Almuten Figuris and Guardian Angel.

First of all I would like to remind our beloved readers that english is not my first language, so if the grammar gets messy somewhere along the post, now you will know why.

During my trip to Spain saw many representations of holy beings such as the virgin Mary, Jesus and even God himself surrounded by angels which float aside them or even supporting them. Which got me thinking about the idea of the guardian angel, this particular entity or the notion of a tutelary spirit seems to be a rather common belief in Christianity and ATR. The image of a given protector assigned to us at birth which has a primary role as a spiritual guide and protector, be it a Guardian Angel, Genius, Met Tet , Santo de Cabeza, etc,  all respond to the same principle, thou each system has different ideas on the mechanics and the characteristics of this role. To catholics, the guardian angel is one being, while in vodou the met tet is a single or several lwa accompanied by its respective cohort of spirits and can change in time according to some, some santeria houses consider that each person has both a spiritual father and mother making it two spirits in charge of your wellbeing which never change. These aren’t universal absolutes of course, but some of the things I have heard from people involved in these practices.

The need for an entity of this kind on our lives —in my opinon— responds to two things mainly. First creational burocracy:

An angel is a messenger, a messenger is a carrier of information, God speaks and creates through his word and breath, there for all creation is made manifest through a command from God, this command is an angel, so that’s why it’s said there’s an angel for each second, minute, hours, day, water drop or leave on a tree that exists or has ever existed, so is there an angel for each and every one of us, in charge of what happens to us and God’s plan for us. Reason why K&C with the HGA is deemed so important and other rituals of initiation in ATR systems that put us in contact with our spiritual caretakers.

And secondly as I once read, God doesn’t talk directly so you need intermediaries, which is debatable in some accounts where it is said he has come down himself and given instructions such as in the case of Moses and other biblical figures or in the case of some variants of Christianity where there no intermediary but Jesus who of course is God made flesh. Either way, according to some paths where God is deemed unreachable or too busy to tend to us directly an intermediary figure is needed to talk to him for us and give us the feed-back. Which is reinforced in the catholic idea that our guardian angels carries our prayers to God and that entities like Legba and Ellegua must be served first in order to reach heaven with our prayer, meaning the gate isn’t always open,  we need an intermediary. This of course is a bit more complex than that, especially when you take in consideration the entire cosmological system and it’s different variants, but so far by applying some mild and superficial comparative religion there seems to be a trend.


Now unto the Almuten part! 

Something interesting I found somewhere online is that romans provided their tutelary spirit with wine offerings on their birthdays and that the power or virtue of the spirit was a matter of luck. As a student of astrology I can think of it more of a matter of calculating the name of your genius using the almuten technique and seeing how dignified that planet is on your chart, if the planet is strong on your chart, then you will have a good and strong guardian, if its messed up, then you don’t. This might sound cruel and contrary to the progress of the human soul, giving a person a poor quality guardian angel, but if you come to think about it, God also makes people born blind, deaf and mute among other things.

 

Now, why is the almuten of the figure the proper way to calculate it? What da hell is the almuten of the 

figure in the first place?

Well, the word almuten come from Arabic and means The strong one. It’s the planet that holds more power over a specific degree, in the case of the almuten of the figure, it’s the planet that holds more power over the degree where the 5 Hyleg points stand on your chart. Now, what is a hyleg and how does this almuten power over thing work?

The Hyleg are the 5 points that can determine how long you will live: Sun, moon, syzygy, part of fortune and ascendant. Only one can be the hyleg, to figure out which one, you follow the rules and starting from Sun, discarding each one until you reach the ascendant in case none of the others work. In case you were born at night, which means the sun has already crossed the horizon, not if there was still light out there when you were born, you switch the starting place between the sun and moon and follow the same order.   

The power of the almuten is calculated by the amount of regency a given planet has over a degree on the zodiac wheel. In the case of the almuten of the figure, imagine that there are 5 buildings in a block (hyleg points) and each one has 5 rooms, the person (planet) that owns more rooms in each of the 5 building is the one that own more property and there for power over the block and a stronger vote on what happens there.Iits basically the guy that owns the most property over the chart, and the rest of the planets and all elements on the chart are like tenents that rent, having to respond to their given landlord.

