Marble Egg for Obatala
In stock at Atlanta and Decatur.
What this is
Worn or carried rather than burned. What is left with you once a working has been done.
The practice
What this tradition does with an object like this — how it is used, not a promise about what follows.
- Sundaythe Sun’s day — worked for success, health and being seen.
How it is used
- 1Carried or worn rather than burned. Kept on you, in a bag, or on the altar.
- 2Cleansed when it starts to feel heavy — smoke or a wipe with a cleansing water is what tradition uses.
Working it properly
The craft under the instructions — direction, count and order. This is the part that is normally only said across a counter.
- Kept out of sight. A carried piece is not jewellery, and the tradition is plain that it is not handled casually by other people.
- Fed rather than replaced — a drop of the oil it was made for, or a pinch of powder into the bag, on a schedule the carrier keeps.
- Cleansed in smoke or with a cleansing water when it starts to feel heavy, which is the language practitioners use for a piece that has been working.
- Set on the altar overnight when it is not being carried, rather than left in a drawer with ordinary things.
What completes the working
A working is a ladder, not a single object. Each rung below says what the addition does, and shows what Yeye's Botanica carries for it.
what it is fed with — a drop of the oil it was made for
the smoke it is passed through when it is cleansed
the wipe-down, for a piece that cannot be smoked
What people get wrong
- Letting other people handle it casually.
Named for Obatalá
Peace, clarity and the cool head. Worked when a situation needs calming rather than forcing.
- ColoursWhite
- DaySunday
- Customary offeringWhite foods, cocoa butter, cotton.
What is here is what the label says and what any botanica will tell you across the counter. Ceremony, initiation and anything belonging to a house is not ours to publish — that is between you and a padrino or madrina.
