St. Philip Neri: Trickster Saint

"Let me get through today, and I shall not fear tomorrow."-St. Philip Neri

As you can probably see from the title of this blog, I have a special connection to the trickster spirits. I am blessed to have been "adopted" by them. 

From Catholic.org:

"Humility was the most important virtue he tried to teach others and to learn himself. Some of his lessons in humility seem cruel, but they were tinged with humor like practical jokes and were related with gratitude by the people they helped. His lessons always seem to be tailored directly to what the person needed. One member who was later to become a cardinal was too serious and so Philip had him sing the Misere[*] at a wedding breakfast. When one priest gave a beautiful sermon, Philip ordered him to give the same sermon six times in a row so people would think he only had one sermon.

Philip preferred spiritual mortification to physical mortification. When one man asked Philip if he could wear a hair shirt, Philip gave him permission -- if he wore the hair shirt outside his clothes! The man obeyed and found humility in the jokes and name-calling he received" 

LOL <3

Here's the wiki article. 

Look at that Pomeranian. Do you die? :D

St. Philip Neri is awesome to work with when either the joy has just run out of your life, you feel anxious, or you're depressed and uninspired. He will also come to your aid when you need to soften a humorless grump or knock down some cocky bastard who's harming you or other people. An example of the latter would be a supervisor at work who is him/herself lazy and incompetent, but who holds you back by being harshly critical of your performance when reviewing your work with higher ups in an effort to make themselves look good by comparison. He can also be called upon to handle a gossiper.

He's usually depicted wearing orange and gold vestments--how appropriate! I would suggest orange or yellow candles. You don't actually need herbs or special products when working with the saints, all those saint oils and incenses are just made-up, non-traditional, and marketer driven. I'm not saying that you can't make a saint oil to work with a saint if you wish, I'm just saying they are absolutely neither traditional nor necessary. All you need is prayer and maybe some blessed olive oil.

As far as offerings go, candles, a glass of water, lilies, and either a book of jokes (which he was fond of in life) or print-outs of some good ones. This should go without saying but... keep 'em clean, he is a priest! I don't have him on my altar yet, but when I set him up I will totally get a little Pomeranian figure for him :)

Word of advice: Do not tell him you are a perfectly good person or that you are totally innocent. You must be completely honest and humble when approaching him, admitting that you are neither perfect nor without sin. St. Philip Neri can be very, very serious when it comes to humility. The "I'm totally the victim here, I don't deserve ANY of this" (despite you also having said hurtful things) act won't fly with him.

(Note: He is not one of the dozen of so saints traditionally worked with in conjure. I am sharing my own personal experience.)

Confession: I've Got Marilyn Monroe On My Spirit Altar (Edited to Add Pic)

I've got three altars, one for my ancestors, one for all other spirits, and a special one I won't name here. If I had the space, I'd keep a few more, such as a special one for Coyote and his fellow tricksters.

Anyways, yes, Marylin Monroe, along with a few other people who've inspired me, has a place on my spirit altar. I keep her picture, a small bottle of Chanel no. 5, a small bottle of Fracas, and a tube of red lipstick on it for her. She gets a glass of water and the occasional candle. I've never petitioned her for anything, this is just my way of showing gratitude to her for the joy she's brought me through her films and writing. I've always felt such a strong connection to her.

This is one of the pictures I use.

 I think sometimes people forget that honoring and thanking the spirits is the most important part of spirit work. The spirits are not gumball machines, they are beings with thoughts and feelings. Everyone knows that one "friend" who only drops by when they want something... don't be that guy.

Are there any people who've passed on to whom you are extremely grateful? Perhaps an author or musician or even a human rights activist. I've known a few people with beautiful, heart-felt altars devoted to Martin Luther King Jr. Even if you don't put together an altar, just leaving out a picture, a candle, a glass of water, and maybe some flowers once in a while is a great way to give thanks. Pray to Spirit that they know peace and happiness.