Ok awesome, now we know what each thing is more or less. But why these 5 points? What makes them so special in particular to figure out the name and nature of your Genius/guardian angel?

First of all, the guardian angel is assigned to you at birth, so the 5 candidates for the amount of life you will 

live seem like the proper guide to figure this out, after all, the angel will only be with you until you die

Second, why do we use the 5 points when the actual hyleg will only be one?

-Because then you won’t get to have 5 nifty letter to spell out a name to call on him, but one single letter.

Third, why do we use the amuten of the figure instead of the hyleg itself to determine the nature of the angel?

-Because the name of the angel is given thorugh the 5 letter and you need to know who has power over the name and there for the 5 letter of the angels name to know who rules over him and determines his nature. While the Hyleg will only be one point out of the 5. 

Ok, before me answer, a lil bit of history: 

According to our pal Abraham Ibn Ezra a jewish astrologer born in the year of 1089 in Spain and died probably in England on the year of 1165. Out of whom the formula to calculate the almuten figures was taken from also states the following on the given points:

Sun: In men it represents common sense, intelligence, beauty, strength, great fame, richness, ease with words, lots of desires/goals. It also rules the right eye, the right side of the body and the heart by day and the left eye and brain by night.

Moon: rules thought, the left side of the body and the left eye by day, the right by night

Part of fortune: corresponds to the part of the moon and signifies the body of the person, its life, goods, renown, beginning of all things and persons thoughts.

Ascendent: how will life be, the body, way of speaking, fruitfulness, thought.

So, pretty much they all have to do with things that are intimate to a person, like their brain, thou some hold a distant relationship to it, and the heart, the whole body, consciousness, thoughts and good fortune. So they pretty much happen to be all pretty important.

Even thou I found no account of description as to the use of the syzygy, it’s considered by some to be the blue print previous to any event, in this case, the person.

Something else rather relevant to consider is the fact that all of these points hold a relation to the sun, moon and ascendant in some form to be calculated.

If we get Hellenic then we can look into our other pal Vettius Valens who says:

Sun: light of the mind, organ of perception of the soul, royalty, mind, intelligence, fortune, lord of the head, oracular matters, teachers.

Moon: life of man, the body, appearance, the goddess, birth, fortune.

Those listings aren’t complete, just the relevant parts to the explanation.

So pretty much, the reason why those 5 points are chosen to hold the letter to our guardian angels name its because they hold a close connection to the fact that we are alive and breathing, a very important part of having a guardian angel, like we said, they expire on death.

You can also take into consideration facts like the sun is a representation of God in the chart and the moon represents the soul and all messengers, while the ascendant is the body, so the union of the 3 would be the guardian angel which connects us with God in this world.

Why the ruler of the 11th (teachers, guides and counselors)  isn't taken into account on this escapes me, in geomancy they do, but perhaps its because in astrology this house only relates to physical and human mentors and not spiritual ones. 

So there you go, a some what explanation as to why the almuten of the figure could provide you with your Guardian Angel's name and nature.

PS: yeah this blog's intent is changing a bit. 

Magical Spain

I been away for the past month and a half visiting family in Spain and giving my brain a little vacation. Aside from the delicious food and delightful sightseeing. I visited a few churches and museums to appreciate the religious art and see what i could gather from it, even thou art doesn't always falls on canon when it comes to representations, it does share the view of the artist at least on the depicted representation of a scene, saint or entity, which will always be influenced by the mentality and culture in which he grew and painted. 

On a previous visit to Spain 3 years ago, I remember visiting some occult stores in Barcelona and Madrid, and noticed that many of the catered to the new age and Santeria market, which prompted me to mention it while having dinner with some spanish friends that aren't involved in the occult or magical practices, to which one responded "that's because we killed all our witches during the inquisition, now we have to import". This might prove to be some what true in some parts of Spain, but spiritual and magical practices tied to or outside of the catholic perspective remain alive much like traditional hodoos and rootworkers, there are traditional spanish witches. But so far this side of Spain hasn't been part of my visits yet.

