BLK Lecture Series - Michael Bertiaux on the Ophidian Shiva-Set-Saturn

Paul Claude Gardere - Erzulie Dantor

Amrita #5

Amrita #5 submerges your psyche into the flour strewn veves that call the loa. Don't forget to say hello to the ancestors.

1- The Soft Moon - Repetition
2- Pan Sonic - 5'42
3- Black Lung - The Disinformation Plague
4- Sun God - Guede
5- Juno Reactor - Nitrogen (Part 2)
6- Cut Hands - Madwoman
7- Sun God - Erzulie

Amrit (Sanskrit, IAST: amṛta) or Amata (Pali) is a word that literally means "immortality" and is often referred to in texts as nectar. Amṛta is etymologically related to the Greek ambrosia and carries the same meaning.

Monastery of the Seven Rays Year 1 to 4 Study Course

This is a private study course to be read before the Voudon Gnostic Workbook practicum. It was originally published as a mail order study course and is yet to be reprinted in book form.

    Monastery of the Seven Rays, Year 1, Student Degrees (1967).
    Monastery of the Seven Rays, Year 2, Sexual Magic (1969).
    Monastery of the Seven Rays, Year 3, Esoteric Engineering
    Monastery of the Seven Rays, Year 4, Esoteric Magic

For students of the Monastery of the Seven Rays

Download:
https://yadi.sk/d/hFM1Y3u6tVWNg

Gran·n Ezili... Doba-é

Gran·n-Ezili... Doba-e    
n'ape pale yo, yo pa vle koute!    
o, Gran·n-Ezili Doba-e    
n'ape pale yo, yo pa vle koute!    
nou te pale ti moun yo...    
nou te pale zanfan layo...    
o, Gran·n-Ezili Doba-e    
nou t'ape pale... -yo pa't vle koute!

Aunt Caroline Dye

Aunt Caroline Dye was a famous hoodoo woman or two-headed doctor who lived in Newport, Arkansas. A spiritualist as well as a root worker, for the crudely sketched aura around her head and the winged, dog-headed figure with its hand or paw on her right shoulder-like her name were drawn on the film negative - indicate that she maintained contact with other-worldly spirits. The standing figure may represent a "spirit guide" or the Devil's black dog one meets at the crossroads.

Cut Hands - Damballah 58

Simbi

Offerings:

Yams, a magic mirror, green snakeskins, light green candles, mangoes, turtle shells, river rocks, mercurial incense, mercury.

Litany:

Pour Simbi, serpent qui marche sur les points magiques mercuriels.  Serpent qui entre, sort comme un trait parmi les illusions.  Magicien qui reflete ce qui est au desous dans ce qui est en bras.  Acceptez nos offrandes.  Entrez dans nos coeurs, dans nos bras, dand nos jambes.  Entrez ici.  Dansez avec nous!

Kreyol:

Pou Simbi, kap mache sou pwen majik planet Meku.  Majisien kap montre sa ki an le nan sa ki anba.  Aksepte ofran'n nou.  Antre nan ke nou, nan bra nou, nan jam'm nou.  Antre vin'n danse avek nou!

Translation:

For Simbi, serpent who walks on the magical points of Mercury.  Serpent who darts between illusions.  Magician who mirrors forth that which is above in that which is below.  Accept our offerings.  Enter into our hearts, out arms, our legs.  Enter and dance with us!

Traditional:

Simbi is the magical serpent of Voudon.  He is lord of the fresh water rivers, streams, rainfall, and all things that flow, like electricity and electronics.  He is the mercurial serpent that carries communications - the perfect patron Loa of e-mail!  Simbi slithers scross the crossroads, guides the possessed through the dangerous no-man's-land between the moment of loss of consciousness and the taking of the Loa during the crisis of possession.  Perhaps this is one of the reasons why he is associated with claivoyance.  Simbi's magfic extends to the realm of botanicals, the leaves of which he uses for healing.

Simbi is syncretized with the Three Wise Men.  His colors are gray or light green.  His animal is the tortoise.

Opening the Gates

Hand copy this veve of Legba onto a piece of high quality parchment paper (8.5 X 11") that you can get at any print shop.

Once this veve is hand copied as neatly as possible, find a suitable 8.5 X 11" picture frame to place it in. Now put the picture into the frame and hang on a wall where you will be setting up shop with a permanent altar. Clean the frame and wall where the veve will be hung with Florida Water. ·

Sit and stare intently at the veve and take your finger and .draw a cross by tracing the two longest lines starting from the top moving down on the vertical line then start at the longest horizontal line on the left and move to the right.

See the cross glowing in front of you. Say:

"Papa Legba, I ask you to please open the gates of Wisdom & Divine Knowledge!
Please Papa Legba, open the gates for the LOA to teach me! Papa Legba, help me to learn!"

