Hello my distinguished readers, hope you are well and that the holiday season didn’t put you through the ringer!
I’m writing this post to openly invite anyone who comes across the blog entry to request a free reiki healing session with me. All you have to do is send me an email with the subject line “Reiki Healing Request”. All I’ll need is your first name and location (State and country is fine) and an optional photo of you as a focus. Obviously if you’re uncomfortable posting a photo attachment in the email that’s totally ok with me. Also, those outside of America are welcome to receive reiki. In the body of the email I would like you to summarize what issue or problem that could benefit from reiki treatment (it can be a physical/emotional/mental/energetic/spiritual issue or problem. Addiction of any kind also applies here.) I would also like to know how long you’ve been dealing with any particular issue and work out either a one time session or something applied on a weekly/monthly basis as part of your personal ongoing treatment plan. No need for Zoom or Skype or phone calls, I’ll email you the date of when I applied the reiki session and how long I sent reiki to you via email as based on our session regularity agreement. My sessions typically will be sent for a half hour and up to 45 minutes at the most. Please do not email me requests to do healings for friends/family/partners. If someone you know would like a healing please direct them to this post and my personal email. Remember, I am doing this as a free community service and do not require reviews although updates on your progress would be appreciated. Respect my time and energy and I will respect yours. Please DO NOT post replies to this post requesting reiki as they will be deleted! Email requests only!
Proof of my certification will be sent to you via an email photo attachment only once per person per request. Folks who are wanting to be attuned to reiki level one, two or three that are in my state and county and are serious about using this skill as a regular part of their lives and want to become reiki masters/teachers themselves will have that opportunity but this teaching of reiki method/technique and attunements must be done IN PERSON ONLY! I am offering these additional services without the requirement of monetary compensation nor do I require client reviews. On a final note… I do not have a reiki business or website at the moment nor do I have any social media accounts so don’t bother. When I do have my business/website/social media/business cards prepared then I’ll make a separate post with all the appropriate links. Thank you for your time and your respect. Happy New Year my distinguished readers!!!!!!!!
Today’s post is in essence a shout out and public honoring/recognition of the Mexican folk saint (non canonized), Santisima Muerte/Santa Muerte.
So I’ve been a devotee of Santa M. For almost a full calendar year and I would like to share a small bit of resources and thoughts about this deity, working with her and here’s hoping that folks will use these resources as a spring board for further research and practice if called to the deity. So my first exposure to Santa M. Came in the form of books and many hours of podcasts of various authors and a gentleman by the name Dr. Andrew Chestnut who published Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint. Another was Cressida Stones book Secrets of Santa Muerte: A Guide to the Prayers, Spells, Rituals, and Hexes. Tracey Rollins Santa Muerte: The History, Rituals, and Magic of Our Lady of the Holy Death. Also watching documentaries on Santa (there’s a few good ones around) and especially interviews with Dona Queta are highly recommended. Podcast and YouTube videos are available for you to research yourself, however, also use your critical thinking skills and learn to discern quality content from bullshit. Take your time with research and be even more cautious if you’re considering working with her or becoming a lifelong devotee. The book titles I provided above are good enough to get you started and inspired. That’s all.
Since being devoted and serious about my commitment to her I’ve experienced so many blessings and also some hard lessons I needed to learn. From my personal experience when working with Santa M. You need to show respect, and keep your commitments. However, she is a very chill, very humble deity to work with and she is patient and understanding of the human experience and understands that we screw up from time to time. She’s very kind, very loving, but can be stern and take from you all she’s provided if you don’t keep your end of the bargain, disrespect her or her altar or only beseech her when you need something. It’s important to remember that this is a serious and real relationship and must be treated as one just like anyone would do if they’re serious with deity work. She will help you, bless you, protect you, guide you, cut out people/ways of living/jobs/paths you’ve been walking if they no longer serve you. She is ready and willing to provide but you have to be prepared for the delivery of real results and say what you mean and meaning what you say with her. She will deliver and sometimes she will deny you things that don’t serve you.
Starting a basic working altar with her can be quite simple and minimal. In fact you can be minimal or as extravagant as you like. A great way to get started is a simple and clean elevated space for her image/statue, a skull either resin cast or a real one can be purchased legally here in the states (look up your country’s, states, county laws regarding the ethical purchase and possession of human remains because you can get into some serious trouble if you do this underhanded and get caught. Also, a candle and glass of fresh water for her are excellent choices. For the longest time all I had was a Santa pendant, a white candle and glass of water. Morning and evening I would light the candle, clean the altar, provide fresh offerings, meditate, commune, petition, etc. She also appears to like sweets of all kinds, cigarettes, cigars, joints, tequila, mescal, alcohol, fresh fruit, flowers.
