"Road Opener" Spells: Abre Camino!
Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 7:58 pm
.
This past weekend, many celebrated Imbolc! I enjoyed seeing peoples' posts sharing their Imbolc festivities. Imbolc is a time of new beginnings, new birth, planting seeds. I myself planted some marigold seeds that were leftover from plant gifts given to me for Mother's Day last year (hehe, seed-bearing plants: the gift that keeps on giving). It all made me think about the Road Opener family of hoodoo spells.
Though hoodoo practitioners can vary greatly in technique and philosophy, I have found they pretty much all speak the same language when it comes to spell categories. As I mentioned before, there are many, many positive hoodoo spells that could be done, that bring positivity into one's life, and those of others. Road Opener is one of those kinds of spells. It is a less-heavy version of what's known as "uncrossing" (or "block busting") work in hoodoo.
Road Openers
Ask any hoodoo practitioner what a "road opener" is, and they will know. It is one of my favorite workings, and has a multitude of applications. This spell is designed to give one the feeling one gets when viewing the photo above (or when actually experiencing an open road when driving!)...no obstacles, no one getting in the way, nothing to slow you down, just full speed ahead, straight to your goal! That's a Road Opener spell.
A lot of the herbal spell ingredients in a Road Opener are the same as the ones in another hoodoo spell/herb formula category, Washes. Washes are used to spiritually clean a home (or any person, place or thing, really) as you physically clean it, which was the idea behind this fun post: Housecleaning with Magic. The main ingredient in a traditional hoodoo Road Opener herb blend is wood from a plant named, Abre Camino (Latin: Eupatorium villosum). It literally means, "open road" in Spanish.
You would do Road Opening work for any new endeavor. Like I said above, it's less heavy energetically than, say, uncrossing, which is removing a curse or jinx. It is more associated with positive energy. For instance, if someone starts a new job, you might do some Road Opener work to create clear circumstances, an energetic environment that welcomes the conditions we'd want from a successful employment experience. If your kid is going away for college, a road opening ritual would be a nice send off. You could include a Road Opener herbal spell bag for the student to take to college, so whenever they feel "stuck" it would help them unstick themselves.
It works for relationships, too. You could do Road Opener work after, say, the end of a long-term relationship. Maybe some healing work would need to be done first, and an appropriate amount of time passed. Then, when the person is ready to open the road of a new relationship coming his or her way, that's the time to do some Road Opening. In such a situation, as with all traditional hoodoo workings, a divination reading would be done first, before any magical work would be commenced.
Get a Reading First
All the African Diasporic spiritual traditions seem to me to have the caveat of getting a reading done first before doing magical work. A lot of times we want to jump in and just "do a spell" for something. That approach might be based on emotion, and not on an objective assessment of the actual energy of the situation. Some also seem to base their magical prescriptions on intellectualized "remedies" based on "what this magic book says a person should do in a situation like this." But to be effective, I think magic should be tailored to the particular situation. Perhaps the book-remedy is not always the right remedy for a situation.
So, I think it's always good to get another set of eyes to look at the energy of a situation beforehand. Even if you just do your reading for yourself, the cards, runes, or whatever tool you use, might tell you not to precede just yet, or to precede but in a different direction than what you had in mind, with a different emphasis. Or, they may tell you about factors in the situation that you don't even know about. Keep a notebook nearby and write down what the reading results were (which tarot cards or runes came up, what the interpretation of each is, and how that interpretation "speaks" to your situation, informs it). Then, incorporate this information into what magical practices you do to ameliorate the situation.
Always get a good read on a situation first, or ask someone to read it for you if you can't read it objectively, before commencing any spell work on it. From what I've seen, this seems to be a rule of thumb in hoodoo, but I think it's a good practice for any energy work you are about to attempt.