Sit and meditate. Let your consciousness flow and watch for any unusual symbols such as colors, shapes or certain amounts of things. For instance if you see a flock of geese flying in formation, note how many you see and what shape are they in?  Try to correspond the shape to an Occult shape or perhaps the shape means something else other than esoteric.

Next say your request aloud and then chant the following:

"Papa Legba, I believe in You! Papa Legba, I trust in You! Papa Legba, I have faith in you!!"

When finished, thank Papa Legba and reverse the cross by drawing it in the opposite direction than you originally drew it in and say:

"Thank you Papa Legba and now I ask you to close the gates!"

Fini.

Guede

Offerings:

Peppers, pepper sauce, pepper soaked in rum, cigars, black roosters, black cock feathers, sunglasses with one lens, top hat, pieces of marble from the cemetery, crosses, graveyard dust, black and violet candles.

Litany:

Pour Guede, Loa obscene de la mort, et de la sexualite.  Pere de tous les Morts qui habitent aux cimetieres.  Guede, qui marche sur les points marcuriels en bas decarrefour.  Mangez, mangez ce soir, vous qui avez tellement faim.  Acceptez nos offrandes.  Entrez dans nos coeurs, dans nos bras, dans nos jambes.  Entrez ici.  Dansez avec nous.

Kreyol:

Pou Gede, Lwa seks, Lwa fa bagay, Lwa lan mo.  Papa tout Mo ki abite nan simitie.  Gede kapmache an ba kafou.  Manje, ma swe-a, ouminm ki gran gou.  Aksepte ofran'n nou.  Antre nan ke nou, nan bra nou, nan jam'm nou.  Antre vin'n danse avek nou.

Translation:

For Guede, obscene Lwa of death and of sexuality.  Father of all the Dead who live in the cemeteries.  Guede, who walks on the mercurial points of the crossroads.  Eat, eat this evening.  Enter into our hears, our arms, our legs.  Enter and dance with us.

Traditional:

Guede is the Lwa of both death and sexuality.  He lives in the cemetery at the bottom of the largest cross, or a cross that stands in the central crossroads in a cemetery.  He ruled the Dead.  he is the father of all the dead.  Guede is usually pictured as a skeleton dressed in dapper clothing, with black tails and a top hat.  He wears white gloves, carries a cane and smokes a cigar or pipe.  Guede wears dark sunglasses that have only one lens.  Sometimes this is said to symbolize that he sees in two worlds.  Sometimes it is said that it more crassly represents the power of his one-eyed phallus.  Guede is vulgar, even obscene.  If he picks on you then you may have to pay him to go away.  But he always tells the truth, and can be counted on when the situation is very difficult.  He is the patron of young children and is good at healing them.

Guede is death but he is also regeneration and procreation.  He is gluttonous, hoarding food under a table or behind a wall, where he devours it.  Death is always hungry.  Guede's dance is graphically sexual, with grinding hips and pelvis.  Sometimes he even humps the drums.  He is syncretized with Saint Gerard.

Agwe

Offerings:

Sea grass, am oar, white lamb and white chickens, champagne, cakes, boat laden with food and drink, seashells, seawater, washed ocean stones.

Litany:

Pour Agwe des Eaux, roi de la mer.  Agwe Main-Forte, mari de La Sirene.  Avec la conque marine nous appellons le vent pour que le bateau/temple immamou puisse hisser la voile.  Acceptez nos offrandes.  Entrez dans nos coeurs, dans nos bras, dans nos jambes.  Entrez ici.  Dansez avec nous.

Kreyol:

Pou Agwe, wa lame.  Agwe Men Fo, mari Lasirene.  Nap soufle nan lambi pou nou rele van yo pou immamou pran lame.  Aksepte ofran'n nou.  Antre nan ke nou, nan bra nou, nan jam'm nou.  Antre vin'n danse avek nou.

Translation:

For Agwe of the waters, king of the sea.  Agwe of the mighty hand, husband to La Sirene.  With the seashell we call the wind in order that the boat/tempple immamou set sail.  Accept our offerings.  Enter into our hearts, our arms, our legs.  Enter and dance with us.

Traditional:

Admiral Agwe is king of the sea, husband of La Sirene, and guardian of sea-faring vessels.  A white lamb, white chickens, and a painted wooden boat are prepared for Agwe, filled abundantly with food and drink and offered at sea, over the symbolic location of the 'island beneath the sea'.  Agwe eats as the boat submerges into the waves.  His conch shell horn summons the winds that catch the sails of Agwe's boat immamou.  Agwe is considered to be an ideal husband, strong and sustaining like the sea.  He is syncretized with Saint Ulrich.