Among a few of my interests on visiting the different museums was to look for representations of the tetramorpho, which are the 4 angels/seraphs that stand next to the throne of God exalting his name and also come to represent the 4 principal evangelist: Mark, Luke, John and Matthew. Tetramorpho is the greek for four shaped, its usually a representation of a winged lion, winged bull, eagle and angel, which united are said to be the Spinx. My true interest in searching for these representations is to see if the images are arranged in an specific order on the paintings, particularly following an astrological sequence, as the 4 representations are also said to be tied to the 4 fixed signs:  Leo, Taurus, Scorpio and Aquarius. Long story short: No, they aren't, most if not all of the representations found follow no astrological order either by opposition or sequence of the signs from Aries to Pisces.  Yet the use of the tetramorpho in christian catholic representations is very old, exemplified in the pictures below taken from the ceiling of a 11 century mosque turned into a church. What is possibly quite new is the association of these images or beings with other elements such as the zodiac signs or maxims such as to will to know to dare and to keep silent. Something that should also be taken into consideration is that not all artists are mystics and not all mystics are artists, so in the process of the artistic production either by imitation or instruction, some artistic freedoms could have been taken, mismatching symbols or forms of representation. 

People are prone to finding a hidden meaning that might not be there or expanding the significance of certain symbols quite often, after all, symbols change in time and adapt to personal and cultural needs, and there is always room for misconception. A good example of this was what happened to me while walking inside the Catedral de Toledo i saw in several chapels a branch of rosemary laying in front of  some images, i started wondering what was the religious significance of this practice, since rosemary is a herb that's been  commonly used in magical and spiritual practices, to which my companion answered, who by the way is not a person who knows anything about the occult, that those branches were part of a trick used by gypsies to hassle people for money, they gave you the branch of a "gift"and then tried to read your hand or charge you for the branch or to single you out to pocket picker as a tourist, and there i was thinking it was a religious custom. 

Another interesting place to visit in Madrid and a must see for any person interested in angels is El Real Monasterio de las Descalzas, which only has guided tours, which sucks a bit because you can't really stand and appreciate certain things but follow the guide. Either way, this is the first time I have seen so many angelic art in one place, like the 7 archangels along with their given names in several painting and on the walls of the main stairway. Out of the several listings on what are the names of this particular group of angels, I rather go with the 16 century representations found in a convent instead of most modern occultist listings. 

This convent also holds a huge collection of saints relics, included bones of Saint Sebastian and a piece of the lignum crucis, among many others items. The reason for this is that not only is this a convent that works as a museum but a royal convent, which means that all the nuns that have lived there came from noble families and joined the church along with their dowries and family art collections. 

In the Catedral de Toledo there was also a relic with a piece of the Lignum Crucis inside, it was a silver statue of Saint Helen of Jerusalem holding a cross, inside the cross there was a nail ( allegedly one of the three used to crucify Jesus) and on the chest of the saint a capsule with a piece of the wood, and in another room the gilded hand of Saint Lucy.  

A very interesting practices was the custom carried by nobles of ordering portraits that included themselves in scenes from the bible or represented as saints, like women holding a late with two blue eyes in the likes of saint Lucy or a noble woman and her two daughters assisting the delivery of the virgin Mary by her mother Saint Anne. 

Another portrait that called my attention was that of a baby prince that had different charms sewn unto his clothes, among them a black fist and a piece of coral, both which are common charms given to babies still in use a few hundred years later.  

                                                             

Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz: Very Probable Lion Tetramorpho

                                            Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz: Eagle Tetramorpho

Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz: Garden View

                                                      Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz: Garden view

                                                   Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz: Garden View

                               Real Monasterio de las Descalzas: Main stairway angels & archangels

 

                                Real Monasterio de las Descalzas: Main stairway angels & archangels

                                      Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz: Modern display of idiocy on a 11 century monument

                                       Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz: Pancreator with eagle tetramorpho

                                  Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz: Pancreator with eagle tetramorpho

                                  Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz: Female saint representation with cross in hand

Monasterio de El Escorial: statues of David and Solomon. The original architectural plan tried to imitate the description of the temple of Solomon. 