Here's part of a Road Opener working I did for my-
self this past Imbolc weekend. OK, I went way off the
the hoodoo farm with this one, haha. I'll explain more
about it later...don't have time right now. It is not a
'traditional" hoodoo altar, not by a long shot. I just
thought it was a pretty picture, so I posted it. The
dressed candle working, dressed dirt, and herb oil
are hoodoo in form, but the rest is, as Dr. E., would
say, just "mah own bidness." lol
Crossroad Road Opener Herb Bath
Below is an example of a simple Road Opener bath. It was written by a popular practitioner of Afro-Cuban spiritual path of Santeria, Dr. E. Unfortunately, Dr. E passed away recently. He was also a skilled hoodoo practitioner, as well, and the bath ritual below is of this tradition. He mentions an African divinity, Eleggua, in the text to appeal to those hoodoo practitioners who also honor an African pantheon, such as those who practice Louisiana-style conjure.
But, many hoodoo practioners are Protestant Christians, so they might substitute that with Jesus, since they do not worship an African pantheon. Pagan and Wiccan readers here might be more inclined to substitute with their favorite god or goddess associated with "new beginnings." Personally, as you could see from the photo above, I went with Ganesh, the Hindu "Remover of Obstacles," lol. And instead of the "Man of the Crossroads," some readers here may be more comfortable substituting with the "goddess of the crossroads" from the Greek pantheon, Hecate.
There are many ways to use Road Opener Herb Bath. Here's one way to remove obstacles and open your roads to opportunity. First take one packet of Dr. E. Products' Road Opener Herb Bath and pour it into a large coffee cup. Pour boiling water over it and allow it to steep for about 10 minutes. Strain the herbs out and if you'd like you can sprinkle them on the earth outside your front door. Get a large basin or bowl and fill it with bath temperature water. Add the cup of herbal infusion to the bowl of water --this is now your magical bath.
Take your bowl into the bathroom and place two small white candles on either side of the bathtub. You're going to need a way to collect some of the used bathwater that comes off of you during your bath, so either plug the tub or place a second empty bowl inside the tub to catch any leftover bath that runs off of you. Light your candles, disrobe and take your bath into the tub. Pray to God in whatever way you are most comfortable --you can even pray to the orisha Elegguá and ask for his help in opening your roads, removing any blockages you may have toward goodness in your life, and to make your journey easy. Pour the bath over your head and make sure some of it runs off into that bowl you're standing over. Pour the bath completely over your body making sure even your back and feet get a good washing. Wipe any excess bath off of you and step out of the tub.
Lightly towel dry but do not remove all of the moisture from your skin. Let the last bits dry on you to keep the influence of the herbs on you. Dress in white clothes head to toe (for best results - or at least the lightest clothing you can find). Collect some of your used bathwater in a cup and take it to a four way crossroad. Now to be clear, because there seems to be some confusion about this, you need a crossroad where 2 roads intersect in a + shape (that's it, please don't over think or over-complicate the idea of a crossroad as many have done in the past).
Be careful of traffic, but do the best you can with the following part. Toss a bit of the used bathwater toward the road running east saying "Open my roads to health and vitality". Toss a bit of the used bathwater toward the road running south saying "Open my roads to success and luck." Toss a bit of the used bathwater toward the road running west saying "Open my roads to love and passion." Then toss a bit of the used bathwater toward the road running north saying "Open my roads to prosperity and wealth." Then say, "Man of the Crossroads, I ask you to open my ways, clear my obstacles and help me have success and progress in life. Amen!" Now return home, and pinch out your candles. If you want you can place them up on a fire-safe counter or on a plate and let them burn all the way down. If there's any leftover used bath water you can just let it run down the drain.
Road Opener Candle Spell
Dr. E also shares a simple Road Opener candle spell. You could visit his site to read about it, as I don't want to cut and paste all the material here. Visit: conjuredoctor.blogspot.com/2012/03/truth-about-road-opener-abre-camino.html
~May Your Roads Be Opened, and Your Successes Be Sweet!~
.
