Whimsical Whamsical, Whoops!

it was being down-voted by people who didn’t even watch it.

My favorite part is that they have 31 sources linked in the video.

t h i r t y-o n e

The real ‘Green Lady’

Rouge (胭脂扣). Dir. Stanley Kwan. 1988.

An adaptation from the novel by Lilian Lee, Rouge is part period drama, part ghost story, melding together elements of romance and the supernatural to slowly unveil a moving story about the inevitability of change. Fleur, an alluring courtesan working at a flourishing brothel in 1930s Hong Kong, falls madly in love with the 12th Master, Chan Chen-pang, who comes from a wealthy family. Their torrid, doomed love affair comes to an end when, realizing they can never be together, the two decide to commit suicide by overdosing on opium. 

The film travels between flashbacks to the 1930s, and scenes set in present-day 1980s Hong Kong, where Fleur returns as a ghost after spending 50 years in the afterlife waiting for the 12th Master. Believing that he is still alive, Fleur searches for her lover among the strange, unfamiliar streets that used to be her home, and grapples with the realization that both her lover and the Hong Kong she once knew could be long gone.

How to Tell If You’ve Been Cursed

Being cursed is one of the the most fearful things for a practitioner or superstitious person. I’ll be honest with you: I’m pro-curse and I’ve been cursed in the past at least a dozen times. It’s a thing, it has a history, and people kind of need to get over hating on those people who do decide to curse.

I am passionate about education. And I feel that even if you’re not going to curse someone ever you still need to know how curses work so you can create effective protections. Knowing how you can be hurt is one of the best ways to prevent being hurt, after all.

Plus, even if you’re not going to curse someone that doesn’t mean someone else won’t curse you. It’s a two way street after all.

What is a curse?

A curse is a prayer, utterance, or spell with the intent to cause harm, trouble, or ill luck to befall another. The word hex has an Pennsylvania origin, from what I can tell, and it meant from meaning simply ‘witch’ or ‘to practice witchcraft’ to ‘to cast a spell on’ and now it has a darker meaning. That probably comes from the ill-reputation that magic workers had for a long time, if I had to hazard a guess. I personally define hex as a short-term spell meant to cause mischief and trouble. Like a casual curse or minor vengeance. But it is regional speech so you’re probably better off just using the word curse and calling it a day.

So what are the symptoms of a curse?

Curses can be really casual such as spilling coffee on yourself. An extreme example would be someone who spills coffee on themselves, has a car break down, has the tow truck driver drop the tow bar ON THE CAR crushing it, is late for work, finds out they’re being laid off, and has a lover break up with them on the same day.

Other things to look for:

Nightmares

Trouble sleeping

Loss of energy (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and so on)

Sudden legal troubles

Sudden relationship troubles

Sudden medical issues

Sudden financial issues

Random pain and aches

Scattered mind and unable to gather your thoughts, confusion, disorientation

Bad luck

Generally, it’s a culmination of several of these things at once. Please, please, please, check with doctors when you’re feeling aches, pain, or medical issues. Whether something medical is induce via a curse doesn’t mean that the curse breaking will actually REMOVE those issues. Same goes for any other issues that crop up. You’ll still have to deal with that shit. Removing the curse or hex means that nothing additional should crop up (beyond the normal “shit happens, that’s life” kind of deal)

How to tell if you’re cursed

The above symptoms should occur consistently and suddenly. They are persistent. You don’t ever catch a break. There are curses that last years and years but they are very rare. Most end up fading out over time. By and large, you can counter a curse simply by changing your lifestyle or behavior (but not always).

I’m going to be honest. There are some curses or hexes that won’t register because they’ve been designed to avoid detection. If you think this might be the case, simply move onto hex breaking and curse removal methods, followed by cleansing and protection.

However, there are some methods to determine if you’ve been cursed. Divination is the easiest way to go about it. Tarot cards, oracle cards, pendulums – you pick whatever method works best for you.

