St. John the Baptist

Blessed Solstice Everyone!

    Midsummer corresponds with St. John the Baptist Day, June 24, being the day of his birth.  Since saints have a strong connection with conjure, I thought today would be a good day to talk about St. John and how to use him in your work. 

St. John the Baptist, cousin of Jesus of Nazareth, was born on June 24 and died, by beheading, in Jordan on August 23.  A prisoner of King Herrod, his death was a result of the venegance of a jealous woman.  His head was brought to her on a platter.  In turn, St. John can be called upon to guard against the jealousy of others. 

Traditionally, St. John is depicted carrying a tall, slender cross and often a lamb.  Sometimes the imagery is that of a decapitated head on a platter. 

St. John's Patronage:

against convulsions

against epilepsy

against hail

against hailstorms

against spasms

baptism

bird dealers

converts

convulsive children

cutters

epileptics

farriers

French Canadians

lambs

monastic life

motorways

printers

tailors

St. John and West African Spirituality:

St. John is also connected with the orishnas of Santeria.  The Yoruba people of West Africa recognized three levels of spiritual being; Olodumare, orishnas, and eggun.  Olodumare is the creating force or being; orishnas are nature spirits of messengers; and eggun are spirits of the dead, which are to be honored and revered.  Orishnas are much like Christian angels, and when years of slavery in the Americas forced the Yoruba people to practice in secret, they adopted many Catholic saints and angels. 

There are nine orishnas; Ellegua/Ellegua, Obatala/Obatalia, Yemaya/Yemalia/Yemalla, Oya, Oshun/Ochum, Chango/Shango/ Xango/Sango, Ogun/Ogum, Orula/Orunmila, and Babaluaye.  Each orishna is associated with a saint, most are associated with more than one.  St. John the Baptist falls under Ogun/Ogum, along with Saint Anthony, Saint George, and Saint Simon Peter (San Pedro).  This orishna is the Lord of metals, minerals, tools, birds, and wild beasts. 

Seven of the nine orishnas were combined into the common image of "The Seven African Powers."  The Seven African Powers are a symbol of luck, power, and and protection, and are utilized by many rootworkers.

The image portrays the crucifixion of Christ, while a rooster on a pedestal watches.  The crucifixion is surrounded by the images of seven of the orishnas.  At times the image may include the names of the orishnas and at others the names of the saints. 

This image is often found on incense, powders, baths, candles, and other conjure tools.  Often the center image, without the orishnas, can be found on candles bearing the inscription "Just Judge" or "Faithful Judge."

For more on The Seven African Powers please see THIS post on Lucky Mojo.

Working with St. John:

Along with the above mentioned correspondences, St. John is often called on to relieve chronic headaches.  Let's look at one way this could be done.  This working is of my own design.  Please feel free to use it in its entirety or as inspiration for your own creations.

Materials:

Healing Master Candle

Small White Altar Candle (this will become your petition candle)
Small Candle Holder for Petitioner Candle

St. John's Wort

Peppermint

Rosemary

Healing Oil

2 St. John the Baptist Prayer Card

A personal concern - such as hair

First, you will need to create your petition candle.  If you are not familiar with petition candles in conjure, please see THIS post. For this candle, I chose white, instead of the more common blue used for healing, because white is the color associated with St. John the Baptist.  The candle should be annointed, or dressed, in the healing oil of your choice and then rolled in rosemary, peppermint, and St. John's wort.  Rosemary and peppermint because both are excellent herbs for headache relief.  St. John's wort I chose for two reasons.  First, the herb also has along history as a pain reliever, but also, it is an herb strongly associated with St. John.  This plant's bright yellow blooms appear around the time of midsummer, or St. John's Day, and, thus, the plant was given his name. 

After the candle is dressed and rolled in herbs, you will need to light your Healing Master Candle.  If you are not familiar with such a candle please see THIS earlier blog post.  Bring the light from your HMC to your petition candle and allow it to burn for a few moments, long enough to melt enough wax to bring up over the wick.  Remember while you are doing this, you should be *setting* your petition for a specific purpose. In this case, relieving the chronic headaches of the target.  You may also wish, during this process, to carve the name of the target into the candle.  Do so before dressing the candle. 

