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Santa Muerte is the perfect saint for boundary crossers. She dissolves the boundaries between life and death. She and her followers face strong borders, whether physical walls dividing nation states, boundaries of genders/sexualities, or divisions of class, wealth, legal status, race, and power. Metcalfe (2014) writes that Santa Muerte
stands as a loving matron for those who accept lives lived in the liminal areas of social identity…whose devotion occurs in the borderlands of social upheaval…. She vividly represents the growing disparity that exists not only on an economic level, but also on the level of social understanding between those who exist within the official comfort of privilege and those that exist outside of protection of mainstream institutions. (n.p.)
Holy Death accepts all, whether undocumented, sex worker, transgender, criminal, homeless, poor, marginalized, or drug dealer. The Bony Lady may be one of the most inclusive of devotional figures. Arely Gonzalez says,
She does favors to all, without exceptions. Death does not discriminate; she is the only one that is truly fair. She takes the rich and the poor equally. She is the saint of the poor, the one who does not have blue eyes. She looks more like us. (quoted in Cortes 2014, n.p.)
The Pretty Girl is viewed with fear by state and church as a diabolical force. The skeletal saint and her followers seem pretty powerless when pitted against the Mexican government, the Mexican military, the Catholic Church, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Defense. Yet by embracing Holy Death, her followers resist "contemporary forms of subjugation of life to the power of death (necropolitics)” (Mbembe 2003, 39). She provides not only solace, but strength to the marginalized, the excluded, the socially isolated, the inside of the outside, the “illegal,” and those crossing borders.
]]>Admittedly, I have coined this phrase myself. Up to this point, there has never been a reference anywhere in time and space to Vodun Batteries, as far as I am aware. Hopefully, I will explain the concept as best I can and you can decide the nomenclature for yourself…
If we are to believe what is divulged to us in the current model of classic Newtonian Physics, then one of it’s mantras has it that energy can neither be created or destroyed (according to Emilie du Chatelet). You will have doubtless heard this mantra as it seems to be one of the cornerstones of ‘reality’ of the scientific establishment. As it is, this works out rather well for us, even if we don’t know a great deal about physics, or find it difficult to get enthralled about it. The reason being, is that we – as outsiders – work on the perceived wisdom that there are many forms of energy which science cannot quantify, rationalise or acknowledge. Go back far enough in time and thunder, lightning, rainbows and marsh gas were a complete mystery to our earth grounded ancestors, let alone the conundrums of static electricity, bioluminescence and phantom limbs. But now, in the 21st Century, Science has ‘reality’ all sewn up right? Probably not.
I would argue that after many decades of state education, pushing the Newtonian model of ‘reality’, the differences between what is known and unknown are as stark and polarised as ever because there are no convenient solutions, only indifference and denial. Science, at any point in history, is just a snapshot of what we call folklore. Up to the 1850’s the consensus reality was such that our doctors believed in The Four Humors, which gave way to Germ Theory. Some people are still arguing about Germ Theory today. It is worth noting that if enough people sign up to an idea, it does become consensus reality, which eclipses all other realities. ‘Reality’ is a model which is forced upon us by academics and scholars. Sure, we all know that bread will develop green blotches after nine phases of the moon… but who are the anonymous characters who show up in our dreams, perfectly rendered, sentient and communicative? Do they live in that reality, or are they like us, asleep somewhere projecting their souls into a non physical reality within our reality? Should we turn to our establishment scholars for the answers to these questions? Probably not. There is little point. They don’t have the answers but I digress. My point is that despite our consensus ‘reality’, actual reality is probably more subtly complex and beautiful than people generally care to imagine.
It occurred to me a long time ago that ‘things’ only exist due to a level of concentration. By that, I mean an abundance of a particular thing in one place, be it physical or ethereal. By way of an example, a vacuum is an abundance of nothing in one easily defined location. Already this definition is open to interpretation and blurs the boundaries of empirical reasoning.
Anyway, to the matter at hand; Vodun Batteries. Similar in concept to a gris gris bag, a Vodun Battery could be described as the product of the cathartic, artistic and magickal act of thoughtfully combining old (but not exclusively) artefacts into sculpture and functional assemblies for ritual, meditation, gnosis and power.
