#i also write spiritual messages on instagram with my friend
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[Parts 1 and 2 of the series: x, x]
Today, I would like to talk about how we can tackle the issues we have inherited from our past lives. If you haven't read my previous post about how our past lives can affect us, I really recommend you to read that one first (x). If you have already read it, here is a little reminder that our past lives can affect us through: (1) traumas, (2) heavy emotions, (3) programs, (4) vows, promises and curses, (5) beliefs, and (6) cellular (body) memories. We can heal ourselves by using the following methods:
== Meditation ==
If you are good at meditation, you can meditate to recall problematic past lives, then either release the energy from them, or shift the trajectories of those past lives. While the last method may sound a bit crazy to you, it is because our souls are timeless, with all our past lives being concurrent and continuing to evolve. Hence, past lives can be changed.
== Past life regression through hypnotherapy ==
We can have a session with a hypnotherapist to recall past lives, then ask our souls to release the energy from those past lives.
== Spiritual Response Therapy ==
SRT is a dowsing technique that allows the practitioner to find out and clear negative energetic blockages and programs that prevent people from achieving well-being by accessing their Akashic Records with the help of High Self. This is the technique that I have been using for 10 years.
== Reiki ==
We can apply healing energy to our emotional and physical bodies (yes, a human body is made of many different layers of bodies, and the emotional body is one of the layers) to heal our emotional and physical issues. We can also send healing energy back to the past life moments that require healing.
The above healing methods work for all issues (1) to (6). Next, I am going to talk about two methods that are effective to some specific issues.
== Prayers to release vows and curses ==
One example of such prayer can be found in the book Angel Inspiration written by Diana Cooper. You can also find its excerpt here: x.
== Writing exercise ==
This method works for clearing our (5) beliefs. Find a topic that you want to work on, then write down what beliefs you have around that topic on a piece of paper. After writing all your beliefs down, erase the negative and limiting beliefs away with an eraser.
The world of healing is gigantic. Here, I am only able to list 6 healing techniques. Everyone has their own preference; you just need to find out what works for you! Good luck!
#i write spiritual messages with my friend Auriel on instagram#we also have meditation exercises#you can follow us there :D#instagram ID: starlight.within#new age#spiritual#spirituality#spiritual healing#past live#past lives#theearthforce
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I wanna hear some thoughts on my pathetic baby loser failson (beloved) five pebbles
oh hell yeah i love hate love this guy and i have SO many thoughts
so, some fun hcs for starters (only one and a half of which pertain to him in canon, the others are just vague sketches of what his vibe is like):
he would like tame impala but only partially in a male manipulator way
if he were a smoker i think he'd vape and then switch to menthols (something tells me he'd be the kind of guy to start smoking because he thinks it looks cool)
hes transmasc coded. real he/they energy
his construction suffered pretty extreme budget cuts due to the political controversy surrounding his placement over the Anointed Citadel (there was a defund five pebbles campaign led by the spiritual leaders there lmao) and thus he is noticeably smaller than the other iterators
he'd be a pretty great poet, and would make a killing in clout off posting poetry to instagram if that existed in rain world lmao (if his iterator comrades appreciated it, he'd post poetry to one of their global message boards, but not many of them care for artistic pursuits. he'd get a temp ban for wasting space)
if you dug through enough pearls in garbage wastes you'd find the equivalent of amateur tumblr poetry from 2012, all written (and some partially scrambled) by pebs himself. before moon's collapse, NSH made it a project to get their hands on some of it so they could make fun of him by reading it aloud in vc. that never panned out
pebs and NSH would've collabed to produce shitty soundcloud rap, but they'd have a falling out over the duo's artistic direction and they'd split up. pebs would try to produce his own backing tracks, fail at it, and give up, and NSH would go on to make insane 120 bpm hyperpop you could mosh to and open for 100 gecs
and now for some sad character analysis:
i think pebs has like, very big feelings and not a great grip on how to handle them. he isn't maliciously selfish but he experiences his own pain as so all consuming that he forgets that his actions affect other people and simply follows his impulses without much thought. this obviously doesn't excuse his actions - he's harmed his friends in some very real, tangible and painful ways and they should hold him accountable for that (were i to write a 5p recovery arc he would definitely get taken to task by the others, who are also Messy. it would perhaps be a very dramatic fight, but i think if their heads were clear enough and moon had some means of communicating with them you could get a good approximation of what restorative justice might look like for a bunch of alien supercomputers).
it's also implied that he's like the baby of the group, or is at least younger, and therefore has had less time to get to know everyone else and establish himself as part of the local group's regular social dynamic, so i would imagine he has insecurities about that which might fuel his impulse to isolate when he feels Bad. which was, of course, disastrous on one particular occasion. i think he feels deep guilt over that and it's eating him (like the rot), but he has no idea how to express his remorse, or that the person he killed has been revived and can be talked to directly (if only via slugcat messenger). i've always read moon as someone who, in pursuit of being the group big sister/mom friend, learned to repress her feelings in order to preserve group cohesion at all costs. i think a conversation between the two of them would either be really explosively messy (timeline where moon learns to let herself feel things and be angry) or it would have the longest silences you've ever heard (timeline where moon does not learn to stop repressing her emotions). either way it would take a while for them to make peace with each other, but i think they could pull it off. neither of them want to spend the rest of eternity lonely and bitter.
#rain world#rainworld#rain world game#rw five pebbles#five pebbles#rw iterators#iterator#sorry that took me like 5000 years to answer i've been in trapped in a hole filled with various papers i have to write#and also im incredibly burnt out lmao#thanks for sending me an ask btw!! i've missed drafting silly hcs abt rain world :)#wisdom of the sage
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Hello! I adore your blog and your artwork. I have been working with spirits and magic for a long time, but I still get huge lapses in self confidence and begin to doubt my perceptions. Then I have to start all over. I would like to get to the point where I am steady in what I know and can begin to help others. Do you have any advice or maybe even some favorite books or websites? Thanks so much, Jay
Hi, Jay!
Thank you so much for your kind message! It's lovely to know that my work is reaching an audience that is enjoying and benefitting from it. Off the top of my head, I can definitely recommend a few things: Learn about energy healing, and make a regular practice of it, so that you become very comfortable with feeling energy and using visualization to shift it and clear it. It's the best foundation for any spiritual work. You can reference books such as "The Psychic Healing Book," by Amy Wallace, and "Hands of Light," by Barbara Brennan. For psychic work and mediumship, I highly recommend the books "Medium," by Konstanza MorningStar, "Where Two Worlds Meet," by Janet Nohavec, and "Moving Beyond," by Fleur Leussink, who also offers courses and mentorship programs. For channeling, I recommend learning to practice clairaudient dictation, for which I describe a method in my more traditionally formatted version of my blog, "Voices from The Light" (where you can find a lot of my metaphysical writings.) Good books on channeling include "Opening to Channel," by Sanaya Roman, and "Channeling: The Heart and The Art," by my friend, Diana Muenz Chen (who, by the way, studied with Barbara Brennan!)
In general, my advice is to get to know your guides, learn to trust them, and try different methods of communication until you find ones that work for your sensibilities and guides. Don't focus on fear-based beliefs, but do take energetic and spiritual integrity, as well as basic protection and clearing, seriously. (I've written a lot about that on my blog!) Also, don't worry about whether or not you are "just making it up" (since ideally, the proof will be "in the pudding" - and anyway, the psychic senses are basically passive, receptive forms of imagination rather than an active, projective one), and don't be afraid to make mistakes. It's all a learning process, but once you've established a strong connection with your guides, they will teach you how to get better at communicating with them, and help your development unfold. Even startling experiences where you think you messed something up can be part of a learning process. Keep track of your hits and misses. Build up a list of all the times your clairsenses were right about something. Find some friends who resonate with you, and with whom you can practice, but know that you can develop a lot on your own, with your guides, as well.
By the way, as strange as it may sound, no method of magic has ever worked as well for me as connecting with my spirit guides, more or less spontaneously throwing a small "tantrum" at them about something I wanted to change, asking for help, and then giving charity in their name as thanks. You can always ask for temporary guides to help with a given issue, too. But you have to do the energetic groundwork to establish a strong, clear and joyful connection, first, so that you keep evolving and learning about your own energetic responsibility for what you manifest, through a two-way conversation.
There are some things I haven't posted here for formatting reasons, by the way, but have shared on Instagram - mainly a couple of videos in which I recently shared some insights on ITC and lessons on forming spiritual connections. I think I'll be posting more there from now on, so, if you like, you can follow me there, as well!
Best of luck on your journey! Sending you all my blessings!
Best wishes,
Emily
#psychic#psychic development#channeling#spirit guides#psychic medium#mediumship#mediumship development#clairaudience#clairvoyance#voices from the light
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The Pastor's Family Revealed
A Wonderous Lineage
Reverend Chris Oyakhilome is the spiritual father to millions of people. Christ Embassyis a Christian family that spreads love, hope, encouragement. As all supportive families they are close in many ways. There are roughly 140 Christ Embassy branches in five continents. Pastor Chris Family Of all the Christ Embassy branches across five continents, the most common question is "Who are Pastor Chris Oyakhilome's parents?"
The Most Amazing Parents
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Elder T.E Oyakhilome his father was one of the founding members and leaders of the Assemblies for Jesus Christ Church in Benin City. His firstborn son Pastor Chris was truly an influencer from his father. Growing up in the context of a Christian family is an incredible great blessing.
It is only imaginable how proud his father must feel when watching his son share the Gospel message about Jesus Christ being our Savior. His father's efforts may have had a profound effect on the young Chris Oyakhilome. He went on his first crusade at the age of nine.
Chris Oyakhilome has abided by the commandment of honoring your parents. From leading prayer meetings at university to delivering sermons to millions, pastor Chris has paid tribute to his father in the manner of a devout and true Christian.
Pastor Chris has celebrated Angelina's 80th birthday with an Benin celebration.
She is often referred to as the "quintessential maternal model", and is loved for her fairness. Pastor Chris https://thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2020/05/27/biography-and-achievements-of-pastor-chris-oyakhilome/ She is a wonderful mother, grandmother, and mother-in-law who has instilled her faith in God's grace into her son.
Super Siblings
Angelina Oyakhilome, Tim Oyakhilome, had two additional children. Reverend Ken is Pastor Chris’s brother. As an eminent Pastor at Christ Embassy's Houston, Texas Branch, He has had a profound impact on many lives and imparted wisdom. Pastor Chris He is also part of Christ Embassy Central Executive Council.
Katty Worghiren is Pastor Chris her sister and director of the LoveWorld Music & Arts Ministry. Katty Worghiren started as a gifted singer in the choir. Her songwriting skills have led to some of the most famous LoveWorld songs. She is the creator of "I Believe In Nigeria" An song that is a national anthem.
Katty writes the final and most emotional section of Believers LoveWorld Anthem. Katty includes this message as she believes in the Christian family.
We are one family
My sister I also have a brother named you.
Pastor Chris Family Believers' LoveWorld"
As many of the members of Christ Embassy know, for Pastor Chris Oyakhilome this is a personal family and a global family. It is truly inspiring to observe his family involved in the ministry of the gospel doctrines. As 1 Timothy 5: 1-2 recounts:
Treat younger men the way you treat your brother and older women just as you treat your mother. Be respectful of younger women just as you would your mother. "
Two Outstanding Daughters
The marriage of Pastor Chris produced two wonderful daughters. While the couple, he and Anita, his former wife, have decided to end their marriage, they love and cherish their beautiful daughters Carissa Sharon, Charlene, and Charlene. Both of them reside in London currently.
Pastor Chris Biography Pastor Chris’s daughter Sharon is a rising gospel star. She was influenced by her father's teachings and has composed the award-winning track "Holy Spirit" as a testament to her deeply felt Christian commitment. The singer is also an inspiring leader of the Global Youth Leaders Forum.
Phillip Frimpong was a beautiful marriage to her. Pastor Chris Biography She expressed her love for Phillip Frimpong in an intimate Instagram post: -
"YES! "YES!" to my best friend. The most wonderful person I have ever met and my most adored. I am so grateful I'd just like to say yes ."
It was gorgeous and significant. Charlene is her sister who was the chief bridesmaid. It's impossible not to feel touched by the unconditional love of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome and his family.
More Family Members with Talented Families
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome's Nephew Daysman Oyakhilome Woghiren is now one of Africa's most influential leaders. He makes use of his skills to encourage young people to be encouraged by the Word. As a businessman and as the CEO of Carel Films Enterprise he can spread the Good News via modern communication channels. He has been responsible for over 100 Christian music videos, songs, animations and videos, including "I Know Who I am" by Sinach, Rozey's "Kinging", "Igbunu", by Micheal Jaffe, and "Untouchable" from the TB1.
He was the winner of the American Academy of Animations Award three times by the age of 20. Also, he was the Walt Disney Award winner and a nominee to the Future African Leaders Award FALA. His true genius is shining through the talents of the others.
