Thank You High John the Conqueror!

I wanted to make a post to thank High John the Conqueror for all of the work that he has done for me. He has brought much success into my life, and I am grateful. I also want to open this post up for other people to thank High John as well as some have been doing on my Saint Expedite post . So if you have worked with High John using the methods in my booklet, or your own personal methods, please feel free to thank him here for his work. 

"Your body language shapes who you are"

I dig Ted Talks, and stumbled across this one by the other day on Netflix. If you have a Netflix account and have watched all the "Dr. Who" episodes, take some time to enjoy a few of these great talks. This talk covers the way that your body language can not only have a subtle internal effect on you, but also the way that those changes can effect the way that other people perceive as well. This is the kind of technique that could be backed up with some commanding, power, or "bend over" conjure workings. Check out the video. I am a fan of the phrase" fake it until you become it". That's a good mantra.

The Compleat Sorcerer

The Eye of Agamotto

I have been going through another one of my quiet phases where I don't have much to say. Recently I have thought of something that I want to so say, but not sure if I had the right words to say it. So instead of waiting for the right words, I am just going to rant this one out the best that I can. First I will start with an apology of sorts. When I started this blog my goal was simple:

"...to do my best to present my views on the art of sorcery and give clear instruction on my methods that can be reproduced by those that are willing to roll up their sleeves and do work."

I do not feel that I have been successful in that aspect, and for that I apologize. The main reason I have not been successful is because most of my posts were focused simply on how to cast spells. While I believe that spell work is a very powerful tool for a modern sorcerer/ess to achieve their goals, it is not by far the only tool that they should possess. Far too many people turn to magic in hopes of finding an easier way to realize their dreams. Easier, as in less real world effort. It is of my opinion that there is no "magic" bullet.  I get so many requests from people asking for spells to make them rich. The only way to get rich with spells is by telling other people that you can make them rich with a spell, and then charging them a lot of money that they probably do not have to do so. Or I will get request for love spells from men that are afraid to actually approach and speak to their love interest. You get the idea

But this post isn't about people that want to have someone do work for them. This post is directed at individuals that wish to direct their power and control their fate. The key word here is POWER, which seems to be the missing ingredient from a lot of people's lives. I have met quite a few people that can proficiently talk about spell casting for hours, and will even try to convince you of how "powerful" and successful their workings have been. However none of that power seems to carry over into their presence outside of their working space or altar room, in my opinion, that is not sorcery. For me sorcery is every action that you take to manipulate situations, people, and circumstances to conform to your desire. Spell casting is only small tool in the arsenal of a competent sorcerer. There's other things like understanding body language/no verbal communication, being able to establish rapport, goal setting, and time management, just to name a few. I just don't believe that anyone is knocking it out of the park 100 or even 80% of the time with spell casting alone. In fact I will say that in my opinion and experience, sorcery is actually about 30% spell casting, and the rest is other forms of empowerment and manipulation. There are clues hidden in the lore of legendary conjure and cunning folk that this has been a secret part of the formula for some time. 

The focus of my post for the near future will focus on what I call becoming a Compleat Sorcerer™. Trust me you will be hearing more of this phrase in the near future. I am by no means saying that I have mastered these other tools. I have been experimenting, and will continue to researching, and share what I learn with you all. 

“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.”
- Ernest Hemingway

Justified Killer Assasins

If you are looking for some new music, I found something that I really dig and thought I would share. The project is called "Justified Killer Assassins" and is an electronic/house/punk kind of eclectic project headed up by Lord Stax aka the legendary Doktor Snake. Check out their website.
  

Texas Slave Narrative: William Adams

While researching my next booklet, I came across an interesting quote:

"There is some born to sing, some born to preach, and some born to know de signs. There is some born under de power of de devil and have de power to put injury and misery on people, and some born under de power of de Lawd for to do good and overcome de evil power. Now, dat produces two forces, like fire and water. De evil forces starts de fire and I has de water force to put de fire out. "

 This stood out to me for two reason. The first was that it was a rare acknowledgement that some workers were thought to be aligned with and having powers originating from the devil. This is not something you would hear these day as many new age hoodoo workers go out of their way to white wash the devil from conjure. Also I like to see the reference to hot and cool forces. While it is clear that William Adams was a Christian like most old time conjure folk, a similarity can be found to the idea of Rada and Petro forces in Vodou. 