His traditional song:

La Sirene

Offerings:

Mirror, comb, cigarettes, shells, perfume, sweet wine, pink rose petals, pearls, seaweed, fish, saltwater, mermaid dolls or images, statues, jewelry, sacred songs, blue sea glass.

Litany:

Pour La Sirene, enchanteresse, Reine-chanterelle.  Femme dÁgwe.  Demi-poisson, demi-femme, qui connait les Mysteres de léau, et des ondes,  Chantez pour nous la musique sacree.  Enchantez en chantant.  Acceptez nos offrandes.  Entrez dans nos coeurs, dans nos bras, dans nos jambes.  Entrez ici. Dansez avec nous!

Kreyol:

Pou Lasirene.  Ren shantrel.  Madan Agwe, mwatye pwason, mwatye fan-m.  Ki kon miste nan dlo.  Shante pou nou. Aksepte ofran'n nou.  Antre nan ke nou, nan bra nou, nan jam'm nou.  Antre vin'n danse avek nou!

Translation:

For La Sirene, enchantress. 'Ren Shantrel' (lead choir member).  Wife of Agwe, half fish, half woman, who knows the mysteries of waters and waves.  Sing the sacred music for us.  Enchant by chanting.  Accept our offerings.  Enter into our hearts, our arms, our legs.  Enter and dance with us!

Traditional:

'La Sirene' means 'mermaid' in French.  La Sirene is the wife of Agwe, and an aspect of Erzulie.  She rules under the sea.  Her power is in the depths of the ocean.  Some say Labalen is her mother, some say Labalen is her husband, or that she is the same lwa as La Sirene.

La Sirene is an enchantress, and the patron lwa of song and music.  She calls out with her trumpet and entrances with her siren's song.  La Sirene is a beautiful sorceress.  Half woman, half fish, she swims in the archetypal waters between Erzulies beauty and Danto's passionate violence.  La Sirene bestows luck on her devotees, but be careful!  Her beauty and seductive song can lure you to a watery death.  Some say, too, that she steals babies and takes them down to her watery kingdom.

La Sirene is usually syncretized with Saint Martha or Saint Philomene.  Her colors are all hues and ocean blues.

Her traditional song:

LaSiren, LaBalenn,
Chapo'm tonbe nan la me.
LaSiren, LaBalenn,
Chapo'm tonbe nan la me.

The Siren, the Whale,
My hat falls into the sea,
The Siren, the Whale,
My hat falls into the sea. 

Marassa

Offerings:

Candles, sweets, roasted corn, black beans and white rice, black and white candles, salt and pepper, molasses, honey, pudding, two dolls, three-chambered bowl.

Litany:

Pour les Marassa, Jumeaux sacres qui se reflentent de chaque cot du miroir.  Les Jumeaux qui partagent une ame, a la fois opposes, et egaux.  Deus deux, toutes choses.  Acceptez nos offrandes.  Entrez dans nos coeurs, dans nos bras, dans nos jambes.  Entrez ici.  Dansez avec nous.

Kreyol:

Pou Marasa ki paret sou de fas toun glas.  Marasa k gen youn sel nan'm pou yo de.  Opoze ak egal.  Aksepte ofran'n nou.  Antre nan ke nou, nan bra nou, nan jam'm nou.  Antre vin'n danse avek nou.

Translation:

For the Marassa, sacred duality that reflects on each side of the mirror.  Twins who share one soul, at once opposite and equal.  From the two, all things.  Accept our offerings.  Enter into our hearts, our arms, our legs.  Enter and dance with us.

Traditional:

The Marassa are the Divine Twins, and are associated with children.  They are the first children of God, and the first Dead, and so they are the first honored in a Vodou ceremony.  The Marassa represent the duality of the human and the Divine in our nature.  They also suggest procreation: it is through the union of two polarities that multiplicity is manifest.  From duality a third principle arises.  The Marassa Twa represent love, truth, and justice.

Good Possession for Success Versus Bad Possession for Failure by Michael Bertiaux

The True Lucky Hoodoo Is Possessed

Everyone in the world has either good or bad luck. This means that they are either possessed by good spirits or they are under the spell of negative influences. There are not any bad spirits, because all in the spirit world are very good. However, many negative influences have been created over the years by many kinds of wrong thinking and as a result of this build up over the years, many people are simply lacking in good spirits, they are under the spell of negative influences. When we say in ordinary life, "He/she is not in good spirits," what we really mean is that he/she does not have enough or any good spirits in him/her to make him act happy and full of power. This problem faces so many people, that in Lucky Hoodoo we have discovered ways of correcting this problem of lack of spirits.