Some advice:
-Your ancestor altar should be dedicated to your ancestors only. Friends may go on a general spirit altar.
-An altar need not be complex! A cross, a white tablecloth or doily, pictures, a bible, glasses of water once a week or so. Many homes have "ancestor altars" but they have no word for them... it's just the special place for pictures of those who've passed on.
-Never put a photo of a living person on an ancestor altar. If your only photo is a group shot, scan it and crop the image.
-Add things your ancestors or spirits like(d). Cigarettes, snuff, dip, coffee/tea, whiskey, wine, fresh or dried flowers, perfume/cologne, honey, books, poems, prayers, Bible verses. If all you have is a glass of water, that's ok.

Knocking

Would you walk into a stranger's house without knocking?

It seems like people are not being taught about knocking. Conjure is one of the most straight-forward magics in the world, but it seems like people either over-think it and complicate it, or they underestimate it and strip away important facets of the practice.

When we approach a grave for spirit work, we knock at the headstone first. When we work with a root, we knock on it to wake up and call upon the spirit of it. We knock on candles to awaken the power we've called into them. We knock at the air or on an altar piece when addressing spirits. Knock knock knock.

You don't barge into strangers houses unannounced and demand the people do stuff for you, so why would this be acceptable on a spiritual level?

Matthew 7:7-8 - Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Tips For Working With Animal Spirits: Addendum

I feel so stupid for leaving this stuff out, I was just in a hurry to publish my post. Again, these posts are to help people work with animal spirits without supporting the horrific fur industry, not to condemn the use of animal parts. I work with animal parts, just look at my post on turkey bones.

Other things you can do:

-Use animal parts that can be obtained without killing the animal. This is very traditional; for example, cat and dog hair is used to make people fight. Feathers are used for communication, love, or even uncrossing, depending on the bird they came from. Black cat hair is used for good luck or stealth. I actually have a gaming hand made with fur from my black kitty-boy and it works unbelievably well. You can use fur/hair, shed claws, shed feathers, snake sheds, nail clippings, hoof trimmings... things either the animal loses naturally or which can me obtained without harm.

-Keep items with the animal whose spirit you wish to work with. This is another very traditional practice, where the hand/talisman/packet/whatever is empowered via transference. One example is keeping an item for protection under a guard dog's bed for a set number of nights.

-Use parts from animals that have already died. This means death due to natural causes, bones you find in nature, and even roadkill. Be extra careful about that last one. Pray for the animal and petition Spirit beforehand. Follow hazardous waste precautions.

Tips for Working With Animal Spirits

In my last post, I spoke out against the cruel source of many of the zoological curios sold by marketers for use in conjure/hoodoo. (Just in case I wasn't clear, I am not opposed to zoological curios obtained responsibly.)

How can one work with animal spirits in more humane and positive ways? There are lots of possibilities. Remember, even if you're "just" using something like a coon dong for money luck, you are still, in fact, working with the spirit of that animal. Animal spirits, just like plant spirits and, really, all spirits, will be much more willing and much more generous with their powers to people who have forged good relationships with them. If you start out that relationship by callously buying cruelly/irresponsibly obtained curios, you are obviously off to a bad start.

-Connect with responsible hunters. Offer to buy the pieces you seek from them. They'll more than likely be thrilled to get some cash for their scraps. Avoid trophy hunters and fur-trappers, who only kill for the hide and discard the rest.

-Buy vintage, and I mean real vintage. Don't readily trust online sellers who claim to be selling vintage bones, teeth, fur, rattlesnake rattles, etc.

-Buy authentic Native American goods. The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 made it illegal to mislead consumers by presenting non-Native American made goods as if they were authentically Native-made. If a manufacturer wants to, say, sell a line of dreamcatchers, they may do so, but if they label them "Native American/American Indian/Indian Dreamcatcher" or attach a specific tribe name, like "Ojibwa Dreamcatcher", they are in violation of the act. Don't let this lull you into a false sense of security when shopping, especially online. Check out the Buy Native campaign.

-Find ways to work with wild animals. Set up things like bird houses and feeders, bat roosts, and hummingbird feeders. You may bless them beforehand and tell the spirits that in return for their help, you will maintain and care for the shelters/feeders. I will write more about the uses of hummingbird feeders in a future post.