Another thing that he says that caught my interest was:

"How I larnt sich? Well, I's done larn it. It come to me. When de Lawd gives sich power to a person, it jus' comes to 'em."

While I have no problem with training courses, and researching sorcery, I can't stress enough that following your gut and letting the work come to you is an art in itself. This is something that is lost lately as everyone becomes more convinced that they have to have graduated from such a such coarse, or own the latest book to perform sorcery. Its good to have a base of knowledge, but honestly it will come to you. Keep your ears open.

You can read more of William Adam's narrative here. He has some great things to say about conjure naysayers, and some of the cases that he worked or witnessed. Check it out.

 

Ask Brother Ash #4

Question: "Brother Ash — There are so many Conjure methods of attracting money. What is your favorite? Or which is the most effective? Thanks!"

Personally I favor mojo hands and money charms that can be carried with me. I don't think that any one method is more effective than another, it's all a matter of preference and taste in my opinion. I have also had good results with "Trained Hunting Money", you can find that method here . Maintaining a money altar can be beneficial if you have the space and time for it weekly. I have one, but must confess that I am not as diligent with working it as I could be. I also highly recommend Jason Miller's book "Financial Sorcery". It is the most in depth book on the subject and covers much more than just spells and conjure. When it comes to making money, knowledge is power. To me money magic is equal parts knowledge or financial literacy, spell work, and good ol' fashioned hustle. The conjure methods that you chose should be in line with how you plan on acquiring the money, it could through a raise at work, gambling, expanding business, getting a loan, etc. Be flexible in the conjure methods that you employ.

Outside of spell knowledge I would suggest Tim Ferris's "Four Hour Work Week", Gary Vaynerchuk's "Crush it!", and I dig a little bit of Ramit Sethi as well.

I hope that helps answer your question a bit. 

Ask Brother Ash #3

Question: "How about maintaining protections. Refreshing and keeping alive front door, window, etc charms and helpful spirits".

I am going to be completely honest and say that I may not be the best person to tackle this subject. My own personal practice does not put to much emphasis on maintaining a lot of protection. I keep one broom/evil eye charm by the front door of my home that I do no upkeep on. I have protection included in my mojo hand, that I of course feed on a regular basis. I actually keep no charms specifically for protection in my altar room, but instead charge the spirits that I work with to that task.

Basically any protection that I make is geared toward to repelling any spirit that mas malicious intent, that includes those still housed in a corporeal being (i.e. a person).  I really don't put much focus on protection, because I really don't worry too much about being susceptible to attacks, especially magical attacks. My advice is to have one good charm or form of protection for your whole house, I don't think it is out of the realm of a spells reach to protect front, back, and all areas of the house simultaneously. Keep some form of protection that you can carry with you as you see fit. Of course prayers as Psalms can work for both home and personal spiritual protection. Finally ask the spirits that you maintain relationships with to keep an eye out for you. Putting your spirits to work for you is the best protection that you can have. Whatever you do, it is best to be consistent with it, but don't obsess over it or feel that moment that you don't maintain your defense that the forces of darkness are going to swoop in and carry you to the 9th circle of hell or something.

I don't worry too much, because I know that at the very least my ancestors have my back in the small likelihood that I am attacked. I also train for self defense for the occasion where that might fail. To me, going overboard with protection is like wearing full body armor everyday because you may get shot. Doesn't seem to be worth the hassle. I know there are some that put much more emphasis on this in their own practice, and I don't knock it. There are some that are involved in communities, and circles where magical attack is very common, and something that needs to be prepared for. If that is the case with anyone reading, I say by all means be prepared, or hey remove yourself from circles full of such petty people. I tend to keep to myself and have yet to find the need to engage in magical battle. I hope to keep it that way. There is my two cents.