Let us consider some real life elements that might be brought together in a Vodun Battery. Imagine strolling on a shingle beach with the purpose of finding something useful for this task and you find a block of wood. The block of wood is obviously man made, evidenced by it’s rectangular shape and uniformity of dimensions and angles. It also has obvious nail holes in some of it’s surfaces and the deep staining of iron oxide around the holes. It may even have some eroded nails protruding from it. The whole block is eroded and weathered by time in the sea, wind, sand and shingle. This poses some interesting questions. Where was it made and when? What was it’s original purpose? How did it come to be in the sea and when did this happen? Where did it enter the sea? How many beaches has it been stranded on before storms and maybe a human agent have returned it to the sea? Was it made by a carpenter or a fully mechanized process? How many people have handled the block before you? All unknowable mysteries. The block is enigmatic and now it is in your possession. Good fortune has smiled upon you and you have been rewarded. Perhaps you could embelish the block with some sigilized symbol or talisman of your own design?
Imagine securing to this block of wood an old lock mechanism and hinges found on a very old and distressed wooden trinket box you found in a junk shop years previously. Nobody knows how old the box is, the lock was broken and there was no key. It may have been an amateur woodwork project or it may have been manufactured but it is clearly old. Where was the box made and by who? Where were the lock and hinges made? Who has the key now or is it lost for all eternity? What was kept locked in the box and where? By who? Are the descendents of the trinket box owner alive to the present day? Where is the original owner interred? A wealth of unfathomable enigmas from a box of indeterminate provenance picked up for mere pennies.
Imagine now fixing to the block an ancient belt buckle, unearthed from a field after being found by metal detector. Who lost the buckle and when? When and where was the buckle forged? Is this the belt buckle of a person who worked in the field? How was the person not aware that their belt had snapped? Do they have descendents and where are they now? Questions with answers that elude us.
Then you could affix to the assembly the skull of a rat you happened across many years ago on a walk. The last surviving remains of a wily and intelligent scavenger. You must ask permission in some fitting way of course. Are the descendents of the rat still living in the locale or have they moved on through necessity of survival, or a sense of adventure? Is this the skull of a female or a male rat? How many siblings and offspring did it have? Where did it’s forebears live between the years of 1349 and 1353, in the time of the great plague? For that matter, where did your ancestors live at the time? Intriguing thoughts.
Lastly, you decide to attach to your block the head of a rusted hammer found by some means in a copse. Was the handle was lost in time centuries previously, decayed into the soil or perhaps found and used as firewood? Maybe it was fitted with another hammer head? Who used the hammer and how did it come to be in a copse? Is there an innocent or sinister explanation for it’s whereabouts? Was it lost or hidden? What happened to the last owner of the hammer? Does the owner have descendents alive today and do they own hammers?
This is just a simple example with a handful of found components to consider. Imagine such a sculpture / assembly with ten or twenty different elements. Give some thought to the combined histories and energies of these elements and their places in time and space from their initial creation to this point in time.
The elements could be found by a wide variety of methods. They could be items found in antique or junk shops. They could be mass produced or one off folk art curios. They could be organic in nature from places you have chosen to visit. They could be metal detector finds, magnet fishing finds or objects brought to you by mere chaotic chance, divination, dowsing or sigilization. The point is that their paths all meet with you as an agent to bring them together in one place in the present. How many miles and years have all these elements clocked up?
Consider this wealth of utterly unique energies now assembled into one whole. An object which just on a physical component level transcends time and space, before we even consider the remnants of living beings. And bear in mind also that our ancestors, even a scant two hundred years ago, were not short circuited by the media chaff, dross and mind controlling propaganda that is our backdrop today. Also, they were not shot through and bombarded constantly with microwaves and electromagnetism. Most of our ancestors actually pre-date the invention of the printing press and were illiterate, relying on intuition, hunches, superstition and folk wisdom. In a magickal sense, our forebears probably benefitted from a higher degree of neuroplasticity than their modern era descendents. Their energies were – and remain – potent. I believe we can facilitate these energies, with their permission, to assist us while we show them respect and appreciate the artefacts they have left for us to find.
