It's Christmas!

It's Christmas, so I thought a post was in order. I've been working a lot with change. Transformation is all around me. These are the first days of winter, but spring is actually not too far away. It's funny how set we get into a groove thinking something will last forever, when in fact, it's just transitory.

I generally take stock around this time of year. I think it's my Capricorn moon, and I try to see all the changes. I really want to make note of them so when I feel stuck in a pattern, I can see how it will change. Change is the only true constant.

I'm also getting ready for Haiti within a few weeks. I will be going to Haiti to spend time with my elders and my LWA. I'm very excited about that. It's been a long time coming.

I'm actually going to spend the last hour of Christmas in service to my mentor. He passed away ten years ago, but he is never gone. I think he is very thrilled with my choices and path. He always believed in me. Even when I couldn't see the road ahead and was very afraid. He knew I would make it through.

This leads to honoring the dead. In Vodou, as well as Hoodoo, we honor our dead. We honor those who have loved and cared for us in life. I'm going to honor my mentor with what he loved in life. I'm going to give him some of my baked goods ( he loved those) and just talk to him. Ask for his guidance and his wisdom. That he love me in death as he did in life.

I think one of the most beautiful things that I suspected, but truly understand now, is how love lives beyond the grave.

Let's Talk About Love

Love is the number one request in Hoodoo. Everyone wants it and everyone needs it, but getting there is a pain. I should state that I'm speaking of romantic love and not love in general. Romantic love, or sexual love, is quite passionate and stirs the senses. Hence why it is fought with so many difficulties. I don't think these difficulties are actually too bad. Diamonds are created in the earth by years of friction, as are pearls. It is not the pain itself that makes everything so tough, but how we respond to it. I use the term "we" because I've been there too.

Romantic love takes us back to the womb. We literally turn into children with our first crushes! It doesn't matter how educated or mature you are, romantic love will take you back to school. Yet this is the beauty and mystery of it. When you are in love, you are a kid again and the world is new. It doesn't matter if this is your tenth time on the merry-go-round, it still feels fresh and new. It is the ultimate carnival ride.

My advice to the lovelorn, who usually come to me after a break-up, is to pray. That's right---pray! Get a white candle rub it with olive oil and just ask for guidance. What is this experience trying to tell you? Are you experiencing the break-up as an adult or an eight year old? Is the break-up about the moment, or is it taking you back to your childhood and all the disappoints from the past? Feel the pain and work through it, because deep down, you will know what to do. Deep down, you've always known what to do. Finally put to bed those disappointments from so long ago. Make this a new day and a new way.

The most growth I've ever had has been through break-ups and disappointments. As I get settled into my fourth decade, I've come to realize how special those heart breaks were, and how they have helped me help others.

In the words of Rumi, "a broken heart is an open heart."