September 29th Date of the Archangels, Oct 2 for Guardian Angels known or unknown head spirit

This is an important feast date for healing and protection, as well as honoring these Lwa.
Beli Belcan is the Lwa who uses the saint image of St Michael. September 29 is Michaelmas. He chains up bad spirits and is a warrior.
He has a sword and has the power of fiery lightening and of God.

Tindjo Alawe is the head of the Indio division of Lwa, and has domain of cleansing, healing and the water of rivers. We use the image of St Raphael who has a sometimes has a gourd staff and rod with fishes. He wears robes of green of the indian spirits, sometimes blue of the river, and pink as the colors other lineages use together.

If you do not know if you have these Lwa or have not received them, you can still work with the angels, in particular St Michael as revocations can be done to remove negativity and bad spirits from us, and for justice.

Resguardos, like mojo bags can be prepared under him for protection, and prayers can be given with a novena saint candle, or a red candle. Do your prayers to God and St Michael over the bag each day.
The recipe from my godfather for St Michael resguardo:
enough red candles for 9 days or enought novenas, set one red candle 
beside a clear water glass and st michael image or prayer card if not using novena
small red bag, tie with green or red string or ribbon when assembled
cleanse items with rum, florida water and tobacco smoke
cross charm or sword of cross
4 clove garlic
st michael medallion
seed of quita maledicion or stop evil
piece of paper with persons name

optional from others variations:
anoint with st michael or protection oil
thunderstone (pied de rayo) and stones of protection
3 peony seed against evil eye
dried bay laurel leaf, angelica root or vencedor leaf (lilac) for success and higher spirits.

Also from the book Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic comes this old-time conjuration of Saint Michael Archangel for protection from evil:

Home Protection Packets: 
sew small cloth packets filled with grains of paradise seeds and 
glue or crochet a holy card of Michael the Archangel to 
them. Sold in pairs, one to be placed at the 
front door and one at the back door, for the protection of the home.

San Miguel Vencio! San Miguel Vencio! San Miguel Vencio su enemigo con el poder de Dios!
(St Michael vanquishes with the power of God)


For the uninitiated you will not know your met tet until it is confirmed in your baptism and crowning or possibly at kanzo. You may have an idea who this is but it cannot be confirmed until then.
However you can begin to strengthen this connection by using the image of the 4 archangels, but many also will use the image of the guardian angel to represent them as is in our lineage. September 29 is the day of all the archangels. The words guardian angel describes our met tet, the Lwa who rules our head, and is not a spirit guide. This is not the holy guardian angel or hga, the higher self.

You can either find a candle with this image, or print it off in color and tape it to a white novena, glass chimney candle you can find at the dollar store. Blow cigar smoke over it or frankincense and myrrh, and anoint it with olive oil, or some kind of protection oil bottom up.
You can also get a guardian angel saint card, and use white candles.
It is said that everyone has a tutelary met tet, a Lwa or Orisha at birth. I do not know if this is true, however one can step forwards for you and claim you. Following the directions below to perform a novena with or without the headwashing can help you on your spiritual journey into these traditions, along with starting ancestral veneration as the foundation.

It is fortuitous that September 29 2016 is on a Thursday, the day of the Rada Lwa, however Saturdays are also used for most Lwa. In the Catholic dates they use October 2.
If you missed September 29th to start, this can be done whenever you wish, and the headwash is usually done once a month to every two months, called a rogacion. The rogacion you will perform is not the same as receiving it from a priest or priestess of Lucumi, whose energy or ashe is in direct attunement. The recipe is similar to what I posted on ancestral connection bath.

Do your prayers everyday until the candle has burn out, but if you can use several candles for 7 days. As 7 is the celestial number and of the number of chiefs and families of Lwa in Sanse. There are also 7 archangels, 1 for each day.
Although a novena is traditionally done for 9 days.
Speak from the heart, of prayers of protection, and what you need guidance with. Feel free to substitute the word God with the name of God of your understanding such as in Vodou as Papa Bonnye (Bon-yay), Bondye (Bon-dye), Or Papa Bon Dios, as we are a monotheist spirituality. Or use Odudumare (Oh-du-du, mar-eh) if you feel your path is more of the Orisha faiths such as Ifa or Lucumi. Or you can use the phrase Great Spirit.