Oh My long time no see

Hello, I been away from what it seems 2 months? In my defense I been on vacation in the very magical and catholic Spain. Saw many interesting things, sadly most of the cool stuff is at museums of all sort where photographs aren't allowed, and since i don't feel like getting kicked out of El Prado or chased around by security guards at El Escorial i rather scout around for some nice online pictures to ilustrate my journey. My next post will be about the trip and all the mystical goodies i saw.

M

Saint Michael The Archangel

Saint Michael The Archangel is one of the most important entities in the catholic pantheon, petitioned to defend from evil, undo it and general pleas of justice. He is considered to be extremely powerful and helpful against ones enemies and specially attacks from demonic origin. Even thou he is known to be an archangel, meaning he is a main (arch) messenger (angel) of God, others place him on different angelic choirs stating he holds several positions inside the heavenly hierarchy. Highly regarded among all the angels for being most  helpful and effective against evil, even in dominican vudu 21 division he is syncretized with Belie Belcan an protective spirit said to be the owner of all "works" in this world, who can untie any trick and protect against them. In some currents of santeria he is Oggun, the warrior oricha of metal, work and war.

His patronage includes police officers and those in charge of protecting others. He was also once considered a psychopomp, which means he holds power over the dead. 

His day is september 29th, his color is red or blue, his talisman is a little sword and his herbs are michaelmas daisy, angelica root, garlic and guinea peppers

Among the different devotions dedicated to St Michael which you can do in his name or to develop a relationship with him are:

Playing the Te Splendor a Roman Catholic hymn dedicated to Saint Michael.

Praying the Chaplet to St Michael, his most famous prayer or his novena. 

Or carrying St Michael's Scapular.

A traditional reversal work in Latin America is the Revocación con San Miguel Arcangel. It purpose is to call off any work sent against you and turn it back against to who threw it. One of the good things about this trick is that it doesn't call on any names so it sends back any harm known or unknown to you. There are two variations to this work and the prayer. 

Implements:

1 Red Candle

1 white plate

First you say a prayer to st Michael, any of your choice, prayer from the heart also works. Then you take the red candle, cut the top off and carve out a new wick out of the bottom. Holding the candle in its former upright position and pray the following as you turn it: 

As i turn this candle i have on my hand so may all my enemies and all wrong they are doing against me or trowing against me turn, be it man or woman. May I call on my enemies with these holy words and have them come humiliated to my feet, as Satan was humiliated to saint Michael's feet. may they have eyes and not see me, hand and not touch me, thoughts and not think of me, knives and not cut me, weapons and not shoot me, mouth and not speak to me. May all harm found at my home be undone and return, so it may become a blessing, and may anyone trying to do harm against me have his ideas undone and turn back in regret. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, in the name of all that is good, Amen. 

The second version of the trick calls for a glass which you fill up with water to a little bit more than half, place a plate on top of it and turn it around, setting a white candle on top of the glass which you have fixed the same way as the red candle. After the candle burns out you dispose of the water and cleanse the glass with a bit of ammoniac. 

If you wish to add reversal oil to the candle or Saint Michael oil it can be done without any problem. 

For protection work calling on Saint Michael i recommend the following:

Check out Devi's awesome amparo video, a traditional mexican curanderismo protection you can learn how to make on your own or have her make one for you, shes a very knowledgeable worker and also has a close relationship with Saint Michael, so you can trust her to make a very strong protection for you.

You can also get Momma Starr's Saint Michael Protection kit that comes with all the necessary implements to protect yourself with Saint Michael's help. Starr has over 30 years of experience and has worked with this angelic saint for a long time, making her own products the traditional way with prayer and all the right herbs.  

And if you are feeling more adventurous, Doña Concha a traditional Curandera, teaches you how to fix a Saint Michael medal for protection on her blog.

Mister M. 

Catholic Hoodoo by Dr Raven.

Dr Raven has been kind enough to mention my new blog on his own, along a very informative post on the historical insertion of catholicism into conjure practice, named: Catholic hoodoo. Check it out!.  

Thank you Dr Raven!  

