Setting Up The Ancestor Altar

Hey guys and girls, it’s been a few days since my last entry on the ancestor altar so today I would like to expand on the subject. I truly believe that los muertos (the dead) like the idea of spreading the knowledge of honoring them because since my first entry on the subject the room has been filled with a gentle aroma of freshly cut flowers. This is a gift in itself since being we are in December fresh cut flowers are unheard of.

Okay espiritistas (spiritualists) get out your notepads cuz today I’m going to share with you some secrets of the curandera. ......ssshhhhh..... really important stuff here so pay attention.

Once you have spiritually cleansed the surface that will serve as the altar you are ready to set it up. This is the fun part. Start collecting photos of your ancestors and place them in nice frames. Do not use a photo that has a living person in it. Gather up anything that belonged to them such as if you have a pendant that your loved one liked to wear or any small object that belonged to them. Larger objects can be set on the floor near the altar or hung on the wall over the altar. Notice I use the word “gather”..... not “place”. You don’t want to place these items on the altar until they too are spiritually cleansed. The initial setup should be as pure as possible.

You can use just about any object on the altar that you want but there are a few rules to follow.... no dark colors, no salt, no metal, nothing connected to a living person, and nothing that symbolizes negativity. One exception when it comes to metal objects..... it is absolutely okay to have things made of metal if the metal object is something that belonged to them or if it is Holy in nature such as Saint medals.

My altar consists of a bible, a book of prayers, a clear crystal vase with fresh cut flowers (when they are available), a crucifix, glasses of fresh water, a white candle, incense holder, pictures, items they owned or things that I know had meaning for them, holy medals, crystal, abalone shell, Holy water, and other small trinkets. Since I work closely with some of the folk saints I also have their pictures there since I consider them to be part of the family.

I visit the altar daily and read prayers for them. I ask my ancestors to select a prayer they would like to hear, I randomly open the book and read. They will lead you to the page they want to hear or one that they feel you need.

Any item placed on the altar should be spiritually cleansed beforehand. This can be done through the means of spiritual fumigation (smudging) with the incense as I have explained in the previous entry “Preparing The Ancestral Altar”. The items can be arranged anywhere on the altar with the exception of the glasses of water.

Your altar should be set up with at least three glasses of fresh water. Water is an important substance in Curanderismo. Water is of major importance to all living things. 60 percent of our body is water, 70 percent of our brain is water, 90 percent of our lungs are water, 83 percent of our blood is water. Without it all living things would die. Water is cleaning, refreshing and purifying, it’s also a substance that links us to other realms. It’s a substance that makes communication easier, its presence absorbs negativity and it’s a vehicle to receive and transport spiritual energy.

The glasses of water should be placed in the center of the altar to form a triangle or pyramid. The reason for this particular setting of the glasses is the power of the shape itself. Some shapes have a tremendous amount of power, the triangle or pyramid is one such phenomena. The glasses should be set up something like this.... I can't get the numbers to look like a triangle here...lol... but the 1 glass should be in front of and centered between the 2 and 3, like a triangle...lol

2 3
1

The number 2 glass should be dedicated to your maternal ancestors, number 3 glass is dedicated to your paternal ancestors, the number 1 glass is dedicated to God or the one you call God. This dedication is for those who only want to honor their ancestors. If you actually do spiritual work and want to include Saints or deities you work with (this is my setup) the dedication is different and should be dedicated like this.... the 2 glass to your maternal and paternal ancestors, the 3 glass to your guides, Saints, Angels and God (everyone holy) and the 1 glass to the spirit or group of spirits you want to work with. The number 3 glass is the one you will drink from (more on this later).

Glasses number 2 and 3 are changed only once a week on the day you have chosen to clean your altar. When you change the water from these two glasses, don’t pour them down the drain, instead, pour them in the street OFF your property. If you can’t pour them away from your property then pour them into the toilet and flush it away. These two glasses will absorb negative energies and evil spirits; that is why you empty the glasses off your property or in the toilet. You don’t want that caca to hang around.