Here are some sample prayers for you to use, which you can find from several Catholic sites online:
You may also want to use psalm 91. 

         1
Angel of God,
my guardian dear,To whom God's lovecommits me here,Ever this day,be at my side,To light and guard,Rule and guide.

Amen.

     2

Guardian Angel from heaven so bright, Watching beside me to lead me aright, Fold thy wings round me, and guard me with love, Softly sing songs to me of heaven above.

    

       3

O angel of God,
appointed by divine mercy to be my guardian,
enlighten and protect,
direct and govern me this day.
Amen

                 4

 GOOD NIGHT, my Guardian Angel, 

The day has sped away; 
Well spent or ill, its story 
Is written down for aye. 
And now, of God's kind Providence, 
Thou image pure and bright, 
Watch o'er me while I'm sleeping----- 
My Angel dear, good night!

             5

Novena Prayer

O most faithful companion,
appointed by God to be my guardian,
and who never leaves my side,
how shall I thank you for your faithfulness and love
and for the benefits which you have obtained for me!

You watch over me when I sleep;
you comfort me when I am sad;
you avert the dangers that threaten me
and warn me of those to come;
you withdraw me from sin
and inspire me to good;
you exhort me to penance when I fall
and reconcile me to God.

I beg you not to leave me.
Comfort me in adversity,
restrain me in prosperity,
defend me in danger,
and assist me in temptations,
lest at any time I fall beneath them.

Offer up in the sight of the Divine Majesty
my prayers and petitions,
and all my works of piety,
and help me to persevere in grace
until I come to everlasting life.

Amen. 

         Novena to Guardian Angel

O holy angels, whom God,
by the effect of His goodness and His tender regard for my welfare,
has charged with the care of my conduct,
and who assists me in all my wants
and comforts me in all my afflictions,
who supports me when I am discouraged
and continually obtains for me new favors,
I return thee profound thanks,
and I earnestly beseech thee,
O most amiable protector,
to continue thy charitable care and defense of me
against the malignant attacks of all my enemies.
Keep me away from all occasions of sin.
Obtain for me the grace of listening attentively
to thy holy inspirations
and of faithfully putting them into practice.
In particular, I implore thee to obtain for me
the favor which I ask for by this novena.

[Here mention your need(s).]

Protect me in all the temptations and trials of this life,
but more especially at the hour of my death,
and do not leave me until thou hast conducted me
into the presence of my Creator
in the mansions of everlasting happiness.

Amen.

The head wash recipe is as follows. 
Break open a coconut and use the water into a white basin, you cannot use coconut milk or water from a carton. You can mark the coconut white all over with cascarilla first on the outside if you desire. You can also take a second coconut marked in this way and roll it around on top of your head and behind your neck. This one should be kicked down the street or put in a grocery bag and disposed away from the home, off the property line.

You will also need into the white basin:

cool tap water or fresh river water
Add cascarilla chalk or crushed white eggshells
small amount shaved cocoa butter
These items are traditionally put on a white plate and placed on the head first along with the whole coconut.

Mix and mash these items with your hands, putting your energy and intentions into it as you repeat your prayers and call with your thoughts, as well as speak from the heart aloud to your guardian angel. Pray over this mixture the first night of the novena and perform this.
Take the mixture into the bathroom into the shower area, and bend forwards, pouring the mixture over your head. Do not rinse. This can also be done with a clear or white cup over the basin in front of your altar.

After you will need to wrap your head in white, wear white clean clothing and sleep like this. 