The the teachings of Jesus Christ are an integral aspect of the lives and accomplishments of the Oyakhilome family. https://www.pdfdrive.com/the-power-of-your-mind-by-pastor-chris-oyakhilome-e200802085.html We can see that they are deeply rooted in God's work. These family members are, in the words of The Man of God:
"The Gospel about Jesus Christ is God’s power to bring sinners back to righteousness. His righteousness is demonstrated through the Gospel em>
We hope that his family's efforts succeed in their eternal and earthly mission of spreading Jesus Christ's Gospel.
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Introduction post????
Hi!! I used to be on Instagram as an anime account back in the middle school (idk if y’all followed peppermint.sticks but if you did that’s me!!). I’m back on here mainly bc I want anime art but I am also open to meeting new people!!!
I have a very busy social life (full time college student, pretty outgoing etc.) so my messaging time could be delayed…here is some about me
I’m gonna keep my name out of posting for right now!! If u wanna be friends just dm me lol. I’m 19, bisexual, and majoring in Enviornmental science specifically renewable energy. Pronouns are she/her/hers. I am also in a relationship with my amazing long distance army boyfriend since February 2021!! I have a lot of interests, but public health and urban planning are some of them!! Personality I am a very empathetic kind person (will not be a doormat lol), smart, and ambitious. I joke around a lot and consider myself to be pretty caring. As for hobbies I love hanging out with my friends, partying, writing (I used to write short stories and even books but I always drop them bc I’m lazy), (maybe I’ll post snippets of what I write??), drawing (less frequent now), and tarot reading. I play piano not as frequently though. I’m also quite absorbed in my religion (which now has become modern day spirituality…quite frustrating pls stop white washing my religion) which is Hinduism and Buddhism and a big advocate on eliminating all the misconceptions and trying to bring back the power to it!! Stop calling your crystals, chakras, yoga practices and energy spirituality!! It’s Hinduism!!!
‼️PLEASE DO NOT SPOIL ANIMES THAT HAVE NOT CAUGHT UP TO THE MANGA. PLEASE TAG IF THERE ARE SPOILERS. ESPECIALLY AOT. I DO NOT READ MANGA.‼️
An extensive list of my animes I have watched can be found on my anime list (the website)! My username is andimhome (I’m attaching a link). There you will see my interests. I update it frequently. But… top 3 have got to be (and this was a hard list) Sakik K, AOT, and steins gate!!
My favorite movie is Spirited Away!! I’m trying to watch all of the Studio Ghibli movies!!
I am also into vocaloids, or getting back into them I should say!! Favorite one is Rin <3 I know it’s basic to say my favorite songs are the daughter of evil series, but I don’t care because they are!!
Sometimes I might go into small rants or tangents on here to vent, probably won’t like often, once in a blue moon. But just an FYI!!
I have such a wide music taste and I will always send you my playlists if you need it!! Some artists I like (not limited to at all): Uzi, Travis Scott, Kanye, Drake, Suicide Boys, Lil Peep, TV girl, Mitski, RKS, Eden
That’s it!! I hope we can be friends!!
#anime#introduction#anime intro#anime community#studio ghibli#vocaloid#enviornment#author#writerscommunity#writing
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TGIF: Roundup for April 14, 2023
Should Every Church be Multiethnic? SOLA Editorial Board member Daniel K. Eng interviewed Rick Hardison, lead pastor of Lakewood Ranch Baptist Church, who completed a PhD with his dissertation called, “A Theological Critique of the Multiethnic Church Movement.”
We also shared Renee Zou’s article: What Comes to Mind When You Think of Heaven? And I reviewed Sam D. Kim’s new book: From Doubt to Faith: Book Review of “A Holy Haunting.”
This newsletter is one of the many ways you can keep in touch with us. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For more, check out my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group and TGIF Playlist on Spotify. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram.
Aaron Lee, Editorial Curator
Enter to win this excellent book! Read my review. Thanks to Sam D. Kim for providing this book for our giveaway, in partnership with my newsletters for @diveindigdeep and FCBC Walnut.
Articles From Around The Web
Ricky Njoto: Three Things Jonathan Edwards Teaches Us about Holy Communion
“By far the most important aspect of Holy Communion, for Edwards, lies in the present. After all, just as Christ was present physically in the Last Supper 2,000 years ago, he is also present spiritually at every Lord’s Supper today. For Edwards, the Holy Communion is a physical sign of a spiritual reality: that Christians are joined together in Christ.”
Tim Challies: Banksy and Beauty from Ashes
God takes what has been purposefully destroyed, what has been willfully ruined, what has been blown up by our own acts of sabotage, and he works upon it until it is a beautiful and precious work of art.
Related: Learning and Writing about God and the Church: An Interview with Tim Challies by Aaron Lee
Curtis Yee: Asian American Theologian: Our ‘Culture’ Is Not to Blame
“When it comes to the community’s response to trauma and anxiety, Daniel D. Lee calls for a closer look at the dynamics of racism and the migrant experience.”
The SOLA College Writing Cohort is our new writing cohort for college-age students to receive mentorship and training as young Christian writers. Editorial Board member Soojin Park will personally be leading this initiative, and she is very excited at the prospect of nurturing the next generation of Asian American thinkers and writers who will help encourage and edify the Church!
Books, Podcasts, Music, And More
Sam Choi: Prayer and Fasting
This message was given as a part of the Bethlehem College and Seminary spring 2023 chapel series on Prayer.
Off the Pulpit Podcast: The Wives Takeover
In this episode, the wives takeover and chat about all things pastor wife life and women in the church.
Aaron Lee: Related Works
Book reviews: Words of the Resurrected by Robert J. Nash, All About Bible Animals (Kids Book) by Simona Piscionera. Listen to our TGIF playlist on Spotify. Join my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group.
Check out the new edition of our SOLA Network Magazine! Download it for free and share it with your friends as a great way to be introduced to the work we do at SOLA Network.
Featured This Week On SOLA Network
Aaron Lee: From Doubt to Faith: Book Review of “A Holy Haunting”
What is faith and where does it come from? Is faith just a whim? Or is there something deeper? In A Holy Haunting, Sam D. Kim shows “why faith isn’t a leap but a series of staggers from one safe place to another.”
Renee Zou: What Comes to Mind When You Think of Heaven?
Fellow Christian, we are destined for the new heavens and the new earth. God is longing to bring us home. Are we longing for the same?
Daniel K. Eng: Should Every Church be Multiethnic? (Part 2): An Interview with Rick Hardison
Whether there is a mandate to be a part of a multiethnic church, approaching people with their heart languages to bridge cultural gaps, the relationship between contextualization and unity, the need for multiethnic and ethnic-specific churches, serving the people living in your church’s proximity, and the difficulties of being an ethnic-specific church.
Daniel K. Eng: Should Every Church be Multiethnic? (Part 1): An Interview with Rick Hardison
Where we get the idea of the “multiethnic mandate,” what the Bible does (or doesn’t) say about multiethnic churches, how to think about ethnic church “divisions,” and the stories of the Tower of Babel and Pentecost.
TGIF: Roundup for April 7, 2023
Gods and Gangsters / These 3 Japanese Christian Women Changed Their Country / Narco Saints’ Drug-Dealing Pastor / Moving to a New Place with Irene Sun / Gateway Chapel: Hanley Liu
General disclaimer: Our link roundups are not endorsements of the positions or lives of the authors.
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Baby Steps.
I’ve been thinking about writing a blog for awhile now but I could never decide whether I’d write about my crazy and wild life growing up and how lucky and fun it truly was / is or if I should write about the difficulty of navigating this American society I grew up in but trying to find the proper footing that still acknowledged my modest Islamic middle eastern background and also feel free to do as I pleased like the friends I was raised around. Orrrr if I should write about how I have hit rock bottom in my life many times regarding love & relationships with such narcissistic men because of the relationships I witnessed around me as I grew up and how FINALLY at the ripe age of 25, I’m now realizing how these toxic patterns have truly affected me and have really begun the work of healing myself, my nervous system, meditations, health & working out. Lastly, I wondered if I should talk about my other life.. “Eva’s life” that’s my sugar baby name & poker name that I go by.. & that’s just a whole other story. So I figured this blog could be a little bit of everything. Hopefully whoever comes by my page is interested enough & wants to tag along for the ride.
I woke up this morning & didn’t grab my phone to instantly scroll on Instagram or w/e. I wanted to start my day better today with purpose. I have 99 days till my next birthday so gotta make ‘em count right? Somehow I got lost in my photos app and scrolled all the way to the top and saw the last 4-5 years of my life play out. The pics ranged from me happy with family, traveling with friends and partying it upppp vip everything and just living to me being extremely unhappy, unhealthy, unfocused, essentially felt like I was dying inside. I would lose all of this momentarily for these boyfriends (my last was the most painful-and when I say bf’s I mean recent ones.. they were the same lessons diff issues and w diff men) who were like leeches and sucked the life out of me and it’s was painful to feel and see myself begging for human decency over text message screenshots and being verbally abused and humiliating to look back on. No one really gets why you stay in these types of traumatic relationships but they have a way of creating this unearthly addiction you’ve never felt anywhere else until you met them. Doesn’t help when the guy you’re dating looks like he’s built like a Greek god and as if god put him there for you since he seemed so perfect for you specifically. & on your first date you guys felt like this was what you’d been waiting for for so long. Little did we know that was just our unhealed wounds triggering our nervous systems like “NOOOOO don’t do it” lol but I wasn’t aware yet that those butterflies and initial feelings of “wow this is IT” was just my body trying to warn me. I do think we had love and potential but unfortunately, we highlighted the wounds we both had lying beneath the surface waiting to be dealt with and processed.
As I went through the pics I felt the energy in them and decided that I wouldn’t let it ruin my day. I picked up my laptop and began doing my breathwork and once I finished I was feeling so light and good and GRATEFUL that I made it passed those extremely long painful dark dark dark days that I truly did not know how to. Addiction to people is real and it fucks with your mental stability deeply. If it wasn’t for my aunt coming down to la to visit me and seeing how disastrous I was and my cousin who moved to la going through her own depression aka we needed help lol (not to mention she’s a yogi). I don’t think I’d be here and as stupid as that sounds- I was so deep into this toxicity I know I would’ve gotten sick and most likely died somehow. The min she got here all my body aches and scratchy throat etc went away within a day. I could feel it that my vibration was sooo low and I can truly thank my aunt and my spiritual team for truly helping me so much beyond measure and raising my vibe. It was NOT easy still isn’t sometimes. I cry randomly and then I keep it pushing. Sometimes it lingers but I don’t cry cuz I’m sad. I cry for who I was during those dark times, the pain and abuse I endured.. how now I see that he was a fundamentally malicious, manipulative and a very deceptive being. All because of my “job”. Mind you, I was not sugaring then nor was I in poker really. (Lost my normal office job cuz he took me to Miami and wanted to stay an extra couple days and I had work..& I had been super sick (covid) two weeks before and they needed someone full time and hell nah- it just wasn’t it alignment) nonetheless, I knew I couldn’t do another 9-5 (he didn’t, he was a personal trainer and a trapper) & I wasn’t interested in anyone but him so in my head it was just work and I was there to be a poker hostess. He hated it. His ex did it too and yaaa that didn’t work out. Anywayssss, there is absolutely NO excuse for the way I was treated and I’m here to share with whoever reads this that life is SO much better on the other side once you PROCESS your pain, learn WHY you stayed with someone and WHY you were attracted to them in the first place.
