July 2021 ~ Filipino Conjure & Rootwork

Correspondence By Archangels

The Seven Archangels is a painting by Massimo Stanzione.

Asariel

"Beatitude of God"

Candle Colour: Green

Crystal: Amethyst, emerald

Day: Thursday

Herb: Carnation, heliotrope, jasmine, lily, morning glory, poppy

Kabbalistic Sephirot: Keter

Major Arcana Card: Temperance

Metal: Silver

Planet: Neptune

Rulership: Dreams, psychic powers, spirituality, truth, visions

Sign: Pisces

Azreal

"Whom God Helps"

Candle Colour: Dark Red

Crystal: Bloodstone, garnet, ruby, tiger's eye, topaz

Day: Tuesday

Herb: Acacia, asphodel, basil, chrysanthemum

Kabbalistic Sephirot: Da'at

Major Arcana Card: Death, Judgement

Metal: Aluminum

Planet: Pluto

Rulership: Cleansing, death, transformation

Sign: Scorpio

Cassiel

"Knowledge of God"

Candle Colour: Black, brown, gray

Crystal: Jet, loadstone, onyx, sapphire

Day: Saturday

Herb: Balladone, coltsfoot, hellebore, hemlock, wolfsbane

Kabbalistic Sephirot: Binah

Major Arcana Card: The World

Metal: Lead, salt

Planet: Saturn

Rulership: Agriculture, astral projection, home, knowledge, politics

Sign: Capricorn

Gabriel

"Strength of God"

Candle Colour: White, silver

Crystal: Aquamarine, fluorite, quartz, moonstone, pearl

Day: Monday

Herb: Adder's tounge, all white flowers

Kabbalistic Sephirot: Yesod, Da'at

Major Arcana Card: The High Priestess

Metal: Silver

Month: January

Planet: Moon

Rulership: Emotions, fertility, motherhood, navigation, prophetic dreams, sleep

Sign: Cancer

Haniel

"Grace of God"

Candle Colour: Dark Green

Crystal: Emerald, lapis lazuli, rose quartz, turquoise

Day: Friday

Herb: Carnation, fennel, honeysuckle

Kabbalistic Sephirot: Nezach

Major Arcana Card: The Empress

Metal: Copper, brass

Planet: Venus

Rulership: Beauty, business, friendship, love, marriage

Sign: Taurus, Libra

Michael

"Like unto God"

Candle Colour: Gold, orange

Crystal: Amber, carnelian, citrine, diamond

Day: Sunday

Herb: Angelica, bay, chicory, marigold, rowan, sunflower

Kabbalistic Sephirot: Tiferet

Major Arcana Card: The Sun

Metal: Gold

Planet: Sun

Rulership: Defense, exorcism, peace, power, prosperity

Sign: Leo

Raphael

"Healing of God"

Candle Colour: Yellow

Crystal: Agate, serpentine, yellow topaz

Day: Wednesday

Herb: Celery, caraway, cinquefoil, dill, fenugreek, lavender, marjoram, mandrake

Kabbalistic Sephirot: Hod

Major Arcana Card: The Sun

Metal: Mercury

Planet: Mercury

Rulership: Business, communication, eloquence, healing, intellect, study

Sign: Gemini, virgo

Samael

"Severity of God"

Candle Colour: Red

Crystal: Jasper, ruby

Day: Tuesday

Herb: Cardamom, daisy, devil's claw, nettle, thistle, wormwood

Kabbalistic Sephirot: Gevurah

Major Arcana Card: The Tower

Metal: Iron

Planet: Mars

Rulership: Balance, courage, creativity, endurance, strength

Sign: Aries, scorpio

Sandalphon

Candle Colour: White

Crystal: Smokey Quartz

Day: Any days of the week

Herb: Carnation, lily, ivy

Kabbalistic Sephirot: Malkuth

Month: All months of the year

Planet: Earth

Rulership: Guidance, spirituality

Uriel

"Light of God"

Crystal: Iris

Day: Saturday

Herb: Bryony, pokeweed

Kabbalistic Sephirot: Hokhmah

Metal: Platinum, alloy

Month: September

Planet: Uranus

Rulership: Astrology, change, divorce, inspiration, revolution

Sign: Aquarius

Zadkiel

"Benevolence of God"

Candle Colour: Purple

Crystal: Amethyst, Sugilite, Turquoise

Day: Thursday

Herb: Anise, beech, cinnamon, hyssop, nutmeg, sage, valerian

Kabbalistic Sephirot: Hesed

Major Arcana Card: The Wheel of Fortune

Metal: Tin, bronze

Planet: Jupiter

Rulership: Health, legal matters, luck, success, wealth

Sign: Pisces, Sagittarius

Calendula Flowers

calendula officinalis

Calendula is a popular garden plant commonly used as a pot herb earning it the name pot marigold. While its nickname, marigold or Mary's Gold, refers to its customary usage in early Catholic events in some countries. It has pale green leaves and bright yellow or orange ray blooms at the top of long single stalks. Due to its flowers' brilliant colors, it is believed to resonate with the energy of the Sun.

Shakespeare even honored the flower in verse in A Winter's Tale wherein he seemed to situate the plant as the bride of the Sun:

"Hot lavender, mints, savoury, marjoram;

The marigold, that goes to bed wi' the Sun

And with him rises weeping: these are flowers."