With the remains of the mixture, you can place your novena candle into the center of the bowl before your altar, or at your bedside if you have not constructed one yet. After your head is wrapped you can also mark your body with cascarilla for extra protection in x's or +'s on the back of the neck, belly, top of feet and on wrists. This can all be rinsed off with a regular shower in the morning.

For 24 hours no sex, drugs, alcohol, swearing or bad behavior to get you in proper alignment and for clarity to strengthen the mind. It will help your faculties, and focus on goals, destiny, spiritual progress and path, as well as guidance, cooling, for peace, and calming the head. It is cleansing, away from bad influences, thoughts, illness and misfortune. It feeds your internal knowing, called Ori by the Yorubans.

Be Blessed,
Sancista 7

Ti et Gros bon ange, the soul, conciousness, astral dream body and shapshifting: loup garou part 1

There are different parts of the "soul" in Haitian cosmology. The incarnated human spirit containing what westerners think of as the soul, can be seen as one part of an overlapping or connected energy body/ies. This becomes easily misunderstood when one continues to use the word soul or life force to describe these parts instead of viewing the two "personalities" or energy fields as individual consciousnesses that function together, yet which separate upon death from the soul fed by life force or energy.

The higher self is the elevated and not the mundane personality which becomes perfected, and is slower or the last to change in a spiritual process. It is what follows the "soul" in many incarnations and associated with the magickal personality and met tet, master of the head or personal Lwa.

The Haitians call this the gros bon ange:(big good angel) as the holy guardian angel Hga in ceremonial magick, which has been greatly misunderstood into new age circles as the higher self. The saint image of the guardian angel is used for the secretive personal crowned met tet or unknown met tet Lwa, and not the main spirit guide of the elevated dead. A saint image can be used to cover either, but is more inconspicuous as the spirit guide, because the Lwa have known saint attributions in modern times.

Thus people call their guardian angel their met tet Lwa. The soul, nor Lwa is not the higher self, but what can also follow a soul into human incarnation, or remain in its own existence. But the higher self must be created or revamped to be effective or to have any power, needs an energy source or lasting existence, such as of veneration (less likely as more secret) or off storage, spiritual light, energy cultivation. In my tradition we do not use chakras, but can be viewed as the solar plexus as energy storage and generator and heart area combined. Life force is inherently male, expansive, projective and yang in correspondences. This feeds or trickles down into the lunar receptive feminine area of the astral body or lower self. Taking energy up from earth into the solar area will work but is a slower and lesser amperage than going straight planetary sun to your body's sun area.

Gran Solier, the Lwa associated with the sun, is a higher misterio, associated with spiritual progress and light. His saint image is the Sacred heart Jesus. The power of god is personified as the thorn crowned Jesus, for power of life over death of the soul, as well as both hinting to the solar life force of the corona/sun halo and as the sun is the center of our universe and human body. The promised sun/son in spring. The warrior might/thorn of mars, and justice as the sun sits in the center of the scale of mars and jupiter give and take exchange as the crucified Jesus on the skull mount. Some Sancistas use St Nicholas de sol (santa) as Gran Solier or as God Papa Bonnye or Dios as the higher, sometimes north star. But as god is faceless, mostly removed, and not understandable to us, most use no image for God.

Many mistake the sun, a manifestation of light, and giver of life on planet earth as closest to earth, for the concept of higher celestial star(s) or God. Many use the north navigational pole star polaris or sirius as seen from the south, as some of the brightest stars that can be seen, or the 7 sisters pleiades constellation as the physical manifestation of the higher star.

The soul is indestructible, infinite, and for the most part unchangeable except for purification or refinement.

Life force, and vital energy is linked to energy of the spirit bodies, but also physical life. This is known as the n'dame or nam. This is reabsorbed into the great spirit God and underlying nature or creation matrix, unless partly placed into the Gros Bon Ange (or reincarnated). The sun is a knowable face of a farther star, the starry heavens, planets, and thus z'etoile or star is linked. What is written in the stars is astrology, the zodiac, the planets. Life force is linked with: energy centers, and spiritual bodies, known as the Gros Bon Ange and Ti Bon Ange. Life force and our perfected lower self or ideal Higher self personality is related to the sun, but the sun is not the star, associated more with Gros Bon Ange and magickal personality in the western sense.