With all this being said, I think we can call this a blog that entails life lessons, health & wellness, & a bit of toxicity as well, cuz.. life is all about balance and I’m a sugar baby & I work extremely private underground high stakes poker games in major cities all over the world lol. I call this my powerful feminine era 🤌🏽
Stick along for the ride. It will be fun✨
#100 days of productivity#nostalgia#money#work blogging#toxicity#toxic relationship#trauma#trauma bonding#anxeity#lifelessons#loveyourself#lifeblogging#meditation#peacewithin#breakup#heartbreak#malignant narcissism#narcissticabuseawareness#surviving narcissism#narcissist#healing#happiness#exboyfriend#positive mental attitude#mentalheathawareness#mental health#psychology#empathy
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scene two, aka whatever is left of this air conditioning unit
this evening i microwaved my first cup of kraft instant mac and cheese. the print on the side said to stick it in the microwave for three and a half minutes and then add in the cheese and stir vigorously, so that's what i did, but when i took it out there was a frothy boiling mess on the glass plate and an ungodly amount of water left in the cup so i poured out half of the water and added the cheese and 'stirred vigorously' and the whole thing tasted kind of like if you tried to describe the experience of going on a rollercoaster to someone whose only experience with transport is a horse-drawn cart, by which i mean it wasn't terrible, because terrible implies that an effort was made to be good. it is my humble belief that kraft instant mac and cheese has never aspired towards anything.
this morning i woke up sweating. the rooms in this dorm don't have a/c, but at least they have me. unfortunately they are likely to not have me too very soon, precisely because they don't have a/c. in hot weather a/c and i imply each other like a pair of lovers in a horrible codependent relationship that starts out on the best possible foot and starts to worry their friends and family when both of them go missing for three weeks at a time and are found in some dingy motel next to the movie theater drinking dorito-infused sprite while marathoning old animated barbie movies and eventually ends with one party riding off into the sunset on a stolen e-scooter and the other one becoming a fitness influencer on instagram. instagram is useful for some things like stalking people you might want to kidnap and stick in your basement for a few days and contacting friends who have progressed past the need for neanderthal-style text messaging. fitness influencers are not one of those things.
did you know? there were a hundred and forty-four freshmen on campus this spring. according to the corny welcome to the class of 2024 post on the admissions blog, there are three hundred and seventy-three of us in total. i stuck the numbers in the calculator app because i have progressed past the need for neanderthal-style quick math; that's thirty-eight percent. did you know? i've been a college student for a year now, and i've only met thirty-eight percent of my own class.
not to be dramatic, but i'm aggressively stirring another cup of kraft instant mac and cheese right now. not to be dramatic but i've stuck a body in your basement. it's a promise ring. what am i promising? i'm promising i'll come see you.
i think if i get a car i will feel like a real american. of course i will never be a real american because 1) i spent eighteen years living in singapore and 2) i have the spiritual capacity of a well-endowed british opera singer and 3) i don't actually want to be one but the idea has its appeals, like pretending you're part of a group with an identity that isn't an obscure gender alignment (chicken) you came up with on the fly (see? chicken). improvisation has always been my strong suit (for my january term class we had to post self-intros on moodle and for my interesting skill i said i was good at improvisational running. someone commented asking me what improvisational running was. i said i could start running at very unexpected times of the day, like in the lunch line or in the middle of an x-ray examination or while i'm brushing my teeth. this spring i've proven myself to be everything, it turns out, but a liar). forgetting where i started a sentence is also my strong suit. confrontation is not my strong suit.
maybe i should learn to drive. but who is going to teach me? every day we stray further from god, like little bath toys stuck in the pacific ocean getting fucked up by the dolphins, who have gotten bored with the lack of traffic recently and have decided to start their own acting troupe. i am writing this under the impression that there are dolphins in the pacific ocean. if i am wrong please do not correct me. ignorance is bliss. blocking the numbers of people who have set fire to your proverbial house (you live in a dorm room, after all, which doesn't count as a real place to come back to) in various interesting ways without meaning to is also bliss.
the mac and cheese was terrible. but all things are the first time you try them. like how your first novel is three pages long in papyrus font size fifteen on a word document your mom unearths a decade later when she's cleaning the hard drive on your computer. like how the first time you go to target by yourself you pin the wrong target on google maps and end up walking beside a highway getting blasted by fumes for half a mile instead of taking a nice cottagecore jaunt through the bougie neighborhood your school is located in. like how your first semester of college is this huge fucky clusterfuck of absolute horsefuckery that's so bad, even your older friends who've already done undergrad and grad school and passed out in a dumpster behind a denny's a few times in their lifetime are kind of impressed with you.
my first semester of college was a three hour dark souls speedrun. now we're stopping to enjoy the scenery. and what wonderful scenery it is! actually it's very bad. summer is boring because it reminds me of home and the geographical location of home is not itself very bad but i was very depressed for a while so the psychological associations will take a while to unlearn, like maybe five months or five decades. that's fine. i didn't come to america to get away from the monster under the bed. i am the monster. and now i am in america the world is the bed and did you know? i'm pretty tall. so it's fine. i'll break this bedframe. i'll shatter it to pieces.
05.22.21
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About Me & My Work + Status Update
Shop: blursedbaubles.etsy.com
Pinterest:@resinatingbeauty @blursedbaubles (Business Account with all my handmade creations and custom commission gallery)
Instagram: resinating_beauty_
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blursedbaubles/
Discord: ResinatingBeauty#2475 (open server- message / friend for invite)
I have always been the strong creative type. Growing up in St. Augustine, FL, I was surrounded by the intrigue, rich history, allure, and culturally diverse of the Oldest City which greatly influenced my writing, art, and spiritually which was elaborated on in 1994 when my father's job took my mother and I to Minnesota, Illinois, and the Panhandle, before returning back home to central FL in 2000 where I still reside, though I would love to explore the rest of the country.
St. Augustine had many Spanish influences because of the original Spanish settlements there, the Panhandle introduced me to the traditions of Voodoo & Hoodoo with the celebration of Mardi Gras which was big in the area I lived in as we were right on the border of Alabama and Louisiana. Up north, I first became introduced to Wicca as a child, which lead me to seek out a coven or those with similar interests. With all of these integrated practices and interests, I naturally became an amalgamation of them, never really defining myself with one particular label or devoting myself to any one god/goddess or doctrine. While my father's side tried to force Catholicism down my throat and my mother's side focused on traditional Southern Baptist values- My parents were not devoutly religious people and allowed me to choose my own path. However, this would cause a lot of strife in our family while my grandparents on both sides were alive, trying to persuade my parents into forcing me to confirm to their ideals. Naturally, I wasn't having it. I knew that everyone was misguided with all good intentions, but as a child, all that came of it were feelings of depression, oppression, animosity, and alienation that wouldn't resolve until I got older and understood why everything had been the way it was.
Creating through writing and art became my solitary sanctuary and I was constantly seeking out new inspiration, from mythology books to reading the Encyclopedia Brittanica during long car rides. Video games also fueled my progress as an artist and Spiritualist, surprisingly, as I began to recognize the mythos used in the storylines of my favorite RPGs which just reinforced my interest in the occult.
In 2018, I began selling my handmade one of a kind creations on second hand sites like Mercari and eBay, using the sales to continue to pursue my passion. I hadn't really looked into Etsy except to sell some of my aunt's paintings at one point, making sales once every couple of weeks on those other sites if I was lucky. I didn't start looking into Etsy until January of last year when Mercari changed their policies and raised their fees. My desire to take custom commissions and create personalized items was not really supported by Mercari, either, so it was really only a matter of time before I gravitated toward Etsy and established my shop there, focusing on handmade to order and one of a kind creations.
Every purchase supports my Craft and Crafts, gives me the ability to help others who either need a shoulder to cry on or some spiritual advice, in addition to supporting other local & small businesses like myself, with the added bonus of supporting me, a solo female business owner & artist.
So please take the time to browse my shop or make a custom request- I would be honored to manifest your dreams by my hands! Want some inspiration or to see my portfolio? I'm in the process of uploading ALL of my commissions, custom orders, personalized, and one of a kind creations on Pinterest if you would like to take a look by clicking either of the links above.
Moreover, it would be a pleasure to meet you and work for and with you- either now or sometime in the future. Thank you for taking the time to take a look, like, reblog, or what have you. Every little bit helps!
Thank you again & merry met!
Samantha
(Owner, Designer, Creator)
#handmade#witchcraft#wiccan#one of a kind#ecletic pagan#paganism#crystals#wicca#witchblr#witches of tumblr#witches of etsy#witch#altartools#altars#fantasy art#custom runes#custom rune sets#custom made#personalized gift#elemental magick#magick#green magick#aphrodite#new age#occult#witch shop on etsy#female business owners networking#female artist#etsy sale#etsyseller
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Past Lives Series Part 2: How do our past lives affect us right now?
[Part 1 of the series: x]
Traumas, heavy emotions, programs, vows and promises, curses, beliefs, and cellular (body) memories from past lives can impact our present lives.
Traumas and heavy emotions, both from past lives and current life, can act as energetic blockages that interrupt the energy flow in our bodies, which can cause illnesses and prevent us from manifesting well-being.
A program is a belief that harbors energy accumulated from multiple lifetimes of experiences. It can cause our lives to run in repeating loops until we manage to work out the issues related to that program. However, a strong program can be hard to resolve as a soul can try to work on it in many lifetimes but unfortunately fails, and the energy of that program could grow stronger and stronger throughout those lives.
Vows and promises can bind us to a cause that is already obsolete. A good example is the vow of abstinence for ones who have past lives as monks and nuns, which can cause disruptions in manifesting a fulfilling love life. Another example is the marriage vow: it is important to include "till death do us apart" in the vow, otherwise in our future lives the vow may still bind us with our married partners from this life and prevent us from entering a union with another soul, even when our married partners from this life are not reincarnated in those future lives.
Curses would link the person who curses and the cursed person together, and have perpetual effects not only in this life but the future lives. A person can be cursed by someone else or their own self. Furthermore, a curse can be formed when one believes themselves to be cursed by something or someone, such as life or God. Curses can also run across generations in a family.
Beliefs can bring limitations and prevent us from achieving well-being. Also, be aware that strong beliefs can become vows and curses.
Cellular memories from past lives can cause health issues. e.g. a person who got drowned in a past life can have nasal allergy. A severe wound received from a past life can cause that part of the body to malfunction.
In the next post of this series, I will talk about how we can tackle all these issues. So, stay tuned!
#i also write spiritual messages with my friend Auriel on instagram#we also have meditation exercises#you can follow us there :D#instagram ID: starlight.within#new age#spiritual#spirituality#spiritual healing#vow#vows#curse#curses#cellular memory#cellular memories#belief#beliefs#trauma#traumas#past life#past lives#theearthforce
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Hi Elle! I used to follow you on your old mega-popular tumblr. I really love your new one. :) I know that you've lived in a "super spiritual" community for several years now (not sure if you want me to publicly say the place). What is the community like? Is it more bad than good? What are some strengths and weaknesses of the place/people? Thank you! I've heard mixed things and really respect your insights.
Haha I knew I would get this question one day! If I could title my response, it would be, "Why I've Chosen to Keep My Distance from the New Age Community in the American Southwest." I info-dump and write novels, so get ready! =)
I think there is something to be said for defining things neutrally for yourself overall. Fortunately, I've been able to easily do that in this instance due to: 1. Being introverted and not "needing" a big community experience and 2. Having wonderful friends all over the globe that I am able to interact with all throughout my year. With that being said, if I am being 100% honest and real with you, I truly believe that the new age community where I am is more toxic than good. Here is why. I will have a positive note at the end.
A quick preface: I am not calling out any particular individual(s) and will not be naming names.... quite frankly, there are just too many and I'm not here to humiliate people. Secondly, these traits can take place in ANY community, spiritual or otherwise. But these are things that I feel a spiritual community should be more self-aware of... and sadly right now, they are not.
********ATTENTION: There is a big content and trigger warning here: There will be mentions of sui****, sexual *******, and gaslighting/narcissism, terfs, eating disorders, and other things that could be very upsetting. Proceed with caution and stop reading if you find yourself getting stressed, triggered, or deeply upset.*********
1. Malignant narcissism and community insulation from constructive criticism. I have never seen such a ubiquitous display of malignant narcissism in all my life in a collective, save for some conservative Christian environments in my growing up years. Go onto almost any youtube channel for the Sedona community and you will see very few negative comments… why? (And I have watched this for a long time) Almost ANY criticism of anyone’s channel or blog is instantly removed. There was a time when people who simply noted that some of these small “influencers” were saying toxic things were sent cease and desist letters. The community is very tight knit and displays many marks of a cult. One of these indicators is that they all protect each other and hype each other up on their channels and blogs, while labeling ANY criticism (healthy or not) as someone who is being “triggered.” The younger part of the community cares about looking perfect and having everyone worship them, but has very little spiritual substance. It’s always about who did the alien thing “before it was cool” or “who can do a backflip off of a steep cliff without breaking their neck because their synchronicity is on point.” One youtuber said once that she only wanted to hang out with “pretty” people because they were purer expressions of the divine. The older generation expresses narcissism by assuming they know more than everyone else. Good luck having a conversation on controversial topics with any of them. They are right, you are wrong. If you argue, you are “triggered” and “seeking for truth.” If you don't believe that there are reptilians on the moon with a secret base, you've drunk the kool-aid. Not a good environment to foster open sharing and knowledge. The men have a particular problem with this when it comes to topics of sex and intimacy. If you are a woman and don’t want to “surrender” to your partner (in a lot of vague and unclear ways), you are out of alignment with the divine feminine. Most of the men believe that they should be allowed to "hunt" (look for sexual partners/spiritual twin flames) and that women should do everything in their power to be softly feminine so that they can sync up and recognize each other's souls.
2. A full denial of science and medicine. Look, I get it. We all want to solve our own medical dilemmas and use herbs to cure all ills. I try to solve any (non life threatening) health issues I have the “natural” way first too… often, I have great success! The problem comes when the community rejects all western medicine, most science (that doesn’t affirm their beliefs) and any medical opinion that has… actually been to a real medical school. There is a strong anti-vaccination movement coupled with the belief in using yoni eggs religiously and doing colonics every week (though science tells us this isn’t a great idea overall). I used a different type of yoni egg for awhile to see what would happen, but trust me, your pelvic health is going to be better without them. You will be judged harshly for going to a “mainstream” doctor to get antibiotics for a serious infection and will most likely be gaslit into oblivion regarding “what you did to attract” your infection etc.
