Love,
Mambo Sam
<\/a>www.spellmaker.com<\/a><\/p>\n
Hello everyone! Happy Friday! Some of you may remember awhile back in another blog post I answered a question about what to do about service the lwa (Vodou
\nSpirits) when you just don\u2019t have a lot of time (or money, or energy, etc.).
\n While in a perfect world we would all have lots of time to devote to our
\nspiritual lives, realistically this just may not be true!<\/p>\n
I developed this quick service and have found it to be very well received by
\nthe lwa. Since I posted this a couple of years back (I think!), quite a few
\npeople have given me feedback that this service has helped them tremendously and
\nthey, too, felt it was very well received!<\/p>\n
Many Vodouisants have problems with keeping up with service to their ancestors, the lwa, etc. Most of this stems from the idea that every service has to be a big deal with lots of food, tons of candles, music, and lots of time spent. This just isn't true. <\/p>\n
Smaller, more frequent services are going to be much more well received than that once a year "guilt service" that many tend to do – that is when they go all out and put on a big spread for their ancestors and the lwa. Now, that is great – and that will be well received. However, if you want to really build a relationship with someone, is taking them out for a big dinner and night on the town once a year or every six months really going to do that? Nope! The same is true spiritually – a little bit of time spent frequently will move your spiritual progress along much faster than waiting until you have a ton of time to do what you think is a "proper service." ALL service done with a good heart is proper service! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
Here is a repost of that particular blog:<\/p>\n
Hello everyone!<\/p>\n
People tell me all the time they would do more service\/ritual to the Lwa
\n(Vodou Spirits) but they \u201cjust don\u2019t have the time.\u201d Now I realize that we
\ncould go back at them saying that they should or could \u201cmake the time.\u201d
\nHowever, in today\u2019s world, that sometimes is not as easy as it sounds! But
\nalmost anyone can find five minutes in a day to do my quickie service
\nbelow. <\/p>\n
The service does assume that you have a few things on hand and have some
\nbasic knowledge of ritual: Candles (keeping a few white candles on hand is
\ngreat because you can use them for any lwa or your ancestors), a glass of water or other beverage,
\nand a small food offering that would be appropriate for almost any lwa
\n(something simple such as a cookie or even a piece of bread).<\/p>\n
You can do this quick service almost anywhere! (Please note this can be configured for the lwa and\/or your ancestors.)<\/p>\n
1. Put your candle with a glass of water or other beverage on a counter or
\ntable.<\/p>\n
2. As you light the candle, ask Papa Legba to \u201cplease open the gate for me
\nand allow ___________ (which ever lwa or ancestor you are honoring) to pass over.\u201d (You can also, alternatively, ask Papa to just open the gate and not ask for anyone in particular. If you are doing it that way, then you are making a general offering to the lwa and\/or your ancestors.)<\/p>\n
3. \u201cPresent\u201d the glass of water by holding it out to the East, West, North,
\nand South. Say, \u201cFor you __________________ (which ever lwa you are
\nhonoring).\u201d<\/p>\n
4. Place the water back down near the candle.<\/p>\n
5. \u201cPresent\u201d the food offering as per #3 above. Place it down next to the
\nwater and candle.<\/p>\n
6. Take one or two minutes to talk with the lwa you have asked to come over
\nto you. You might have a request or perhaps you are just wanting to honor that
\nparticular lwa.<\/p>\n
7. Thank the lwa and Papa Legba for their time and help.<\/p>\n
8. If you can, leave the candle burning (safely) for a little while longer
\nwhile you do other things. This is a great little service to do while you are
\ngetting ready for the day. You can start it up, get showered and dressed, and
\nthen end the service. If you need to close out the service more quickly, then
\njust proceed to Step #9.<\/p>\n
9. Extinguish your candle and ask Papa Legba to \u201cclose the gate when it
\npleases you.\u201d You can leave the food and water for disposal until later or
\neven the next day. If you need to get rid of it more quickly it is great if you
\ncan pour the water outside and leave the cookie\/food outside somewhere. If you
\ncannot, then just dispose of the water down the sink and wrap the cookie\/food up
\nin brown paper (such as just a brown paper bag) and throw it away.<\/p>\n
There you did a little service in five minutes! And yes, it counts. Yes, it
\ncan help. Yes, it is pleasing to the lwa. Folks have a tendency to think that
\nthe lwa will only respond to big, elaborate
service. That just isn\u2019t
\ntrue. Every service that is well intended is well received!<\/p>\n
Please continue to have a great and safe weekend!<\/p>\n
Love,
Mambo Sam
<\/a>www.spellmaker.com<\/a><\/p>\n