Category: auctions

up for auction – evil eye charm bracelet, OOAK rootworker’s rosary necklace

Hoodoo Rootworker's Rosary Necklace – conjure doctor's talisman, point chaud empowered

First, let me explain why I'm including both hoodoo and voodoo in the listing title.

Hoodoo and voodoo are of course two distinct traditions, the former being folk magic and the latter being a religion.  In the Louisiana area, though, especially New Orleans, there is a strain of practice where the two are often blended to a greater extent than elsewhere in the world and the African diasporic traditions.

Furthermore, in the work of Tau Michael Bertiaux, the systems of Haitian voodoo and hoodoo are blended into a dynamic system that offers step by step instruction to the practitioner who seeks to access to the Gnosis by means of esoteric prayer.

This set of hand made rosary beads is a product of the place where Louisiana culture and tradition meet Gnostic Voudon and good old Big Lucky Hoodoo.

Sometimes called a "medium's necklace," this set of beads is ritually created, consecrated, anointed, and censed on nine different altars by a fully consecrated bishop and exorcist in a gnostic voudon lineage of apostolic succession (me), and empowered to assist the practitioner in his or her work as a rootworker, serviteur of the spirits, and interpreter of messages from the Invisible World.

In creating this ritual piece, I have made a type of point chaud (aka pwen cho, and sometimes called a pwen achte for reasons I explain in an article I've written if you don't know this type of work; I can direct you to it) – a hot point, or physical object, in which the spirit is called (actually often sung) down into the piece through creation of a three dimensional (or four dimensional, depending on your perspective) crossroads where it is then housed.

This is not exactly the same type of point chaud that mambos and houngans in traditional Haitian sevis would prepare for a serviteur, or that you may have read about in some academic sources over the last fifty or sixty years – I have not imprisoned a spirit here, and this is not dangerous for the experienced worker, and no spirit or being was coerced.  The type of points chauds work I do is a bit different and informed by my own lineage's practice and my own experience and work, which is not what you're going to find anything about in that older academic work (I can direct you to some small amount of material/info on this if you like – just drop me a note upon purchase).  While it would be very unwise to become the owner of this piece and not feed it, it is not going to result in anybody's death if the spirits are not fed and worked with – it's not that kind of point chaud.  It is not, however, created for the novice or newcomer – I call this a rootworker's/medium's necklace for a reason. It's not likely to hurt a novice or new DIYer, but it's not likely to be a lot of use to one either, as it's designed for some fairly specialized things that most people doing conjure work at home for themselves and their family are simply not going to have a need for.

Bishop Tau Michael Bertiaux says of the rosary, in his chapter on Upadhi I in The Gnostic Voudon Workbook, that prayer beads are among the most effective ways to generate spiritual energy and "hook up" to God energy.  He conceives of the rosary as a "prayer machine" and emphasizes that the rosary is further blessed and empowered through use.  I have blessed and empowered this rosary, but it will absorb deeper spiritual energies through your repeated use.  For more information, see The Gnostic Voudon Workbook (and my blog, where I have a few articles on esoteric prayer and non-traditional rosaries – follow the tags).

This particular rosary is designed to assist the worker and serviteur with just about every aspect of spirit work and rootwork you encounter.  I have pulled out all of the stops with this one.  I have only ever made one of these a year at most, and some years I'm not able to make any because I don't have the time or materials when the appropriate astrological and celestial events roll around.  So I haven't made one of these for a couple of years now. This one is dedicated to mediumship, as the last one was, but it has other elements as well, including those for protection specifically geared for rootworkers and serviteurs.