I have midwifed for many years now and have extensive “mainstream” training to be able to do this legally. Once, I was working with another midwife on a mother who was having her first baby. The laboring woman had an ideal birth in mind like most people do. Long story short, I discerned while she was laboring that the baby was in intense distress and that the mother was displaying very concerning signs of a life-threatening condition. When I insisted on calling an ambulance and getting the woman to the hospital, the other midwife said that I was interfering with nature. I explained simply that if we didn’t get said woman to a hospital, the baby would most certainly die and the mother’s life would hang in the balance. Her response was that: “Some babies don’t deserve to live and I shouldn’t invite karma by interfering with nature’s course.” I called an ambulance anyway and the mother was taken for an emergency c-section. The mother was very disappointed about not being able to follow her birth plan. However, after the birth (she and baby ended up being okay thank goodness) she sat down with me personally and thanked me for making the decision I did. She said that one of the doctors explained that if I had waited another hour, both she and the baby would be dead. Apparently, this other “midwife” had also had her license revoked a year before for endangering a different laboring person and child. This sounds like a stand-alone freak incident, but I can cite 15-20 other situations just like this one where life-threatening emergencies were viewed as opportunities for good karma and growth… and that western medical intervention would invite bad karma.
Regarding science, if you point to the fact that jade yoni eggs are likely to cause an infection, most of the new age community will scoff and say that they don’t trust science (the logic being that science once explained volcanos as angry gods or something and now cannot be trusted overall). If you don't wear blue-blocking glasses anytime you look at a screen, apparently you've already succumbed to mind control. You get my point… It’s so bad that the new age community is willing to endanger people’s lives and place the blame on the victims for being out of alignment with synchronicity. This one bullet point could be talked about for hours.
3. A lack of discernment and victim blaming. Many have heard about Bentinho Massaro and his crew from that time when they swept through Sedona a couple years ago. The core of the Sedona community started blindly following him… some of them wanted to boost their online platforms by being associated with a well-known figure. Others wanted a guru… and others were just curious and got sucked in by his charisma. All one had to do was google him. He has allegations of physically beating his followers, gaslighting people, torturing animals in his childhood, and ignoring the fact that an alarming number of his followers commit suicide. With all of this knowledge at our fingertips, the popular new age “influencers” went so far as to get in polyamorous relationships with him, validate his platform, and gaslight people who, sadly, committed sui**** because of certain things he said in his teachings. It was insane. Now, many of the people who followed him try to pretend it never happened or that they had no part in it. Many of them claim to have “gifts of the spirit” and to have stellar discernment.
One of the people who got into a polyamorous relationship with this person did an Instagram post where she basically said that if someone is being r*ped they should show their attacker love and surrender to what is happening so that they could experience unconditional love and come back to the "light." I honestly couldn’t believe what I was reading at first when I saw it. The part that was heartbreaking was when I read the comments and watched people (not just women and men) berate themselves for “fighting” while something terrible happened to them in the past. A few of them were teenagers. I made it a point to personally message the ones I was able to, and thankfully, a good number did respond positively. This exact issue has occurred on youtube channels, blogs, and in-person encounters. I’m just citing ONE online instance of this horrible, misaligned belief. Keep in mind that the person who did this post abandoned her disabled child with a family she barely knew to pursue a sexual relationship with Bentinho.
4. TERFS/anti-LGBTQ/anti-feminism. This falls under the categories of relationships, sex, autonomy, and social issues, but expands into much more overall.
A chain of videos came out a couple years ago where about 5 women in the new age community each did a presentation on what was wrong with the “divine feminine” these days. They were saying that women had been erased because they were not conforming to gender roles or seeking out conscious relationships. They all referenced that “women are angry” and basically said it was wrong for women to feel this way and that angry female energy was throwing our whole environment out of balance and even contributing to global warming somehow. They empathized with toxic people/men/known violent incels and said that women needed to get over their traumas and be more available for the divine masculine to show up. They dehumanized women by saying they shouldn’t be expressing anger, glossed over sexual a******, and blocked everyone in the comments who took a stand against what they were saying. The general consensus is that feminists are just angry women who need to get over their trauma.
Many people in the new age community also believe that if you incarnate in a particular body with certain biological parts, you incarnated that way for a reason. Changing it extensively is to erase “the spiritual lessons you were supposed to learn.” Basically, they stand against trans people, nonbinary people, gender nonconforming people… etc. I can go deeper with this if you want, but that is the gist of it without writing a novel within a novel.
Most of them take an active stance against intersectional feminism and use exclusive language to shut out anyone who doesn’t conform to the binary. A few of them are more passive-aggressive about how they do this: refusing to show any support for the LGBTQUIA+ community or mention social issues at all, even when someone is pointing out that they did something hurtful or offensive.
5. Appropriating Indigenous cultures and using past lives as an excuse. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard a white new age person say that something is their “spirit animal” or seen one wear Native American/indigenous headdresses to tight-knit community events, citing that they were “Native American” in their past life and that they are entitled to use these symbols, items, and cultural lexicons because of it. (Not that this is the main point… but they tell trans people that they shouldn’t be trans or insinuate that people should conform to the gender binary because they incarnated in a body type for a reason… but make an exception for themselves culturally? Super hypocritical.)
A couple of “woke” guys from the new age community walked around for awhile saying that the Hopi had adopted them into their “tribe” and that the were given Hopi names. I spoke to a few Hopi people about what was happening and they were shell-shocked. That is not something that they do for one thing, and for another, they had never even heard of these people! Thankfully, the behavior stopped after the two men were confronted about it, but this kind of thing happens all the time in various ways. There is a new age store here with a racial slur in the title… bring it up to the owner and she’ll kick you out and launch a smear campaign. Tell one of the white new age women that just because she studies “different traditions” doesn’t mean it’s okay to do rain dances or perform indigenous rituals (Native American, Australian, and others) without permission and they’ll blacklist you. I think many of the new agers operate within this Trojan horse of “I want to accept and validate all cultures”, but do not actually care at all about indigenous voices, feelings, or opinions. Many of them talked a lot about collective trauma in our nation during Black Lives Matter, but wouldn’t actively support it in any way themselves.
6. Let’s talk about mental health. This could go under the science and medicine label, but I think it deserves its own paragraph. Boy is mental health stigmatized in the new age Sedona community…. Real mental health professionals are painted as people who just want to “drug” you and keep you controlled. People with mental health struggles are instantly blamed. “Hell is just a state of mind, you need to change your mind,” is a phrase I have heard more often than not. Ancestral healing, umbilical healing, and random reiki sessions are somehow supposed to take the place of a licensed counselor.
A huge chunk of the “spiritual” community supported a pseudo-therapist who (without any scientific basis) was preaching that any woman who wasn’t sure if she wanted to have children or not by the age of 25 was toxic and needed to be ostracized because “something is wrong there.” A bunch of people believed it and re-posted/shared the teaching.
Another instance occurred where an unlicensed “hypnotherapist” without so much as a bachelor’s degree in anything was using questionable methods to hypnotize clients. During one session a person experienced a severe PTSD flashback and panic attack. She was not brought out of the hypnotherapy session properly or cared for. She ended up having a mental breakdown and having to spend time in the hospital. The charlatan who was treating her said that the client was willfully unresponsive to treatment and refused to confront her demons…
Anyone who is on anxiety medication, anti-depressants or anything else to support their well-being and mental health will be judged aggressively and most likely verbally confronted at some point if they are open about being on medication. The charlatans will throw essential oils into your space saying that they can cure anything. Others will try to get someone to talk to a new age leader in the “inner circle” and attempt to persuade the client that western therapists/psychologists just want to drug people and ignore the spiritual cause of unrest. They’ll cite earthing, crystals, vaginal wands, special teas, dietary habits, and color therapy as causes and answers to everything…. All while regarding victims of sui**** as unfortunate souls and lost causes etc.
7. A summary. I need to sum up other issues here quite quickly or I’ll be typing all day. XD Many of the women here are terrified of gaining weight or looking older. They hide behind the thinning veil of “health and veganism” to justify their worrisome habits to feel sexually appealing to supposedly “woke” men. Disordered eating and terror of eating one granule of processed sugar permeates the consciousness. You can be judged for anything from buying pokemon cards to eating legumes…. of all things. Most of the men are sexual predators who prey on younger women, rely on narcissism as a personality type, and don’t let anyone get a word in edgewise when their opinions are challenged. Many of the women validate these behaviors and blame themselves when they get hurt citing “spiritual growth” as a silver lining to cure all traumas. I would say that 95%+ of the people in the community present a perfect picture of themselves online while having crumbling relationships and failing inner lives. You might see a post or video about “conscious uncoupling” of a spiritual "power couple" and then find out later that someone was in a relationship with a narcissistic predator or was experiencing physical abuse. Sadly, many of the victims gaslight themselves in the uncoupling announcement. Many people here are predators in other ways… they might launch a health business that uses essential oils to replace therapy. There are con artists all over the place who can range from simply overpricing their wares in alarming ways to trying to entrap people in “business contracts” that devastate their lives. I have had personal UFO experiences here and do personally think that extraterrestrial life exists, but I would NEVER try to manufacture a fake experience… One of the UFO tour guides was having people hide out in the desert and flash lights into the sky while people on the tour wore special glasses. Then she was charging an arm and a leg to channel “spiritual messages” from the e.t.s for her clients and saying that if they didn’t receive the message, something bad would happen to them. This is the fluffiest and lightest post I could possibly do to communicate how bad it is in the “spiritual community” here. This is only the tip of the iceberg.
The good news? Sedona is so much more than a toxic new age community. It is GORGEOUS and it does have many good, healthy/normal people here. =) I have had such a beautiful experience in this place and can’t say enough good things about it. I have easy access to healthy foods, endless nature to explore and bask in, and a growing community of people who call the new age community out on its toxicity. I read what I want, play Animal Crossing without blue-blocker glasses, regularly enjoy going to listen to goth music at my preferred venue (I’ve been demonized for this lol), and eat what makes me feel good. My partner and I have had a beautiful and successful relationship for nearly a decade now and create amazing memories every day. We have good friends all around the world… and I have a solid, BIG group of academic colleagues/friends locally who DO ethically cite their sources and contribute positively to science and higher learning. If you’re into paleontology like me, you are in fossil heaven! =D If you love astronomy or astrophysics, we’re in a dark sky city! There are so many cool things to do from playing in LOTR-worthy waterfalls, to sampling delicious vegan creations, to playing DnD on red rocks with your friends while a *real* UFO passes by overhead. Get yourself a smoothie and organic wrap from one of our incredible food trucks and drive out into the desert while listening to Nightvale with your love or your friends. =)
If you ever want a list of must-do’s while visiting, let me know. I’ve got your back! The point is that I just harped on the negative above, but the good news is that you can completely avoid all of the junk. Keep it or scrap it when it comes to the Sedona new age community? I say scrap it. But you can still pursue your spiritual interests in healthy ways here while enjoying all the yummy creature comforts that the Verde Valley has to offer. I hope this helps and if just one person comes here and has a safe experience because of my thoughts, then every moment I’ve spent writing this was worth it. =) <3
#new age#toxic community#sedona#cults cw#trigger warning#red rocks#narcissismawareness#mental health#cult leader
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Book Tour: The Accidental Psychic by Carol-Anne Mason
The Accidental Psychic
Annie Prior Series
Book One
Carol-Anne Mason
Genre: Paranormal Murder Mystery
Date of Publication: 20th August 2021
ISBN: 978-1-8384305-0-4
Number of pages: 424
Word Count: 89,560
Cover Artist: Miblart
Synopsis
A horrific train crash turns Annie Prior’s life upside down, by triggering an extraordinary psychic ability that had lain dormant since her childhood.
After being rescued in more ways than one by a dark-haired stranger from the train, two fatalities from the accident return to haunt her; and as Annie’s new Clairvoyant and Mediumship abilities grow, she is immersed into a realm of both needy and malevolent souls.
Despite an ongoing battle with her narcissistic family, and a boss with a dark past which continues to plague her, she comes to realize her strange new powers are also there for reasons beyond the present.
She embarks on a life journey helping both the living and the spirit world to gain closure.
But, not all are happy with Annie’s new vocation.
Excerpt from chapter 19 The Open Platform
‘Would it be okay for me to continue with this message, Sam? I think I know who’s here for her.’ Sam was clearly relieved. ‘Oh, yes … thank you, my dear.’
Everyone in the hall was relieved too. Annie took the reins, and without faltering continued with the message.
‘I believe your husband is here for you; in fact, he’s standing behind you with his hands on your shoulders. He seems to be steering you in the right direction.’
