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Obatala Bell
Not on the shelf right now — call and they will tell you when it lands.
What this is
For the altar itself rather than for one working — what the rest of it is set upon and kept in.
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
- 1Given its own place, kept clean, and kept apart from where ordinary things are put down.
- 2Water is the simplest and oldest offering. Changed, not topped up.
Working it properly
The craft under the instructions — direction, count and order. This is the part that is normally only said across a counter.
- Its own surface, kept apart from where ordinary things are put down. What makes an altar is that nothing else is allowed on it.
- Water is the oldest offering and it is CHANGED, not topped up — the glass is emptied away from the door and refilled.
- Kept clean and kept tended. In this tradition neglect is itself a message, not a neutral state.
- Candles are set on it rather than in it: the altar is the ground, and the working is what stands on the ground.
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 is set on it — the altar is the ground a working stands on
the surface is wiped down before anything is placed
the customary way a surface is put into use before it is first used
What people get wrong
- Letting the altar become a shelf. A surface that collects post is not an altar any more.
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.
