Saint Expedite

Saint Expedite is the patron saint of rapid solutions. He is prayed to when a situation needs to be turned around, hurried along or changed. He is revered In Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Latin America but most highly regarded in New Orleans, where he is considered to be a patron of the city. 

He is the unofficial Saint of Emergencies, Businesses, shop keepers, examinees and basically anyone who needs a rapid solution! Saint Expedite is a favourite of root workers.

The legend that tells of Saint Expedites arrival in New Orleans says that when the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe was being fitted, the priests sent off to Spain for a large and beautiful statue of the Virgin Mary. Time passed and eventually a ship arrived containing two crates. On opening the first crate they found the beautiful, commissioned statue of “Our Lady of Guadalupe” in turn they opened the second to find a statue of a handsome Roman soldier. In innocence they mistook the shipping instruction “EXPEDITE” for the name of the saint image within.

Saint Expedite appears as a handsome roman soldier wearing traditional uniform, armour and a red cloak. In his right hand he holds a cross upon which are written the word HODIE, the Latin word for ‘Today’ under foot he crushes a crow, from whose mouth spouts a ribbon on which the words “CRAS CRAS CRAS” can be seen , Cras being Latin for tomorrow. This is symbolic of Saint Expedite destroying Tomorrow in favour of Today.

There’s a funny story about Saint Expedite in which a woman in Louisiana has been hypnotized on here own doorstep by a man who requests she retrieves all the money in the house and brings it to him. Being under his spell she does just that and the man begins to walk away with all

of her cash. The woman, now aware of what has happened shouts out after him and he starts to run. Knowing she won’t catch him up she calls out for Saint Expedite. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a wooden plank flies through the air and knocks the thief square in the head, rendering him unconscious, allowing the woman to retrieve her cash and probably some of his!

Working with Saint Expedite

A shrine for Saint Expedite is quite simple to set up. Figures of him are scarce in Britain but can be found on markets in Spain and Italy and can of course be purchased in most Southern Botanica’s in the United States. I use a framed picture of him and have bottle lamps, bearing his image, burning for him at the Shrine. His colours are red and gold and candles of these colours should be burned in his honour. Next to his picture or statue keep a glass of fresh water for him and change it daily.  

As a soldier Saint he expects to be paid for his work and it is important to only ask for one thing at a time. The usual method of payment is with pound cake. On completion of a favour granted by Saint Expedite offer him a pound cake and ALWAYS make sure to give him fresh flowers. Many people will stress the importance of this! Red carnations are his favourite floral offering; legend has it that if Saint Expedite grants you a boon and he is not offered flowers, along with his cake, a member of your household will pass over!

Expedite can also be made offerings of red wine, roman coins and bread. Always keep up your end of the bargain or things WILL go wrong!

A final note on Saint Expedite is that he loves attention, so spreading his name about always wins his favour. Public thanks and altars in shops always go down well! 

Saint Joseph and Steady Work

As I’m sure we’re all noticing money is tight! Living in a town that is reliant on the tourist trade we’ve really noticed the cold keeping people away this week. The town has been empty but at the Botanica our cash flow has been steady, we have enough to pay the bills, buy in the stock we need and most importantly to feed ourselves and our spirits.

This is an opportunity for me to thank Saint Joseph for all the hard work he has put into the shop since we opened, so thank you Saint Joseph.

Saint Joseph the worker is called upon in Hoodoo to gain employment, to change jobs, for steady work and most famously for selling houses. Those wishing to sell a house will pray to Saint Joseph and bury a Statue of him upside down in the garden until the house has sold.

The feast day of Saint Joseph is March 19^th and it is on this day he is served. Most notably amongst the feast will be bowls of salted broad beans. One of the many names these beans are known by are Saint Joseph beans, receiving their name from the Sicilians who credit Saint Joseph with saving them from famine by granting them a huge crop of this special bean.

Saint Joseph altars are traditionally decorated with green and yellow cloths, candles and flowers. Offerings, being a carpenter, include carved wooden items, carpenters tools and of course small bags of broad beans.