Saint Barbara

As one of the 14 holy helpers, this saint has maintained her reputation even after being removed from the liturgical list by the Vatican due to insufficient historical accounts of her true existence. Yet this hasn’t stopped her to reach a cult like status, especially in south America due to her associations to two orichas, Shango in Santeria and Iansa in Umbanda, the reason for this syncretism arises from St Barbara’s association with lighting, due to her father’s death by mean of this natural element under God’s hand.

St Barbara is associated with lightning, a tower, where she was kept imprisoned by her father, a sword due to her beheading and a palm as a symbol of martyrdom, sometimes she is also represented with a cup in hand, reason why she is offered wine.

Among her offering one finds red candles, red roses and flowers, wine and red apples, which some people hollow out to make oil lamps to work with her. In most parts it is difficult to differentiate when she’s being revered as an African spirit or as a catholic saint, most of the times I have found she’s seen as both at the same time. Reason why so many santeros celebrate her the 4th of December, even knowing she stands for Chango they still call it Saint Barbara’s feast.

Shes the patron saint of people who work with explosives, such as miners, military and things involving artillery, also those who have been imprisoned and architects because of the tower. But she’s mostly called on to protect people from injustice and help them defeat enemies and obstacles, some even ask her to reunite lovers, thou I have found accounts of workers who says this is not her strong suit, when I asked why, I was told her association with Chango, who was a womanizer, made her unfit to bring true and steady love, as a catholic I would be more inclined to say that a virgin martyr isn’t too keen on love affairs, but that’s just a loose opinion, especially since the trick I’m providing is for love.

On regards to her correspondences her color is red, her herb is the Snake plant according to Brazilian tradition and her amulet is usually a tiny golden sword worn to keep her protection over you.

Prayer to calm down storms: European.

Blessed Saint Barbara
In heaven thou has written
on paper with holy water
on the arch above the cross
three times: amen Jesus, amen Jesus amen Jesus.

To protect a couple with St Barbara: Caribbean.


In case there is a relationship that’s threatened by others whether by natural or supernatural means, you can call on this saint to help you.
Warrior of heaven, blessed Saint Barbara, hear my plea of love so that _______ and__________ may be joined both in body and soul. Protecting them so no one stands on their way to happiness and union. Anoint my hairs and quench my thirst with your infinite love toward my good wishes. Powerful guardian of justice and the impossible, fight on behalf of these two eternal lovers, so be it, amen.

Saint Claire of Assisi

St Claire of Assisi (July 16, 1194 – August 11, 1253) was an Italian saint and follower of Saint Francis of Assisi, so if you have a close spiritual connection with him, in theory, it will be easier to work with her or reach her due to their affinity, the practice of calling on other saints and spirits to help us contact one in particular is something i was introduced to by Devi Spring owner of Queen of Pentacles Conjure & Witchery on her article on St Dymphna.

St Claire was also the founder of the Order of Poor Ladies and wrote their monastic rules, from which we can assume some qualities to her as leader and strict woman, not the kind of saint you call on to play around or take lightly, she commanded and ruled a nunnery in life, so don’t expect her to be a softie. The importance of hagiographies of saints is to know what we can expect from them and what they are like as a person, these spirits are very much human, and as saints they are filled with love and desire to help us, but still keep their personalities after passing, the more you read on them the better you will be able to communicate.

St Claire lived a monastic life and there for is hardworking and austere, most of the workings related to her only ask for a glass of water and an egg. The use of these two elements comes from her use of a monstrance to chase away an army that wanted to assault her convent, she took out the monstrance from the altar, prayed to God and showed it to the soldier over the wall which caused them to run away in fear stricken down by God. 

She’s considered to be the catholic patron saint of television and unofficial saint of psychics. Both of these associations come from her ability to see the mass projected on the wall of her bedroom while bedridden and sick.

She’s mostly called on to clear things up, from problems and confusion to uncrossing and road opening work, others ask her to help them make decisions, cleanse their homes and give them clarity.

St Claire’s uncrossing and cleansings on the body are said to be performed from feet to head, instead from top to bottom as usual, sounds odd? Well, give it a try and see what works for you.

Also, when working with her on behalf of others, it’s customary to give the person her holy card, I been told that yours will go missing if you don’t give the other person their own.

Correspondences:

Colors: white and blue.