There is an interesting phenomenon regarding various cults of Santa being associated with really bad crimes both here in the states, especially the US Mexico border and also abroad as well as drug trafficking and has been called by the FBI and other law enforcement officials as a “Narco Saint”. While this is indeed true and horrible crimes of murder have been committed/performed/ritualized in her name it does not represent the whole community of Santa’s devotees. There are obviously bad apples in every community and it’s important to be educated and knowledgeable in these matters regarding Santa. Many marginalized communities and types of people the world over are her devotees as she accepts everyone. Literally everyone!
With all this said albeit briefly and succinctly, please for the love of God do plenty of research and also rely on direct experience! Experiential knowledge teaches more than any book ever could or ever will.
Praise be to Santa Muerte! May she protect her devotees from harm, may she guide her devotees when they lack clarity and understanding. May she bless those who keep her in their hearts and minds. All hail Santisima!
Hello subscribers……My God I’ve been absent for over 2 years! Let’s just say I’ve been through some serious shite since my last post but circumstances have improved for me and now I can return to WordPress with more content, more links, more, more MORE! Thanks for your patience my friends and I hope you’ve all been well. When September rolls around I’ll be posting regular content but I will not be updating my readers about what I’ve been up to. Why? Because it’s my life and my business and NOT YOURS!
Stay tuned homies, I’ve missed you and I’ve missed WordPress. However, I’ve been hearing that blogging is slowly being phased out and becoming irrelevant and outdated much like the 8 track or VCR’s…I beg to differ, because reading is sexy duh!
For centuries, humanity struggled to make sense of the natural world and its unpredictable weather. Sometimes, the blood and sweat of months of hard toil could be torn apart in a matter of minutes; an uprooted crop or spoilt harvest often spelt total disaster for a poor farming family. One of the most feared natural events here was the sudden storm or violent wind and many explanations were once proffered in an effort to make sense of these; the most popular being that certain, gifted, people could control the wind and storm.
Today I was reading Lee Morgan’s book A Deed Without A Name: Unearthing The Legacy of Traditional Witchcraft and in chapter 2 titled: Who is Called and Who is Calling wherein he brings up an aspect of witchcraft that I hadn’t considered in depth for quite some time into my path, hence the title name of the chapter. Those two questions aren’t really what I would like to discuss, what I would like to discuss is more along the lines of the vocation of the witch and what they are called on to do. Lee brings up this point regarding the witch’s function and service, both to this world and the Otherworld and how this aspect is forgotten in modern witchcraft in favor of spiritual evolution and self discovery ( which Lee doesn’t dismiss as unimportant). Lee mentions that not all witch’s are called to work for the same forces and they do so as necessary representations of the giving and taking forces of life and death. I haven’t met many “real” witches but the ones that I have met seem to have particular natural talents/skills/proclivities without former knowledge, study or training in certain areas of the Craft. Whether these are inborn talents, “gifted” to the witch through familiar spirits or the result of work in these areas of witchcraft from a past life (if you place stock or belief in such things) I can’t be sure. What I do know based on personal experience is that some of us are called to work for the gates of life or the gates of death and I’m of the opinion that it’s important for the witch to find out which path one is being called and to take that path when one is ready. It should be obvious that the path of death, the path of shadows, the path of night is generally despised, mocked, misunderstood, etc. Go figure. Whatever gate you are called to work for is irrelevant in my opinion, JUST EMBRACE IT! Damn the consequences, damn the price to be paid! If you’re a genuine witch then you generally won’t give two shits what others have to say about your path or what they think about you; If you stray from your path you’ll feel it in your bones, in your spirit and you won’t feel “right” until you embrace what you’ve been called to do in service and in function. It’s not easy especially if you’ve been called to the darker paths in the craft but honestly isn’t integrity and walking your path with authenticity better than the alternative???? The path of the witch is not for the faint of heart, for sheeple or folks who can’t carve their own path through the jungle and not give a damn about being a social pariah, ostracized and/or segregated, etc. If you have what it takes then welcome to the family, whether you work for the gate of life or the gate of death is irrelevant to me. What matters is your commitment and dedication to the path and to do anything less feels like an insult to all the witches who came before you who risked death and torture to walk their path, especially in a time that is not our own where you almost certainly were executed for being different or practicing a religion/spiritual path that differed from the dominate Judeo-Christian paradigm. Never forget this! Never forget the Red Thread of witches and those who came before and paved the way for those of us in the modern age just as you help pave the way for future generations. Be strong in your craft! Be strong in your authenticity which seems so rare these days when soo many would cash in their integrity and principles for a steady paycheck or a life of creature comforts.