It is made with stone, metal, and glass beads in segments of color appropriate to the following:

* Simbi, represented by St. Patrick; the patron of magicians and mediums

* Baron Samedi, represented by St. Gerard; the patron of communication with the ancestors and the dead

* St. Joan of Arc; the patron of clairaudience

* Legba, represented here by St. Anthony; the patron of Yoruban divination

* St. Clare of Assissi; the patron of clairvoyance

* St. Michael, the warrior archangel and supreme master of protection and all spirits, often called upon alongside the more traditionally "dangerous" spirits to protect the worker in these rites

* St. Benedict, a powerful ally for exorcism of both people and places

* St. Cyprian, the patron of magic and magicians

There is a medal for each saint and spirit, some modern "charm" style medals and some vintage medals imported from Europe.  The center bead is a large, lost-wax-method cast brass bead imported from Ghana, Africa, as are the pater beads, which are sand-cast (I purchase these locally from a local importer who owns a family-run shop and is a native of Ghana).  These one of a kind rosary beads also feature a small glass bottle pendant, with stopper, to hold a few drops of oil or a bit of powder – the top screws in securely via fine-threaded metal so you don't have to worry about losing it.

A vintage skeleton key on the strand opposite the glass bottle is at least fifty years old, possibly older, and to boost the key's traditional "road opening" power, it has been touched to doors/gates/entrances to several different important symbolic buildings or places, to give the bearer mastery over them, including a graveyard entrance gate, a police station door, the entrance to a neolithic longbarrow tomb in the UK, the door of a courthouse, and others.

From the center bead hang two charms. The first is a reproduction of an antique cross, hand-cast in bronze from a mold made from the 18th century original, a solid, sturdy piece that will hold up despite what looks like a delicate design of four equal arms terminating in relief patterns with an overall shape of a Jerusalem or Crusader's cross, emblem of the warriors of God.

The second is a bronze Tibetan prayer box pendant that opens to hold your small personal curios or items.  I will add appropriate herbs and curios to consecrated beeswax to secure them inside the pendant so they will stay safe.  These will include a Job's tear, genuine flakes of 24 K gold, a pinch of real diamond dust, and a genuine black cat bone – a tiny toe bone, complete with claw (my last claw that is not spoken for already).  This is my preferred type of cat bone to use when making protective and/or "work" amulets for professional workers and readers, because we need to hone certain skills for our own good when working with the public, aside from the usual divination and casting skills (and if you've read this far, you doubtless know the kind of thing I'm talking about – but if you don't, and you win the auction, I am happy to fill you in – just ask).  I will leave enough room inside for you to add your own stuff as well.  

Message me after purchase to give me any customization requests for blessings, prayers, or consecrations, or if you have any questions about its use.  I will finish its ritual preparation for its new owner, including preparation of the amulet ingredients and censing/dressing on any additional altars that you request, before shipping your new hoodoo rosary to you – so please allow me adequate handling time to do this work. This rosary has already been blessed at nine altars, and will remain on my medium's altar until it finds its new home.

The loop section measures app. sixteen inches with ends held together (not counting the cross and charm hanging from the center bead) – so this is a very long piece. The beads are large to match the size and presence of the piece – most are 8mm and some are larger – so it is not a lightweight piece either.  It is designed for ritual use, not for casual wear, and while I make it as sturdy as I can, you risk segments coming unconnected or glass breaking if you wear it out dancing to a nightclub.  So please don't do that (if you have to take it out wth you, then carry it in a pouch inside a pocket  or bag, ok?).  But this does not mean you should not wear or use it – you SHOULD wear it when working or reading, and you should use it regularly. I have consecrated it, but it will only become more powerful and more responsive to you as you use it over the years.  It was NOT designed to be laid up in a box or museum or curiosity shop and just looked at.  It was made to be worn and used in ritual work.

Ask me if you need care and feeding instructions (many of the recommendations for caring for mojo bags will apply here, including keeping away from casual handling and making sure it's fed regularly). It is designed with an eye towards the spiritual significance of the beads, charms, etc, not with an eye towards comfortable length for jewelry or the latest trend in necklaces, so this may be one of the odder-looking pieces you've likely seen.  But every single element of it is there for a specific reason, and you will not find another like it anywhere else. 

