the bottle on each new moon.

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

At the Tea Bar, last night.

Our Samhain night was very good, but as usual, not as we expected it to be. After a few readings, I started feeling the strong need to be at my home, with my ancestors altar. Fernando said he was feeling the same. So after my four hours of readings were done, before the party even really started (though the place was full with goths in cool costumes), we went home and enjoyed a quiet, relaxing night of Samhain, dining under the light of the altar. We watched “Nightbreed” (what’s a Samhain night without a funky horror film from the 80’s?) and we were done before midnight. Boring, yes, but oh so relaxing ! This morning we have got up really rested and so far the day has been enjoyed with a good gardening session in our Magick Garden, sending energy to every plant while cleaning it lovingly and burning incense.

For us, Samhain ends tomorrow night, because today is All Saint’s Day and tomorrow is Fet Gedé, the Voodoo celebration of the Dead. We have two days of witching semi-planned; instead of fixing activities, we decide which is the day’s mood and work with that flow. Fernando is working on some wood containers that you will love , and I have been gathering items to make some witch bottles, I have to work on several birthday gifts for my Scorpio and Sagittarius friends, and I haven’t embroidered anything in a while… so much witching and so little time LOL!

Here is a free coloring page to celebrate the Day Of The Dead! Grab the image, print and introduce your little ones to this happy Eleggua.
Remember that you are allowed to use this image for personal use only. I own all copyrights.

We are in probably the most powerful magickal days of the year. ANY spell, good or bad, is amplified by the thinning of the veil, since the dead are closer than ever to us. In Santeria and all Afro-Caribbea religions, the dead are even more important than the Gods themselves, because they open (or close) communication with deities, protect us from negative energies and are a wealth of knowledge and spiritual evolution for the practitioner.

So, if there is a time in the year to be spellcasting as a mad Witch, it is now! Here you have a few spell suggestions for such magickal time – if you want some extra power, make these spell on a graveyard; if not possible, you can make them at home too, on your ancestor’s altar.

Money Jar
Look for a small jar and fill it with a bit of your hair/nails/blood, a dollar bill, two lodestones OR two magnets, sugar, powdered cinnamon and a High John the Conqueror root. Close the jar and stick a green candle on the jar’s lid. The night of Oct. 31, half an hour before midnight, light the candle and make your petition. When your petition is fulfilled, take three pennies and a small bottle of rum to a crossroad, leave them there and do not look back.

High John The Conqueror Root

Energy Renewing Spray
Look for a spray bottle and clean it well. Fill it with lemongrass or citronella oil (3 drops is more than enough), add a pinch of salt, a piece of silver (a charm, coin or jewelry will do) and an amethyst. Add a spoonful of alcohol (as preservative only) and fill the spray with distilled or rain water until it’s full. Sprinkle the whole house and yourself to clean away all negativity. This spray is excellent for Tarot Readers between customers, to clean your magickal tools, or yourself before spellcasting.

Ochum’s Honey (For Love Spells, and to gain Ochum’s favours)
Add two Indian Cinnamon sticks, a teaspoon of powdered nutmeg and a handful of dried fruit of your choice to a jar of honey. Put it in a dark and cool place and, everyday, hold the jar in your hands and thank Ochum for her protection and gifts. When you want to ask her for something, anoint a yellow candle with that honey and place it over 5 copper pennies on a plate and burn it on your altar.

Ochum

To Have Shango’s Protection Against Storms
Shango is the storm God in Santeria, so if you are afraid of a storm coming, cut out the heart of an apple and place a red taper candle inside, as if it was a candleholder. Sprinkle generously with sugar and cinnamon, and light the candle when you can see the storm coming. Though it won’t stop the storm of course, Shango will be very pleased and will pass over your house.

Witch’s Note: I made this spell during the Delta Hurricane a few years ago. Canarian houses are not ready for tropical storms and it caused a huge damage where we live, but our house and our car were untouched. Many of our neighbours had their patio roofs torn off by the wind, and the car parked right beside ours got the windows broken due to one of those roof pieces falling over the car.

Well, I don’t know if I will be able to post again before tomorrow – I am working on finishing my Santeria book and tomorrow I will be working at the Tea Bar during the Halloween party. I would like to send my most sincere and thankful wishes to all our readers for a magickal, wonderful, fun and safe Halloween night! May all your petitions come true my friends!!!!!