posted July 03, 2003 07:41 AM         

write their name on a piece of paper and put that paper in the freezer. im not kiddin

what it does is it 'cools' them off. many people i know have tried this and they have found it works wonders. i personally havent because ive got no one annoying me right now, but i thought id share it cause im sure theres people out there that might need something like that.

to make someone who is mean be nicer, write their name on a piece of paper again, and put it in a jar of honey. then make them up a milk and honey bath, using powdered milk and honey. use some of it yourself too. dont use sugar though! with the name, i mean. and keep the sugar as far away from the honey as you can. sugar is a 'sickly sweet' while honey is natural. im actually going to do that one for my father. *sigh*

posted July 05, 2003 06:09 AM         

i had no idea it might be related to voodoo, but it doesnt bother me because like a lot of belief systems, there are good and bad parts to them.

none of those people said anything about voodoo though. the african american woman who was talking about it said that its something that was passed down to her from her family. she is *not* a voodoo practitioner, perhaps she doesnt even know that it might be related. i dont think she is haitian either, or caribbean for that matter.

it was just a little thing to do to 'cool' someone out, or make them sweeter. i dont mess around with trying to control people, but if someone is bothering *me* i would put their name in the freezer. just so they would leave *me* alone.

do you think that those are bad things to do? i didnt mean to tell anyone about any sort of adverse magic or anything, i just heard that from another forum and a lot of them were familiar with it and SWORE it worked, so i thought it might help others to deal with nasty people in their lives. i honestly meant no harm.

posted July 05, 2003 01:37 PM         

On the other hand I could be culturally jaded and think that because there are some negative connotation connected to the practice and dissemination of certain information, that it shouldn't be done, you know, I could be just projecting my cultural and personal jaded-ness onto others, who knows.
The point is, as in anything, be cautious. I will say this though, I have never heard anything bad about the baths. Still, it is not something that is all out in the open but it is less hushed than other things. i.e. You would be more likely to talk about it in social gathering of friends, family and close aqquaintances (of the same culture).

I hope that I haven't been a wet blanket man. I'm starting to feel weird about my post now...a little unsettled that I may have been a downer.

posted July 05, 2003 08:16 PM         

its not a bad thing. i know that. it was shared with me in the context of just giving yourself a little boost in dealing with people who are very annoying and impose on you. this australian lady i know shared it first. she is very wise, and very good. i think that it is one of many things that are 'cross culture'. the forum i go to where i read the post is very small, only about 10 regular members, and they are good people. i just felt bad cause i wouldnt want to tell someone to do something that was any sort of manipulative magic, you know? in my ignorance of course. the other forum is composed of people who are pretty much just astrologers. we dont talk of magic and that just kind of came up one day in context to someone who was having a problem with someone else.

i just heard the story and how its worked wonders with a few of the ladies that go there. i thought, oh wow! thats really a good idea. the premise behind it is that when someone is causing troubles for you, its a way to chill them out so that they arent so intrusive to you. i didnt see any harm and i did in fact put someones name in the freezer last night. my fathers. ^_^ its funny too, because he *has* been more respectful to me since i did it.

i dont think its going to give me bad karma. i refuse to be a doormat or a punching bag for people, so if i can send a symbolic message that i wont deal with a person unless they 'cool off', its ok by me. sometimes when you tell a person that in normal everyday terms such as verbally, they dont take you seriously. if i were to tell my dad for instance, to chill out and treat me better, hed get offended and would pick a fight with me, which i *really* dont need, i dont need to be upset right now. i find that the name in the freezer is a way to send that message without risking further harm to yourself.

as far as voodoo, i learned a bit about it, and even was lucky enough to spend a couple of weeks in new orleans once. i went into a lot of the voodoo stores in the quarter. i would *never* practice magic or anything of a 'dark' nature... its just not me. i dont even practice any 'magic', unless you count the name in the freezer. im all about astrology. but, having learned a bit about voodoo, i have to say that i dont believe it is all bad. i think it was a legitimate form of spirituality, but sometimes people use things that are pure and subvert them to their own selfish means. controlling another person is never right, and i have heard of such things in voodoo. that doesnt mean that it is all bad. it just means to be informed.

posted July 05, 2003 08:16 PM         

i dont think it is a bad thing. just a little way we can send a message without placing ourselves at risk for a fight. us meek people have to have something to help us balance things out.

i have to go pretty soon but id love to talk to you someday! i am very interested in the caribbean. if you ever want to share what it was like living there, youd have an audience, at least of one!

posted July 06, 2003 12:15 AM         

Juniperb, that sounds so lovely! It made me feel good just reading about it. Beautiful vision!

posted July 08, 2003 02:00 PM         

I agree that intent is all -- setting that intent about trying to make relations less tense is a good thing, IMHO. Not much different than asking a guardian angel to talk to the person for the same purpose.

Besides, these 'spells' don't really make anybody change their mind or feelings -- there's no coercion -- they can still disagree with you 200% -- but maybe just a little more nicely, with a little less friction. To me, that's all good!

Thanks, anafaery! I think I know just the name to send to the deep-freeze, right now! (which might help me cool off!!)

Although I wonder, what would happen if you put both the person's name, and one's own in the freezer together? What happens then?

silverbells, that's fascinating about how differently these practices are viewed from within Carribean culture, as taboo! Do you think the taboo, hush-hush aspect comes from the the culture's Christian tradition? Christianity has a long tradition of demonizing the metphysical -- although it's also very true that a lot of creepy stuff does happen with voodoo, doesn't it!