Chris is a professor of European Archaeology with interests in Archaeology, Landscape and Identity, Archaeology and intelligence, History of the rainforest, Eurasian connections, Papua New Guinea. I’ve provided a link to his University of Oxford page here. I’m also providing two YouTube links where he discusses the contents of his book and answers questions from listeners at the end of his discussions. The first link is The School of Archaeology Oxford YouTube Channel and The British Academy YouTube Channel . His book starts on a timeline of 40,000 BC up to the present and is a cross cultural look at magic’s history worldwide and it’s development alongside religion and science. It’s a “broad strokes” approach to this subject matter and doesn’t necessarily go into a deep dive regarding each cultures approach and response to magic but I highly recommend it and suggest you check out the link at the top of this post to his amazon book link and suggest giving a listen to his discussions before purchasing this book.
The Red Cellar Research Articles: Slaughterhouse Blood: An Emerging Source of Bioactive Compounds *Page 5 of pdf contains important info in Figure 1 and Table 4 regarding what blood constituents are used, what they are utilized for in food products (it’s function), and references are included.
Below are listed links to books regarding the spiritual as well as socio/cultural/medical/financial uses of blood. Great stuff for those curious about the properties of blood, it’s functions as well as it’s use in various industries today including myths, superstitions and religious aspects of blood. The first entry is a link to Basse Stittgen’s online studio where he features physical goods made from 100% cow blood and discuss his reasons for doing so. He also features blood from those who are HIV+ and transforms their blood into physical objects to help spread awareness reduce the stigma of tainted/infected blood; Each object comes with an interview of the person who donated the blood for the particular project piece. The second entry is from one of my favorite blood artists, Vincent Castiglia who uses his own blood to produce metaphysical and horror themed paintings. The last book entry by Mary Roach does not cover the topic of vampirism or blood related knowledge per se, but more so about our bodies and the postmortem journey they take and the process of decay that did contribute to more than one vampire myth in the past. Besides, it’s an engaging and fun read as well as holding relevance to vampirism. But first I’ll provide a link to a quick Youtube video explaining the composition and function of blood brought to you by Professor Dave Explains. Another useful video covers blood groups provided by bloodbankguy, he’s got a whole host of blog articles and videos on blood related info you might find helpful. And if that wasn’t enough, I’ve provided a link to an ebook on blood groups and red cell antigens if you feel like digging deeper into The Red Thread that is blood. A shorter 24 page read about the human red blood cell by Russell Haden M. D. via the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine can be read if you do a quick google search. Please note that the above link to the paper is for personal use only and any additional use requires permission as stated at the bottom of each page of Russell’s paper. For those who enjoy visual information I’ve provided the human blood chart via Hospital Equipment Manufacturing Company website. Last but not least is the database of red blood cells provided by NCBI (National Center For Biotechnology Information provides access to biomedical and genomic information), it contains information about blood, including clinical data about different blood groups and stores DNA sequences which encode different blood group antigens. Enjoy!
Clinical Vampirism: The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law article about the myth and reality of clinical vampirism http://jaapl.org/content/22/4/533
Below I have provided a huge list of links to some online real vampire community resources that I recommend checking out. These range from blogs, discord instant messaging platforms, forums, articles, general faq sites, and a few documentaries (intentionally cheesy yet serious) and the very last link contains an amazon link to purchase candy bars from russia made from processed cow blood in case you need some extra iron, very tasty!
Two literary academic sources regarding real vampires and their subculture that I enjoy are from the following two gentleman: John Edgar Browning who is currently a Professor of Liberal Arts at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta (John Edgar Browning | Savannah College of Art and Design – Academia.edu) as well as Joseph Laycock who is an Associate Professor of religious studies at Texas State University (Faculty Profiles (txstate.edu)). Joseph Laycock’s book, Vampires Today: The Truth about Modern Vampirism (Amazon.com: Vampires Today: The Truth about Modern Vampirism: 9780313364723: Laycock, Joseph P.: Books) is one of my absolute favorites when it comes to investigating and discussing the origin of the modern vampire community. He discusses different types of vampiric experiences, the vampire’s social environment, initiatory vampire groups/houses/covens, vampires and religion, and it’s evolving community from pre internet zines to the modern web as we know it today.
Links (real vampiric practices which covers blood drinking and energy feeding among other techniques of energy manipulation):
Vampyre Magazine (articles as well as links to vamporium shop, sabretooth clan, strigoi vii, black veil vampires, father sebastiaan, etc.)
Vampirism and Energy Work Research Study (A survey in which I participated in filling out with a total of over 900 questions, took me about 2 hours to complete around 2007): http://www.suscitatio.com/main.html
*Clicking on the Web Directory and scrolling to the bottom of the page will list over 500 real vampire related sites for further research/information and is worth checking out.
Merticus (Merticus set up the Atlanta Vampire Alliance, primary contributing author to the vampirism and energy work research study, a lead researcher for suscitatio enterprises, current administrator for voices of the vampire community, founder of vampire community news and organizer for the Atlanta Vampire Meetup Group): http://merticus.com/
The Sorcery Lab 