Lastly, give some thought to the magickal act of creating such a Vodun Battery (or whatever you choose to call it) with your additional energy locked within and then interring it in a place of personal significance or power, perhaps for all eternity, or to be unearthed in a distant future Dark Age by someone else. Perhaps they will be an average person, inspired to turn to a magickal shamanic path adding their own energies to the battery. Imagine if they too either bury the object or it ends up in a museum? In this case (albeit a long shot but you could sigilize for it), you will have created a wonderful enigma, a tradition and in some sense, a form of immortality, since we are told – and understand – that energy cannot be destroyed.
Remember, ‘Reality’ is an occult struggle between the forces of good and evil: The misinformation and deception of Consensus Reality, versus our reality in which Magick is the operating system.
Vodun Batteries are essentially sculptures or assemblies made from items with rich histories and energies, found through various means such as beachcombing, antique shopping, or metal detecting. These items, ranging from blocks of wood with historical wear and tear to ancient belt buckles and animal skulls, are selected for their enigmatic pasts and combined to create an object that transcends time and space. The author believes that these objects, infused with the energies of their component parts as well as the creator's intent, can connect us to the potent energies of our ancestors, who relied on intuition and folk wisdom in a world not yet dominated by modern technology and media.
By creating a Vodun Battery and placing it in a site of personal significance, the author suggests that one can engage in a magical act that not only honors the past and its mysteries but also contributes to a form of immortality. This act is seen as a rebellion against the "misinformation and deception" of a consensus reality that denies the existence and power of such magical practices. In essence, the creation and reverence of Vodun Batteries represent a personal and spiritual journey that acknowledges and utilizes the unseen energies of the world, challenging the conventional understanding of reality and offering a path to connect with the deeper, mystical aspects of existence.
]]>So you know the idea of reality shifting? I think I accidentally did it meany times. I have had meany near death experiences and every time I wake up in a world where I didn't have the experience. isekai but boring. However thinks are not always the same. Like a person you knew never having existed, or things happening later in time then your home timeline. My mind usually fills in the blanks and pretends it never happened. Like my mind melds with the timeline it jumped to. However it isn't a perfect processes and after a few jumps there are such big holes you cant avoid realizing they are there. Anyone relate?
]]>and then nothing
and then I startle awake because I am snoring loud as fuck. I fell asleep damn it.
So I try again
Now for context any time I get excited about the visualization I completely lose control of the visualisation and usually my mind moves to somw mundane thought or i get an image of something boring and generic (like one time it was a math problem another time it was an image of a grey dog) and the visualisation is dead and i have to try all over again
So I am visualising the door and have the convo and all that with the aspect. This time the aspect touches my head and I start seeing things some are memories and some are something else and I am getting excited, finally some progress and BOOM topless women for some reason. and I was like, "booba?! ahhhh I love boobs ... damn it!"
]]>So The fret number is easy peasy. So we just convert the consonants to numbers and then that determines the fret number.
b | c | d | f | g | h | j | k | l | m | n | p | q | r | s | t | v | w | x | y | z |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
So if we have a sigil that is
H V B G S
and we convert it on the key above we get
6 17 1 5 15
Ok but what about the string the frets are played on? So we make a second table dividing the consonants into groups of six (cause six strings) like so.
b | c | d | f | g | h | j | k | l | m | n | p | q | r | s | t | v | w | x | y | z |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
So string number from this table is
6 5 1 5 3
So so far we have
Character | H | V | B | G | S |
Fret | 6 | 17 | 1 | 5 | 15 |
String | 6 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
But we need a second piece of info (for reasons I will explain) If the fret number proceeding the current character is even we will need to add or subtract 3 from the string number. So lets look at our sigil again. The only Fret that is even is the first one so we need to alter the string number of the charcter after it by 3 making our 5 now a 2. So our new table looks like this
Character | H | V | B | G | S |
Fret | 6 | 17 | 1 | 5 | 15 |
String | 6 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
Or if you want to put it in Tab Form
E ----------1-----------
B ----17-----------------
G --------------------15-
D ---------------------
A ----------------5-----
E --6-------------------
Ok so the explanation. I won't explain the fret number cause you probs get that but here is the tomfoolery with the strings.