Sun symbolizes happiness, success, triumphs, excellent relationships, a happy marriage, satisfaction, prosperity, hope, a new beginning, and good health. These representations are the same magical attributes of the herb. For this reason, rootworkers believe that its flowers have been used by many people to draw good fortune in many aspects. Like the Sun that provides us warmth, energy, and daylight, calendula, when used in magic, tends to shine favorably in any situation or condition, such as in court cases and legal matters.

Conjure folks traditionally make a seven-herb court case mojo with a pinch of calendula flowers, dill seeds, deer's tongue leaves, celery seeds, tobacco snuff, cascara sagrada, and guinea peppers; and name-paper of those who oppose them crossed with their full legal name written three times. This mojo bag is fed by chewing a Little John to Chew root and spitting its cud onto it.

It is also said that breathing the fragrance of its flowers causes one to dream of winning numbers and names, and so many people use it as an ingredient in their sleep or dream sachet to bring good luck in games of chance.

According to some European folklore, calendula is the traditional "he loves me, he loves me not" flower and is useful for love potions. A blend of powdered calendula, marjoram, wormwood, and thyme gently boiled in honey and white wine and used as an ointment in a ritual reveals the true match of an unmarried woman.

Healers and herbalists also unlock the power of the vibrant, golden calendula blossoms by utilizing their amazing properties in skin creams and teas. It provides soothing support for the delicate mucous membranes of the mouth, throat, and gastrointestinal system.

See, What Our Path Is

Being immensely interested in African diaspora religions and Folk Catholicism, we primarily honor our ancestors, Church saints, angels, folk saints, and Afro-Caribbean spirits such as loas and orishas. If we absolutely have to put a label on ourselves, we prefer the label of “Folk Judeo-Christian” as we live according to the customs and traditions of conjure workers and root doctors from the Deep South and syncretic followers of Christ in various nations of the Caribbean and Latin America.

Our spirituality includes West African-based Caribbean-style tradition as well as Esoteric Christianity and Yoruba religion. Generally, we practice Gullah folk magic popularly known in the Deep South as Hoodoo or Lowcountry Voodoo; the ancient wisdom founded by Orunmila in Ile-Ife called Ifa, and a bit of Lihim na Karunungan (Filipino Esotericism or Philippine Mystery Tradition).

Respect, What Hoodoo Is

Despite visible evidence of Central West African, Islamic/Moorish, Native American, Judeo-Christian, European, and even a few East Indian/Hindu, Chinese, and Latino/Caribbean retentions, influences, and admixtures, this does not mean that Hoodoo is an open and unrestricted system of eclectic magic.

Conjure, and Rootwork is rooted in African-American culture and Folk Protestant Christianity. Any practitioners of Hoodoo who did not grow up within African-American culture should still have a fuller understanding and high regard for its origin.

In the beginning, the early conjure doctors were entirely Black. The students were all Black, the elders were Black, the teaching was Black, and they focused only on Blacks as their audience. But other races were accepted when they had also been brought into the Hoodoo community and learned the tradition. Even so, we should still acknowledge that Hoodoo, Conjure, or Rootwork is not ours but only belongs to the Black community. We are just believers who are grafted into their rich yet humble tradition and, by word and deed, embrace genuine African-American folk spirituality and magic. This is all we can do for all the blessings we received from God and our Black ancestors.

Hoodoo's lack of religious structure and hierarchical authority do not mean that any person or group can appropriate or redefine it. If one cannot respect Hoodoo as it is and for what it is, then please, do not play with it.

Learn, How Conjure Is Worked On

Authentic Conjure is not all about blending and selling oils and casting spells online to make money. Hoodoo has its own spiritual philosophy, theology, and a wide range of African-American folkways, customs, and practices which include, but are not limited to, veneration of the ancestors, Holy Ghost shouting, snake reverence, spirit possession, graveyard conjure, nkisi practices, Black hermeneutics, African-American church traditions, the ring shout, the Kongo cosmogram, ritual water immersions, crossroads magic, making conjure canes, animal sacrifices, Jewish scriptural magic, enemy works, Seekin' ritual, magical incorporation of bodily fluids, etc.

Unfortunately, they are currently missing in marketeered or commercial Hoodoo, as they are being removed, disregarded, or ignored by unknowing merchants who simply want to profit from an African-American spiritual tradition, thus reducing Hoodoo to just a plethora of recipes, spells, and tricks.

Tim and I are completely aware that we are not African-Americans, so we are doing our best to retain and preserve the customs and traditions of the slave ancestors to avoid unnecessary conflict with the larger Black-Belt Hoodoo community and prevent them from labeling us inauthentic outsiders and our practice as mere 'cultural misappropriation.'

Accept, Who We Are

The byproduct of eons of slave history, Black supremacists believe that only people with African or African-American blood are real Hoodoo practitioners and are often inclined to consider themselves as the elite of the Hoodoo community; a place in which they believed that Whites, Latinos, Asians or any other races who do not have Black ancestry do not belong. Black supremacists are prone to be very hostile towards both “outsiders” and those accepting of them, fearing that their promotion and acceptance would dilute or even negate the Black identity of Hoodoo.

Although we do understand why some Blacks hold this stance, since a lot of people nowadays are misappropriating many aspects of Hoodoo and teaching the spiritual path even without proper education and training (for purely monetary purposes), we would, however, want to say that not all non-Black Hoodoo practitioners are the same.

WE respect what Hoodoo is, and we never try to change it, claim it as our own, disregard its history, take unfair advantage of it, speak against the people who preserve it, and mix it with other cultures (like our own) and call it Filipino/Pinoy Hoodoo, Gypsy Hoodoo or Wiccan Hoodoo because there are no such things.