E. A. Koetting and Baron DePrince - The Spider and The Green Butterfly

E.A. Koetting/Baron DePrince
The Spider and the Green Butterfly
and a long black thread and begin wrapping them around
the small, paper package in your hands. Hold in your mind
as you do this your intention for the ritual, and again feed
this into the Veve through your gaze, seeing the lines of the
symbol slithering on the paper, alive and powerful. Repeat
in a whisper, as if chanting, the words of your desire as you
had written them on the paper. The act of tying up the
paper, rivet, and photograph while chanting thus, as well as
connecting to the Veve, and therefore to Legba, will in
itself give rise to dark spirits and forces around the altar
and in your Working space. It is not rare during this simple
Operation for strange things to occur, sometimes seeing
displays of flashing lights, breeze blowing through a sealed
room, or a spiritual darkness which seems to blot out the
light of the candles, the electric lights, and even the
sunlight outside. In a good deal of Vodoun Workings, a
common report is the sound of voices which sound distant,
yet at the same time clearly originate from the immediate
ritual area.
In the case of this ritual, it is important to not allow
these minor phenomena to distract you from your task. The
Shades, the spirits of the dead are those who answer the call
of this ritual, and so as you bind the items together with
thread, the Veve spilling Legba's power into the Temple,
your actions infused with such force by your connection
through the Veve, the dead rise up in your room to crowd
around you and your altar, waiting to be sent to visit your
victim with your task. Any strange happenings while this
ritual is taking place is simply the effect of housing such a
multitude of the dead, anxious to be of service, in one small
area.
Continue wrapping the threads around the paper
package, gazing into the Veve and exhausting your desire
into that gateway once again. You will begin to feel a
slight tingle of electricity in your hands as you do this, or
perhaps might feel as if the small package is gaining
considerable weight or solidity as you wrap it. Either way,
you will reach a point when you simply know that the
physical binding of these items is complete.
Place the tied up package in the center of the Veve,
drop three drops of whiskey on your altar, and light the two
black candles, the one at the top point first, then the bottom.
Light the candles on points on the vertical line in the center
of the Veve, top to bottom, and finally those to your left,
from top to bottom as well. The black and white candles,
as well as the whiskey, provide an energetic essence upon
which the Shades can feed, grow powerful, and go out into
the night to do their Work.
If you have not yet sensed the definite presence of
the dead in the room, quiet your mind and do so now.
Become aware of their great multitude, their power to
effect change in the physical world, and their willingness to
serve you. Before issuing any command or request, thank
them first, for rising into the night and answering your
summons, for their expediency in doing so, and for their
unquestioning desire to be of assistance. Tell them what it
is that you need, exactly, and ask them to go to your victim
and to bind him.
You can either let the candles burn themselves out,
or let them bum for a few more minutes before
extinguishing them. It is said that in Vodoun, however, the
Houngan never blows out the candles, but that he should
either let them burn out themselves, or let the spirits use the
wind to extinguish the flames.
It ought to be understood, at this juncture, that the
Shades, the spirits of the dead are often the work spirits or
the "errand" spirits sent off in Vodoun ritual to do the
bidding of the Bocor. The Loa will rarely go about
affecting people or situations themselves, but instead will
employ the plentiful and potent spirits of the dead to shift
the natural path of circumstance. To the outsider who is
taught from birth to fear and to abhor death, very little