So we got 6 strings but only 21 consanants. and unfortunately 6 doesn't divide into 21 at all :( BUT you know what six does divide into (and SEVEN times at that!) 42. That is literally double our 21, its PERFECT. So we take that first key where we map the consonants to 1-21 and we make a second one where they are mapped to 22-42. Brilliant. Problem is now a consonant can be one of two values so we need to figure a way to decide if it is in the group of 1-21 or 22-42. Well there we can just take a look at the character before it and if its odd its in 1-21 (it starts and ends with odd numbers and if even its in 22-42 (starts and ends with even numbers). So if we have the letter V the fret proceeding it was 6 so an even number so we look it up in the second table and its 38. Now to get a specific string we take our number and divide it by 6 so for 38 6 goes into 38, 6 times 38 minus 36 leaves a remainder of 2 so V in the second table is on the 2 string.
Now we are doing too much math imo and writing out the consonants twice is a pain besides the second table is just the first one +21 and we are dividing the whole thing by 6 anyway we can just do 21 / 6 which leaves a remainder of 3. So to get a consonants string number in the second table we can just add or subtract 3 from the result. and lets just ditch the whole dividing by 6 thing and make a second key like we did above that is already divided into 6s. and boom simplified, almost no math needed (except adding or subtracting 3)
]]>Now The alphabet without vowels is 21 characters which is uber conveinient cause your standard music scale is 7 notes so 7 + 7 + 7 = 21 Brilliant! So now we can map each set of seven letters to a step in the scale. Like this
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
b | c | d | f | g | h | j |
k | l | m | n | p | q | r |
s | t | v | w | x | y | z |
Two problems though, first we are leaving out all accidentals then and two how do we decide the scale? So a key is how many flats or sharps that are in the scale meaning that you can go up from 0 flats or 0 sharps all the way to SEVEN flats or sharps. So my thought is the first group of seven is how many flats, the second is neutral or the key of C, and the third is how many sharps. So now we got one more piece of info for our table
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Flats | b | c | d | f | g | h | j |
Natural | k | l | m | n | p | q | r |
Sharps | s | t | v | w | x | y | z |
So to get the key you look at the very first character thatt will make your sigil. So say your sigil starts with v. V is in the last group so we are looking at sharps. It is the third of its group so our key has 3 sharps this makes it the key of A.
Now the obvious draw back is the middle section is all the key of C so that means this will skew the key of C. I've thought of a couple solution but I don't think its a huge issue tbh.
Now for the actual notes. So our key maps out like this
1A 2B 3C# 4D 5E 6F# 7G#
So lets say the sigil begins with the letters vrb
V determines our scale AND is our first note So Our scale being A, V is the third character in our sharp group so our first note is going to be a sharp version of the third step in the key of A. So our 3rd step in A is C# and its already sharped so we keep it as C#. next is the letter "R". This is the 7th character in our natural group so it will be a natural version of the 7th step. the 7th in A is G# but r is in our natural group so the note is G. okay final letter is b. B is the 1st step and in our flat group. First step of A is A. and we flat it to Ab.
and there you have it. you got three individual notes C# G Ab.
Now maybe you want to go next level and generate some chords.
So here is what I did. I wanted them 7 chords (method won't usually create 7 chords in actuality but whatevs) which are made up of 4 notes. So I did 4 sigils all related around a central theme. The first note of the first sigil decides your key. Then (since chords are built on thirds) you actually rotate the key steps to the third. So lets say our sigil gives us the key of G. so that looks like this
1G 2A 3B 4C 5D 6E 7F#
Now we keep the key the same but for our second sigil we move the starting position to the third. So the steps for our second sigil are in the same key but look like this (in music theory these are called modes)
1B 2C 3D 4E 5F# 6G 7A
then we do it again for the third sigil this time starting at D and for the fourth we start 1 at F#. and then we build chords like that.
Anyway I am sure thats all clear as mud, but I had fun with it. one thing i want to figure out is a way of mapping frets and string to sigils. Like I have 6 strings and 19 frets which frustratingly equals 25 so I can't quite map it to the alphabet. Something I am thinking on anyway.
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