Working with St. Expedite

St. Expedite is used in Catholic folk-magic and conjure when someone needs something in a hurry, and they don't know how they would otherwise get the result they are needing. He is known as a saint for procrastinators, because he helps them get things done without delay. He is used very often to get money quick, used when luck is needed in a hurry, and pretty much in any case where haste is necessary. Many among the modern technical computing industry have also adopted him due to his ability to provide quick solutions, and some have referred to him as the "real-time saint".

While he is a fully canonized saint recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, there are very few churches where one can find his image, especially in North America. New Orleans has been one of the few American cities where St. Expedite has enjoyed wide-spread recognition, and a large statue of him can be found in the Our Lady Of Guadalupe Church in New Orleans. He has had a more consistent following in Mexico and areas of Europe for a longer time than he has in the United States, though with the increasing popularity of folk magic coupled with the internet's ability to spread information rapidly among millions of people, more and more people are turning to St. Expedite when things get tight.

The actual St. Expedite was a Roman soldier, which means he got paid well to unquestioningly follow orders. In his work as a saint, he is known for not judging the requests are made, and granting most any petition that is within his power to influence - as long as he is properly paid promptly once the petition is granted. Because of this, he is one spirit that you really must give his due when he comes through for you. If he does not get paid, he is known to quickly take back what he gave...and then some.

Luckily his payment is easily provided, as he usually expects nothing more than a pound cake, some red or yellow flowers (which exact color he wants varies from source to source), and public acknowledgement of his good work.

Because generally magic takes time to manifest, having a good working relationship with St. Expedite can be extremely beneficial to one's practice. It would seem that most people have good results when working with St. Expedite, but he does seem to be somewhat picky as there are certainly those who he simply will not work for for whatever reason. If you wish to attempt to work with St. Expedite, I strongly suggest doing a divination to see what will be the results of petitioning his aid. Really, divination before action should be routine for magical practitioners, but sometimes we all grow lazy and forget. But seeing as how one is usually petitioning St. Expedite when there is some pressing need, it would be best to check with your cards, runes, pendulum, or whatever manner of divination you practice, to ensure that he seems willing to work for your cause. If the results look negative, then you really are best finding another way to get what you need.

I also recommend that those who wish to work with him take some time to become familiar with his history, and with the different ways in which people work and pray with him for their needs. You can find an excellent page on St. Expedite on the Lucky Mojo site, and also find a good deal of information about him at StExpedite.org. There are also numerous other blogs and articles written by practitioners of many different magical paths, describing their work with him - just do a Google search on him and they will pop up. This way you can get acquainted with this saint, and know the kind of rituals and prayers that people use to get him to aid them effectively. I find that taking some time to learn about a spirit before working with them, really helps facilitate success, and also shows respect to the being that you are asking to work on your behalf.

I've been wanting to try my hand at working with St. Expedite for quite some time, however I never had a situation in which I felt it was appropriate to ask for his aid. I rarely needed things in a hurry, and was used to planning my magical workings out and sitting back and waiting a few weeks or months for things to manifest. But I was provided with a situation that was perfectly suited to his talents, and so I threw a tarot spread to see if working with St. Expedite would bring about the results that I needed. The outcome card was the Queen of Pentacles - which as you can probably guess is a power card for me, in addition to being a very good card in general.

My husband had been diagnosed with gallstones back in September after many months of annoying abdominal pain. It was a large and dramatic gallstone attack that caused a trip to the ER, and resulted in the sonogram that confirmed the stones. He met with a surgeon and because his case was not considered life-threatening was put on the waiting list for a surgery date, which he told could be anywhere from 3-12 months.

Despite our best efforts at controlling his symptoms until he would be provided with a date - and that included weekly visits to the TCM, a low-fat diet, all the Reiki he could handle, and not a few Healing candles set for him - he still ended back in the ER a total of 4 more times over the next 3 months. Each attack was getting worse (he needed to be put on a morphine drip one visit, and given IV demerol on another), and his system was getting more and more inflammed, and his stomach less tolerant of food in general.

A petition to Dr. Jose Gregorio Hernandez, a folk saint from Venezuela (who is well on his way to being formally canonized) known for his healing miracles, and ability to guide people to the best doctors and treatments for their ailments, led us to a new family doctor that blessedly became a real advocate for my husband. However, repeated calls to the surgeon by both my husband and his doctor had so far not yielded any fruit. It was extremely frustrating.

When my husband starting having difficulty working, and began looking into taking disability leave due to his constant fatigue and discomfort, I thought that I needed to take further action. After throwing the cards and seeing a positive result would likely come about from a petition to St. Expedite, I prepared to call upon him.