The star is connected to the head, destiny, luck, higher misterios spirits, God and consciousness, known as Ori to the Yorubans.

The lower self is the animal self, ghost self, ego or mundane personality and character. It is also the fluidic astral body, known as the Ti Bon Ange (little good angel) by the Haitians. This is normally temporary and does not follow incarnation unless the soul is very developed and purposeful. It is known as the perispirit to the spiritualists. Voudou does not have reincarnation per se, although it is not incompatible with these beliefs. I have read after the Ti Bon Ange is separated and then called up after a period of rest, placed and venerated in a govi jar, it is then possibly placed in nature. After a time it then goes through 16 incarnations, which is likely code for 7 colors light (1+6) planetary bodies and ladder rungs. I do not think this is a widespread belief, or was confused with the soul or Gros Bon Ange by the writer, which is separated from the Ti/little and can reincarnate when viewed in spiritist philosophy. Although there is the concept of veneration of the dead into elevation, becoming a Lwa. The Ti bon Ange or ancestor personality would require veneration to continue existence, and is not dependant on a soul, but its situation can be related to the quality of soul or persons life recently lived. Our mundane personality is changeable and temporal.

The Ti Bon Ange that we think of as myself or you as the person, is the target of the bokor, necromancer or sorcerer after death to make a zombi astral, or enslaved dead, or even during life. Younger, stronger people are targeted because they have more nam. Thus Haitian rituals are done to separate the Ti Bon Ange from this plane if it hasn't naturally after last rites within a certain time period. The Gros Bon Ange or Lwa is separated so the Ti Bon Ange can rest. During initiations the head pot and other rites are done to protect the incarnated from spiritual battle with these soul areas in mind. Priest/esses regularly work to protect their heads. Again the Ti Bon Ange or astral body is usually targeted, as it is harder to affect one's higher connection to the divine, even if this can somewhat be indirectly the result through the weaker point or bottleneck of the Ti Bon Ange which is more easily accessible. By protecting the Ti, you protect the life force or nam.

The mind is all, and shapes the self image. This self image or limited perception is reflected upon the mirror energy body to form its likeness in terms of sex, race, age, deformity etc. This may not look the same as yourself in actuality or life. It can be misshapen when first regarded as symptoms of spiritual or metaphoric physical problems, or as a muscle which has not been developed or clay molded.

The mirror is an astral tool, associated with the moon, as well as to the waters, as the mermaid La sirene's escoba or tool, along with her comb to bind her hair or, loosen, or smooth the waves. She is the Queen of cups to some, although several tarot cards might speak of her, such as the moon and as she has congo beginnings. The astral is not a watery place, actually it is airy in terms of elemental flavor. She is the elemental air intellect angel human ontop of the water fish/undine.

The blowing of wind in storm activates, singing and the words of magick. The air of mercurial/human intellect and structure upon the venusian emotional waters and romance in ritual. The bubbles of air within the water glass manifest the evocation. Scrying and the crystal ball, the triangle of art in which the mirror/water and incense/air is placed for ceremonial magick.

The astral realm is associated with the genitals or womb as a place of creation, and thus life force, but also illusion. The astral is a repository realm of many colors, thoughts, poetry, experiences, and forms, distracting as the illusory sirens call (as the 7 of cups). The ocean is our mother, and a sea of the dead kalunga, as womb and tomb as the triangle belonging to saturn of form, restriction/freedom of spirit into or out of matter.

The part of La Sirene's veve is the elemental sign for water, the downturned triangle, again representing the womb, with a star upon a fish on top, representing an eye of pyschism, dreams, scrying and visions.