Glass number 1, a very important glass for me. Glass number 1 you dedicate to whichever spirit or group of spirits you want to work with. For me I dedicate this glass to my spiritual doctors and surgeons. One of the folk saints I work with is Dr. Jose Gregorio Hernandez, very powerful, do a search on him. This glass of water is changed every morning. Each time I change the water I ask Dr. Hernandez to charge the water with any spiritual medication I need to stay healthy and to energize it with his wisdom and knowledge so that it can be passed on to those I help. The next morning I drink the water to transfer these energies from him into myself. You take 3 sips of water from this glass everyday; the first sip is “in the name of the father”, the second sip is “and of the son” and the third sip is “and of the Holy Ghost”.....say that as you sip the water. Then pour the rest of the water outside on your doorstep to attract blessings into your home. Got that?

Sometimes I will also place a gallon jug of water on the altar and ask him to fill it with spiritual medication for healing so that those that are sick can drink a glass of it. I then keep this in the refrigerator for when its needed. Wow, this works really well.

The glass dedicated to your maternal and paternal ancestors is on the left, the one dedicated to Angels, guides and God should be to the right and the one dedicated to the group of spirits you work with should be in the front. Everything else you place on the altar can be placed anywhere you like.

You will also need a cross or crucifix. The cross is placed on top of the number 3 glass and always remains there. After you have replaced the water from this glass lay the cross on top again.

You will also need holy water, I use this for many things but on the ancestor altar I use it to pour libation (a liquid offering for religious ceremony), Yes, Christians pour libation. I use a small soapstone cup to hold the libation poured. For me, pouring libation is a way to ask for my ancestors to be forgiven of any sins they passed with, to cleanse and purify them and to allow them spiritual progress and peace. So I bet your wondering “when do I pour libation?” well that is done during the Ancestral Healing Prayer which I will post in another entry. The prayer will instruct you when to pour.

Okay, my next entry will be some prayers, changing the altar water, signs in the water, and caring for the altar. I hope you all are enjoying this subject. Let me know, if not I can change it up a bit. Your input is always welcome. Until next time espiritistas (spiritualists). Let me now if you have any questions.
Many Blessings
Luz y Progreso (light and progress)

Preparing The Ancestral Altar

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and received everything that was on your wish list, if not, there’s always next year. I lit candles in Honor of Jesus birthday and gave some light (candles) to some of the Saints I work with. I also spent some time at my ancestor altar, gave it a good spiritual washing and wished los muertos (the dead) peace. Okay, so now I will tell you how I set up my ancestral altar, so get out your notepads.

The altar should be set up in a permanent location. Remember I told you that the altar will build up some really powerful energy the more you use it? Well, not if it’s taken down all the time, duh.

So choose a location where it won’t be in the way of your household traffic. I suggest that it isn’t placed in the bedroom either since once a strong energy collects around the altar people usually have difficulty falling asleep near it. I know some people do have it in the bedroom but I would rather have a good night’s sleep when I retire for the night.

Never use metal for the altar since most spirits are turned away from it. The best surface for the altar is wood. It can be a small shelf but I find that an old chest of drawers works well since I can store things in it. You’ll be surprised how many things you start collecting for altar use once you get it going. It’s up to you whether to cover the surface with fabric or not. I cover mine with white fabric on which I have embroidered the four corners with sacred seals. White is the best color for an ancestral altar because it represents peace, purity and the dead. Since I burn candles on it I also use an inexpensive clear shower curtain liner, cut to size, to protect the fabric itself from candle wax.

Before anything is placed on the altar it should be spiritually cleansed, this includes the fabric. You can either use Holy Water for the cleansing or make a spiritual liquid. I make my spiritual liquid with a blend of cleansing herbs. If I’m cleansing just the altar itself I make less and if I’m cleansing the altar AND the fabrics I make more.

