Let’s Talk About Bovada's vs Ancestral Altars the Hoodoo Way
Bóveda are not Hoodoo Ancestor altars; we have prayer closets and shut-in services for a reason. Hoodoo, Rootwork, and Conjure are all different practices. I don't care how often someone popular you like uses them interchangeably because they are not the same practice, and I will get into that another day. In a recent reading and coaching session, an Ancestor requested that this person take their Bóveda down.
The Bóveda was causing too much spiritual activity in the home, allowing other entities to enter that the person wasn't ready to work with. And Bóveda was just not her Ancestral way of communicating.
I am not saying Bóveda is terrible. There are times and places to use a Bóveda. However, as a Low Country Hoodooist, first and foremost, even though I practice other paths, Hoodoo & Rootwork, and that was my first initiation over 30 years ago, Bóvedas aren't utilized in Hoodoo in the way that you see many uses today as a permanent set up in the home somewhere.
Bóvedas are beautiful, and I use them for certain things; however, if you don't have Catholic roots, many times your Ancestors don't or won't use that way to communicate with you. Bóveda fuses Catholic religious eliminates with some Afro-Lantino/ West African Ancestor reverence elements. However, a Bóveda isn’t just for Ancestors. A Bóveda is a passageway for all spirits to come through, and if you don’t know what you are doing, they can be good, not-so-good, or indifferent spirits. And I'm not trying to scare anyone; I am not a scare tactic person, just stating that spiritualism can go wrong for the inexperienced. Not everyone is listening to our talking to Ancestors. Some are talking to familiar spirits of all sorts.
Bóvedas can be done in many ways, and how the glasses are set up can mean many different things. My old godfather said you should never feed directly on La Mesa Blanca or Bóveda because it can bring unwanted spirits that take and dont give back or can cause chaos.
Bóvedas are used for healing and cleansing and are an excellent way to teach differing divination skills. My old godfather taught me some divination skills there, and I saw him help people through a Bóveda, so a lot of good can come from a Bóveda. However, this client's Ancestors felt they needed more training and were putting things directly on the Bóveda, bringing chaos spirits.
Traditional Bóveda or Mesa Blanca, meaning “white table,” pronounced BO-vay-dah) is a group of glass representing different spiritual levels, dimensions of some sort for the person. Like many things in the spiritual world, as time passes, the younger generation doesn’t take the time to learn that things have multiple meanings. Like Bóveda doesn’t just mean “white table,” my old godfather used to say it was also a “treasure box.” I have heard Misas elders call them “whispering sanctuaries” because, through the glasses of water, the spirits communicate and can whisper essential messages; it’s also a meeting place to meet with spirits. Not all spirits necessarily have to be one's Ancestors that meet through the Bóveda.
A Bóveda table is covered in white cloth and doesn’t have to be lace. They have multiple clear glasses of water ranging from any number I have seen from seven - to nine. The type of work you are doing depends on the number and how you place the glasses. On Bóvedas, you can see many things, from flowers, rosaries, photos, and crucifixes; I have seen many different types of souvenirs to honor the dead.
A Bóveda can feed the Ancestors celebratory meals, gifts, or things for religious rites and ceremonies. Let me be clear: Bóvedas are a beautiful way to communicate with the dead and have the dead and spirits bless you with communication and have a place of dead remembrance; however, that isn't the Low Country Hoodoo way.
Black Jesus On The Wall Was Enough Altar To Center And Ground Many Homes
In my Low Country Hoodoo tradition, we communicate directly with our ancestors by walking along the river or placing our hands on the Cypress Tree. Or there is or was a tree people would gather under. Sometimes, the trees are decorated with ribbons or cloth. But keeping glasses of water up on a fancy table always wasn't our way.
The Cypress Tree In Low Country Hoodoo was and is a sacred place to talk to and leave Ancestral offerings