#black tradition

[inhernature]

[starwitchwiccan]

Ancestor Altar 1

"I was taught to make my Ancestral altar Ifá style but it mutated based on my ancestors requests etc.

For instance, my people were not enslaved in the Caribbean, they were Afam so they like Cognac and Whiskey as much as they like Rum(more traditional) or Palm wine(Continental traditional)

Designate a space, put out 9 glasses of water, and at least one candle, heirlooms, pictures, ashes, and offerings. Alcohol, food, tobacco, things they like. Not everyone has close family ties in this generation so even small things are good. For instance I have my grandfathers sock on the altar and offer Pepsi cuz he loves that shit 😭

I consistently keep fresh flowers and burn incense, and clean it and upkeep offerings once a week

This is not a memorial, it is a conversation space and they actively take offering and give guidance and protection so pay attention to their directives, your immediate feelings, and the activity of things on and around the altar" -Myesha W.

[starwitchwiccan]

How to start Conjure?

"1. Set up an altar for your ancestors

2. Write petition papers

These are essential to propagating any personal power you have and creating opportunities for your ancestors to guide, and protect and provide, for you.

I'll be going over a basic Ancestral altar tomorrow

But for now think about what it is that you want to attract or repel, condense it into something short and sweet I.e. Prosperity, protection from "xyz", good health etc. and create petition papers for yourself and your needs and wants.

Write what you want nine times on a piece of brown paper(grocery bags are fine)

And then write your name nine times crossing the original intention

If you mess up, start over with a different piece of paper.

If this is something you wish to attract, fold it towards you. If it's something you want to repel, fold it away.

If you have the appropriate oils to dress the petition that's a definite plus

Place under a candle or in an oil lamp for nine days, and pray over it daily." -Myesha W.

[starwitchwiccan]

Ancestor Altar 2

"I made a post last year about Ancestor Altars but I think it's time for a new one

Conjure is a Kongo tradition that specifically centers your Dead and our Collective Ancestors and both as a Religion and a Practice

Often times newer folx look to a divinity to worship and prioritize them over their own people, and this leads to a lag in spiritual development and protection

A space for your Ancestors is fundamental to your practice, education and personal power

You will need a space in your home, semi-private, where you will keep 9 glasses of water(the river between the living and dead), prayer candles or oil lamps, heirlooms and pictures of your deceased.

If you have access to incense, Florida water, a mirror and in some cases a machete or alternative weapon this is good to keep with your folx

If you don't have pictures this is ok, get your water and your candles

Ancestor Altars are not memorials, so much as they're portals, their home in your home so to speak

So say Goodmorning and good evening, tell them about your day, go to them for counsel and advice, call to them when you need protection or prosperity etc.

Making food offerings once a week minimum will provide them with the necessary energy to move in your life effectively, advise you, teach you, and mitigate bullshit

Offerings of tobacco, liquor, candy, honey, and coffee are also excellent

Pay attention to any strong intuitive feelings, cravings, voices(if you're clairaudient) and dreams and lucid vision"- Myesha W.

[starwitchwiccan]

Faith

We must believe that our dreams are within our reach, which bring us to the seventh and most powerful principle, Imani or faith.

It may not be easy, but faith especially during difficult times brings us closer to making our dreams a reality.

The Seventh Principle is faith which is essentially a profound belief in and commitment to all that is of value to us as a family, community, people and culture. In the context of African spirituality, it begins with a belief in the Creator and in the positiveness of the creation and logically leads to a belief in the essential goodness and possibility of the human personality. For in all African spiritual traditions from Egypt on, it is taught that we are in the image of the Creator and thus capable of ultimate righteousness and creativity through self-mastery and development in the context of positive support. therefore, a faith in ourselves is key here, faith in our capacity as humans to live righteously, self-correct, support, care for and be responsible for each other and eventually create the just and good society.

Faith in ourselves is key.

Especially must we believe in the value and validity, the righteousness and significance of our struggle for liberation and a higher level of human life. This must be tied to our belief in our capacity to assume and carry out with dignity and decisiveness the role [Frantz] Fanon and history has assigned us. And that role is to set in motion a new history of humankind and in the company of other oppressed and third World peoples pose a new paradigm of human society and human relations.