The lady touched her shoulder, as if to feel her husband’s unseen hand.
Annie smiled whilst she listened to the spirit convey his message. ‘Okay, so this is slightly awkward, your husband has just told me something which I believe is personal to you. Are you okay for me to continue?’
The woman simply nodded, she had never received a message of any consequence before. ‘Well, according to your husband you’re wanting to get married again, but you’re feeling terribly guilty about it as it’s only been two years since his passing.’
The woman's mouth dropped open. ‘Oh my God, you’re right. How on earth …?’
‘I think you mean he’s right,’ Annie said with a broad smile. The congregation laughed quietly. ‘Actually, he’s giving you his blessing, and really likes your future husband. Was he one of your husband’s friends?’
The lady nodded again in affirmation and put her hands over her face—her emotions erupted. It seemed that everyone in the congregation sighed and teared up too, including most of the men.
Annie began to feel an overwhelming surge of spirits pushing their way in, they had been patiently waiting for years to get their messages across and now finally had someone who truly understood them.
About the Author
Carol-Anne Mason is an artist, writer and at the age of 64, author of the new award winning novel The Accidental Psychic.
She has lead a busy and full life with many professions under her belt including: dancing, writing songs and performing. Hair salons, tutoring at college, running a night club and antique shop. Although, has continued throughout the years with her painting and writing.
Her strong belief in spiritualism has grown since her early teens, after realising her premonitions and intuitiveness was a family trait going back many generations. And after immersing herself into the paranormal world and researching all aspects of spiritualism, she felt herself well equipped to write on the subject. Also her love for reading horror stories from the likes of Stephen King and James Herbert has also influenced her writing.
Carol-Anne works from her home in the rural Hampshire countryside of The New Forest UK. Where she lives with her eccentric husband and Maltese terriers, and spends much of her time with her two grown children and new grandson. Also, rescuing any animal in need—large or small—often to the annoyance of her patient husband.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn
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JUSTICE FOR JESUS — Misconceptions & Prejudices about the Faith in the Biblical Jesus Christ.
INTRO
Jesus put it on my heart to write about one of the main factors that keep people away from Him nowadays and I feel qualified to do that since I was in exactly that peer group before Christ knocked on my door (the second time) and showered me with His Love. As some maybe have read in my first testimony, at first I had violently pushed Him away (and I was extremely rude, I remember how I sent a ten minutes audio voice message to a friend [i mean, who does that...??], and philosophized about how the God of the Bible could be the Devil Himself and that maybe it‘s a trap for the weak people who need Religion to cope in this life; looking back that was just entirely bonkers and also very wrong, and now that I know Jesus, I am ashamed that I‘ve ever thought something evil like this, but gladly He has a heart probably bigger than the Universe itself and will always forgive)
Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. — Matthew 18:21-22
and among all the outrageously horrible things I‘ve done in my life, this was probably the most bad error ever. God thought that by now I sure was humble enough to be approached (you know after my Mama died, I‘ve had 2 strokes, I‘ve been in a terribly traumatic violent relationship for over 2 years, I‘ve lost my apartment and almost lost my mind as well clearing out the apartment, was homeless for several months and received multiple thousands of Euros debts in my name because of the situation that was going on in my living community and with my Ex, people who have been following this blog know what I am talking about) but I was sooooo stubborn and DUMB. and not humble at all. I‘ve thought I had all the answers because „Spirituality“ is so much better than „Religion“ and because esoteric and occult knowledge is the Truth and that I would be „enlightened“ someday when I just kept „working“ to „spiritually grow“, meditate, doing divination about „my soul“ and my „past lives“ and „my future“, and „manifest“ my life however I wanted it to be.
A month after I‘ve pushed Jesus away and blasphemed His intentions, well, I was laying on my (new apartment) floor, having the worst seizure one can imagine, my brain was flooded in blood, the pressure and pain on me was extreme, my whole body clenched, the paramedics spoke to me very alarmed and dramatically, and I could hear and understand them but I was entirely paralyzed within my body, I could not speak, I could not move, I sweated so hard that my entire clothes were soaked from only 20 minutes of laying there, then I‘ve had to vomit twice, almost drifted off to unconsciousness, was freezing cold, got transported as fast as possible to the hospital... had a 6 hour brain surgery, was in a coma for 2-3 days and when I woke up I‘ve lived through almost an entire month of hospital „terror“ (I am very sure that I‘ve had something like an almost-psychosis in the first 2 weeks because really weird things happened in my mind back then that I cannot even explain) and it was already the Covid-19 panic, so I was literally alone all day, every day until I was stabilized and was allowed to leave the hospital at the end of April.
I‘m not saying that God punished me, not at all. But what He indeed does is disciplining the ones that He has chosen to be His child, just like an actual Father has to sometimes discipline his child for the sake of proper parenting. When I was stubborn and pushed Jesus away, Satan had legitimate authority to do whatever he wanted, except that I die. We see a similar situation in the book of Job 1:6-12
After I got home, I was still in horrible shape, I could barely walk (I‘ve used a rollator and later on I‘ve used crutches), I‘ve had a bad headache pretty much all the time (I still do, not all of the time, but very often), I‘ve done my daily rehab until first week of July, and now I am on weekly rehab. People would say I‘ve had enormous „luck“ or a „guardian angel“ but I know now that it was God who protected me. He needed to make sure that I meet Jesus AND accept Him before I truly die because death without Jesus means death eternal.
And so, Jesus approached me another time and I‘ve wrestled with Him and I‘ve almost pushed Him away again but THANK GOD, to the exact same time, an old friend from TUMBLR found me on Twitter (she was @spirit-mouse back on here) and also at the same time I‘ve heard of Courtney (@powerpriestess) turning to Christ, and at first I was like „?????“ and it was a huge struggle back and forth for days and I‘ve ALMOST pushed Jesus away again but ... talking with this old friend, who also felt a pull towards Jesus, I let it happen, because she let it happen, like a few days before me, and now I am just eternally grateful that my pride, stubbornness and idiocy didn‘t get a hold of me again and that I just let it happen and it was the best decision in my ENTIRE life. I am just filled with love and eternal gratitude for God and Jesus for not giving up on me, for humbling me enough to make it happen, and I literally don‘t go more than 15 minutes of my day without thinking of them, every single day, since July. It‘s just NOT possible to be born-again and to not think of God all the time *lol* - I have never been more satisfied, happy and peaceful in my entire existence and I could literally drop dead right now and I know it would be okay! (well okay, I really want to be baptized first..)
HOWEVER, - this was a long intro - the misconceptions about the Faith in the Biblical Jesus Christ are severe (!) and since I, myself, had aaaall the evil prejudices that one can have, I want to clear them aaaall up in this post series. My prayer is that people who feel a pull towards Jesus won‘t do the same mistake that I did and that maybe I can help to clear away the stigma and confusion about the faith in Jesus and following Him.
If anyone needs help along the way, you can contact me on Instagram @ noony.newborn - I know just how confusing EVERYTHING is when you start your relationship with Christ and how utterly confusing the Bible is, and sadly, these days, you can literally not trust a SINGLE pastor because Satan has infiltrated the institutional Church around 300 A.D. and ever since then, it just got worse and worse and worse with the blasphemy and deception.
I don‘t have an exact outline but some of the things I‘d like to talk about are the things you most definitely do NOT need to know, love, follow and obey Jesus Christ: Institutional Church, a Pastor, Religion, Creeds and man-made Doctrines, the Pope, Catholic Catechism, Rules, Bible Commentaries of religious Authors, nothing of that. The literally only thing you need is a Bible, Prayer and JESUS and that‘s all that you need. Of course a congregation is a nice thing to have but trust me, you rather want to be alone with Jesus than to be at your local Sunday Service and be entirely devoid of the presence of Christ, His Holy Spirit.
I will include a handful of testimonies of real people who met Jesus, were born-again and are absolutely in Love with Him, on each of these posts. The variety of people who come to Jesus is just incredible and I cry every time when I see such testimonies because I can so much relate to the emotional atmosphere and how everyone is just so grateful. I have been crying pretty much daily since July just because His love is so overwhelming and a human can not possibly hold it inside without shaking and wanting to burst, tears are the only suitable reaction for me (and as far as I’ve seen in the testimonies, every born-again believer feels the same way, it’s beautiful beyond anything).
I pray that you are open to this series of posts and that maybe God can reach you through them, so that you, too, can be born-again and just joyful and at peace with your life forever and ever.
May Jesus bless you ♡
TESTIMONIES
Melody Alisa - From New Age to Jesus | My Testimony
Kyle - Suicidal Atheist Finds Jesus | Testimony
Ayelet - I am Jewish and I Believe in Yeshua - Jesus!
Shokit Ali - A Muslim gets saved by Jesus Christ! Powerful Testimony!
Samuel A. Perez - Gay Stripper Saved By Jesus | Christian Testimony
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Calling Out and Calling In: Jessyka Winston and Haus of Hoodoo
It’s not uncommon for me to receive asks or messages asking me to verify that a particular priest or a particular sosyete is valid/authentic/traditional/etc. By and large, I don’t answer these because it’s not appropriate in that there is no reason for me to comment on a particular person or sosyete. That’s not how you make friends, maintain a religious community, or serve the spirits.
And, there is the truth that, in Haiti and on the island in general, there is variety in practice. I talk a lot about regleman, which is the appropriate order for things, and I talk a lot about what happens when folks just want to grab what they thinks looks cool or spooky for their own purposes (no, Papa Legba is not a cocaine-sniffing demon, no, Ezili Freda does not want to be saluted with twerking). Discernment is a thing, and well-trained priests have it; folks can sniff out fraud versus ‘huh, we don’t do it like that but it makes a lot of sense that other people do it this way’.
This doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of fraud and fraudulent folks who use the trappings of the religion to make a lot of cash. It happens a lot. A LOT. It happens in Haiti and it happens outside of Haiti. The birth of social media has given folks, legitimate and not, a place to showcase what they do and connect with people whom are seeking the spirits or, conversely, whom the spirits are seeking. It was that for me; I reconnected with an old friend on Facebook after at least 5 years of no contact and, through a series of Very Fortunate Events, found my way to my spiritual mother’s door from there.
Social media has given a platform for fraudulent people to really dig their heels in. Instagram (the platform I love to hate) is particularly awful with this. Folks who have not had exposure or training in the religion see beautiful photos and assume that what they are seeing is true and authentic because it looks like it must be, or someone is a very talented writer and uses generic photos along with compelling, persuasive text. This is not the fault of the folks looking—how can they know?--but the fault squarely of the people trying to trade the sacred for power, adoration, and, often most importantly, cold hard cash.
This reality often brings up a very difficult conversation to have that contains a lot of hard truths: the face of fraud in Haitian Vodou is not always white and birthright (or the presumption of birthright) can be abused.
These two things bring us to the topic at hand: Haus of Hoodoo and the person behind it, Jessyka Winston.
Haus of Hoodoo is a small business that began online selling fixed candles and posting lovely photos. Within the last 6 months or so, a retail location opened in New Orleans. It’s a cute shop (I like all the plants), and she portrays it as doing well.
Where things have gone from cringe-y to whose-child-is-this to ‘you have got to be fucking kidding me’ complete with the sort of strangled laugh that doesn’t come from something funny is around Haitian Vodou.
Let me be really clear: I have been watching this for a good long while, and I didn’t want to say anything for the reasons outlined above and because, quite bluntly, I know this is going to bring a whole lot of unpleasantness to my doorstep. Jessyka likes to flex, and how she flexes is making statements that she feels are intimidating/fear-inspiring, going in on character assassination, and, frankly, talking a whole lot of shit. She threatens sending spirits after someone, with the stated intent that a person will die or be made food, and she spins into this cyclone of nonsense that she thinks leaves her looking authentic and traditional. It doesn’t, and I don’t attach weight to those sorts of things or get scared of them. But, I have known that’s what is in store as soon as this is published and I had to kind of have a talk with myself to make sure I have really been willing to take that on. At this point, I am willing because what has been said is so incredibly untrue and, in some cases, downright harmful or unethical. There are times to be quiet, and there are times to speak. This one of those times to speak.
After the cut, I’m going to lay things out the best I can with the receipts I’ve got and the knowledge I have been blessed to gain. It’s going to be image-heavy and with a lot of text, and there’s a LOT of it.
But, before we get there, it’s important to acknowledge some things upfront:
Haus of Hoodoo/Jessyka Winston is alone in what she is saying. She is not gaining support from anyone and no one is standing up to agree with her. She has been a topic in the Haitian Vodou community for at least a year, and no one has said much of anything to her because, sadly, no one seems to be invested in her. I really do think this is sad. Haitian Vodou is familial in nature, even across sosyetes and lineages. Folks disagree with each other and argue, but they still come back and call each other sister and brother. She has said she is a part of no community and eschews what community means, but I can’t imagine what it must be like to not have anyone who will either support you because what you are saying is true for your corner, or anyone who cares enough to say ‘hey, I know you mean well but you’re really off-base here. Maybe you should walk it back’. I think this is why she has turned so poisonous. I know I have benefited greatly from a spiritual parent and siblings who have helped me right my course and/or given me a kick in the butt. Not having that is a huge loss and a huge spiritual hole.