This past weekend, many celebrated Imbolc! I enjoyed seeing peoples' posts sharing their Imbolc festivities. Imbolc is a time of new beginnings, new birth, planting seeds. I myself planted some marigold seeds that were leftover from plant gifts given to me for Mother's Day last year (hehe, seed-bearing plants: the gift that keeps on giving). It all made me think about the Road Opener family of hoodoo spells.
Though hoodoo practitioners can vary greatly in technique and philosophy, I have found they pretty much all speak the same language when it comes to spell categories. As I mentioned before, there are many, many positive hoodoo spells that could be done, that bring positivity into one's life, and those of others. Road Opener is one of those kinds of spells. It is a less-heavy version of what's known as "uncrossing" (or "block busting") work in hoodoo.
Road Openers
Ask any hoodoo practitioner what a "road opener" is, and they will know. It is one of my favorite workings, and has a multitude of applications. This spell is designed to give one the feeling one gets when viewing the photo above (or when actually experiencing an open road when driving!)...no obstacles, no one getting in the way, nothing to slow you down, just full speed ahead, straight to your goal! That's a Road Opener spell.
A lot of the herbal spell ingredients in a Road Opener are the same as the ones in another hoodoo spell/herb formula category, Washes. Washes are used to spiritually clean a home (or any person, place or thing, really) as you physically clean it, which was the idea behind this fun post: Housecleaning with Magic. The main ingredient in a traditional hoodoo Road Opener herb blend is wood from a plant named, Abre Camino (Latin: Eupatorium villosum). It literally means, "open road" in Spanish.
You would do Road Opening work for any new endeavor. Like I said above, it's less heavy energetically than, say, uncrossing, which is removing a curse or jinx. It is more associated with positive energy. For instance, if someone starts a new job, you might do some Road Opener work to create clear circumstances, an energetic environment that welcomes the conditions we'd want from a successful employment experience. If your kid is going away for college, a road opening ritual would be a nice send off. You could include a Road Opener herbal spell bag for the student to take to college, so whenever they feel "stuck" it would help them unstick themselves.
It works for relationships, too. You could do Road Opener work after, say, the end of a long-term relationship. Maybe some healing work would need to be done first, and an appropriate amount of time passed. Then, when the person is ready to open the road of a new relationship coming his or her way, that's the time to do some Road Opening. In such a situation, as with all traditional hoodoo workings, a divination reading would be done first, before any magical work would be commenced.
Get a Reading First
All the African Diasporic spiritual traditions seem to me to have the caveat of getting a reading done first before doing magical work. A lot of times we want to jump in and just "do a spell" for something. That approach might be based on emotion, and not on an objective assessment of the actual energy of the situation. Some also seem to base their magical prescriptions on intellectualized "remedies" based on "what this magic book says a person should do in a situation like this." But to be effective, I think magic should be tailored to the particular situation. Perhaps the book-remedy is not always the right remedy for a situation.
So, I think it's always good to get another set of eyes to look at the energy of a situation beforehand. Even if you just do your reading for yourself, the cards, runes, or whatever tool you use, might tell you not to precede just yet, or to precede but in a different direction than what you had in mind, with a different emphasis. Or, they may tell you about factors in the situation that you don't even know about. Keep a notebook nearby and write down what the reading results were (which tarot cards or runes came up, what the interpretation of each is, and how that interpretation "speaks" to your situation, informs it). Then, incorporate this information into what magical practices you do to ameliorate the situation.
Always get a good read on a situation first, or ask someone to read it for you if you can't read it objectively, before commencing any spell work on it. From what I've seen, this seems to be a rule of thumb in hoodoo, but I think it's a good practice for any energy work you are about to attempt.