-Construct a spirit altar. You can either have a general spirit altar, a specific spirit altar for animal spirits, or even an altar for a single spirit. Decorate your altar with pictures, statues/figurines, a glass of water, things associated with the animal (for example, fresh or dried flowers which are known to attract hummingbirds), and maybe even Biblical passages that mention the animal if appropriate.

A neat way to honor animals spirits and build up your altar(s), while helping real wildlife, is to "adopt" an animal through charity. Both World Wildlife Fund and Defenders of Wildlife offer these great packages where, when you symbolically adopt an animal, they will send you a plush of that animal, pictures, a certificate of adoption, info sheets, and other things.

For example, if you work with Hummingbird (I know, everyone online seems to prefer the Spanish name, La Chuparosa), how sweet are these plush versions?

Or maybe you work with Bat or Wolf?

Whatever you choose to do, just be responsible and ethical.

EDIT: I forgot to mention another great method.

-Incorporate symbolic elements, such as metal charms, small figurines, pictures, and plants associated with the animal. Take my silver Hummingbird charm, for example:

Check out places like Michaels and A.C. Moore for inexpensive charms and pendants. I got my sterling silver Hummingbird charm from Michaels for under $4.

Who Will Cry For The Raccoons?

I have a natural gift for working with spirits of all kinds, including animal spirits. Not everyone who works with spirits works with animal spirits. In fact, some people are simply unable to. If you do have a knack for it, try to be mindful of how you connect with them. Using animal parts is a very old part of conjure, but the methods of obtaining those parts today is so very different from back in the early days of conjure. Whereas a "coon dong" (a raccon baculum, the "penis bone") would have been obtained via responsible hunting*, in which both the meat and fur were used, today most people buy them through marketers. The marketers obtain large amounts of these wholesale as cast-offs from the HORRIFIC fur industry.

I find it so hypocritical that people make a huge fuss and cry about how evil the black cat bone ritual is, then turn around and support an industry dedicated to that same kind of cruelty! In fact (and first let me tell you I am a cat lover and I work with Cat) because the black cat bone's purported gift of invisibility would be absolutely invaluable to an escaping slave, I see this indifference to the suffering, torture, and slaughter of animals by the fur industry and the people who support it as MORE evil. Who will cry for the raccoons? Who will cry for the foxes? Who will cry for the wolves? Who will cry for the coyotes?

There are many campaigns which aim to end the fur industry. Way too many people instantly think of PETA when they hear people about this kind of thing and instantly stop listening. The Humane Society of the United States has an excellent campaign one can donate to.

No animal should have to suffer and die just for you to have good luck at the casino or a spicier sex life. There are so many amazing plants whose roots, leaves, flowers, and other parts do an exceptional job at both of those things, and anything else your heart desires. Marketers need to be held accountable for their support of such needless, evil practices. They buy big wholesale lots of the bones, teeth, and fur of raccoons, wolves, foxes, coyotes, lynxes, badgers, and other fur-industry animals for pennies per piece, then turn around and resell them for a huge mark-up. It's all about money money money.

In my next post, I will show you many wonderful cruelty-free ways to connect to animal spirits and welcome their powers into your life.

*Please take special note of this important distinction. There are many people who hunt and use everything they kill. They are not trophy hunters. I am not opposed to people who utilize the skins and bones of their food. Humans are omnivores, and RESPONSIBLE hunting is far better than the nearly equally cruel factory farming industry.

Florida Water

When I first created this blog, I had decided that I didn't want to cover things that were already pretty well-covered elsewhere online. Now, though, I'm thinking that I still have things to contribute, so I might as well still cover them.

Florida Water is the name for a type of cologne that has been produced for over 200 years. There are and have been other brands, but Murray&Lanman's (formerly Lanman&Kemp) is the most ubiquitous. If you've ever smelled Hoyt's Cologne or 4711 (a true Eau de Cologne, which both this and Hoyt's are based on), Florida Water is similar but much lighter and less concentrated. If you like Hoyt's, 4711, Bay Rum, and other "old-timey" scents, you will love Florida Water.