Now we say that a person is possessed if there are spirits in him to help him. The spirits can be either in body or mind. Thus a very smart or wise person has a ot of spirit in their mind and brain, so that they can think quickly and easily. A great lover, who has much success with women, would have a lot of spirit in his nature, and in his body which does the work of his nature. A successful salesperson would have a lot of spirit in her voice and head, so that there is always the power there to persuade and convince people to buy from her. In other words, wherever you go, you would find that successful people somehow have attracted the spirits into their being. This is why they are possessed with good luck.

Now, those who are not successful are under the spell of what 1 will call a bad possession or influence of the negative, which means to be a failure. In Lucky Hoodoo we do not believe in possession by the devil, but we do believe that a person can be under the negative spells cast by his own lack of good spirits. For when you lack you either do something to get more than what you have and hence overcome lack, or you simply don't do anything good and you come more and more under the negative influences of bad luck and negative influence. This means that you have to decide which way you want to go. Now, only you can make this decision. I have told you that the spirits of Lucky Hoodoo want to help you, and they really want to come into your being and help you through possession. However, there are many people who are so foolish that they want to keep the spirits out, so they are constantly under the spells of the negative influences of being poor, being sick, being ignorant, and being foolish and lacking will-power. Those people are really, as I would say, in very serious need of help, but they close the door in the face of the help that the spirits can give them. We might ask why they do that. Well, the answer is very simple and that is why we are writing this course. The reason they shut off the powers of Lucky Hoodoo and prefer the negative is because they do not know how to get rid of bad possession for failure and replace it with good possession for success.

Now this is what I am going to tell you to do, since it is so easy to get rid of negative influences.

Our Secret African Prayer for Powerful Success

Many years ago, in fact hundreds of years ago, in Africa, a priest of the Hoodoo religion discovered the key to all success in good possession. One day he was praying for good luck and he looked down on the ground and he saw a stick writing a message in the dirt. The message was a wonderful and really powerful prayer, which we have cherished for many years. It is a very simple prayer but what it does is clear your body and mind of negative and bad possessions and open you up to the good by inviting the powers of Lucky Hoodoo to come into your body. This is a prayer you can use to treat others who have a lack of good spirits and you can also use it any time you feel a letdown in your power. For you may have done something to keep the flow of good spirits out of your life and now you need them to come in and get you going in the right direction. Well you can use this prayer whenever you think it will do some good, because it is a free prayer, and need not be used only under special occasions and times. This prayer sums up the best of the old teaching and draws in with its use the truest and best powers of Lucky Hoodoo in the world.

A Free Prayer for Lucky Hoodoo

This prayer is as follows: First you will say to yourself, and you can be saying this for yourself or for another, "I don't want bad possession for failure, I want good possession for success." Then you will begin the simple, free prayer as it follows, thinking or speaking with firmness and strong conviction of willpower, as strong as can be:

NEGATIVE FORCES OUT!
BAD LUCK BE GONE

Now by saying that you have given an exorcism or treatment to cleanse the body and mind of bad influences by driving them out. This is the healing by purifying the body and mind or any evil presence. Now we have to bring in the good powers to fill up every part, so that you will have a good possession for success. This means that you will now say or think:

POSITIVE POWERS IN!
LUCKY HOODOO SPIRITS BE EVERYWHERE IN MY BODY
LUCKY HOODOO SPIRITS FILL MY MIND WITH POWERFUL SUCCESS!

That is your wonderful Voudoo Treatment based on the calling forth of the Holy Spirits of Lucky Hoodoo, so that you are filled "up to the brim" with good influences and powerful energy for making success yours.

This method is so simple, yet it has been used in Africa, Haiti, South America and the West Indies for many years and taught by the Hou'gan and Bokors as the best and quickest means of healing any problem. In a way it is the key to all treatment, as well as being the best of all self-treatment methods.

Simply use this wonderful free prayer of Lucky Hoodoo, and so depossess yourself of all negative influences while repossessing yourself of all good spirits for amazing success, when you say:

NEGATIVE FORGES OUT!
BAD LUCK BE GONE
POSITIVE POWERS IN
LUCKY HOODOO SPIRITS BE EVERYWHERE IN MY BODY
LUCKY HOODOO SPIRITS FILL MY MIND WITH POWERFUL SUCCESS!

Because it works every time you use it, just wait and see.

Hoodoo Methods for Mind-Power Development by Michael Bertiaux

It has been proven many times before and will be proven for centuries to come that if you serve the Hoodoo Spirits faithfully, they will develop your mind. Now please understand it is the spirits who do this work for you, for if you did not need them or could do this development of mind -power on your own, or if the secrets and methods of this development were known to mankind already they would be taught in the schools, or your power would be there already or else you would have no need of Lucky Hoodoo. But because this is not so and because only the spirits can give what is spiritual — and mind-power development is spiritual -- then we must come to terms with the wonderful spirits of Hoodoo in order to build ourselves up as mental magicians.