Frantz Fanon

Fanon says we can do anything as long as we don't do two basic things:

1) don't try to catch up with Europe [afterall, where is it going - swinging between spiritual and nuclear annihilation]; and

2) don't imitate them so that we become "obscene caricatures" of them.

We must, he says invent, innovate, reach inside ourselves and dare "set afoot a new man and woman." The world and our people are waiting for something new, more beautiful and beneficial from us than what a past of oppression has offered us. Let us not imitate or be taught by our oppressors. Let us dare struggle, free ourselves politically and culturally and raise images above the earth that reflect our capacity for human progress and greatness. This is the challenge and burden of our history which assumes and requires a solid faith.

We must, then, have faith in ourselves, in our leaders, teachers, parents and in the righteousness and victory of our struggle, faith that through hard work, long struggle and a whole lot of love and understanding, we can again step back on the stage of human history as a free, proud and productive people. It is in this context that we can surely speak our own special truth to the world an make our own unique contribution to the forward flow of human history.

[starwitchwiccan]

Creativity

"Creativity means to perform acts that leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it."

The Sixth Principle is Kuumba and logically follows from and is required by the Principle of Nia. It is a commitment to being creative within the context of the national community vocation of restoring our people to their traditional greatness and thus leaving our community more beneficial and beautiful than we, i.e., each generation, inherited it. The Principle has both a social and spiritual dimension and is deeply rooted both in social and sacred teachings of African societies.

Nowhere is this principle more clearly expressed than in the literature and culture of ancient Egypt. Creativity here is both an original act or imitation of the Creator and a restorative act also reflective of the Creator constantly pushing back the currents of chaos and decay and revitalizing and restoring the natural, spiritual and cosmic energy of the world. In ancient Egypt, there was a spiritual and ethical commitment and obligation to constantly renew and restore the great works, the legacy of the ancestors and the creative energy of the leader and nation. This was considered doing Maat, i.e., reaffirming and restoring truth, justice and righteousness, harmony, balance, order, rightness, etc. Each pharaoh saw his or her reign, then, as one of restoration of Maat, i.e., the reaffirmation, reestablishment and renewal of the Good, the Beautiful and the Right.

[starwitchwiccan]

Self-Determination

The second Principle of the Nguzo Saba is self-determination. This too expresses itself as both commitment and practice. It demands that we as an African people define, defend and develop ourselves instead of allowing or encouraging others to do this. It requires that we recover lost memory and once again shape our world in our own image and interest. And it is a call to recover and speak our own special truth to the world and raise images above the earth that reflect our capacity for human greatness and progress.

The first act of a free people is to shape its world in its own image and interest. And it is a statement about their conception of self and their commitment to self-determination. [Frantz] Fanon has said each person must ask him or herself three basic questions:

1. Who am I?

2. Am I really who I say I am?

3. Am I all that I ought to be?

These are questions of history and culture, not simply queries or questions of personal identity. More profoundly, they are questions of personal identity. More profoundly, they are questions of collective identity, based and borne out in historical and cultural practice. And the essential quality of that practice must be the quality of self-determination.

Kujichagulia isn't just about you or me. It's about us our community and how we celebrate our. Culture and independently use our resources to self-determine our future. As the founder of Kwanzaa stated:

“In a time in which occupation and oppression of countries and peoples are immorally presented as necessary and even salvational, the principle of Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) rejects this and reaffirms the right of persons and peoples to determine their own destiny and daily lives; to live in peace and security; and to flourish in freedom everywhere.”-Dr. Maulana Karanga

[starwitchwiccan]

Kwanzaa

The Third Principle is Ujima which is a commitment to active and informed togetherness on matters of common interest. It is also recognition and respect of the fact that without collective work and struggle, progress is impossible and liberation unthinkable. More over, the principle of Ujima supports the fundamental assumption that African is not just an identity, but also a destiny and duty, i.e., a responsibility. In other words, our collective identity in the long run is a collective future. Thus, there is a need and obligation for us as self-conscious and committed people to shape our future with our own minds and hands and share its hardships and benefits together.

Ujima, as principle and practice, also means that we accept the fact that we are collectively responsible for our failures and setbacks as well as our victories and achievements. And this holds true not only on the national level, but also on the level of family and organization or smaller units. Such a commitment implies and encourages a vigorous capacity for self-criticism and self-correction which is indispensable to our strength, defense and development as a people.