Florida Water is used for purification and cleansing, spiritual work, and also drawing in good fortune. It's used in several ways. It can be used in baths and floor washes/scrub water or put in a spray bottle and misted about the home. It can be used to cleanse tools and work spaces between use. It can be used to cleanse candles (let dry before using!) and other store-bought things before you use them. It is frequently offered to ancestors and spirits and, if you work with them, saints and angels. It can be used to feed hands, packets, and also roots and bones and anything else you'd feed. It can also be worn as a personal scent. I know, "duh" on that last one, but I mean a magical scent. There is even a bar soap version of it.

I want to make something clear: not everyone uses it. I know it's traditional, especially in certain areas, but I personally never used the stuff until I lived in a primarily Hispanic neighborhood and was introduced to it. I've never seen anyone in my family use it either. I've known a few to own 4711, that's as close as it gets. Before, I'd always used whiskey, vodka, or even salt water to cleanse things, maybe a little incense smoke.

A few little tips: Florida Water is GREAT for mosquito bites, it numbs and soothes them (thanks to its clove and lavender oils) and helps them to heal. It also makes a great toner for oily or acne prone skin. To keep nice and cool in the summer, mix some into ice water and soak a rag in the mix to wipe yourself down and drape around your neck. This mix is also awesome for a migraine.

I have used Florida Water in healing work to great success. My boyfriend is diabetic and gets these little sores which don't heal for months, and when they do, they scar over. He has been to the doctor about them, and his doctor didn't know what they were but ruled out anything really serious, surmising that they must be, indeed, related to his diabetes. I asked him if, next time any cropped up, I could try to help heal them. Using Florida Water on them twice a day, along with prayer and power, I got them to heal up and leave with almost no scarring. He was shocked and amazed. He'd been using rubbing alcohol on them for a long time, so I know it wasn't just the alcohol content. Florida Water contains actual essential oils as opposed to synthetic fragrance, so there is real power in it.

Please take note: the above healing work did include a visit to a medical doctor. This is one example of using healing work in conjunction with medical doctors, which you should always do.

Ghosts and Honey

Do you ever stop and realize you have no idea how you know something? I was drafting another post which included a comment about ghosts liking to eat honey. For the life of me, I can't remember where I learned that. Family? Book? Campfire story? Huh. Maybe some sweet-toothed spirit whispered it to me while I slept one night.

Turkey Bones

With Thanksgiving coming up, I thought I'd do a quick write-up on the use of turkey bones in conjure.

Most everyone in the United States knows all about the wish-bone and the wishing ritual. Some people hang the whole wishbone above their door like a horseshoe for good luck. I've also heard of girls hanging wishbones above their doors to discover their future husbands, with the first man to walk through the door being the one. I assume this would be done on New Year's Eve or maybe the night before May 1st like many other "husband divination" methods call for. Turkey bones are also used in love work.

Let me first explain something about using bones. Bones are a link to the spirit world. When working with bones, they are not lifeless objects. When you work with turkey bones, you are calling upon the spirit of Turkey to help you. When we work with spirits long-term, we "feed" them to keep them strong and working for us. You can feed them with either some whiskey, Florida Water or similar cologne, oil, or a sprinkle of corn meal.

If you're a woman who wants her man to be more passionate, more attentive, and just stupidly enamored with her, turkey bones are the way to go. You can keep them under your bed. (I really recommend this over the cruelly obtained coon dongs marketers buy wholesale from the horrific fur industry.) You can hide them in your man's home, under his front steps where he walks, in his car. You can even keep one in your purse so you always have one around when the two of you are together. Taking this a little further, turkey feathers are sold in craft stores cheaply, dyed all kinds of vibrant colors. You can get these, trim them, and use them to write petitions and love letters.