There are a number of methods for mind-power development which are favored by the Spirits of Lucky Hoodoo. These are methods which are based on the ways in which the spirits have directed the development of human mind power in the past. All of the powerful minds in the past have been able to get their mind- -development from the spirits, because they made a contract with the spirits and lived up to the terms of that contract. In Lucky Hoodoo the spirits expect you to live up to the terms of your contract and this is the basis of their serving you with good luck and favors.

In mind-development what happens is that the mind is given some more power from the Hoodoo Spirits. In other words, they come in and give to the students an additional gift of power of mind-substance. This mind-power or mental energy or substance comes from the world of the spirits where everything is mind. The whole world there is one of mind. This is a powerful world and this is where our minds and souls and spirits go to after death. Nothing in that world is physical because everything is completely mind and mind-energy. That is where the mind-power comes from that helps our minds to become more developed and more powerful. Mind is to that world what sunlight and fresh air and water are to our world. Here we have many things to help the physical body develop and be strong, but in that world of mind all that is needed is mind-energy because mind is the only being in that world.

So the spirits bring to us this power or mind-energy and this helps us to develop and become more able to work with them, communicate with them and to understand them. This is what mind-power development is actually.

Now there are four methods which we accept here in Lucky Hoodoo for the development of mind-power. These are all successful methods and can be used by each student of Lucky Hoodoo.

The methods are very simple and have been made very clear for your use. The methods are called:

1. The drearn-power method of mind development
2. The method of Hoodoo spiritual prayer for mind development
3. The method of the Holy House for mind development
4. The shadow-stuff method of mind-power development

For effectiveness it is important to combine methods and to use all four of these wonderful methods on a regular basis. For example, in Voudoo and Hoodoo temple schools, such as my own, we teach the young, students to make use of all four methods of development each day. There are certain times for doing each method, we say, and they should take advantage of these times. The dream-power method is used at night while the student is sleeping, but before he goes to bed, he will make use of the shadow-stuff method, in a dark room, with only a black or blue light bulb giving some kind of shadow and dark mixture. This is when he will use deep meditation, which is really the type of meditation which leads to sleep and which is done when the body is freed of all care and ready for spiritual development. The prayer method can be used during the day for it possible to receive mind energy by prayer at any time and in any place. The method of the Holy House is a mind-projection where you will send your mind to the place of the spirits at any time and while you are anywhere, this is a method for developing the sense of the spirits' presence in telepathy and mental mediumship. For this reason it is a very practical method.

All of these methods are used by me each day. They are so simple and so clear that anyone can make use of them to the fullest sense of results. In Lucky Hoodoo it is important for us to understand that the spirits have made it as easy as possible for you to develop your mind-power. They have gone out of their way in order to make mind-power development as wonderful and as convenient as possible. Because in Lucky Hoodoo the emphasis is upon results and upon success. That is why we try to do everything as completely and as simply as we can, so that the spirits can come to you and help you and you can benefit quickly and easily.

We will now discuss the ways in which to make use of these four methods which are designed by the spirits to help you develop mind-power so that you can know more and do more with the spirits. First I will want to say something about the method of prayer and the method of the Holy House. This is the method which is suited to the active person who might want to take a five-minute break here or there during the working day in order to build up his mind-power contacts. These two methods are very simple and they are concerned with ways in which we can keep in touch easily with the spirits all day long. Actually the spirits are just near as our fingertips and we can make contact quickly and easily.

PRAYER AND THE HOLY HOUSE OF HOODOO SPIRITS

Up to now we have been going over what I will call a form of ritual prayer in the exercises at the end of Lessons One and Two. Now I want to say that the Prayer Method of Mind-Power Development is very simple and it is just this; You will take time off from what you are doing or you will do something that is automatic and does not require mental attention. Then you will focus your mind through attention upon the spirits and you will talk to them in silent thought and attune your mind to how they will respond. To attune your mind means simply to listen to what comes from them after you have made contact through silent thought. This is the basis of all prayers in every one of the world religions. However, because it is so simple, many persons do not want to do it. On the other hand, many persons are always making contact with the spirits through silent thought and live in a positive state of attunement all of the time or at least most of the time. This is so simple, for it only means that you keep your attention mostly directed towards the spirits and the gods, which are the major spirits, of Lucky Hoodoo. In this sense, then, the student is always able to get back from the spirits mind-energy, because he is attuned to them always. This wonderful method is really practical for the everyday working person or even someone who does a lot of mental work. On the other hand, the big strong blacks who did heavy physical labor on the plantations of the French in Old Louisiana used to occupy their minds entirely with this method and thus developed telepathy and mental mediumship, because they were obliged to do purely physical work and their minds were free for the easy development of these powers through the use of silent thought.

