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

E.A. Koetting/Baron DePrince
The Spider and the Green Butterfly
new clients was a successful woman who became
responsible for reestablishing his credit in the business, as
well as her own multi-million dollar business. Three years
later, John had married the woman, and they are currently
expecting their first child together.
There were many lessons hidden in this parable
taken from DePrince's own personal experience, but the
greatest of all that stood out to me was that in Vodoun, the
spirits are not commanded from behind safe Circles of
Magick, spoken to but never spoken with, nor are they
machinations of a Magickal system that can be called forth
and dismissed as the Sorcerer so pleases. Once called, the
Loa are always with the Houngan, always watching him,
always influencing him, always standing as guide and
guard, and sometimes as his harsh mentor. The spirits are
as much a part of the Houngan's life as his own breath, and
are as much a part of his own being as his own arm. And,
as I drew as the most important lesson within this story, the
Loa are consulted, not commanded. They are communed
with, not spoken to. They are asked, not told.
Another lesson taught here is that the Bocor,
whether living in the United States, Europe, or anywhere
else in the world, follows the laws of the Haitian Bocor,
which is a law of anarchy and the rule of the strong.
How, then, does the aspiring Houngan or Bocor
learn to communicate so with the Loa? How does he
bridge the gap between the earth and the spirit realms, and
how does he walk across that dangerous bridge without
falling into oblivion?
Consulting Cards -
Tarot cards have become as commonplace as
Voodoo horror stories, nearly every serious western
Magician owning at least one deck and well-trained in their
use as both a divination tool and as a cosmological map of
spiritual reality. It seems only natural, then, to merge the
study of Vodoun with an already well-established practice
such as Tarot. This merger, unfortunately, does not always
bear good fruit. While Tarot can be used in communicating
with the Loa, the authors of this text both agree upon the
fact that it should not be, not out of disrespect for the Tarot,
but out of pure respect for it, in its own sphere, and out of
the knowledge of the separation between the Hermetic
disciplines and the Vodoun religion.
Casting the Bones -
Chicken bones, dried and bleached in the sun, have
been used in divination in the Vodoun system for centuries,
remnants of the practice being found even in western
Africa from which the religion originally came. The
silliness of the idea must be overcome, and undoubtedly
will once the Practitioner begins to work with the bones.
He will find himself humbled at their power to reveal past,
present, and future. DePrince, as well as other Grand
Houngans with whom he has worked have used nothing
other than the casting of chicken bones to discover missing
objects, missing people, and dead bodies long after the
search for them has been abandoned.
On a Wednesday, several days before the full moon,
two chickens must be purchased, a white hen and a black
rooster. The hen is to be unmarked, but the rooster can
have red coloring or spots if a pure black one cannot be
found. Place over their heads a black clot h. It is this
same cloth that you will use to create the bag which will
hold the chicken bones.
Rub both chickens entirely with consecrated Florida
Water, speaking to them as you do, asking that they offer