I also do not think Jessyka is without redemption. She can change what she is doing and change the current course she has set for herself. While the things she has said will never go away, she can take responsibility for the inaccuracies she is spreading, the outright disrespect she is showing to Haitians and the people who made it possible for her to even have contact with the religion, and the harm she is inflicting. With the lwa, there is always a chance to do things differently. The function of community, in this moment, is to call out the hurt and harm she is spreading, and to call her in so that she may come back to center and work on repairing not only what she has perpetuated but work repairing herself as well.
(Quick note, some of the image formatting is weird and some images are darker than others. If you are having trouble reading something, let me know. I regret that I cannot caption each one. Additionally, I have removed the actual photos from the images for time and bandwidth)
With those things in mind, let’s take a look at what has been going on:
To timeline things for context, Jessyka initiated in Afa vodoun and Mami Wata practices in Ghana in early 2017. After her return to the US, she began talking about Haitian Vodou and began attending ceremony in New Orleans with a New Orleans spiritual community and a Haitian Vodou sosyete with their US temple in NO. At some point in here, she did a lave tet under the lineage head of the sosyete, and then followed that with kanzo in Haiti, where she was made a manbo asogwe. This is really fast and potentially really ill-advised. When you initiate somewhere, your head needs time to settle down and you need to get to know your spirits. When you spin through it and don’t give your head a chance to settle, things get messy—you are unbalanced, your head is unbalanced, and your spirits are unbalanced. A wise person once told me it takes 5 years to be proficient enough in something to have a basic understanding, and this rings true spiritually.
This is where things get sticky. Not too long after her kanzo (about 2-3 months, maybe a little more), she left the house she was made in, stating that she was taken advantage of. At this point, she had left her long-term partner, gotten involved with a Haitian man, and returned to Haiti to have other ceremonies done, somewhere near the end of 2018. I have receipts for these things but, for brevity and bandwidth, I’m not going to insert them all. If you want to see them, hit me up.
This is sticky for two reasons:
She wiped her Instagram of all visual cues attaching her to this house. She had written a LOT about them and a lot about the relationship she had with her initiatory mother, but she chose to try and re-write her history after she left. This is not how kanzo works and, in reality, not how the internet works. I saw a lot of what she had written myself.
Allegations of fraud in the way that she insists happened are hard to address because they often involve matters of secrecy that only another priest can recognize. I can’t say for absolute certainty what happened in the djevo/initiatory chamber she went into, as I wasn’t there. That’s not shade, it really just means what it says: I can’t pass judgment because I didn’t go inside that djevo. I would expect that sosyete to say the same of me in that they were not in the djevo that I went into and cannot judge the absolute correctness of what happened there. Priests are pretty solid on not extending opinions of things that have not verified with their own eyes.
What I can say is that Jessyka has posted things that are very true about kanzo (initiation in an asson lineage), and many, many things that are false. The largest problem with this outside of potentially betraying oaths of secrecy that I know she took is that she doesn’t seem to know the difference between what is true and what is manufactured, either by misinformation she has received or by her own lack of experience, as she has never stood inside a djevo on the other side of kanzo. She never went back to see how it was done, and she didn’t stay long enough to be taught.
I saw her post something once that she should know better than to post, and I addressed it as my one-and-done (or what I thought was one-and-done) shot at saying something, priest to priest, in the hopes that they would right their wrongs:
@anbadlo is my Instagram account that I use to post spiritual work and art, however infrequently, and I’ve mentioned it here before. It has the name I am commonly known by on the internet, which is pretty easy to link up to this blog and to my other online presences attached to Vodou. I wrote fairly quickly in my response below hers because I knew I was on borrowed time, as she blocks anyone who disagrees with her or that she perceives to harm her business (which is her prerogative, of course).
What I didn’t get a chance to screenshot before she blocked me was her further response saying that she would humiliate me with what I didn’t know about Haitian Vodou and that I should try going to Haiti before saying anything to her or anybody else. This was sort of eyebrow raising not because it upset me but because a) there is nothing humiliating or shameful about not knowing something and I am pretty open that I am always learning, and b) she spoke without giving a thought to who might be speaking to her. If someone was to pull me up online for posting something inappropriate or inaccurate, I’d at least click on their name to see who they were before asserting that I was an authority who could humiliate them. I also did not and do not understand why someone who claims to be a spiritual leader or authority would want to humiliate someone. Folks can be corrected without character assassination or purposeful embarrassment.
Far more interesting than those things, though, is that she denies she was made asogwe which is untrue based on her own words:
She’s since deleted this post, but it was a post that quite a few priests saw and saved. To be honest, I sort of chuckled about this because what is written here is not true about being a houngan or manbo asogwe but it digs at something more serious: her attitude and orientation of being more authentic-than-thou and being what she perceives as the most traditional of the traditionalists. Like, I come from a traditional Haitian lineage that is known for doing things traditionally, and all of this is above and beyond. I talk frequently about how Haitian Vodou is a practical religion, and it’s not practical to go bother the lwa if you want to have sex, shave your legs, or stay out late. There are situations where some of the things she has said might be true for a very short period of time, but no one does this nor is it traditional. Haitians are not going to their tables every time they want to get their hair done.
It is possible that she had some deep misunderstandings about what she was taught, it is possible she made it all up, or, perhaps most likely, it is possible that she offered all these things up to her lwa and they took them. Spirits can be opportunists and they love attention. If you commit to giving them a chicken every week, they will expect a chicken from you every week and are going to be displeased when you don’t deliver. If you offer things up, they are going to hold that as their standard. This is why discernment is important, as is maintaining ongoing relationships with a teacher and (IMPORTANT) asking before you make an offer when you are new to a religion and a religious office (priest).
It is also equally important to note that when you kanzo and come out a houngan or manbo asogwe, that’s an indelible mark that cannot be erased. You can point middle fingers at people and walk away, but that doesn’t change what was put on you. Other work and other ceremonies can be done (however ill-advised), but it can never erase what you willingly consented to and had placed on your head. Her desire to separate herself from this and her asson lineage of kanzo doesn’t mean it is erased, no matter how much you want to re-invent yourself.
But, this was kind of a fore-runner and warning sign of what was to come in terms of more-authentic-than-thou and, bluntly, honesty. In retrospect, if someone had sort of nudged her and said ‘hey, you don’t have to be doing the most of the most to be a good manbo’ maybe we wouldn’t be where we are. On the other hand, people have to take their own roads and it is not the place of any priest to really step in when there is no harm done to others. Like, if you want to tie yourself up that tightly, it is certainly within your rights to do so.
More recently, what she has posted has taken a turn for the truly bizarre. Her Instagram is a sort of echo chamber—some vodouizan read and largely do not interact, and a whole lot of people follow her who don’t have other exposure to the religion but, as before, she is standing alone. She says things and presents images that fit a narrative she creates, and it hits a nerve with folks seeking spiritual meaning or it fits an internal narrative they have, even if it is not a narrative reflected currently or historically. This is not a slam to folks who follow her or who have followed her and thought she was reflecting the Real Vodou she says she is, as we are all human and all searching for where our heart and heads feel at home, and sometimes that search has a pit stop or side quest.
She really got going with what amounts to flexing: she presents herself as powerful and untouchable, and makes statements that people she perceives as standing against her or attacking her will be harmed or killed:
At first glance, these things are laughable, literally. It is perhaps not my proudest, most enlightened moment as a person or an houngan, but I saw this litany of fear and I just chuckled because...c’mon. COME ON. This tells a really transparent story: someone got to her or she presumes someone got to her, and she’s Bothered. So, she posts these things about how spirits are going to eat people, she’s going burn things down, people are going to suffer, etc etc etc. This is a traditional internet spiritual song; I Have Been Wronged, Let Me Put On My Robe And Wizard Hat.
In Haitian Vodou, when these moments play out publicly, it is a moment when face is lost. Haitian culture and, as follows, the religion very much has an element of ‘don’t let them see you sweat’. Like, broadcasting that work was thrown at you means they win because acknowledgment is the loss. Haitians can be super stoic when things go sideways, and they don’t tell anyone that will listen (or the internet) that they are suffering. People want reactions, so you don’t give it to them. In some ways, this is where the chuckle comes from. In Haiti, it’s the aunties cackling.
Instead, you do your work. Do. Your. Work. You go to your spirits, you do your thing, and you get on with it because when you have the juice/power to do your work and take care of your business, you don’t have to tell people that you have it. The priests and workers who are the most intimidating and who can back it up are the ones who say nothing about what they can do—they just do it and wait for the conclusion.
And, like, after a chuckle, I have compassion for those moments of outburst because I’ve been there. When you feel you’ve been hit by work or are faced by things that feel like they threaten your livelihood, it can be hard to know what to do with that as new/young priest. These are things we unpack with our initiatory parent and our siblings who have been in the same spot. This is what the family and communal function of Vodou is for.
All chuckles aside, there are things to unpack here.
Intimidation is really about control. Statements (and actions, like she is talking about here) are made not to communicate a truth, really, but to bring about a desired outcome. Like, not having people publicly question the veracity of a statement or to create an environment where, if a person steps out of the perceived line, they are the target of the same vitriolic statements and actions.
There is also the perceive importance of the statements; that the spirits supposedly showed up in a dream and named names, that people will die, bloody imagery, that she has no control over things now. For vodouizan, this is kind of front-street pedestrian stuff. Dreams happen, sometimes they are violent, we keep it moving.
But, this takes what is meant for one person and tries to use it as a bludgeon to illustrate what Jessyka wants to be taken as fact: that she is something powerful to be feared. Beyond that fear is situational only, fear does not translate to respect. When you try to assert power by fear and intimidation, you only hold people by how violent you can appear. In Vodou, that might work for a minute, but it eventually backfires.
And, this sort of atmosphere is only maintained as for as long as those who are watching are not aware that this is fear, not necessarily substance. The folks who are wowed by threats of spiritual violence are the folks who have not yet seen Haitian Vodou is practice. The illusion falls when the cracks show and when seekers see anything else. In some ways, what has been presented is another version of the emperor has no clothes.
These kind of things—the threats, the descriptions of violence—play into a Western-dominated narrative of Haitian Vodou as uncivilized and dangerous. I showed some of these posts to my roommate, who is very much not a practitioner of anything spiritual, and their remark was ‘...and this is why people are scared of Vodou’. They are right. When we start playing up this idea of warring, bloody violence as what Vodou—and Jessyka claims she has ‘real Vodou’--we perpetuate the idea that Vodou is something to be feared, that Haitians are people are somehow inherently violent, and that Haiti is an uncivilized, backwards country. This is the dogwhistle of white supremacy, and has been since the first “zombie” movie was released in 1932.
And yet, there are more serious consequences to sort of gleefully portraying Vodou as something that always punishes and never embraces. For decades, Protestant missionaries have hammered on Haiti as a godless, devil-wracked nation, and used isolated images of animal sacrifice as a bludgeon to withhold aid or set requirements of conversion or church attendance on receiving aid. Those isolated images combined with a Western narrative that amounts to ‘yeah, I’m going to send my spirits at you’ gives that sector more ammunition than they could ever need. It may not hurt Jessyka or me directly, but it hurts Haitians living in Haiti who suffer the consequences.
The thread that gets tugged when even the slightest criticism of this comes up is that what Jessyka has is “real vodou”. She’s said it a few times, in a few different ways:
These are curious statements in a couple ways. From the top, anyone who tells you they have the absolute truth and are here to wake you up or that they have the real deal (versus the “fast food”) is looking for some kind of buy-in, whether it is someone falling into the same thought patterns or a financial buy-in. These are loops to get folks who may not have had access to information before on the hook. Everyone wants the truth, right?
This is manipulative and an attempt to control—if you’re getting the truth here, why are you listening to these con artists who are only out for your money? I’m giving you the TRUTH. The Bonewits Evaluation Frame for cults and new religious movements is useful here. It’s aimed at neo-pagans, but the criteria is universal.
It also perpetuates that everything in Haitian Vodou is secretive and mysterious. It’s really not. It’s a bit of a pet peeve of mine because it perpetuates this otherness that doesn’t need to be there. The religion has moments of secrecy and seclusion, but it’s really not as much as people would like others to believe. Here, the idea that she has the truth is communicated with videos of things that she seems to think no one will have information about or have seen before, or with commentary that creates this aura of exceptionalism. It’s simply not true.
This is a video of a chèche fèy ceremony; where leaves are gathered for initiation ceremonies or other large spiritual work. Often Gran Bwa comes down and selects the leaves himself, for some folks Simbi might come down and do this work. In the video, you can see several of the folks bearing leaves on their heads are possessed or close to possessed, and they are wearing the country-style outfits that are worn for particular types of work.
