When the Lamp Is Set

Service Description

This class examines the lamp not as a substitute for candles, but as a distinct and deliberate form of rootwork used for long-term conditions, standing petitions, and sustained spiritual authority. Lamps are treated as living work meant to be tended, spoken to, and maintained rather than burned down and discarded. This course situates hoodoo lamp work within its historical and functional context. Students are taught why lamps were favored for works involving protection, prosperity, household stability, healing, court cases, ancestral devotion, and conditions that required persistence rather than urgency. Emphasis is placed on understanding the lamp as a fixed spiritual structure, one that holds intention over time through repetition, maintenance, and relationship rather than momentary ritual action. Instruction begins with the spiritual logic of lamps: how oil, wick, flame, container, and placement work together to create an ongoing channel of communication between the worker, the spirits, and the condition being addressed. The class clearly explains the difference between candle work (which completes) and lamp work (which continues), correcting common misconceptions that lead to ineffective or improperly closed work. Students are guided through the practical foundations of setting a lamp, including spiritual preparation of the self, cleansing and claiming the vessel, selecting oils and herbs appropriate to long-term work, and understanding wick behavior as a form of spiritual feedback. Attention is given to safety, cleanliness, and discernment both physical and spiritual so that the work remains effective without becoming reckless or stagnant. A central focus of the class is maintenance and relationship. Unlike one-time spells, lamps require tending. Students learn how often to feed a lamp, how to speak commands or prayers over it, how to recognize when a lamp needs adjustment, and how to responsibly extinguish or dismantle a work when its purpose has been fulfilled. The class addresses what happens when lamps are neglected, mishandled, or left burning without clarity, and how to correct such conditions.