Once your petition candle is set, and its purpose locked inside, you are ready to get started.  (Please note that petition candles can be made in advance or at the time of the working.  Additional candles can also be made if you wish to work simultaneously with another person, such as the target or another rootworker.)

First, you will take your two St. John the Baptist prayer cards, (these can be purchased on ebay, amazon, or a from a Catholic supply store,)  and place them back-to-back. In between the cards, place the hair or other personal concern.  With the cards back-to-back, place the candle holder, with the petition candle in it, on top of the cards. You can also laminate these cards with the personal concern inside.  This makes them more durable and allows you to use them in future workings for the same petitioner.

Now, light the petition candle while *praying* to St. John.  This simply means tell St. John what it is that you want, state you petition.  In return, you should promise St. John an offering when the working is complete.  Do not make the offering at this time.  Simply make the promise.  For St. John, an appropriate offering could be white flowers placed on your altar or a place of high visibility along with his image.  In addition, a public thank you, such as one placed in the newspaper or even on FB, is always an acceptable offering for a saint.  Not to long ago, a young woman, from a conjure group I belong to on yahoo, posted her thank you on the groups message board.  These "Thank You's" can be annonymous, also, if you are more comfortable with that.  A simple "Thank you St. John" placed in the local newspaper will do. 

After you have made your petition and promised your offering, allow the candle to *cook,* burning down as far as possible without going out.  Then, blow the candle out, sending the working out for its purpose.  If something arises, and you must leave before the candle is ready to be blown out, simply snuff the candle.  This will lock the working inside.  Re-light and continue when you are able to finish the work.  Bury the candle stub near your front door to bring healing in. 

And WAH-LAH!  Now you have worked with St. John the Baptist! :)

Blessed Solstice and Blessed Workings!

Setting My Master Healing and Protection Candles

*** If you are not familiar with hoodoo Master Purpose Candles please see THIS post first.  Thanks.

Tonight, due largely to the fact that I NEED them, I decided to finally set my Master Purpose Candles for Protection and Healing.  I began by chosing colors for both candles.  For protection I chose red.  I went back and forth about this because I've read may different candle correspondences calling for different colors for protection, non of them red.  Red *felt* right to me.  To me red is a less passive protective energy.  I ultimately chose it for that reason.  I'm not passive, and neither will my protection works be. For my healing candle I chose a more traditional color, blue.  I chose blue for its obvious connection to water and its healing qualities.

Next, I created seals for both candles.

  

For the protection candle I used a personal protection seal that I have used before and the Star of David. 

For the healing candle, I drew a nautilus shell.  I chose the nautilus for it connection with water, but also because of the personal connection I have with the image.  Much of the nautilus's symbolism, for me, comes from the Oliver Wendell Holmes poem "The Chambered Nautilus." To me, this poem, symbolizes a deeper healing than just the physical.  It symbolizes a spiritual and emotional healing, which I believe we sometimes neglect to think about in our work.

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low-vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,
Till thou at length art free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea!

Below the nautilus is rough Theban that states, simply, "Heal".

I then annointed each piece of parchment with the appropriate oil in a five-face die patter, and taped them to their corresponding candle.

Now, it was time to dress the candles.  I used the same oil I used to annoint the seals.  For the protection candle I used Fiery Wall of Protection Oil and for the healing candle I used Healing Oil, both from Lucky Mojo.  I dressed both by rubbing oil clock-wise around the top of the candle three times.  Then, using a taper candle, I brought the light from my Master Candle to each Master Purpose Candle, first the protection candle then the healing.



Next, I allowed the candles to burn for a bit, creating a nice "pool" of melted wax and oil.  Then, I added three drops of my High John the Conqueror Oil to each and allowed them to burn another half hour before extinguishing their flames.