This is a pile fèy ceremony, where, as she says, leaves are being crushed for spiritual work, under the gaze of Gran Bwa. In many asson lineages, the act of crushing the leaves is part of a larger ceremony ahead of initiation, stretching for three nights to make sure all the work is finished for the new would-be initiates.
This is a video of a spiritual feeding for Danti, or Danti Bitasyon, Danti Demanbwe, and other names, who is sort of the conglomeration of ancestral spirits issuing forth from a particular plot of land. Generally, Danti possesses people who are blood relatives of the lineage celebrating the feeding. The caption is interesting because it’s an interesting read on what is happening as this is OUR spirit blessing us. Like, it is certainly possible but it’s curious. When you go to ceremonies regularly, you see spirits behave like this a lot (leaning on folks or falling into them while dancing and then dancing around the room/space) and, truly and honestly, what it boils down to is that the spirit is not yet seated fully and is sort of getting adjusted to it’s meat suit or you are simply in the way. Here, Danti is waiting for the sacrifice, which is happening or being prepared just out of view on the right in the corner, and is dancing while they wait.
The idea that it is a spirit that belongs to Jessyka and her husband is...interesting. When people talk about their spirits coming to get something or coming down, it often refers to the spirit mounting their head, ie ‘my Ogou came down at the fete last night and took his bull’. I certainly have face recognition with spirits who take the heads of others, but my spirits come in my head.
It’s also worth checking in on what Jessyka is referring to as the truth.
In Haiti, there are two main lineages of what folks call sèvis Ginen or sèvis lwa; also known as Haitian Vodou. One utilizes the asson/ason and is often called the asson lineage or some variant, and one utilizes the tcha-tcha, and is often called the tcha-tcha lineage or Deka Vodou. Additionally, there are numerable family practices specific to nuclear families that are passed to family members only.
After that, there are things that folks often refer to as secret societies, which is a weird term..they aren’t secret on the island at all. They have many names—Bizango, Chanpwel/Sanpwel, Makandal, Makaya, Zobop, etc—and a good way to describe them is Ginen-adjacent or Vodou-adjacent practices. They operate differently than most/many ason lineages or tcha-tcha lineages, and subscribe to different methods/means of building relationships with spirits and different ways of bringing people together. There are often specific color combinations and symbols (black/red, red/green, sometimes red/yellow, black/blue, coffins, etc) and an understood hierarchy explained with government-related terms like emperor, prezidan/president, renn(queen)/rwa(king). There’s often talk about being given a throne (Googling Bizango throne will show beautiful examples) and being in command and similar. A lot of people have a lot of feelings about these things, but it’s really just another way to do things. Lots of folks who have the asson also will have Vodou-adjacent practices as well; it’s pretty common and fits well together, not unlike folks who have Lucumi and Palo, or Candomble and Umbanda.
Why go into all this here? Jessyka codes and displays things a particular way that describes a Sanpwel-influenced practice, whether she knows it or not. Sanpwel is often very rooted in more rural areas and might combine with a family practice or exist alongside one. The temple complex in her videos is painted red and black, some of the dwapo displayed are styled like many dwapo in Vodou-adjacent practices are, and a lot of her language around being part of a manbo-houngan pair or the ‘chiefs’ who over see a ‘bitasion’ (bitasyon in Kreyòl Ayisyen) reflects this. None of this is a bad thing, but the idea that it is the true Vodou or the real Vodou on the island stems from folks like E.A. Koetting (of Become A Living God infamy) who got wow-ed by skulls with mirror eyes and manufactured the idea of more-authentic-than-thou. There’s no need to go all cloak and dagger about what you do, unless the cloak and dagger serves your agenda.
This sort of coding shows up when she talks about her ‘bitasion’/bitasyon. She has posted extensively about what a ‘bitasion’ is in the last few weeks, and she seems to have some confusion about it and is mixing it with other concepts from Haitian Vodou. A bitasyon is literally the physical seat of your home; your lakou/yard where you were born or where your parents had their home or where your family has lived over time. There are certainly spirits tied to place there—a family may have a Simbi who really likes one particular basin, or Freda may show a great preference for a particular tree—but how she is talking about it is curious:
There’s a lot here that is weird, but there’s a few things to pull out specifically. She describes her ‘bitasion’ as the land she and her husband have inherited, the specific land from where her lwa spring, and the land that her family has lived and died on for generations.
So...if she says that she and her husband have this ‘bitasion’ together, she is communicating that her family and her husband’s family are related and/or the same. This would be a huge oddity in Haiti. Even relationships between initiatory siblings can be frowned upon, nevermind actual blood relations. Further, she is saying that her family has lived on this plot of land for decades, so they’d be REALLLY related. Like, brother-sister related. I can’t imagine that, if true, this would be something she would talk so much about on the internet. I assume she has misspoken or misunderstood.
It could be that she thinks you inherit a ‘bitasion’ when you marry a Haitian, as she had, but she has an odd idea about it. Like, if that’s where she is thinking on it, she’s close. When you marry a Haitian, you become acquainted with their bitasyon. Like, your spouse brings you around and you greet the land and the spirits there and are welcomed as their spouse, but you are not greeted as a blood family member would be. Marriage doesn’t change things like that. Like, folks joke rather crudely that I am Haitian-by-injection (since I am married to a Haitian man) and I am acquainted and welcomed by his family, living and dead, and can go visit his various bitasyon as his spouse. If he was in some sort of trouble, I could go to one of his bitasyon on his behalf and ask for their help...but none of that makes those my bitasyon.
She uses this idea of ‘bitasion’ to batter people, saying over and over that you must have a ‘bitasion’ in Haiti to be able to initiate into her idea of true Vodou:
She repeats this all over the place over and over. She hammers on it.
There’s a lot to unpack here. A LOT.
She out and out says that Haitians born in the Diaspora are not real Haitians and cannot be called a priest in the tradition. Not only is this deeply inaccurate, it’s jaw-droppingly disrespectful and displays a lack of understanding of Haitian Vodou. A Haitian child born in the Diaspora (outside of the country) has a bitasyon. Several, in fact, and more if they have two Haitian parents. If I have a child with my Haitian husband, they will have several bitasyon in Haiti.
The same goes for Haitians who were adopted out of the country, who were orphaned, and/or Haitians who don’t know where their bitasyon are. These realities are deep wounds in Haiti and for many Haitians, and who goes around deciding, essentially, who is and is not Haitian? Like, this isn’t even addressing the spiritual fucked-upness of those statements, but purely from a human standpoint. No one gets to decide who can access their Haitian lineage or call on their birthright. It’s not just insensitive, it’s rude.
This pulls up what actually made me upset when I read a lot of these posts: the temerity of a non-Haitian to make pronouncements about Haitians and dictate what Haitians can do. Like, a legit priest is a legit priest and has the authority to speak on the religion, but the caveat—PARTICULARLY for non-Haitian priests—is that you speak with grace and a bit of elegance, especially around issues of identity when it comes to the identity of the people who allowed you into the religion.
There was a particular example that tapped into some anger and was the straw on the houngan’s back that made me decide to write this entire post. Unsurprisingly, it comes from a post about ‘bitasion’:
I missed it on my first read because there’s just so much to read, but when I saw it I had to put my phone down for a bit and go do something else. Out of all the stuff that’s here so far (and all the stuff to come), this is truly what made this post a reality.
How do you show up and do this in a country where the average weekly income WAS (because ain’t nobody really working right now when it is essentially civil war) less than $4USD a week for Haitians living in urban areas? Are you really going to put poor rural folks through the indignity of having to ask to cut some firewood? This is a brand new version of an outsider trying to show they are a gwo blan via power and control. These days, people in Haiti are used to it because it comes via missionaries and NGOs and the voluntourism of folks who show up to take pictures with orphans and hand out candy.
There used to be a different word for an outsider who punished folks working the land to survive: overseer.
This is the re-institution of colonial systems, and it’s pretty ugly, particularly coming from someone who is not Haitian. You can certainly be the sort of priest who wants to punish rural folks for cutting some firewood and then brag about it, but should you be? Really?
But, the biggest issue about her saying that you must have a ‘bitasion’ in Haiti is that she seems confused about where her ‘bitasion’ actually is. First she was born in Cuba:
Then she was born in the DR with lots of family memories and history from there:
To be completely blunt, I have a hard time swallowing someone else’s requirements about a Haitian bitasyon when they do not have a consistent story about their own bitasyon.
Next to the thread of what Jessyka believes is true vodou is this thread of confusion. It’s visible when she talks about her ‘bitasion’, her background, and it leaks out in a lot of other places:
There’s so much here that it is basically word salad:
There is no religion in Haiti (or on the island) called Asogwe. Asogwe is a rank of initiation in the asson lineage
Any temple that only has one manbo or one houngan is not a thriving temple. The idea that a temple will only make one houngan and one manbo per generation is hilariously uninformed. Go into any temple in any part of Haiti, and you will find a wealth of houngans and manbos spanning generations because the ceremony doesn’t go without many hands made to do the work.
Yes, initiation costs money. I paid $8,500 plus airfare for mine, and, after going through it and going back to work the ceremonies each year since, I think my mother should charge more. I know exactly what was purchased with my money (I got an itemized list), and I know that my kanzo was done ethically and as equitably as possible—each person who worked on my behalf (at least two dozen houngans/manbos, innumerable singers, drummers, people who cooked, people who slaughtered animals, people who did laundry, people who drove, and on and on) was fed and was paid for their labor. No one should be asked to work for free, and no one should want a low-cost kanzo because no one should be wondering if corners were cut in the making of their head.
If she thought her kanzo was empty and meaningless, perhaps it was because she left before she could learn.
It is true that I and other non-Haitians do not come from a bitasyon in Haiti, but I descend from my spiritual mother’s demanbwe (essentially a field of ancestors not tied to place), which is a key facet of why the asson lineage exists and why it has spread...there must be ancestral approval before extending the asson for ‘adoption’.
It is perversely amusing that someone who left an asson lineage less than six months after they completed their kanzo elects themselves as an expert who can dismiss literally hundreds of years of lineage and ancestral work and Haitians, all to sell some candles.
She has a core misunderstanding on what a “zombie” (zonbi in Kreyòl Ayisyen) is. A zonbi, at very base, is a soul held in servitude and controlled by the person who created it or by the lwa who owns it. They don’t mount people and they aren’t given in kanzo as she thinks. White folks and non-Haitians get mounted and it’s not uncommon. There’s even video out there, embarrassing as it may be, of me beginning to get mounted with a spirit. She’s uninformed and is speaking on things she has no experience in.
People should read these posts very closely. Remember when I said way up there that I like to watch people because they will show you who they are? This is Jessyka Winston showings us who she is.
She is out of ceremony less than a year. She walked from previous commitments after two months. Now, she is telling you how she will initiate you. She says over and over that an asson lineage initiation is a scam, but this is a blueprint to take money and do nothing.
She will initiate you only as a hounsi, but you’ll be the manbo of your ‘bitasion’ IF your ‘bitasion’--the land and the spirits passed to you by your family—tell HER you are valid.
If they tell her yes, she’ll give you a manbo/houngan initiation so you can go be a manbo/houngan of your own plot of land….but you are not a manbo/houngan in their temple because There Can Only Be One
You can’t fake it, because they will know.
There are no lwa involved in any initiation.
They’ll know if you’re lying, but it will also come out in divination.
You can only serve your spirits of your ‘bitasion’, but the spirits of theirs will recognize you as a hounsi
Ancestors cannot be sold or bought.
They are going to do things differently
So, to serve your ancestors as a priest, you must pay for two initiations, and it’s going to be pricey because, as she says, her work is VERY expensive:
She is willing to charge $157 for a non-specific half hour spiritual consultation, and will require a $28 fixed candle and a $12 headscarf be purchased for that as well, so it’s not going to be an initiation that tries to keep costs low.
That first initiation is to hounsi, which makes you a servant of the house. You’ll be expected to show up and help with things, and probably financially contribute.
If you have the desire to be a manbo or an houngan, she is the one who is going to speak for your ‘bitasion’, which is a plot of land but also ancestors, and tell you whether or not you have a future as a houngan or a manbo. If you do, it’s another initiation which you will pay for and probably pay quite a bit more because you’ll be a priest. When you start propitiating a bitasyon, that requires big ceremony to feed them...so animals, people to dispatch animals, cook the animals, drummers...all kinds of stuff. In Haiti, with the way things are going, you’re looking at more than $10K for that...and they’re going to have to do it for you, because you’re not a manbo or a houngan yet.
There are no lwa involved in this, because that’s a scam. There can’t really be any ancestors involved, because you can’t buy or sell them and so they can’t really do anything for you there except feed your ancestors….? Except she thinks that’s a scam, too:
Even after you’re a manbo or a houngan of your ‘bitasion’, you’re still a hounsi with them and still have a responsibility to their spirits..even though you aren’t from their ‘bitasion’. I guess that means you’re still dependent on them, right? It keeps you a servant?