For more spiritual liquid I bring to a boil 1 gallon of filtered water. Remove from heat and add 1 handful of Ruda (Rue), 1 handful of Romero (Rosemary), and 1 handful of Albahaca (Basil). When I say a “handful” I don’t mean as much as your hand can hold, I am talking about as much as will fit only the center of your palm and not piled up to where it reaches over the thumb. In cooking terms this is probably a little less than ¼ cup of each herb. Allow the liquid to cool until it gets to a temperature comfortable to the touch. Once cool, strain out the herb, you will use the liquid for cleansing. Take about 3or 4 cups of this and use it to cleanse the altar, the rest is poured into the final rinse cycle to cleanse your fabrics. To make less spiritual liquid use about 3 cups filtered water and 1 tablespoon of each herb.

With a disposable rag dip it into your small container of liquid and wipe the entire surfaces of the altar. Make sure to cleanse the top, all the sides, the back, the front, and underneath. If there are deep carvings in the wood you will need to place the liquid in a spray bottle to make sure it gets in there. Once cleansed with the liquid take some Hyssop incense and spiritually smoke (smudge) the surfaces as before making sure the smoke comes in contact with all sides. Sometimes I use “Three Kings Incense” or “Chruch Incense”. I think the Church Incense is also called “Gloria Incense”, in my opinion these three are the best.

It’s true that salt is used as a purifying agent and works very well but you should never under any circumstances use salt water to purity your altars. While cleansing the altar I recite psalm 23 to remove negativity and to insure protection in my space.

Next will be the altar setup.

Working With Our Ancestors

Hello again friends. First a little venting is needed.... now that the days are getting colder I can’t stop shivering. I am not a winter person at all. I like the season but I don’t like the cold. Does that make any sense? I think I was a bear in my former life because I want to just lock myself indoors and hibernate for the winter. Wake me when the weather gets warmer. My poor little fingers and toes are freezing no matter how warmly I’m dressed...sigh....I can’t be the only one with this problem can I? If you hate the cold winter months as much as I do please give me a shout so I know I’m not alone in my misery.... LOL

Okay, if my fingers will come out of their frozen coma I’m gonna try and explain the way I work with my own ancestors so this topic will be broken into several postings for convenience sake.

When someone speaks of ancestor altars visions of voodoo build in the minds of many people. The fact is honoring the ancestors and creating altars for them is practiced in almost every religion all over the world. In fact, seeing such altars in Asian businesses and other public places is common.

The beloved family member who cared for you while in the living hasn’t stopped caring for you in spirit. Why should we ignore or forget about them because of passing? Passing is not the end....it’s the beginning of a new journey. We mourn for them because we are not able to see them in the flesh as we once did. We cannot touch them, hug them, or feel their warmth. Maybe we mourn because of the way they entered into their new journey.

Los muertos (the dead) are still part of us, and you can still have closeness with them if you choose to. They are still there to guide us and offer advice. Spiritualism and the spirit world are wide open areas. There are no rules to follow. Two individuals seeking the same outcome may have a very different approach...but the same effect. Creating an altar to your ancestors is one way to accomplish this task.

Your altar becomes your focal point and it should be used every day. If you can’t accomplish using the altar on a daily basis than at least use it once a week, no less. Here is where you take your problems, worries, concerns, and happiness. This is the place to sit and talk with the ancestors just as if they were sitting right in front of you. Tell them you still love them and you haven’t forgotten them. Here you can ask for assistance in any problem you have and ask for guidance and solutions.

These altars are a place of prayer, wisdom, and growth. The more the altar is used the more energy it builds. Eventually it becomes so powerful that someone walking near it can actually feel the energy as it nears the body. More on that a little later....first things first.

Staying connected to your ancestors in this way is only the beginning. Spirits are energy. Energy is attracted to energy. This means that not only will the altar become a place for your ancestors...it will become a place for other spirits as well. What does this mean? It means that we have now built a bridge to fill the gap to us and the spirit world giving us stronger ability for communication not only with our own loved ones but with other spirits who are attracted to the energy you exposed. It isn’t like the world we live in where you lock your front door to keep unwanted people out. Any spirit can communicate with you here....if you choose to do so.

