#wanga

[bbabyelephant]

Evil Boy,why is your incanca so big ????

[hliotropio]

[xatzifragetiki]

Γύρισε την υδρόγειο , θα βάλω το χέρι μου να σταματήσει και πάμε αεροδρόμιο.

[hoodoogardens]

A black-and-white reproduction of an 1889 engraving entitled "Throwing the Wanga".

 COURTESY OF THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTIONThrowing the Wanga. Reinhart, C.S., (Engraver)

“Throwing the Wanga” = Casting a spell

[rockofeye]

What do you think of love spells or spiritual work to keep a lover with you? Like, do you think it's coercive or wrong to do that kind of work on someone?

Hi there,

That’s an interesting question. In general, I often find myself feeling fairly neutral about different types of spiritual work, including love work or relationship work. Most people don’t ask for spiritual work without a need, so I figure that if someone is asking there is a need that I may/may not get the whole story of.

I think love and/or relationship work often causes the most friction between folks re: whether or not it is super coercive or morally wrong or whatever. All magic and spiritual work is coercive–it seeks to shift the balance in favor of the person doing or commissioning the work–but I think love and/or relationship work particularly pokes that button for folks because it is seen as incredibly personal work, in that we can all imagine being in a situation where our feelings can be swayed one way or another. I think that brings up a lot of feeling for people.

I also think a lot of the background of why love and relationship work gets done often gets left by the side of the street. We get so twisted in our feelings that we forget our individual relative privilege of often being able to survive in the world without a partner…but there are people and situations that simply cannot hold water without someone else in it. I think a lot about that when people come to me for that kind of work–some situations are survival-based, and sometimes that means the other person needs to be deeply invested in you or madly in love.

This particularly comes up for women, and single parents. The single mom who needs her husband to stay at home so rent continues to be paid and the kids keep getting fed. The mom who needs her ex to be warm and friendly to her so they keep being able to access the ex’s high-quality medical insurance for the complex medical needs of the child (real situation I did work for). The young person who needs their partner to desire them so they continue to have a place to live until they can get on their feet. There’s a lot tied up in relationships and survival, and that often gets ignored or goes unexplored in the conversation.

Folks who I have chatted with before about the topic often bring up folks being petty and asking for work out of what they perceive as selfish desire or something. That’s always possible, but there’s kind of two ways that falls out; they may feel petty until the price for what they want is given to them (serious reconciliation work or love work isn’t going to get done with a single candle burn), or the worker may need to have enough savvy and training to tease out what is really going on. This means talking deeply with the person about their desire, expectation of the work, what led up to the current situation, and the ‘meat’ of where they are at in the moment.

That in and of itself will weed out folks who just feel like throwing money at someone, which means a worker has to be willing to shrug that off. I also don’t take work that I don’t believe will work or the lwa say will not work or is not the right solution. Instead, I will try to present options to address the deep issues at play–often self-confidence, motivation, desire for a relationship, anger/jealousy/hurt, and other things. It takes finesse and time…it isn’t a coincidence that a lot of priests and spiritual workers have a background in social work or counseling.

Anyway, that’s a long-winded answer to your question…I hope it helps! Let me know if you have more questions or I can explain anything more completely.

[alwayssukhi]

[rockofeye]

I don't know if this is something you can help with but I am having trouble with some magic I am doing. How do you troubleshoot magic/spells/spiritual work when things go wrong?

Hi there,

So, if I am doing work and it is not going well or something is puzzling, my first step in troubleshooting is to walk things back: 

First, I watch. Am I actually seeing what I think I am seeing? What could possibly be the cause, and how does that relate to the work? Like, if I was going to burn a candle for someone for some relationship issue, the candle shattering is not necessarily a bad sign--it could be a very good sign! For work to make someone go away, someone’s behavior getting worse and worse could very well be what sends them on their way. Context is important.

I give things time. Results are not always instantaneous, and sometimes things have to get worse before they get better. The spirits also work on their own timeline, and they don’t always communicate that. Patience is a virtue.

Did I divine on the work first? If not, time to break out the cards and see what the spirits have to say. I don’t divine on everything that comes across my desk, as it were, since some things are straightforward..but if things swerve out of the prescribed lane, I may lay down some cards for clearer answers.

What is going on in the situation? What am I seeing, if it is work for me, or what is the person I am working for experiencing? Combine that with context, and I can probably get a good read on what’s going on.

From there, after I have gathered some information, it’s time to correct (if necessary). Sometimes that means adding on a piece to what exists already, or forcing the work to correct (like, re-wicking a candle if I was going to do candlework), or sometimes that (rarely) means scrapping everything and starting again. More often, I will let the work finish and let it settle to see what the outcome is, and then re-start with a fresh approach after a minute.

Three things I often see with folks who are doing work that is not working or they don’t see as working:

Don’t do work you believe will not give you the outcome you desire, either for a client or for yourself. If you think it will fall flat, you are doomed from the start. Send them to someone else, try a different approach, or re-work your desire and get to the root of what it is that you want.

Put in max effort. Many of the situations that need resolving aren’t easy one-offs. Trying to get a partner back? That’s more than one piece of work, most likely, and more than one thing will need to go into it. Like, not one candle but maybe 21 candles. Not a lamp for one night, but maybe a lamp for 9 nights and maybe some side work to lessen the job stress for the partner, which led to the relationship souring. Dissect and lay out all the areas that need to be addressed to resolve the situation...and put work on all of those parts. It’s time consuming and sometimes money consuming, but the desire to do that work often tells you if it is necessary.

Pay for the work. The work has to be paid to be effective. If you are putting something out there with the expectation that a spirit or the Universe or an ancestor is going to aid you, you must pay them and that deal must be negotiated upfront. No ‘if you do this thing for me, I’ll get you something nice...some day’--it must be concrete, measurable, and deliverable...AND YOU MUST DELIVER ON IT. If you have a long-standing relationship, you might be able to pull off ‘I’ll pay you if this works’, but that’s super dicey and I don’t recommend it. If you aren’t pulling a spirit into the work, the work still needs to be paid because something is making that happen and there is no free lunch. If you are a worker, that means getting paid upfront and making sure you pay your spirits or pay the work with that.

That’s what I got right now....let me know if you have questions or if something wasn’t clear.

[revpapaj]

My Etsy Shop: Handmade Packet Wanga.

Just finished this today...

Handmade Ogou Feray’s Packet Wanga, A spell bag was giving Pwen by the spirit, crafted and prepared by me. Each wanga is made by hand using traditional New Orleans Voodoo.

This packet was created for a buyer with the help of Ogun.

Hand made only after purchase—no mass production.

Available exclusively on my Etsy shop. Beliefworks