However, she has a few issues going on for which she needed help. One thing was that she needed to win a law suit which would guarantee some payments she is entitled to. She went to my magical supply store and got a green candle with a little ritual advise. The candle was supposed to burn for a few days and so she needed to do a little focussing every evening. She won the case, so far so good.
There is another thing going on where someone wants to get something from her so she could loose some property. So she went again. This time she got a different candle. Chango or Shango, orange/white. The woman in the store told her that Chango is a very good looking dude, that he likes orange and that she needs to put some orange things next to the candle. He also would like carrots, corn and other stuff she should put. Oh, and flowers. I am sorry if I am mixing up things now but I really have no real idea about Yoriba and Orishas. It seems that this Chango is an Orisha, a god or so whose equivalent in Santeria is St. Barbara. He is related with war. I read some stuff and he seems to be demanding and it also said you should not mess with him. Now, whatever may be behind this, as I said, I am far away from having much knowledge here, why on earth would someone advise a Magical ritual for someone which is clearly linked to a specific religion and/or tradition, when that person has no idea about the religion/tradition and the context the ritual or specifically the forces used stand in? It is a bit like someone performing Solomonic Magic or necromancy without any background and preparation just because he is bored. I do not know if also in this case things can go wrong but we know that some forces need to be treated in the right way. I tried to make her go and get another “simple” candle but she does not want (I believe it is the imagination of a very good looking guy with a battle axe is too appealing). At the end of the day I told her not to think too much about the background of Chango but to focus on what she wants him to do (win the case and keep her property).
Personally I believe that most rituals do not work if you do not have at least a basic understanding about the ritual and its various components and the context/tradition it has to be seen in. Of course some rituals do have effects even without that while opening the subconscious and working there. But here you ask for something specific, want some force to work in your favour.
Maybe I am too naive or missing the point but I hope that this will go well and does not have any unwanted side effects…..
But what do you think? Is it ok to advise someone to use rituals including deities which are totally unknown to the person, deities or forces which are from a religious (or Magical) tradition about which nothing is known to that person?