Okay, I’m gonna stop here I don’t want you to get zombied out staring at your computer screen for too long. In the next posting I’ll share with you my method of setting up an ancestor altar and other goodies.

A Successful Limpia

Hello my friendly occultists. This is a picture of a limpia (spiritual cleansing) I did on a woman who was suffering with symptoms of an illness that the doctors could not find. This went on for years. During this period she visited several doctors and had numerous tests done but they all came back normal. She was suffering from back pain, headaches, constant ear and sinus infections, nightmares, and depression. If that wasn’t enough she was also experiencing bad luck, financial difficulties, and had numerous fears and phobias....one was fear of flying.

This picture was the first of her limpias; I performed 6 more on her. After the final cleansing all but one of her symptoms (nightmares) went away. She also got a promotion which increased her salary. Her luck is much better and she informed me that she was flying to Las Vegas.....for the second time!!!

Here the egg shows the presence of blood....and a ton of it to boot. This indicates some serious problems...enemies and strong witchcraft. It’s difficult to explain the yolk and whites of the egg but they show that the lady also had susto (soul loss) which was causing her to be fearful of everything and the depression she felt.

The egg in its raw state has natural drawing abilities. That’s why many curanderas use them. Just another example of the mysteries and power around us.

EVP’s.....Start Recording The Spirits Around You!

Hello again my fellow occultists. Today I’m gonna give you a very short lesson on EVP’s.
EVP means “electronic voice phenomena”. Sounds really high tech huh? Not to worry ... it’s really easy.

You can actually capture spirit voices on any recording device you have. I use a digital recorder that I purchased at Wal-Mart for under $40.00 but an old cassette recorder will work too.
One catch with using cassette recorders... Aha! There had to be a catch! .... simple.... you will just need an external mic.... If your cassette recorder has an internal microphone you will pick up the noise from the internal gears.....not good for recording spirits clearly and you’ll usually give up thinking your not getting anywhere. The digitals work great. They have internal mics but the recordings come out crystal clear. Boy technology sure has come a long way.

Once you have your recording device turn it on and record the date, time and location....this is always good practice. Sometimes you’ll get specific places in your home that are more active than others.

Ask if there are any spirits around who would like to communicate and record for a few minutes. Ask your questions out loud. You can ask them anything you want just make sure you give them enough time to respond. You can also record random voices by placing the recorder in a room you feel is occupied by spirit. Turn on the recorder and leave the room, closing the door behind you.

Now the good stuff.... When playing back the recording listen for anything unusual. You might pick up loud voices, whispers, moaning, crying, sounds of something breaking or something being dropped. It’s best to record around the same time of day too. Oh, and keep extra batteries handy since most spirits will drain your batteries really fast, even new ones can drain within minutes.

Until next time witchie poo’s... Luz y Progreso

Money Magnet

Hello my fellow occultists. Today I feel like sharing with you a method of attracting money. Yes, I know there are spells for attracting money....but the fastest and most gratifying way to gain money is to give it away. Sounds contradicting huh? But good ol’ Mother Nature sometimes works her mojo in strange ways. Who are we to question her methods anyway? It’s true my witchy friends, give it away and it will come back in great numbers.

People tend to make excuses to hang on to the money they have....the most popular excuses I have come across are.....“I don’t have any extra to spare right now” or “I have to think of my family’s needs first” or “I’m not doing without in order to give it to someone I don’t even know”....

Hello!!!!..... that’s exactly why you need it in the first place. Unconsciously this way of thinking creates the very reason you don’t have enough of it. Our spoken words and thoughts are powerful. By saying “I don’t have any extra to spare” creates more often that you don’t.
Okay, got it? Now go give it away.

On Sundays we go out to our local Wal-Mart and scan the parking lot. We chose Sundays since most people are off that day and are out of the house doing their shopping. We drive the parking lot looking for old cars in really bad condition either with a child’s car seat or toys in the back. These are good indications that the person who owns the car is struggling financially and has children to care for.

