Quimbanda is
a cult centred on the direct and head on interaction with spirit, hence
developing mediumistic skills and capability in spirit trafficking is integral
and vital to working Quimbanda. Possession is a phenomenon that intrigues and
also scares. After all we have all seen movies like The Exorcist and other horror
thrillers giving visual spectacles to how hostile spirits can take over the
human body, mind and soul in intrusive and fatal ways. But possessions do find
a counterpart in the shamanic rapture as much as in the prophet whose soul is
filled with angelic light that makes him or her prophetic. Possession is not
only about the full given over of your material vessel to a spirit that in turn
uses the faculties of the medium to engage various forms of work. Inspiration, dream
and to be ‘under the influence’ are potentially valid and worthy avenues for
connecting with spirit. Yet another avenue for good spirit trafficking is the
communion, or what Jake Stratton-Kent calls ‘a night in with the boys’ in
defining this form of spirit congress performed with the ‘goetic’ spirits.
I have
received lately so many correspondences asking the same question, namely, how
to attend to one’s personal Exu and Pomba Gira, that I decided to write about
this here as a reference for many.
First a
distinction must be made given that many Quimbandeiros will advice against
establishing a tronco/a seat of power in one’s home. This prohibition is
largely due to the presence of graveyard dirt and other items inside a full
assentamento (spirit vessel) that can bring hostile forces to be attracted and
thus generate some turbulence in the life of the practitioner. Now there are
ways of defining perimeters and eliminating this factor, but it is not full
assentamentos I will speak of, but rather the private cult and work with one’s
personal Exu and Pomba Gira, what is more properly know as ‘firmeza’.
My
understanding of the relationship between your personal Pomba Gira and Exu is
that they serve as mirrors of the soul and reflect your lack, debilities and
your greatness at the same time. It is a mirror free from judgment and moral
that set up something to aspire to as much as it challenges you. Much
misunderstanding takes place in this field where some believe that just because
the life story and attributes and character of one’s personal Exu is of a
murderer and scoundrel that this give some sort of excuse to kill and cheat,
like a Pomba Gira that lived as a prostitute on the darker strains of life will
quicken such activity in the life of the practitioner. We must keep in mind
that these spirits that bring the memory of human fortune and misfortune to us,
as teachers, guides and friends. Hence it is crucial to first get to know your
personal Exu and Pomba Gira, not only because it will bring knowledge of Self,
but of the human condition itself. Through this knowledge we can understand how
to move wind with water and shake the earth with fire. In addition to these two
spirits we also have a ‘working spirit’. This working spirit is someone we can
think of as representing a potency turned towards us in a benign manner and
which is most likely to help us in the walk of life.
A private
cult focusing on these forces should be simple and since these are spirits
already being a part of you, there is really nothing stopping you from working with
them, but it is of course advisable to know how to enter into a constructive relationship
with these rather amoral spirits that reflects upon your soul in order to bring
forth what is good.
The usual way
to go about with this is to acquire some physical representation of these
spirits that can be placed in a shrine. Most common is to use statues and these
statues and even if they are crossed and charged it doesn’t mean they are
assentamentos. Rather they represent what is known as ‘firmeza’. There is
really no satisfying translation of this term, but the idea is of a strong
bond, the final knot in a chain that secures all other beads and parts in the
chain. So, a private cult with one’s personal spirits is to work ones ‘firmeza’
or stronghold with spirit and the ‘firmeza’ can be kept inside your house.
Commonly you will keep them in a closed cabinet or arrange their space in such
way that they can be covered when they are not worked.
The cult
itself is fairly simple and straightforward. You will offer up candles, tobacco
and liquor even thou flowers, pastries, meat, padé and other items can make
part of the offering. But I will speak of the simple premise for a communion
with your personal spirits, the very first step for someone who has no access
to a terreiro or a Tata.