In the prayer method you have only to address yourself to the spirits in thought, on the other hand the method of the Holy House is different in a sense because it is more complicated. It makes use of the power of the mind and imagination to travel to the home of the spirits in the world of mind. There the mind is fed and clothed and housed and taught by the spirits. In order for the mind to get there the imagination is used to help the mind by means of visualizing or seeing with the mind's eye the inner worlds and what they are like. In Lucky Hoodoo it is important to make use of the mind and imagination together. In all types of Voudoo you have to visualize the scene on the inner planes where things are happening. This means that you have to do a lot of daydreaming and use the mind in creative imagination. When you go to the Holy House of the Spirits what happens is that they inject into your soul and spirit the mind-energy of their world. This means that they will be able to give you more and more and as often as you come to visit them. Sometimes this method is used exclusively and is known as the method of making spiritual visits. It can be used just like the prayer method if the person is developed enough. I myself make use of this method during the day with the prayer method. If I have a lot of free time, I use the Holy House Visit method; if my time is limited I use the prayer method instead.

The next method is a combination of two methods. One method prepares for the other method just as the prayer method can be used to prepare for the method of visiting the Holy House of Spirits. These two methods now to be discussed are very powerful and very esoteric and should be used only by a person who feels he is strong enough in Lucky Hoodoo to handle the powers which come to him, from beyond.

DREAM POWER AND SHADOW STUFF

The method of mind development known as dream power is very simple, also. It means that when you are asleep the Hoodoo spirits come to you and take you in your dreams to their schools and temples and then they teach you to be able to recall what happened to you and what you learned. You may take a while to do this, so that the Hoodoo student usually does a deep meditation or a light mentation, or silent thought, exercise to recall what happened and what was learned. Then the student will make up notes of what he learned and use this as the basis for future studies.

The Hoodoo student tries to go to his dream power class every night, if he can. For this reason sleep is a very important matter for the student of Lucky Hoodoo. This is the simple method of dream power. The next method can be understood as a preparation for it.

Shadow stuff is an old Hoodoo idea which goes all the way back to the man in the caves. At that time man became fascinated with his shadow and its magickal power. Shadow stuff is the substance of shadows and it is highly magickal and can be used to develop mind-power. This is the way in which it works. You will place yourself inn a room where you are burning either one candle or a blue light or a black light.

This is to create a lot of shadow stuff. Now, the student will remove all of his clothing and having taken a bath in water he will give himself a shadow bath. This means that with your fingers you will pass your hands all over your body as close to the surface of the skin as you can without touching the skin. You will "wash" the body with the power of the shadow-stuff and while you are doing this you will be having the spirits give you more and more power. For they will be standing by and feeding mind energy into the shadow-stuff that you make use of.

It is sort of like when you want to take a bath and someone will stand by in order to hold the bar or cake of soap. The spirits are holding the mind-energy for you and because of this you are becoming more and more powerful. With every stroke of the hands, they feed into the shadow-stuff between your fingers more and more mind-energy power. This is important and it is good for us to understand that this process is useful also in healing because we are working with vital energies from the spiritual world of mind and the vital energy is becoming more and more a part of our own growing health.

In the Creole countries and parts of the world, everyone takes a bath before going to bed and one in the morning while getting up. This is to protect the health of the body from bad influences and impurities. The Creole Hoodooists who are really serious about their magickal and mental development do this. They give themselves a good bath with shadow-stuff each evening before going to bed where they will make use of the dream power method of development. Thus, the bath with shadow-stuff is really the preparation for the dream power method of learning more and more about the spirits and their wonderful world of wisdom and esoteric knowledge.

It is important to make use of these methods so that the student can increase his mental development and mind-energy. The spirits have given us these wonderful methods of improvement and we are asked by them simply to give them a try and then we will become more and more convinced that this is a terrific way to advance in the world of spiritual knowledge, power, and wisdom because this is the spirit's own way of development. You will learn to do more and more things with these simple methods. The spirits want you to build onto these methods and to increase your skills in Lucky Hoodoo. These four methods are, therefore, the basis for a lot of other techniques which we will teach to you. But these are the basics as taught to us directly by the Voudoo gods and Hoodoo spirits. This is the method which we call the way of the spirits and it is their way from start to finish. Why don't you try it, so that you can become a big Lucky Hoodoo.