Then we take a 20 dollar bill and on the top of it write “May you be blessed with health, love, and financial gain” If the windows are down we’ll drop it on the seat and if not we’ll fold the bill and place it under the windshield wiper. We do this to 3 or 4 cars. Believe it or not, you drive away feeling so good inside....kinda warm and fuzzy.

It’s the process of letting go of what you have that says to the universe that you’re now able to receive more because you have made some space for it.

This doesn’t mean that you should spend money foolishly in an attempt to get something back, but to give what you can with an open heart knowing that when you give you not only help someone else but you make room for more money for yourself. This is the law of attraction. What you give will return to you doubled or tripled.

There are many ways to go about this. Give a dollar or two to charity, or buy some baby formula and give it to a struggling new mother. What’s really fun is to try and hide the money in places that would shock the person who finds it. Placing a dollar bill inside a newspaper is fun or tape one on a bag of dog food when you go to the pet store, or make a small hole and drop one inside a bag of diapers, or open up a box of toothpaste and slid a bill inside. The possibilities are endless.

Let me know how this works out for you, I just love success stories! Haha, until next time.....
Luz y Progreso (Light and Progress)

The Blessing Of A Christmas Tree

A popular custom among many is to bless the family Christmas tree. It’s a beautiful way to begin the Christmas season. The tree can be blessed before or after the decorations have been added but it is usually always blessed before the first lighting of the tree. When you are ready to do the blessing, gather everyone around the tree and recite the following prayer. A leader should be chosen to recite the pray while all else follow accordingly.

To begin, everyone should make the sign of the cross and say “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen”

(The Leader) .....sprinkles the tree with Holy Water and begins the prayer..... “Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and all that fills it resound. Let the fields and everything in them exult. Then all the trees of the forest will shout for joy before the LORD, for He is coming—for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with His faithfulness.”

(All Respond) “Thanks be to God.”

(The Leader) “Let us now pray for God’s blessing upon all who gather around this tree.”

After a short silence, the leader prays.....

(The Leader) “Lord our God, we praise you for the light of creation: the sun, the moon, and the stars of the night. We praise you for the light of Israel: the Law, the prophets, and the wisdom of the Scriptures. We praise you for Jesus Christ, your Son: he is Emmanuel, God-with-us, the Prince of Peace, who fills us with the wonder of your love.”

(All Respond) “Amen.”

(The Leader) “God of all creation, we praise you for this tree which brings beauty and memories and the promise of life to our home. May your blessing be upon all who gather around this tree, all who keep the Christmas festival by its lights. We wait for the coming of the Christ, the days of everlasting justice and peace. You are our God, living and reigning, for ever and ever. Amen.”


.........The lights of the tree are then illuminated.........


(The Leader) “Let us bless the Lord.”

(All Respond while making the sign of the cross) “Thanks be to God.”

(All Pray Together) “O come, O Come, Emmanuel; O come, thou dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by thine advent here; Disperse the gloomy clouds of night And death’s dark shadow put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel. Amen. ”

Folk Saints....Teresa Urrea

Teresa Urrea is also known as Sainta de Cabora, Niña de Cabora, Santa Teresa, Teresita, and La Santa.

She was born in Mexico in 1873 and died in 1906 and is buried in Clifton, Arizona. Teresita was discovered by an old curandera. The curandera realized that Teresita had very special and very powerful abilities. Teresita was a natural born hypnotist, psychic and healer. She had the ability to free a person from any pain they were suffering just by looking at them. she never accepted money for her healings. The reports of her healing abilities spread quickly and before long she had thousands of people seeking her help.

Give La Santa a white seven day glass encased candle on Sunday and ask her for healing. Get a photo of yourself or the person needing healing. Write what type of problem they are having on the back of the photo. Dress the outside of the candle with healing oil and place the photo under the candle.

Viva La Santa de Cabora.