If you’d like to find a new job, change your current job situation or alternatively if you’d like to bring steady work in to a home or business premises try making this oil lamp for Saint Joseph.  You’ll need a ceramic bowl, a length of wire, wick (thin cotton rope, cotton bandage, etc) a small handful of chamomile, gravel root, Irish moss, cinnamon and sugar. You’ll also need a lode stone some iron filings, a prayer card for Saint Joseph a bottle of sun flower oil, A bottle of steady work oil from a reputable brand, alternatively allspice and cinnamon oil and three Saint Joseph beans.

Begin by laying out all the items and saying the Lord’s Prayer over them. Place all the herbs and the sugar in the bowl and lay the lode stone on top of them, next add the beans. Say a prayer to Saint Joseph asking him to grant your request.  Pour the oils into the lamp and allow the wick to soak. Take the wire and twist it to make a bar that will hook over the sides of the bowl. Make sure that at the centre of this bar there is a hole to thread the wick through. Hook the bar over the bowl and thread the wick. Below is an example

Set the lamp on a green cloth along with the prayer card and a clean glass of water. Pray psalm 23 and light the lamp. Sprinkle the surface of the lamp with the iron filings. Each day pray the psalm and thank Saint Joseph by changing the water. Once a week sprinkle the surface of the lamp with the iron filings to keep the lodestone strong.

In Praise of Saint Joseph

Joseph, patron saint of workers,

blending skill with charity,

silent carpenter, we praise you!

Joining work with honesty,

you taught Christ with joy to labor,

sharing his nobility.

Joseph, close to Christ and Mary,

lived with them in poverty,

shared with them their home and labor,

worked with noble dignity.

May we seek God’s will as you did,

leader of his family!

Joseph, inspiration for workers,

man of faith and charity,

make us honest, humble, faithful,

strong with Christ’s true liberty,

Make our labor and our leisure

fruitful to eternity!
Amen

Our First Post

Hello and welcome to our blog! 

This is all a bit new to us so please bear with us whilst we get a hang of things. As this is our first post I suppose that we should really start by saying a little bit about ourselves and what the consultancy is all about. 

Well firstly the Occult Consultancy is in the business of magickal problem solving, from fixing relationships to breaking curses. We provide people with and honest and reliable service, handling all cases with the utmost professionalism and confidentiality. Through the use of spell work we aim to improve the situations of our clients. We treat each person as an individual and tailor make spiritual baths, mojo bags, lamps, fixed candles, kits, floor washes, oils and waters and various other items to work towards specific goals. The primary practice of the Occult Consultancy is Hoodoo. 

What is Hoodoo?

The phrase “Hoodoo” originated around the 19th century and is used to define the practices of Afro-American folk magic. Hoodoo blends African folklore, Catholicism and herb lore from Native American and European Witchcraft. 

Hoodoo practices make use of Herbs, roots and oils, animal parts, minerals, ritual baths, scattering powders, candle magick, dolls, washes, waters, conjure balls, dirt’s, oil lamps and various other paraphernalia that was easily accessible to the people at the time.

Emphasis is placed on the Hoodoo practitioner, on the power of the spoken word as well as action. Maintaining altar’s and shrines set with candles, incense and offerings for the spirits and as well as altars for personal spells and those for clients is a fundamental part of any hoodoo practitioner's set-up, Unlike Wicca and modern neo-pagan religions there is very little to no work done with the elements, protective circles and the tools of the latter practices are not employed. Hoodoo rarely makes use of wands, knives and chalices in the same way as other practices.

Emphasis is put on the power of personal possessions, bodily fluids, hair and even nail clippings. All of which act as a sympathetic link to yourself or another, the long established practice of mixing menstrual blood in a lovers food or making filter coffee with a sprinkling of your nail fillings to keep your spouse faithful are prime examples of this. Even the dirt from your foot print is a powerful tool against personal fortune.

So what's the point of this blog? Well, we're going to use it to discuss our workings, the goings on at our store The Saint Martha Botanica and also we'll be sharing some of our idea's, formulas and occasionally we'll have a rant!

Hope you enjoy following us. 

Jamie