Blog Feature: "The Greatest Conjure Book In the World"

In her book "Mules and Men", Zora Neale Hurston refers to the Bible as "the greatest conjure book in the world" and nothing could be more true. I might not consider myself Christian, but I was raised in a Catholic family and I respect that conjure is, and always has been, a Christian-based magic. This is a bit confusing to outsiders, the idea that something can be non-religious but Christian at the same time. In conjure, it is believed that one's power comes from God, one works with the spirits (including the spirits of nature) to achieve one's goals and God's will, and the reason why this magic is good is *because* it is a gift from God. It's because of this that conjure is actually not compatible with pagan religions like Wicca.

Let me put it this way... if my mom were to walk in on me lighting a candle to St. Jude, she would ask me about what I was doing, offer to pray with me, and further offer to have her friend, Reverend "Pearl", pray for me as well "because you know Reverend Pearl's prayers always work!" She'll chant to St. Anthony while searching for something without batting an eye. She's got a lucky horseshoe. But if that same candle was to Apollo, she'd have a fit that I was practicing witchcraft. See, the tools and ritual would be the same, but since it isn't through God, it's considered witchcraft and not conjure. Conjure is not witchcraft. But more on that in another post.

I personally consider myself... well, Spiritualism is closest, but it's not a perfect fit. I wear an Isis pendant, but I don't worship her as a god the way one would in a pagan religion... I work with her as a spirit, a spirit of a devoted wife and mother who "really knows how to keep her man together."* I honor the spirits of my ancestors and dearly departed friends. I work with the spirits of nature, found in plants and animals and rocks and places. I work with Jesus, spiritually. I work with several other spirits and Spirit guides me every day. I believe in respect for nature and other people and that those who go around preaching hate like "God hates gays!" are poison.

I of course don't have a problem with any pagan religions themselves (aside from the fluffy bunny mix-n-match Borg incarnation of Wicca/NeoWicca) but I do have a problem with people being taught that because conjure is not a religion, it's anything you want it to be. The people who say it is just want your money. It's not ok to march in and start appropriating someone else's culture just because you find it exotic or you think that just because it "speaks to you", you have a right to it. I think Buddhist malas are beautiful but it would be wrong of me to order one and start carrying it around; they are sacred to the religion and culture they come from. You can't just take what you like and leave out what you don't.

God is a part of conjure. The Bible is a part of conjure. If you want to learn conjure, you've got to accept that we work with God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, The Bible, and prayer. Some of us work with angels. Some of us work with saints, but it's not quite as prolific as the online community would have you think. Just because I, personally, after growing up Catholic and spiritualist, do not believe in God proper (that's a whole other post), that does not mean I'm going to 1) teach conjure wrong, 2) teach you that it's ok for YOU to not believe in God, Jesus, Spirit, or ANYTHING and insert whatever religion you like. [11/27 Edit: To be clear, I mean this purely in the context of conjure. Of course it's ok for you to practice religion freely! It's just not ok for you to attempt to rework and rewrite generations of tradition and cast aside the spiritual foundation of conjure. If you are unwilling to adapt, you must find something compatible with your own beliefs.]

Now that I've said what's needed to be said...

YES, if you can afford only ONE book in your conjure library, THE BIBLE is the one! Powerful prayers and charms are found in books such as Psalms, there is information about rootwork and incense, it's used in a form of divination called bibliomancy, it's used in ritual, and the book itself is carried or placed under the bed/pillow for powerful protection against evil. It doesn't matter whether your Bible is a gorgeous, brand-new, leather-bound beauty with gold leaf edges, or a tatty and well-loved charity shop find. It's the content and what it is that matters. As far as translations go, there's no hard and fast rule about what you MUST have, but the King James Version is very traditional and many classic books utilized in conjure rely on the KJV. Older Catholics may prefer the Douay-Rheims Bible.

"The Greatest Conjure Book In the World" will be a recurring feature here on Coyote Moon Conjure. At least once each week, you can look forward to prayers, recipes, herb and plant magic, and other traditional conjure straight from the Bible. I will be writing about bibliomancy, as well as the many other ways the Bible itself is used in conjure works. It won't be long before you understand for yourself why the Bible really is the greatest conjure book in the world!

*My boyfriend once quipped about Isis, "Now there's a woman who really knows how to keep her man together." I died :D