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 Image courtesy of http://neveryetmelted.com/tags/voodoo/
If you should wake up in the morning and find a little black coffin on your front porch, what would you do? Would you open it? What if you opened it and found a doll inside that had your photo attached to it?
That’s exactly what happened to Commissioner Zenaida Denizac of Deltona Florida in the summer of 2008. As her husband headed out to her mailbox early one morning, he stumbled upon a black plastic dish that contained a creepy, wax covered voodoo doll with a photo of his wife’s face attached to it. It was burned, covered in black powder and stuck with pins all over its body. You might say you aren’t superstitious, and that you don’t believe in magick and Voodoo. Commissioner Denizac did. "These are faceless cowards, people with small minds, trying to deviate me from the job I was appointed to do," Denizac said on the news. "I'm not afraid. I'm still going to speak my mind. Nothing is going to shut me up." Still, the doll was considered a threat to the safety and wellbeing of the Commissioner by authorities, prompting beefed up security and a full-blown investigation. No one believes in this Voodoo stuff, though, despite the fact that folks looked over their shoulders for a few serpents and rainbows for weeks following the incident...(excerpt from the Voodoo Doll Spellbook, Alvarado, 2014).
Coffin conjure - and little black coffins in particular - are a signpost of New Orleans' brand of Voodoo. A powerful form of psychological warfare, coffins have been used to intimidate unwanted neighbors to move and to bring about the unnatural and untimely deaths of enemies.
Coffins can also be used for transformative works as well. Much like the symbolism of the Death card in the tarot, death does not always indicate the actual physical expiration of a human being. It could symbolize the cessation of a bad habit or the end of a time of misfortune, or it could mean the transformation from one condition to another, usually improved, state of being. Coffin conjure typically involves the use of special curios, powders, oils and herbs and our Coffin Conjure section includes these items. Coffin nails, graveyard dirt, goofer dust, herbes of the dark arts, little coffins and doll babies are among the two headed conjurer's arsenal. voodoo doll lamentation
This is a trippy little movie I put together about 8 years ago...it's got a bunch of coffin dolls in it for those who may be interested.
Music courtesy of Studio Voodoo.
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According to the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA), aromatherapy is "the art and science of utilizing naturally extracted aromatic essences from plants to balance, harmonize and promote the health of body, mind and spirit. It seeks to unify physiological, psychological and spiritual processes to enhance an individual’s innate healing process." Specifically, aromatherapy utilizes the natural essential oils extracted from the flowers, bark, roots, and leaves of plants to improve and enhance mental and physical wellbeing. The use of plant essences and essential oils can be traced back thousands of years to Greece, Egypt and China. The Egyptians, for example, actually developed one of the first distillation machines to extract oils from certain plants for the purpose of embalming. Cedarwood, cinnamon and clove, as well as resins such as myrrh were used in the embalming process. The Greeks believed the Gods possessed knowledge of fragrance and perfume. Hippocrates, who is considered the "Father of Medicine," is credited with using aromatherapy for healing purposes, while the Greek perfumer Megallus, created a fragrance from myrrh he coined "Megaleion." It was the Chinese, however, who are believed to have utilized aromatic oils for the purpose of enhancing mood. While people have used natural plant extracts in the healing arts and perfumery for thousands of years, the actual term "aromatherapy" was not used until 1937 when French perfumer and chemist Rene-Maurice Gattefosse published a book titled "Gattefosse’s Aromatherapy." Gattefosse was motivated to write the book after he was burned and realized the application of lavender essential oil actually helped to heal his burn wound. Catching wind of Gattefosse's discovery, the French surgeon Jean Valnet used essential oils to help heal soldiers' wounds in World War II, proving the medical benefits of aromatherapy. "His book “Gattefosse’s Aromatherapy” contains early clinical findings for utilizing essential oils for a range of physiological ailments. It seems vital to understand what Gattefosse’s intention for coining the word was, as he clearly meant to distinguish the medicinal application of essential oils from their perfumery applications. Essential oils are utilized in Creole Moon's products and my Voodoo Mama's brand for both aromatherapeutic as well as perfumery applications. References About Aromatherapy https://www.naha.org/explore-aromatherapy/about-aromatherapy The History of Aromatherapy http://www.aromatherapy.com/history.html |
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