A Guest Column on Sacred Shamanic African Masks

I am feeling that this is something that I'm going to post here as a guest column by this Shaman. He is someone known to me and I feel that his writing style and what he wishes to share is compatible with me and with this blog.

If you feel good about it, let me know or if on the other hand you feel it is not appropriate for this site also let me know and I will act on that as best I can.

Here it is then for your consideration.


Greetings. I will allow myself for the purpose of this post and any future posts I am welcomed to do here to be called Magic. It is of course not my name but I would prefer to keep that quiet for now.

You will find that my posts will be about what I would call true magic and some might call serious magic which means there will be no levity, that's true but also there will be issues of great import which I feel this post does speak to as it is intending to help people who might otherwise come into difficulties from their unintentional misuse of something.

If you care to read on, it is called:

African Masks. Use Them With Respect.

I would like to inform you about a form of magic that is being, for the most part, unintentionally misused in your times.

Many people have found it to be very attractive to use African art. I am talking less about quickly reproduced items but I am very specifically speaking about African antiques, especially masks created by people with wisdom and very often with strong feelings.

Know that the purpose of this art, very often masks, is to provide protection for the home where it is in residence but you find very often since little is known about this in the western world that people place these masks in the home. That is absolutely the wrong place to put them.

For protection they are to be placed at the front door and by the front door I do not mean in the little room or in the room that follows the front door. I mean beyond the front door itself and not tacked on to the door. Ideally in some kind of portico that faces out away from the front door. Never use more than one.

Let me explain how it works, for African magic of this type is different than other kinds of magic. The mask reacts to malevolent actions towards whoever is living, they have to be residing in the house not just visiting, the mask acts to deflect and amplify malevolence directed towards the residents of that home and it can cause harm.

That's why I'm speaking about this matter today since so much of this is being misused unintentionally I believe.

There is something very important to know here and that is, any benevolence that is directed towards residents of the home will cause no reaction by the mask. Granted, the expression of the mask sometimes comes into it but it is most important to know that generally speaking all these masks will react strongly to malevolence directed towards the residents but will not react in any way towards benevolence. That's because the purpose of the masks is to protect and it has no other purpose.

Now think for a moment, what if you have these masks in a home? You might think - well, I'll put it on my bedroom door and it will keep my sister or brother or other member of the family from harming me but you see - it has the same effect inside the house.

If any member is angry for any reason, even a minor reason, it will tend to deflect and amplify that anger back towards them and for people who have large collections if they are calm most of the time and everyone is calm most of the time around them then this may not cause too much of a problem but for an angry household these masks will react constantly deflecting this energy and amplifying it.

Now, there is a means to nullify this affect. It is most helpful, and I strongly recommend it for those of you who have them indoors and especially might be in a stormy but loving relationship - something like that or have friends over who are volatile but mean no harm - like that yah, there is something that can be done that will not be visible from the outside - meaning from the face of the mask but can be done to cause a degree of less interaction with the mask and others.

First I recommend you say to the mask, speak to it as someone and say, "I appreciate your efforts to protect me and now I feel it is important for you to sleep. I will perhaps call on your services some other time" or you can say "in the future." Talk to the mask sincerely as a person. Don't just talk and then giggle cause you're not sure that this is alright to say. The mask is very sensitive and it is in many ways - like a person.

Remember, it is deflecting feelings. This is very much a person thing to do.

After that gently remove the mask, lets say from the wall, and first put on the back of the mask a piece of very soft silk and line the entire back of the mask. It doesn't make any difference what color the silk is but don't use it as a means to draw attention to the mask, like do not use - oh something that would bring people's focus towards it. Therefore I recommend a very dark color would be best.

Then behind the silk, and the silk by the way is meant to be pressed up into various areas. Don't jam it into all the crevices, just get it as close to the back of the material of the mask as possible. Then behind that use heavy, what is called tin foil as one might line an oven.

Make sure the tin foil does not in any way touch the mask itself, that would be like an insult and harmful to the energy of the mask. Let it only touch the silk.

In this way the mask itself is protected and insulated and treated with respect and the foil keeps it, by the way don't tape the foil in any way, yah, find another way to keep it attached to the back temporarily just like the silk - no tape because the tape can act a little bit like a conductor, um-hmm, then you see it will allow the mask to rest.

Very little of the energy of the mask will then function indoors but still it would be best to place the mask someplace where people are less likely to be milling about. It is not something for a family room. Certainly not something for a bedroom.

So someplace in the house where people may not congregate or be very often, perhaps a museum part of the house, a separate place. Perhaps a cabinet with doors that can close completely, not glass, that won't help but wood, not metal - that will agitate the mask. This is what I recommend.

African magic has great power and a lot of unintentional influence in your lives. I feel that it would be best to honor it and appreciate it but use it very carefully.

I may speak in the future about how to use it carefully but for right now I felt it was important and urgent to speak to these matters of its misuse.

I will speak to you again another time on this site.

Magic