For a deity and/or spirit workers, I would ask for a sign of some kind within the next three days to confirm that there’s a curse. And then pray for help with the removal.

If you’re unsure still or want to be extra sure, just skip right onto the curse breaking and hex removing methods. Remember, don’t panic. You are your own worse enemy when you panic. (I know that’s nearly impossible for some folks with paranoia or anxiety but it’s something to keep in mind)

How much do I have to worry about curses? Really?

You probably aren’t cursed. It’s just bad luck which happens to everyone. If you’re not a practitioner, then it’s even more likely that you’re not cursed. Sometimes bad shit just happens. But, when you deal with other practitioners, don’t be surprised to find that you’ve annoyed one of them and they fired back at you. I’m not saying that curses or hexes never happen, they absolutely do, but they’re not super common either.

But if you want to take some preventative measures, it can’t hurt either, right?

- Sacheen Littlefeather in Reel Injun (2009), dir. Neil Diamond.

Marlon Brando was the Don in The Godfather, and in 1973, he was nominated for and won an Academy Award for it. However, he was also a huge Natives rights activist, and boycotted the ceremony because he felt that Hollywood’s depictions of Native Americans in the media led to the Wounded Knee Incident (which I was always taught as “the second massacre at Wounded Knee” but apparently that’s not the real name). He sent Sacheen Littlefeather, an Apache Native rights activist, in his stead. Wikipedia’s article on her explains the rest:

Brando had written a 15-page speech for Littlefeather to give at the ceremony, but when the producer met her backstage he threatened to physically remove her or have her arrested if she spoke on stage for more than 60 seconds.[5] Her on-stage comments were therefore improvised. She then went backstage and read the entire speech to the press. In his autobiography My Word is My Bond, Roger Moore (who presented the award) claims he took the Oscar home with him and kept it in his possession until it was collected by an armed guard sent by the Academy.

It’s really common to see modern witchcraft correspondences for the moon phases, but rarely or never for hoodoo. Frequently the full moon is associated with “light magic” and the new moon with “dark magic” using the classic racist terminology we’re all too familiar with. We also live in a world where books on working the roots that are actually written by black authors are a somewhat rare find, and Lucky Mojo is one of the first Google hits for almost every hoodoo-related search you might make. 

So, Spirit Roots presents… the moon phases for root workers! An Africana guide to the lunar cycle. Remember, you don’t have to cast the “right” spell at the “right” time, it’s just a useful boost to follow the moon’s patterns when it feels right to do so or works for your path. Listen to your ancestors, and trust your intuition on it!

WAXING CRESCENT

>>>>> TIME FOR: Fresh start, preparations

- Road opening

- Setting goals & planning spells

- Purchasing/gathering curios & supplies

- Forgiveness & reconciliation

WAXING MOON

>>>>> TIME FOR: Increasing, attracting, new works

- Making mojo bags

- Honey jars & sweetening spells

- Love spells

- Prosperity & financial spells

- Luck spells

FULL MOON

>>>>> TIME FOR: Petitions, significant works, protection

- Big or important spells and rituals

- Dedications, blessings, offerings, prayers, & petitions

- Safe travels spells

- Home protection spells

- Enchanting jewelry, amulets, and tools

WANING MOON

>>>>> TIME FOR: Cleansing, decreasing, undoing

- Spiritual baths

- Floor washes

- Stop gossip

- Breaking up a couple

- Keeping off the law

- Uncrossing & spell reversals

WANING CRESCENT

>>>>> TIME FOR: Banishing, baneful magic

- Crossing & hot foot spells

- Jinxes & curses

- Souring jars

- Banishing spirits, people, or bad habits

- Return to sender spells

NEW MOON

>>>>> TIME FOR: Ancestor work, divination, lucid dreaming

- Communing deeply with ancestors

- Spirit work

- Divination reading

- Lucid dreaming

Valuable information15-Black History·

Persephone and Hades 

neoclassical vibes, based on this picture 

still struggling with the colors and shadowing / lightening