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Vodou Money Magic

The Way to Prosperity through the Blessings of the Lwa

Published by Destiny Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

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About The Book

A working guide on how to achieve financial success by working with the lwa, the spirits of Haitian Vodou

• Provides spells and spirit work for job hunting, financial success, and career advancement

• Spells included are detailed and easy to follow--learn to Heat Up Your Business with Ghede or Peruse the Want Ads with Legba

Haitian Vodou is a very practical and scientific craft: either you please the spirits and get results or you don’t--often for good reason. The lwa--the spirits honored in Haitian Vodou--know that it is far more useful to find out exactly what is causing your money woes rather than receiving a quick fix.

In Vodou Money Magic, Kenaz Filan offers a path to long-lasting and pervasive changes in your financial situation. Filan describes the lwa who govern financial matters and explains what services each can provide in attaining wealth or finding a fulfilling career--and who will likely offer the best wisdom for your needs. If you are having trouble finding a job, Legba’s Perusing the Want Ads spell can resolve this difficulty. If you wish to curb impulse spending, then you should work with the Great Serpent Damballah. If you need emergency financial assistance, Mama Danto is there to help. Filan presents easy-to-follow instructions for numerous financial spells and also reveals how the lwa offer counsel for family burdens, getting along with coworkers, and planning your future.

Excerpt

Chapter 7

PAPA LEGBA
The Old Man at the Crossroads
Bringer of Opportunity

Papa Legba, Haiti’s spirit of the crossroads, is a tattered old man dressed in rags. Where Ellegua and Exú dance suggestively, Legba leans on his cane and limps down la gran chemin, the eternal road that is the sun’s daily arc and the pathway between the mortal and divine worlds. Vodouisants sing of him "limping along” and of his “old, old bones.”

But though Legba may appear to be a feeble old man, Vodouisants believe that none of the lwa can “come down” to this world without his assistance. He is the gatekeeper and the catalyst: he stands in every time and every place where two ways are joined. Vodouisants believe that he carries blessings and curses in the straw makout (bag) he carries over his shoulder. He is the first lwa saluted in a Vodou ceremony: every wanga (magical operation) must begin with an offering to Legba if it is to succeed.

Legba is most often represented by images of St. Lazarus, the leprous lame beggar. Other staff-carrying saints have been pressed into service, notably St. Jude, St. Roch, and St. Christopher. In our house, Legba’s colors are yellow and white: other houses use red and white.

Legba is an easygoing and generally benevolent lwa. Vodouisants hail him as Atibon Legba or “Good Old Legba.” For a few drops of salt water he will open the way for Met Agwe, a sprinkling of Florida Water will suffice for Danto, and a libation of rum will persuade him to let Ogou come down. But Vodouisants also know that Legba can bring bad luck as well as good; he can open the way or put insurmountable obstacles in your path. Those who are wise will pay extra attention to this humble and unassuming spirit.

Perusing the Want Ads with Legba

When you’re unemployed, hunting for work can become its own special kind of torment. Joblessness isn’t just a threat to your finances, it’s a blow to your self-esteem. After spending weeks or months sending out resumes without a nibble, you can start thinking of yourself as unworthy, unqualified, and utterly useless. If you find yourself falling into that kind of spiral, you can call on Legba. When you ask him for work he will happily guide you toward new opportunities.

To perform this spell you will need your local newspaper(s). Look through the classifieds sections: circle anything that you find intriguing in red pen. Now go through the entire paper. Circle any story or advertisement that mentions a company where you might like to work or an industry that interests you. You can use multiple newspapers for this: you are also encouraged to include printouts of any online job offer that strikes your fancy. When you are finished cut out everything that you have circled in red ink and put them in a small white oven-safe ceramic baking dish. If you need to cut the printouts into smaller pieces to make sure they all fit, don’t worry about it: Legba enjoys unscrambling puzzles and will have no difficulty interpreting your request.

Draw Legba’s vévé on a sheet of brown grocery bag paper, using the red pen that you used before. Place it atop a yellow or red cloth. Get a cake pan that is large enough so that the smaller ceramic dish can fit inside it comfortably. Fill the pan approximately 1/3 full of water so that the smaller dish is surrounded: add a few drops of cane syrup or molasses. Place the pan, dish, and water atop the vévé; place a yellow 7-day candle in the pan.