Here's part of a Road Opener working I did for my-
self this past Imbolc weekend. OK, I went way off the
the hoodoo farm with this one, haha. I'll explain more
about it later...don't have time right now. It is not a
'traditional" hoodoo altar, not by a long shot. I just
thought it was a pretty picture, so I posted it. The
dressed candle working, dressed dirt, and herb oil
are hoodoo in form, but the rest is, as Dr. E., would
say, just "mah own bidness." lol
Crossroad Road Opener Herb Bath
Below is an example of a simple Road Opener bath. It was written by a popular practitioner of Afro-Cuban spiritual path of Santeria, Dr. E. Unfortunately, Dr. E passed away recently. He was also a skilled hoodoo practitioner, as well, and the bath ritual below is of this tradition. He mentions an African divinity, Eleggua, in the text to appeal to those hoodoo practitioners who also honor an African pantheon, such as those who practice Louisiana-style conjure.
But, many hoodoo practioners are Protestant Christians, so they might substitute that with Jesus, since they do not worship an African pantheon. Pagan and Wiccan readers here might be more inclined to substitute with their favorite god or goddess associated with "new beginnings." Personally, as you could see from the photo above, I went with Ganesh, the Hindu "Remover of Obstacles," lol. And instead of the "Man of the Crossroads," some readers here may be more comfortable substituting with the "goddess of the crossroads" from the Greek pantheon, Hecate.
There are many ways to use Road Opener Herb Bath. Here's one way to remove obstacles and open your roads to opportunity. First take one packet of Dr. E. Products' Road Opener Herb Bath and pour it into a large coffee cup. Pour boiling water over it and allow it to steep for about 10 minutes. Strain the herbs out and if you'd like you can sprinkle them on the earth outside your front door. Get a large basin or bowl and fill it with bath temperature water. Add the cup of herbal infusion to the bowl of water --this is now your magical bath.
Take your bowl into the bathroom and place two small white candles on either side of the bathtub. You're going to need a way to collect some of the used bathwater that comes off of you during your bath, so either plug the tub or place a second empty bowl inside the tub to catch any leftover bath that runs off of you. Light your candles, disrobe and take your bath into the tub. Pray to God in whatever way you are most comfortable --you can even pray to the orisha Elegguá and ask for his help in opening your roads, removing any blockages you may have toward goodness in your life, and to make your journey easy. Pour the bath over your head and make sure some of it runs off into that bowl you're standing over. Pour the bath completely over your body making sure even your back and feet get a good washing. Wipe any excess bath off of you and step out of the tub.
Lightly towel dry but do not remove all of the moisture from your skin. Let the last bits dry on you to keep the influence of the herbs on you. Dress in white clothes head to toe (for best results - or at least the lightest clothing you can find). Collect some of your used bathwater in a cup and take it to a four way crossroad. Now to be clear, because there seems to be some confusion about this, you need a crossroad where 2 roads intersect in a + shape (that's it, please don't over think or over-complicate the idea of a crossroad as many have done in the past).
Be careful of traffic, but do the best you can with the following part. Toss a bit of the used bathwater toward the road running east saying "Open my roads to health and vitality". Toss a bit of the used bathwater toward the road running south saying "Open my roads to success and luck." Toss a bit of the used bathwater toward the road running west saying "Open my roads to love and passion." Then toss a bit of the used bathwater toward the road running north saying "Open my roads to prosperity and wealth." Then say, "Man of the Crossroads, I ask you to open my ways, clear my obstacles and help me have success and progress in life. Amen!" Now return home, and pinch out your candles. If you want you can place them up on a fire-safe counter or on a plate and let them burn all the way down. If there's any leftover used bath water you can just let it run down the drain.
Road Opener Candle Spell
Dr. E also shares a simple Road Opener candle spell. You could visit his site to read about it, as I don't want to cut and paste all the material here. Visit: conjuredoctor.blogspot.com/2012/03/truth-about-road-opener-abre-camino.html
~May Your Roads Be Opened, and Your Successes Be Sweet!~
.