Erzulie Freda Dahomey

Offerings:

She likes perfume, especially atomizers of Anais-Anais - pastries, white cake, lace, hand mirrors.  Orangeat (a sweet liqueur), images of the Virgin Mary, especially Mater Dolorosa, grenadine, jewellery, rice cooked in cinnamon, milk, bananas fried in sugar, mild cigarettes, champagne or white wine, and fruit, especially white grapes.

Litany:

Pour Erzulie Freda Dahomey, qui marche sur tous les points du luxe.  La Maitresse de lámour, reine de la beaute, la source du reve de límpossible perfection.  Belle Erzulie, coquette que vit dans láir de lélegance.  Donnez-nous des reves a foison.  Entendez nos prieres, Maman.  Acceptez nos offrandes.  Entrez dans nos coeurs, dans nos bras, dans nos jambes.  Entrez ici.  Dansez avec nous!

Kreyol:

Pou Ezili Freda Daome, kap mache tou patou nan riches.  Metres lanmou la ren la bote, sous rev pefeksion.  Ezili bel fanm, kon'n abiye.  Ba nou anpil rev.  Tande la priye nou, manman.  Aksepte ofran'n nou.  Antre nan ke nou, nan bra nou, nan jam'm nou.  Antre vin'n danse avek nou!

Translation:

For Erzulie Freda Dahomey, who walks on all luxurious points.  Mistress of love, Queen of beauty, the source of the impossible dream of perfection.  Beautiful Erzulie, coquette who lives in the atmosphere of elegance.  Give us the abundance of our dreams.  Listen to our prayers, Mother.  Accept our offerings.  Enter into our hearts, our arms, our legs.  Come and dance with us!

Traditional:

Erzulie Freda Dahomey is the Vodou Godess of love and beauty.  She walks in an atmosphere of luxury and elegance.  A fair-skinned mullato, Erzulie loves all trappings of refinement and wealth: lace, gold, mirrors, jewellery, and perfume.  Erzulie is the force that allows mankind to dream of a more perfect life.  Slaves saw the abundance off the colonialists' homes and lives, and since they knew that they could not attain that wealth, they transferred their dreams of wealth and leisure to Erzulie in the heavenly realms.  Erzulie personafies an unattainable and virgin ideal.  She comes to her horses as the coquette, dancing elegantly, flirting, disdaining the other women, displaying her beauty and riches.  She inevitably leaves her horses in inconsolable tears, because reality always falls disappointingly short of her dreams.

Ayida Wedo

Offerings:

Rainbow-painted eggs, basin of water with rainbow painted on bottom, blue and white candles, white dessert or those prepared with milk and powdered sugar, sweet coffee.  The shed skin of a snake.

Litany:

Pour Ayida Wedo, l'arc en ciel, femme de Damballah, 'les eaux d'en haut, 'la pluie, la profondeur marine, les sources qui nourrissent la race.  Ayida Wedo, Dieu la Mere.  Acceptez nos offrandes.  Entrez dans nos coeurs, dans no bras, dans nos jambes.  Entrez ici. Dansez avec nous.

Kreyol:

Pou Ayida Wedo, lakansiel, fanm Danbala, Dlo anle, la pli, fon lan me, sous kap nouri ras nou.  Ayida Wedo, Manman nou.  Aksepte ofran'n nou.  Antre nan ke nou, nan bra nou, nan jam'm nou.  Antre vin'n danse avek nou.

Translation:

For Ayida Wedo, the rainbow side of Danbala, the 'water from above,'  the rain, the depths of the sea, the streams which nourish the race, Ayida Wedo, God the Mother.  Accept our offerings.  Enter into our hearts, our arms, our legs.  Enter and dance with us.

Traditional:

Ayida Wedo is the serpent wife of Danbala Wedo.  She is a water serpent with ranibow colored scales, whose symbol, the rainbow, arches across the sky.  Danbala Wedo, the snake God, gave rain to the world.  As the drops of water fell from the sky, they formed a rainbow of color.  Danbala fell in love with Ayida, the rainbow serpent arched over the heavens.  They married and joined as a double helix of snakes, giving birth to the human race.  Ayida is the power of the sky, is the all-beneficent mother and protector of creation.  Ayida is all the Waters above, the celestial Waters.  As loyal wife of Danbala she is rarely summoned without him.  She is a very ancient root Lwa.  Together with Danbala, she represents fecundity.  Her colors are azure blue and white.  She is syncretized with Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.

Danbala Wedo

Offerings:

All white foods, sweetened condensed milk, sweet coffee, snakeskins, gummi snakes, egg on a mound of flour, basin of water, his image.

Litany:

Por Damballah Wedo, serpent sage, juste, eternel.  Ancient pere venerable.  Createur, protecteur.  Source de la sagesse de la vie.  Patron des eaux du ciel et des rivieres.  Acceptez nos offrandes.  Entrez dans nos coeurs, dans nos bras, dans nos jambes.  Entrez ici.  Dancez avec nous.