Light the candle. Ask Bondye, the Highest Power, to look after you and yours and to grant you an audience with Legba. (Legba may be the opener of the gate, but like all the other lwa he can only act “as God wills.”) Now sprinkle a few drops of water from the pan on the ground. As you do, feel Papa Legba coming to greet you. You are calling on Atibon Legba (Good Old Legba), one of Legba’s most merciful and benevolent aspects. He is old and ragged, but his eyes twinkle with life and his step is surprisingly spry as he comes toward you on his crutch.

Tell your problems to Papa Legba. Explain to him how you have been hunting for work; tell him how much you need a job and how many people are relying on you. Be honest with him and don’t hold anything back. Papa Legba has walked down many roads and knows what it’s like to be poor and hungry and wandering with no place to go. He will gladly help you to find a job to call your own.

In exchange for his help, offer him a fire to warm his old bones. Now ignite the newspaper clippings and shredded printouts. As you watch the paper burn, feel the warmth flowing through you and through Legba: both of you stand silently absorbing its glow. As the papers crackle into dust, their message vanishes in this world and is conveyed to the land sonde miroir (behind the mirror), the place where Legba reigns, the place between what is and what was and what is to come.

When the paper has finished burning, take it to a crossroads and scatter it to the winds; as you do ask Legba to bring job opportunities your way. Now return home by the same way you came. Allow the 7-day candle to burn out, then pour out the water on your doorstep or in your front yard. Needless to say, you should accompany this spell with the usual mundane steps like putting out resumes, networking with friends, and looking for HELP WANTED signs. Legba likes to surprise you with unexpected blessings, but you have to be open to receiving them. And, as always, be sure to give Legba his due when he brings you a job.

About The Author

Kenaz Filan (Houngan Coquille du Mer) was initiated in Société la Belle Venus in March 2003 after 10 years of solitary service to the lwa. Filan is the author of The Haitian Vodou Handbook, Vodou Love Magic, and Vodou Money Magic and coauthor of Drawing Down the Spirits. A frequent contributor to PanGaia, Planet Magazine, and Widdershins, Filan is the former managing editor of newWitch magazine and lives in Short Hills, New Jersey.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Destiny Books (February 16, 2010)
  • Length: 232 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781594773310

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Raves and Reviews

“An informative and authentic look at not only Vodou traditions but also their practices and philosophy regarding prosperity and fortune. With it, you can apply Vodou money magic to your own life, even if you are not a Vodou practitioner.”

– Christopher Penczak, author of The Witch’s Coin and The Mystic Foundation

“Kenaz Filan’s new book is a gold rush of information both about the worlds of the spirits and practical finances. Kenaz skillfully and solidly bridges the great divide drawn by other authors, between the spiritual and the material, with money magic!”

– Tannin Schwartzstein, coauthor of The Urban Primitive: Paganism in the Concrete Jungle

Vodou Money Magic is like a car jack: if you aren’t afraid to get your hands dirty, it will help you get the job done. The author explains what steps to take, but you have to do the work yourself.”

– Elizabeth Barrette, author of Composing Magic: How to Create Magical Spells, Rituals, Blessings, Cha

"Once again, Kenaz Filan has written a book that is at once fascinating and immensely practical. Vodou Money Magic combines a clear understanding of the tradition's history, with thorough explanations of the appropriate way to approach and propitiate each Lwa, all with the goal of living better. I particularly appreciated the 'Curb Impulse Spending with Damballah' ritual in chapter 8. Filan, extremely well versed in both the spiritual and esoteric aspects of Vodou, doesn't ever once neglect the third part of that metaphysical equation: our own focus and work in the every-day world. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in learning about Vodou, or in improving their financial picture."

– Galina Krasskova, author of Exploring the Northern Tradition and Runes: Theory and Practice, March 2

"Customers who are looking for a book of spells to help them increase their material resources will not be disappointed. . . . The book also offers an amazing history of Vodou and other African-based traditions, presented in the context of historical/poliltical events in Haiti. The chapter notes hold a wealth of research information and the resource section at the end is substantial and discriminating."

– Anna Jedrziewski, reviewer, New Age Retailer, April 2010

"What an interesting book! Bold, opinionated, and practical. Kenaz Filan writes from experience . . ."

– Witches & Pagans, September 2010

“Informative and authentic, Vodou traditions, practices and philosophy regarding prosperity and fortune are explored. Highly informative, both about the worlds of the spirits and practical finances, Kenaz effectively shows the connection and relevance of both these worlds to each other.”

– Frater Puck, Behutet, February 2011

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