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Evil Eye protection charm wrap bracelet

Beaded wrap bracelet is made with Czech glass seed beads spiraling around five loops of memory wire.  I've attached a plethora of dangles and charms, consisting mostly of multicolored resin evil-eye-protection beads hanging from large, brightly colored, sturdy aluminum jump rings.  There are also a couple of Czech glass beads and shiny metal dangles. 

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livejournal is being stupid. I suddenly can't upload any more pictures. Earlier this past week I couldn't post at all, so I couldn't announce these auctions when they started.  I hope I don't have to pull up stakes and move to blogger – this is really beginning to irritate me.

Anyway, the memento mori chaplet can be seen at the below link :/

Memento Mori ancestor chaplet bracelet – matching earrings

Memento Mori rosary (technically a chaplet) is made of silver-plated brass beads and feature two bone skull beads carved from yak bone.  Offset with African cast brass spacer beads.

Bracelet is nine inches long and has a lobster clasp.  Matching earrings hang from silver-toned french hook ear wires and hang just shy of two inches from cener of earlobe.

In the Middle Ages and well into the Victorian era, images of skulls, skeletons, and other symbols associated with death were used to remind the wearer or bearer of the item to contemplate his or her own mortality, to remember that he or she would one day die.  Some people used this as a reason to seize the day; others used it as a reason to reject life's transient pleasures and focus on eternal rather than earthly glory.  Some used it as a reminder of the Christian promise of the resurrection of the dead
at the end of time, when bodies would rise at the Last Judgment and be reunited with their souls.

Regardless of the meaning you bring to it, this is a rosary (technically a chaplet) that would be suitable for the lover of medieval stuff or the Victorianist on your gift list, as well as any devotee of the family of Vodoun loa known as the Ghuede, who are patrons of death and sexuality and rule the cemeteries.

Manman Brigitte bottle up for auction on eBay

I rarely do auctions, but I have one up now on eBay for an altar/libation bottle for Manman Brigitte.

Voodoo Libation Bottle + Spirit Bath ~ Manman Brigitte

Item listing is for an etched- and cut-glass hand-decorated perfume-style altar or libation bottle, decorated for and dedicated to Manman Brigitte, mistress of the large, powerful, and rambunctious Gheuede family of loa.  The neck is embellished with glass beads, ribbons, a wire-wrapped purple glass heart bead, and a pewter St. Brigid medal, secured with raffia (this raffia actually comes from Africa directly, if you like to know the little personal histories behind the components of the pieces you buy – I buy the large, lost-wax-method-cast African brass beads that I use in some of my jewelry locally, from a twenty-something kid who works at his uncle’s import shop.  The kid’s grandfather is a tribal chieftain in Ghana, he says, and wearing all that jewelry all the time is very heavy, he also says!  The raffia is what the large beads come strung on, and I like to use it rather than raffia plucked off a shelf at an art supply store.     The bottle it decorates, I’m afraid, just comes from a factory in China though.)

It will reside on my three-tiered Ghuede altar until it finds its new home with a devotee of the loa.  It comes with a four-ounce bottle of hand-blended ritual bath for Manman Brigitte.  My voodoo baths are hand-blended here from my formulas, and are the very same baths I use in my own sevis and when I perform in-person headwashings and spiritual baths at my usually-annual headwashing/spiritual cleansing events.  Like most sacred baths in Haitian and New World vodoun, these are strongly scented and contain perfumes and colognes in addition to herbs and hydrosols, so a little goes a long way; a bottle of bath mixture could be diluted in a tub of water if taking a full immersion bath, or a few splashes could be added to a basin of water for a stand-up bath, or you could use the mixture undiluted as a sprinkle or spray.

Entire piece is app. 5.5 inches tall, including the stopper.  The bottle itself is 4 inches tall and 2" wide. 

