Lessons from our Elders: Listen or Your Tongue will Make you Deaf

I admit it. I used to be an arrogant little know-it-all, always had something to say about every damned thing...years ago. If someone had a problem, I had a fix. I didn't just have a fix though, my fix was better than anyone else's.  Even when in the presence of people older and wiser than me...it didn't matter. I still had the better idea, the better advice, the better fix.

Then, one day that all changed.

I was with a group of friends and there were several elders among us. It was a typical day, someone was having an issue and I knew what to do. I knew what to do before the issue was even fully explained! Isn't that amazing? Surely everyone must have been impressed! I knew I was!

Uhh, no, they weren't. They were annoyed. And for the first time, I actually SAW that they were annoyed with my know it all arrogance. Because let's face it, that's what it was.

Then, one elder turned and looked at me and said, "you really need to shut the hell up and just listen for a change." Only being an Elder, and being Cherokee, he didn't say it in those words, instead he looked me dead in the eye and said, "Listen, or your tongue will make you deaf."

But we all know what he meant, and what he meant was, "you really need to shut the hell up and just listen for a change you little twerp of a know it all."

I shrank to about 2 inches tall that day and that moment in time is forever burned in my otherwise lousy memory. Fortunately.

Image: Coloured aquatint, ca. 1862, depicting a man covering his mouth with a handkerchief, walking through a smoggy London street – Source: Wellcome Library

Spring Cleaning

Spring is the perfect time to perform a spiritual cleansing of your home, even if you don’t think you need it. One way to do this is to perform an egg cleansing on your home. While this type of cleansing can be performed any time you feel the need, if you do it proactively and preemptively, you will find you can avoid problems that arise as a result of the accumulation of spiritual and energetic debris in the home. In addition to breaking up and eliminating spiritual and energetic debris, this type of cleansing can trap and eliminate negative spirits that may be lingering in the home and causing havoc. To do this cleansing you will need the following items:

• 4 white eggs 
• 4 glasses of water
• Holy Water from a Church
• 1 large bundle of fresh rue (substitute fresh sage, cedar, basil or lavender if you can’t get rue)
• Holy incense of your choice
• salt 

Light the incense and go throughout the house asperging each room with the smoke and praying a heartfelt prayer. Place an egg in the four corners of the house, along with a glass of water, adding four drops of Holy Water to each glass. Next, take the bundle of rue and sprinkle it with the Holy Water and walk throughout your home hitting each wall with the bundle of rue while praying a heartfelt prayer once again. Walk through the home again, this time adding 4 pinches of salt to each cup of water. Take the bunch of rue and hang it on the front door. Allow the eggs and glasses of water to sit out overnight. The next day, take the four eggs and place in a brown paper bag carefully without cracking them. Throw them away in a trash away from your home. Take the water and pour it at a crossroads. This ritual can be repeated every season to maintain a spiritually well household.

Happy Spring Cleaning, y'all!

To Sweeten a Situation

Here is a useful Conjure Tip: To sweeten a situation, write your petition, place on a plate and dust with powdered sugar. Set a piece of Sara Lee pound cake on top of the petition. Place a pink candle into the cake. Drizzle sugar cane syrup over the pound cake and light the candle. Allow to burn all the way down. Things should start going your way.