When starting
a session stamp the ground with your left foot three times or knock on the
shrine three times with your left fist and say:
Salve o povo de Quimbanda
Salve o Mairoal
Salve Rainha
Salve o povo da Rua
Salve Exu
(insert name)
Salve Pomba
Gira (insert name)
Light the
candles, which can be one, three or seven. Red for Pomba Gira and black for Exu
or a mixture where a dominance of black candles is offered to Exu and a
dominance of red candles is given to Pomba Gira.
Give liquor
to the spirits, which can be simple as cachaça, rum or vodka for Exu and red
wine, champagne or whiskey for Pomba Gira. For more precise attributes for
specific spirits you find them in the books Exu and Pomba Gira. The liquor is
given in glasses and a small portion is offered on the image itself.
Then light
the cigar for Exu or cigarette/cigarillo for Pomba Gira in the same number as
candles, one, three or seven. The cigar and cigarillo can be placed in an
ashtray in front of the image and cigarettes can be placed with the filter down
on the table as a candle.
At this point
you will sing/recite the pontos cantados (sacred songs) for the Exu and Pomba
Gira you are working wit and calling forth. The pontos make part of popular
religiosity here in Brazil and many famous and wonderful pontos are found on
youtube these days. There is of course also ‘heart song’, which is basically how
these pontos came into being in the first place. That spirit moves you to sing
pontos inspired and given from them. But in the beginning I would recommend
that you learn a ponto or three.
Continue
this, move your body if you wish, until you sense they are coming and simply
sit down and pour yourself a drink and light a cigar, cigarillo or cigarette
and even if you are not a smoker make the effort of a few symbolic puffs,
leaving the reminder to spirit. Sing, talk, be in communion.
When you feel
or seek the session to be at end say:
Obrigado povo de Quimbanda. Boa noite!
Salve Exu
Salve Pomba gira
Laroyé
You will then
leave the shrine and allow the candles to burn out by themselves and you should
watch your dreams and whatever changes that occurs in your life and take notice
of it.
When
disposing of the offerings you can do this in many ways. Tobacco and liquor can
simply be disposed of in the garbage the morning after (Salve Mulambo). These items have been consumed
by spirit and become rather void of virtue. I say, rather void, because naturally
something is left and for those who seek to dispose of offerings in a more
correct way it should be placed on the ground, in contact with earth or at the crossroad.
This means, you can bring the residues of the offerings to any crossroad and
dispose of it there as you can bring it to the woods and dispose of it at the
foot of a tree. When we work in given
kingdoms we deliver the residues to the kingdom worked, but for all intent and purposes,
the crossroad and the presence of earth is to be preferred, and always used,
when something more than tobacco, candles and liquor is offered.
Try to think
about these first steps as getting to know yourself in honesty, using spirits
gravitating to the streets and the human realms as your mirror and measure.
Keep it simple and give attention to the personal nature of the communion. Try
to avoid reading too much into nothing and try to not ignore clear signs of
their presence and it should be fine. For most people this relationship with the
spirits of Quimbanda will suffice.
This being
said, Exu and Pomba Gira are spirits of earth and fire, Venus and Saturn
burning in sulphuric dirt, so certainly some practitioners may experience the
presence of what is commonly known as kiumbas or spirits of obsession. If this happens
it is quite simple to get rid of it.
You can make
fumigations of rue, sea salt and lavender and also make bath of the same.
You can burn
sage and laurel leaves and you can make a habit of taking baths in sea salt and
petals of white roses after the sessions if you are experiencing problems with
anger, fixation of negative sorts or simply feel hostile energies around.
Naturally
there is much more to Quimbanda than this, but this is a way safe, rewarding
and good to work with them, a first step in establishing ‘firmeza’...
If you want
statues of Exu and Pomba Gira or a consult to discover your personal spirits
you can visit Sacred Alchemy Store or for custom
made commissioned statues visit Wolf & Goat and
for those seeking to know more about Quimbanda you can get in touch with House of Quimbanda
Illustration borrowed from: http://ocalafrio.blogspot.com.br/2013/04/deuses-e-entidades-assustadoras-exu.html