But, what’s a little dependency and servitude when you’re a manbo or houngan of your own ‘bitasion’. They’ll assign you a ‘main ancestor’ to work with...but that’s not like a met tet that they would pick out of a magician’s hat. So, you’re good, right? Oh:
I want folks to go look at the Bonewits tool again. I want folks to have that open in one window, and this open in another. Read carefully. She is not yet saying she is doing this, but she is paving the road to make this look authentic. It’s not, it’s psychobabble word salad with a price tag attached. She is telling you right upfront—doing things differently, changing the fuckery—that what she is giving is not traditional Haitian Vodou. She is making things up and planning on bankrolling her retirement home on someone else’s back.
She doesn’t even have any support for this because she doesn’t consult elders, she just goes ‘straight to source’:
Haitian Vodou is based on family. Vodou-adjacent rites have hierarchy. If she is not adhering to this, she is not practicing Vodou, she is practicing Jessyka Winston with Haitian trappings and accessories. The religion changes and grows, but it is never at the behest of one individual and her husband—it is at the behest of the lwa, who we serve and there are ways that happens, which is well-documented over the last couple hundred years.
She is telling you who she is right now, PAY ATTENTION.
If you have been saving up for a $157 half hour consultation/$28 fixed candle/$12 moushwa value meal, you are better off throwing your money in a bonfire and cracking a beer. Don’t buy pretty packaging when the insides are rotten.
It is one thing to create this atmosphere of disinformation on your own, with your own name, but literally within the last 24 hours, she’s gone further:
Now she is naming specific people as not being real Haitian Vodou. The kicker? Manbo Carmel was the manbo Jessyka did kanzo with in 2018. In roughly a year, Jessyka has decided she has enough experience and knowledge to determine what is real and what isn’t, and what is Haitian Vodou and what is not. The sheer balls it takes for a non-Haitian to say that what a fairly well-known Haitian is doing is not Haitian Vodou is staggering. This is not brave or anything, it’s just unchecked and uninformed arrogance.
This is not the first time Jessyka has done this, though. Not that long ago, she came for my mother and the sosyete I’m initiated into:
She sings an old tired song and performs a busted old dance. The line that white people are too stupid to function is one that she likes to repeat regularly, and she keeps going in on cost like she won’t be asking people to pay for her back-issue-magazine-collage version of an initiatory experience. She brings up a rumor that’s been dead for years, and makes it clear (for folks who have been around for more than 10 minutes) where here info comes from.
The worst part is that this is what she did when someone shared their process, and she did it as a priest because she had already kanzoed at that point. That’s a level of immaturity that someone needs to be better than when they call themselves a manbo or an houngan. Operating on rumor and spreading gossip is what teenagers do, not priests who care when people are coming to them asking questions.
And, like, “not to talk shit..”? Come on. Come correct on stuff like that. If you are going to talk shit, then talk shit and own it and own that you are spreading rumors that you were not a party to because they have been floating around out in the ether since before you even thought about making kanzo.
There are also ways to speak to and about elders when you think misaction or harm has been done. If you really thought Manbo Maude was out here hexing her children and hurting her lineage, there are ways to approach it. Like, she’s not hard to reach or hard to find; you could call her directly. I know she’s spoken about it to people before, one of them being me because I asked when I heard the rumor. Or, you could approach one of her numerous, visible children and ask them out of concern for their well-being and safety. Or, you could approach any of the priests who make their friendship with Manbo Maude and Sosyete Nago known, which is easy to track down on Facebook or in any of the documentation about what the sosyete does that’s online. But, when your goal is to defame so you can elevate yourself above all of that, this is what you do.
Since she proclaims she knows and understands Haitian Vodou, she should understand the culture Haitian Vodou has high expectations of how children and younger people treat elders, both in age and in religious settings. You don’t do this. You don’t go out of your way to character assassinate an elder, even if you think they are absolutely 100% fraudulent. You can disagree, you can say it politely, but you don’t act like an ill-mannered playground bully and you don’t pot-stir. This is basic cultural knowledge.
My initial reaction when seeing this was ‘well, she really tried it, didn’t she?’, and that was followed by showing it to a sibling or two and noting that if I ever did something like this, my manmi (Manbo Maude) would have my head on a platter. Like, I would get a phone call and the conversation would go something like “right or wrong, you do not do this. I raise my children better than this”. I have been very gently pulled up for much more trivial things, and when that has happened I have wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole because I was so embarrassed. Not because Manbo Maude embarrassed me, but because she sat across from me, looked me in the eye, and told me she expects better of me because she knows I can be better.
Sadly, Jessyka does not have this grace in her life, because, as noted above, she believes elders are a scam.
And yet, she keeps digging. This morning, she went in on a transwoman who pushed back at her assertions that everything that does not flow from Jessyka is fake news fake Vodou and called her a man:
Like, you can disagree with someone (and Blair, the person Jessyka is talking about, and I have disagreed) and still not disregard humanity and gender. Again, Jessyka is showing us who she is.
Then, she starts flexing, because she’s catching some heat:
First it was send the spirits, now it’s haul out the Masons. Maybe it’s watch out for little green army men outside your door? Like, folks who have the power don’t need to say they have the power. They don’t need to say their boys are coming, because their boys are already there. This is immaturity on display, and she should know better and be held to better by people who care about her…that freedom horn is just the sound of her own voice, echoing into the depths of Instagram, of all things.
And none of these people who she keeps posting quotes from are speaking for themselves. Not her husband, not her Mason friends, nothing. Anyone who has spent five minutes in a group of Haitians knows that, when folks have something to say, they don’t need someone else’s mouth to say it.
And, like, why not try some chante pwen on your *Instagram story* when you need to look hard? Girl WHAT? I had some inappropriate laughter because This Is Not How Things Work:
She goes on at length about people not coming to her page to discuss with her…but why? Like, why invest that way when she deletes and blocks and throws Instagram temper tantrums? She doesn’t want to hear anything but what she knows, but desperately wants engagement. She tells Haitians how to be Haitian, but then doesn’t understand why the folks she aims at—houngans and manbos who have had the lwa on their head for longer than she has been alive—won’t engage with her.
There’s a really simple and straightforward answer that has come up already and that is really at the root of all of this: they don’t care. They are not invested in addressing whatever random, strung-together nonsense some blan who cannot describe where she comes from or how she came by what she has post on the internet, because their spirits and their lineages speak for themselves. Likewise, she keeps wondering why non-Haitians keep speaking up, and it’s because it’s the job of non-Haitians to collect their own. Why would anyone expect Haitian practitioners to dig in to this?
If someone did care and was invested, maybe she would have gotten some mentoring around this. Maybe they could have talked things through with her and helped her clarify what she was thinking and feeling so that she could post organized thoughts, instead of a stream of consciousness laced with words she might think give her an air of authenticity and threaded with threats and intimidation. Maybe someone could pull her up privately.
But, we are here. There’s a lot more and it looks like she is posting more by the minute. She couches it as it being co-written by her Haitian husband (maybe for authenticity?), but it is her name on it and no one else’s. She wants people to be scared, but there’s nothing to be scared of. She wants people to be intimidated, but there’s nothing intimidating here when you know how to see past the frothy, frenetic posting and really see what she is/is not saying. She wants to keep identifying people and why they are not valid in her eyes, she can keep going.
She’s probably going to try and tell me some things about myself or insist that she’s going to have her spirits kill me or that Masons are outside my house right now and….whatever. It’s okay. I know who I am.I don’t walk around scared.
But, I mean what I said in the beginning: Jessyka is not beyond redemption or repair. She can turn all this around in a heartbeat and make a different choice. The lwa have immeasurable grace for us and all our human failings and, if we can be humble, they can give that to us when we need it most. She has a spiritual sickness and deep spiritual problems, but that’s nothing that can’t be treated because we have the treatment.
We. Us. Community.
She has set herself apart, but she doesn’t have to be alone. We are a community, and if she reached out there would be an answer. Part of calling out bad behavior is calling someone in to heal. She can heal what is clearly a hurting heart and a confused head because we can heal a hurting heart and a confused head. When one suffers many suffer, and her suffering is palatable. I would invite her to bath with cool water and fresh basil, and to sit with Legba for a bit and look for the other path. We are always given two paths, and we can always make a change. Ginen promises us balance, but only if we seek it.
Today, for Jessyka, for folks reading this, and for the general atmosphere of dis-ease and confusion, I pray for cool heads and peaceful hearts, and for the knowledge that, if we are brought to the table, there is a unique place for all of us.
Blessings,
Alex Batagi/Bonkira Bon Oungan Daguimin Minfort
Pitit Antiola Bo Manbo, pitit Selide Bo Manbo, pitit LaMerci Bo Manbo
Sosyete Nago/Kay Manbo Maude, Jacmel and Boston
October 2019
#vodou#haitian vodou#real vodou#vodou culture#vodoun#vodun#voodoo#new orleans voodoo#louisiana voodoo#mami wata#new orleans#conjure#hoodoo#rootwork#folk magic#haus of hoodoo#hausofhoodoo#jessyka winston
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TGIF: Roundup for February 10, 2023
When the pandemic began in 2020, Pastor Cory Ishida was concerned about his grandchildren’s spiritual, mental, and emotional well-being. He felt led by the Lord to write daily devotionals for them, and we are proud to present the first: Letters from Grandpa: Ten Things I Have Learned About Conflict.
While reading the Gospels, you may have overlooked the many women who interacted with and were personally impacted by Jesus. What did the first female disciples see in our Savior? Read my new book review of Rebecca McLaughlin’s Jesus Through the Eyes of Women.
We also shared two favorites this week: Self-Care Inventory: Are You Serving Sustainably In The Local Church? By Tim St. John and How to Read the Bible With Your Family by Faith Chang.
In case you missed it, Hannah Chao and I released a podcast episode to take you behind-the-scenes of the new edition of our SOLA Network Magazine! Find the video and transcript on our website.
This newsletter is one of the many ways you can keep in touch with us. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For more, check out my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group and TGIF Playlist on Spotify. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram.
Giveaway: Banner of Truth Valentine’s Bundle!
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Articles From Around The Web
John Lee: Single but Not Lonely: Living Well While Unmarried
“You can desire marriage while still being content in seasons of singleness.”
Joe Shing Yung Tsoi: Joseph Forgave His Estranged Brothers. So Can You?
“His response to his treacherous siblings invites us to reevaluate similar relationships in our lives.”
Steven Lee: Good Leaders Are Easy to Follow: How Shepherds Shape the Sheep
“Leaders can lead in a way that makes obedience and submission easy and happy, or difficult and frustrating. Shepherds shape the habits of the sheep. Patterns of leadership affect those on the receiving end, for good or for ill.”
Check out the new edition of our SOLA Network Magazine! Download it for free and share it with your friends as a great way to be introduced to the work we do at SOLA Network.
Books, Podcasts, Music, And More
Hannah Nation: What They Believe About Jesus: An Interview on Faithful Disobedience
“Hearing from someone outside of our context is extremely helpful. Because they are not in our context, they are not beholden to that left-right divide… Hearing from someone who is not dealing with our categories or polarization gives us an opportunity to put the correct sides of both together.”
TGC: The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics
“The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics helps Christians show unbelievers the truth, goodness, and beauty of the gospel as the only hope that fulfills our deepest longings.”
Aaron Lee: Related Works
Book Review: Sermons on Job by John Calvin. Listen to our TGIF playlist on Spotify. Join my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group.
Subscribe to our podcast for our interviews, messages, and article reads! Available for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
Featured This Week On SOLA Network
Faith Chang: How to Read the Bible With Your Family
“There’s nothing magical about an old Bible, but it is sweet to think that God knew as I read, prayed, fretted over my future with it, I’d one day be using it to speak his words to my own children.”
Aaron Lee: Witness the Resurrected Christ: A Book Review of “Jesus Through the Eyes of Women”
What did women see in our Savior? In Jesus Through the Eyes of Women, Rebecca McLaughlin writes on how the first female disciples help us know and love the Lord.
Cory Ishida: Letters from Grandpa: Ten Things I Have Learned About Conflict
James teaches us that trials lead us to become perfect and complete (James 1:2-4). I say “Amen” to that. Trials grow us like nothing else can, especially when the trial involves conflict. Here is what I have learned about conflict in light of God’s Word.
Tim St. John: Self-Care Inventory: Are You Serving Sustainably In The Local Church?
Self-care or personal stewardship is an important part of loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
TGIF: Roundup for February 3, 2023
How I Prayed for Monterey Park / Three Reasons Why You Should Encourage Your Congregation to Gather Every Week / Prayerlessness Comes Before a Fall / It Challenges My American Expectations / The Most Powerful Factor in Determining Belief
General disclaimer: Our link roundups are not endorsements of the positions or lives of the authors.
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