The siren is an alchemical metaphor for grail, or cup, the knight seeks for his feminine receptive spiritual half and immortality. The water cup actually belongs to jupiter/neptune as the giving, knowable face of god as warrior priest king, or Agwe, and not the moon.The king of cups messenger the page of cups holds a fish, and more psychism.The astral is a mirror place or "reverse, upside down" place to our world, another dimension. When we die we lose who "we" are in this lifetime eventually dissipated into the sea, unless we have taken the appropriate magico-spiritual actions, or are venerated. Thus desperate dead seek energy sources.

In the tarot moon card we can see the wildness of the domesticated or socialized animal/human. The wolf is the ancestor to the dog. The magic time is historically night, of the subconscious when the moon is up. Navigation of the sea was done at night by the north star and moon by seafaring cultures until more modern sun cross devices although vikings had some sunstones. The mermaid often at the bow of the ship. On the card the moon can only be seen when it is illuminated by the sun.
 (rider-waite deck the most accurate in western esoteric symbolism and color). This astral body/ our ancestors (moon body) must be given energy (sun and sun body) to move and act, especially over time. The ancestors are not of the astral, but can visit in this dreamspace. The universe/world/earth/us as humans/the tree is a repository of all the realms and planets, and thus explains earthbound dead, and the underworld layers: pluto/hades.

 A crayfish or crab is often depicted for the motherly zodiac sign of Cancer (related to the tarot card the chariot and astral body, as the moon card is the twin pisces fish). The moon is the 18th card, 1 plus 8 being 9.

The concept of self in most cases and undeveloped, is a spiritual hindrance when it comes to formation of the astral body. We all have one, it just needs to be shaped. We all have different selves, this is not a multiple personality disorder, but developing each one/energy part for the realm or purpose needed, of which all eventually need to be worked on. Like stepping into a character and costume as an actor, but you are still the same at core. In western magick these bodies are 9 planetary plus earth physical body. Between the 6-sun and 9-moon on the tree of life is the rainbow of the tarot card of art/alchemy, magick or temperance of the 7 color classical planets. 7-venus planetary lights, 8-mercury, 9-moon make up the astral downturn triangle, "realm" of mercury, moon and venus above the 10-earth in order moving up the tree or in light back to an originality or higher state.The most important point is the astral moon body is the most fluidic its appearance can change with a moments thought.

The astral body need not exit from the lower abdomen when aware and utilized in projection and real time viewing. You will find where this is natural to you, often symbolized leaving by an umbilical electrical cord of life. I have yet to see this in actuality, think about the metaphor. Dominating religions are very literalistic, and this has contaminated our perceptions.

Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"
Birds singing in the sycamore trees
Dream a little dream of me

Say nighty-night and kiss me
Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me
While I'm alone and blue as can be
Dream a little dream of me

Stars fading but I linger on dear
Still craving your kiss
I'm longing to linger till dawn dear
Just saying this

Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you
But in your dreams whatever they be
Dream a little dream of me

Stars fading but I linger on dear
Still craving your kiss
I'm longing to linger till dawn dear
Just saying this

Sweet dreams, till sunbeams find you

Gotta keep dreaming leave all worries behind you
But in your dreams whatever they be
You gotta make me a promise, promise to me
You'll dream, dream a little of me

Ella Fitzgerald-lyrics to Dream A Little Dream of Me Lyrics  

Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee;
Sounds of the rude world, heard in the day,
Lull'd by the moonlight have all passed away!
Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song,
List while I woo thee with soft melody;
Gone are the cares of life's busy throng,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea,
Mermaids are chanting the wild lorelei;
Over the streamlet vapors are borne,
Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn.
Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart,
Even as the morn on the streamlet and sea;
Then will all clouds of sorrow depart,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

Beautiful Dreamer by composer Stephen Foster, published after his death...

The song tells of a lover serenading a "Beautiful Dreamer" who is oblivious to worldly cares and may actually be dead. (per wikipedia page)

Read on to part 2 where I now focus more on the Ti  Bon Ange, practical dream work, astral body and shape shifting.
-Sancista Siete Encruzhiladas+++++++