A portion of proceeds from sale of voodoo altar bottles and voodoo rosaries goes to Fonkoze.org, a not-for-profit, no-missionary-strings-attached organization designed to empower the poor of rural Haiti, give them literacy and financial skills, and help them build a firm foundation to better their lives and their quality of life through micro-banking and small-business startup help — all, crucially, while putting Haitian nationals (especially women) in leadership positions and giving them religious, artistic, aesthetic, and economic autonomy instead of asking them to reject their culture or religion of origin.

I create these ritual folk art items individually, in a ritual context and in service to the loa. Thus they are not meant just for spooky decoration or "goth chic" – they are ritually constructed, consecrated, "fed" religious items and are intended for altar use in a religious context, not to look cool or freak your mother out, ok?

Shipping is via priority mail with delivery confirmation and insurance.  If you order additional items and they will fit in the same priority flat rate box as this bottle and the bottle of bath, then there will be no additional shipping charge for the other items; feel free to write first and ask if you aren’t sure if your items will qualify or if you want me to confirm what the postage will be before you bid.

Please note handling times before bidding!!  The handling time is because nearly all of my items are custom-finished and prayed over, blessed, or consecrated before leaving my hands (so feel free to tell me a bit about the situation you’re getting this item for and I can customize the prayers or consecrations of your item as I thank the spirits for their guardianship of the ritual object and ask them to guard it and their new owner in its new home). And have a look at the FAQ and ALL of the item listing details on this page, please, before purchasing from me, *please* – it’s frustrating to put things like handling time and postage cost in the item listing but have people freak out and write me 50 messages when the item doesn’t ship within 24 hours!  I *always* answer my email and am happy to answer questions – but given the volume of messages I get every single day, it usually takes me about two business days to respond.  However, half of the questions I get have already been answered in the item listing and/or FAQ 🙂

three limited edition auctions for half-ounce bottles of oil

I rarely do auctions, and if you shop with me you know I don’t do half-ounce bottles of oil at this time.

Right now, you have a chance to get a limited-edition half-ounce bottle of St. Michael, St. Gerard, or St. Jude oil at a fraction of the cost of a two-dram bottle. 

And don’t forget that nearly all my regular in-stock items are listed at bonanza, usually at a significant discount from eBay. The plan is to keep the bonanza store fully stocked and to only stock one of a kind jewelry, custom stuff, and a basic array of commonly-requested oils, salts, etc at eBay.  Every month it seems like, they introduce a new measure to make life harder and more expensive for small sellers, and they are about to make doing business on ebay even more difficult and expensive, yet again, in June, which will result in yet ANOTHER price increase if I’m to stay afloat.  I don’t like raising my prices on y’all when my material cost doesn’t go up and the cost of doing business is related to third-party site overhead and is avoidable.  So I remain confirmed in my intention to move stock and business off eBay. I’m always happy to list something for you if you don’t want to learn your way around another site, but I just can’t afford to keep a full inventory at eBay anymore. They have made it nearly impossible for me to make a profit on smaller items like medals, oils, and bath salts, so you will not be able to find everything you could want there past this summer.  And, I’m still waiting on the web guy to finish the final tweaks on the new website store that I have been promising for over six months – it has not been abandoned, just ran into some problems.  It will eventually have a full inventory list of oils, salts, and powders as well, though the eBay store will always have custom stuff and jewelry and the occasional auction (auctions are my "gift" to y’all – I almost always lose money on them, but I’m so grateful to you guys for sticking with me even though I spend so much time bitching about eBay that I like to do them every once in a while to say "thanks" – because I am fully aware I couldn’t do any of this store stuff without y’all).

I’m out of town now and will be back Sunday late, and life should be back to normal by Tuesday.  I should be coming back with a new batch of dirt dauber nest, hopefully some new bones, and a new batch of chicken feet which should be ready to go in a week or two.

Happy hoodooing!

Karma