Day: August 11

Herb: Camphor seems to be the most common, thou I have heard a very respectable worker suggest star anise, due to the doctrine of signatures association to stars and light the bring clarity.

Cleansing Prayer to St Claire:

Dignified mother saint Claire

Mirror of purity

Firm foundation and living faith

Charity and herald of virtue

Cleanse from our souls all blemish and guilt

I beg of you for the sake of peace and order of my soul

For I trust in the infinite goodness that by your merits

I will obtain his higher glory, amen

May your divine assitence always remain with us.  Amen.

House cleansing work with St Claire: Caribbean style.

You will need:

1 Blessing or St Claire oil or wash.

1 Bottle of Holy water.

1 Blueing square

1 Cascarilla cup

1 Glass of water full up to half

 1 Egg

 3 Camphor squares or EO drops.

 1 White vigil light.

Mix the blessing or St Claire oil or wash with the blueing square, holy water and a spoon of cascarilla in a bucket to wash the floors with it. Place inside a half full glass of water the camphor and egg, Light the vigil candle state your petition and pray the following:

“In the name of God I call on you glorious virgin and dignified mother Saint Claire, mirror of sanctitude and purity, bless this glass so it may illuminate and bless my home”

This should be performed for 9 days, trowing the water on the street and breaking the egg on a crossroad.


To clear or uncross someones thoughts: Caribbean style

Ideal for situations when a person is being unclear, undecisive or worked on through confusion or domination.

You will need:

1 Glass of water

1 Picture of the person.

1 white vigil candle.

Take the glass filled with water and make the sign of the cross on top of it and pray:

“Saint Claire, here I offer you this glass of water that represents the thought, judgement and will of _______________ for as clear as is this water so may the thoughts of ____________ be, so that whenever he/she is with me there may be no ill thought or confusion towards me”

Place the glass on top of the picture and light the candle as you pray the following:

"Saint Claire, here I light up this candle for you, to illuminate and clear the thoughts of ____________, so if theres someone working to confuse ___________, I pray that you set aside all negative thoughts. Amen”

Addendum:

The following was written by H'oungan Assogue Liam Richard-Howes and taken with due permission from his very educative forum Kiwimojo. I highly recommend joining if you are interested in Haitian Vodou, Santeria and Hoodoo. H'oungan Liam is a very knowledgeable man as much as a kind and serious practitioner who is always willing to help. You should also check out his website to learn about vodou or in case you are in need of a good h'oungan.

Thank you H'oungan for letting me share this on my blog.


Vodou and Catholicism can not be separated. You see there are lwa who are indeed Catholic Saints. Filomez, the younger and delightful sister of Erzulie Freda, is none other that the Blessed and Holy St Philomena, while her sister Klemezin is also the beautiful St. Claire, light of Vodou.

St. Claire is a powerful Spirit indeed. In Vodou she is served both as St. Claire and as an image of the L'wa. Which L'wa will depend on where the Vodouisant is from. In some houses she is served as Ayizan, the mother of all initiates, however this association to me makes no sense for a couple of reasons. Ayizan is the palm, she is not served on altars, but is served through a rite that centres on the palm tree. It is the fronds of the palm that are served, saluted and fed and this is how we always acknowledge Ayizan.

In our house St. Claire is associated with the L'wa Klemizin. Klemizin is a part of the escourt of Erzulie Freda and Klemizin is a strong and confident Mambo. Klemizin is also the Kryeol-isation of Claire, and a reminder that Klemizin is the Saint in her Haitian character. St. Claire/Klemizin can light the way forward in any situation. Are you undsure what to do? Don't know which road to take? In the middle of a situation that you really are not sure which path/road to take? Then take it to St. Claire/Klemizin.

One of the best ways to have St. Claire/Klemizin illuminate a situation is to set a white/St. Claire candle for her. You can have these fixed with St. Claire oil and silver glitter [or powdered silver]. Place this candle next to a glass of water [in front of an image/statue of St. Claire if you have one] and pray with all your help. Remember, St. Claire will not necessarily change the path that is in front of you, but she will illuminate a way towards clarity and solutions.

Ayibobo Klemizin! Ayibobe Sen Claire! Ayibobo tout L'wa yo!

Houngan Liam