Kreyol:

Pou Danbala Wedo, coulev ki ganyin sages, coulev ki ganyin jistess, coulev ki eternel.  Asyen papa adore.  Create, protecte.  Ki bay sages lavi.  Chef siel la e toutt rivie yo.  Aksepte ofran'n nou.  Antre nan ke nou, nan bra nou, nan jam'm nou.  Antre vin'n danse avek nou!

Translation:

For Danbalah Wedo, wise, just, eternal serpent.  Ancient venerable father.  Protective creator.  Source of life wisdom.  Patron of the Waters of Heaven, and of rivers.  Accept our offerings.  Enter into our hearts, our arms, our legs.  Enter and dance with us.

Traditional:

Danbala Wedo is the ancient sky father.  He arches across the sky as a snake beside his rainbow wife, Ayida Wedo.  He is the origin of life, and the ancient source of wisdom.  Danbala is absolutely beneficent, if somewhat aloof and abstract.  His possessions begin with a deep plunge into his sacred basin of water and continue with the inarticulate undulations of a snake.  He is covered with a white sheet during his possessions, and especially while he eats.  Danbala's color is pure white.  He prefers white foods, milk, pudding, rice and an egg perched on a mound of flour.

The Ancestors

Offerings:

Food your own family Ancestors liked, characteristic foods of your nationality, Ancestors' image.

Litany:

Por les Ancetres, qui nous ont precedes.  Vous nous avez crees comme nous sommes.  Nous vous conduisons jusqu's l'avenir.  Servez-vous de nos levres, nos yeux, de nos oreilles.  Acceptez nos offrandes.  Entrez dans nos coeurs, dans nos bras, dans nos jambes. Entrez ici.  Dansez avec nous.

Kreyol:

Pou Zanset-yo ke te la anvan nou.  Se gras ayo ke nou la.  Nap pral ansam nan direksion Laveni.  Sevi ak bouch-nou je-nou, zorey-nou.  Aksepte ofran'n nou.  Antre nan ke nou, nan bra nou, nan jam'm nou.  Antre vin'n danse avek nou.

Translation:

For the ancestors who preceded us.  You made us as we are.  We carry you into the future.  Use our lips, our eyes, our ears.  Accept our offerings.  Enter into out hearts, our arms, our legs.  Enter and dance with us.

Traditional:

The Ancestors can be specific to you and your family, or they can be general - or they can be archetypal as they become Lwa.  The Ancestors command respect and honor.  In return, they give us the dignity of our inherited strengths and gifts.  The Ancestors are the cultural roots of a spiritual or Divine tree.  The Vodoun is rooted firmly in the rich soil of ancestor worship.  Remember who you are, and where you come from.  Carry that flame forward, beyond your own limited history.

Papa Legba

Offerings:

Pipe tobacco, rum, three pennies, bones at a crossroads, a walking stick, Legba's image.

Litany:

Pour Legba, qui garde la porte. Dieu le soleil, la rayonnement de la creation, pere et patron.  Mystere des carrefours, source de communication entre le visible et l'invisible.  Legba, phallus cosmique, poteau-mitan qui s'etire du soleil a la racine.  Acceptez nos offrandes.  Entrez dans nos coeurs, dans nos bras, dans nos jambes.  Entrez ici.  Dansez avec nous.

Kreyol:

Pou Legba, gadien pot Lwa soley. Papa ak patron.  Miste kafou, sous relasion visib ak envisib.  Poto Mitan ki monte jis nan sie-la.  Aksepte ofran'n nou.  Antre nan ke nou, nan bra nou, nan jam'm nou.  Antre vin'n danse avek nou.

Translation:

For Legba, who guards the door.  God the solar Father, the radiance of creation, Father and patron.  Mystery of the crossroads, source of communication between the visible and the invisible, the center post which stretches from the sun to the root.  Accept our offering.  Enter into our hearts, our arms, our legs.  Enter and dance with us.

Traditional:

The guardian of the crossroads, Legba opens the door that divides the spiritual and physical worlds.  Legba is called on first in a Vodou ceremony to allow the other spirits to pass through his door.  He is old and lame from traveling through the world with his children.  Legba is seen as a benevolent father figure, but he can be a trickster as well.  He can open doors, but he can close them, too.

Legba wears Masonic black clothes, and he carries a walking stick.  He sits, as the sun, at the top of the crossroads.  He is syncretized with Saint Lazarus, who is cripple and walks with a cane, Saint Peter, the gatekeeper of heaven, or with Saint Anthony.  Legba likes rum, a good cigar, and the color red.