Songs for the altar

Everybody knows there's power in music. It's just as powerful at the altar as anyplace else.

I'm developing a soundtrack for my altar time.

• Surely He Died On Calvary by Rev. James Cleveland (not sure why, except that it makes my hair stand on end; it's partly the wailing harmonies in the background as Rev. Cleveland sings. But the rest of it is: Jesus knows.)
  
  
• Satan, We're Going to Tear Your Kingdom Down by Shirley Caesar
(I like to add: Black candles gonna burn your kingdom down!)


• "Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel?" - haven't selected a version yet, but it's a good old spiritual with a proud universalist message.
  


• Lord, Do It by Rev. James Cleveland (...while this candle's still burning, Lord!)
  

I'm still considering:

• You Can Make It by Shirley Caesar - pay close attention to the lyrics.


• How I Got Over by the Clara Ward Singers
• Or maybe by Mahalia Jackson
  
  
• And something by the Swan Silvertones or the Golden Gate Quartet, haven't made up my mind yet.
  

My next wish...

I really need a cell phone with a camera in it. I'll just put that on my "treasure map," shall I?

Because when I went to the health food store to buy altar candles, I stopped on the way home at the feed store/ice cream parlor and had some mushroom ice cream. Honest to god, made with candy cap mushrooms. Looked like vanilla-with-speckles, tasted like maple nut. Great stuff, and only available a few weeks a year.

And I don't have any pictures to show you.

Well, I wonder. But it makes me smile

While I was tending to my justice altar (also "Jesus altar") just now, I saw this:

Now, I must tell you, that it struck me as a lucky omen.

Here's a closeup (right), just so nobody misses the connection. I call your attention to the caption on the picture.

Now, what say you? Is this a sign that my work is blessed, or a call to further service and attention to detail? Or (most likely) both?

"You still play music?"

I just saw a wonderful YouTube clip that illustrates perfectly the quest for spiritual power and connection.



For me – and, I know, for some other spiritual workers – acting in the spirit world, outside the familiar five senses, is just like a deaf girl playing great music. You don't get the same feedback the angels and ancestors get. You must learn to value signs and omens to find your road to miracles and wonders.

That is all.

(Thanks to Anne Naylor at the Huffington Post.)

Preaching to the Soloist: Get in the tub!

Friends, I'm here, again, to testify to the power and value of spiritual baths. It's something that I keep putting off, because it does require some "trouble."

• You need to get up early so as to leave some of the bathwater at the crossroads around oh-dark-thirty, or anyway right before sunrise (especially true for cleansing baths, not so much for other kinds).
  
• You have to air-dry, which means you can't use a towel, so as not to wash off the blessing or dilute the cleansing.
• You have to put on clean clothes, not yesterday's, so you have to plan ahead.

Friends, do it anyway, and do it right.

See, a couple of days ago, probably because of some enemy/justice work I was doing, I had one of the worst poverty tantrums I've had in years. Even an invitation to apply for AIRR membership didn't turn me loose. Friends, I was sure that not only would I starve, but I would never do any effective altar work again, and never had. It was bad.

So I resolved to bathe in ... I was out of hyssop, so I settled for a little Cast Off Evil oil in warm water ... and took it to the funny-shaped crossroads a few minutes' walk away from my house, along with the remains of the enemy candle I burned.

Peace returned as soon as I stepped out of the tub.

By the end of the following day - yesterday - optimism returned in full flood. I returned to my altar work with zest and eagerness. I'm building a new justice altar, as a glance at my tweetstream will show you.

So, I'm telling myself as much as I'm telling you: never, ever hesitate to take a spiritual bath. Do it right, or as close to right as you can. Attention to detail is the better way, of course, but sloppy is probably better than not at all.

Here's something I've been meaning to do for a long, long time

Today I fulfilled a promise I made long ago: I placed an apple spell in the bottom of a planter.

This is a traditional conjure spell; it serves the same purpose as a honey jar. It is based around the name papers and candle wax from a spell I did for President Obama during the presidential debates last year. I also added patchouli, yarrow, borage, thyme and other herbs for protection, courage, attraction and wisdom.

While I was praying over it, I remembered an old English rhyme, which I improvised on:

Remember, remember, the fourth of November,
the end of treason and plot.
I see no reason why return to reason
should ever be forgot.

Here is the loaded apple at the bottom of the planter,













and here is the basil resting comfortably on top.

"Evil can't be where basil has been," so I have been taught. I will plant a little sage and yarrow in there later.

Taking negative cards seriously

I'm learning to take negative cards seriously in love readings. Just turned down a case on the basis of the following:

• Ace of Cups Reversed
  
• Queen of Swords Reversed
  
• King of Cups Reversed
  
• Four of Cups
  
• Magician Reversed
  

Now, this wasn't the whole spread – I pulled about a dozen cards – but every layout contained at least one nasty card like this. She begged me to bring him to her, but that would have been like voting for Bush. Twice.

Yes, I believe this stuff. I trust these cards.

Ever since the day when a card fell out of the deck while I was shuffling, indicating my next client had some kind of love problem. "Why, no," he said, but twenty minutes later he told me how he'd been having trouble dreaming lucky numbers ever since his ex-girlfriend replanted everything in his yard. (Underneath a plant is one of the best places to hide spellwork.)

I just finished a case like the first one I described here. And again, in every spread, I got at least one card indicating the man was a no-account trifler, one who could only be kept at home by main force. A classic, time-tested spell to bring him back to her brought nothing but a couple of phone calls from him.

Reconciliation work is hard, often – but not always – because people start too late. And often – perhaps more often – because people are trying to keep someone who isn't good enough for them.