My petition was that my husband would be granted surgery within 6 weeks time. I figured that was a realistic number that could actually happen under the right circumstances. I set up my simple altar with my St. Expedite picture and a glass of water, lit some Fast Luck incense, and dressed a red 7-day vigil candle for the cause dressing it with Fast Luck oil and some Queen of Pentacles Luck-Drawing Herbs to which I added a pinch of ginger powder to help speed things up. Then I prayed one of the traditional St. Expedite prayers several times, building up the energy of the intent.

I wanted to KNOW that St. Expedite had heard my petition, and so I wanted to use my gift of spirit communication to have a conversation with him. I wanted to make sure that he heard my request, and also that we had strongly negotiated terms of payment - as I realize in spirit work, some jobs require more (or sometimes less) compensation than one had originally planned. I called on St. Michael the Archangel, as he is one of my strongest and most reliable guides. I've had luck in the past asking for him to fetch a saint for me, and this time it was also effective. I felt St. Expedite's presence enter the room, and so we had a conversation. He did want a couple of extra things that I hadn't been planning on - such as me building some shrines for him to sell through my Etsy store, and also to actually spend money purchasing an ad thanking him in the classifieds of a large local paper (I had just been planning to spread the word through my various internet channels if he came through for me). With all that written out and agreed upon on both sides he departed.

3 times a day I would approach the altar and repeat my prayers. On the 4th day I had the strong feeling that St. Expedite wished for me to add a bit of Florida Water to his glass of water, and so I added 2 drops. Just enough to lightly scent the water, but without making it cloudy. I also felt that I needed to do some Road Opening work, as well as Commanding work on the surgeon to get the results that I needed. I trust these little feelings/communications that I get from Spirit, and so I got right to work on it.

I prepared a yellow 7-day vigil candle with Road Opener oil, and set it working next to the red Fast Luck petition candle.

I then got online and found a picture of the surgeon, along with his full name. I baptized the picture in the surgeon's name, and then wrote my command "schedule ____ for surgery before Feb. 17" across the picture 9 times. I dressed it in Commanding Oil, Fast Luck oil, and Look Me Over oil - which I used to get him to notice and favor my husband's case. (Love oils can be used in many different non-romantic situations to great effect. I'll do a post on this at a later date.)

I prepared a small glass bottle with liquorice and calamus which are both commanding/compelling herbs, brown sugar to sweeten the doctor to his case, lemongrass to open the way, and then dressed those herbs with my condition oil mixture. I then placed a pinch of that herb and oil mixture into the center of the doctor's photo, folded it into a packet, and then pushed that down into the bottle. I shook the bottle the make sure the petition paper was well surrounded by the herbs. I then spoke and prayed my command into the bottle, making sure my breath warmed up the contents. It was then sealed, and I dressed a purple 4" candle with Commanding oil and burned it on top of this jar.

For the next 3 days, everytime I passed the altar, I would take the jar and warm it over the flame of the Road Opener candle. I would also shake it while speaking and praying my command over it. I would visualize the doctor standing in front of me, and me giving him those orders directly and him acquiescing to my demands. Each day I would also dress another purple 4" candle in Commanding Oil and burn it on top of the jar. I still prayed to St. Expedite for my petition 3 times a day (usually when I was at the altar shaking the bottle).

This morning - 8 days after starting my petition - the surgeon's office called and the receptionist said, "Dr. ____ has decided to expedite your husband's surgery" and gave me the date which is 2 and half weeks from now! This was well within the time frame that I had asked St. Expedite to work within, and my husband and I couldn't be more thrilled. This was a better result that I could have dreamed of.

This afternoon I went out and bought St. Expedite his traditional offering of Sarah Lee pound cake and red flowers, and I've posted to all my internet groups about his granting this important petition, and am posting here about how one can work with him! If you happen to read the Toronto Star classifieds on Wednesday (his day)January 20th, you will also see a thank you printed in there. I will also soon begin working on several shrine nichos, one which I will keep - as I plan on working with him more often - and others which I will make available to others through my Queen of Pentacles Etsy Conjure Shop once they are ready.

So, if you situation calls for it, and your divinations have said that it's probably going to result in a positive outcome for your case, how can YOU petition the aid of St. Expedite?? The following outlines one way that you can do it. You can find other methods online, so if this one doesn't appeal to you, you should be able to find one that does.

TO PETITION ST. EXPEDITE

When working with St. Expedite you will need:

* an image of him

* red candle(s) - one for each day of your petition

* Fast Luck or St. Expedite oil

* a glass of water

* small square of paper to write your petition on

* a copy of the St. Expedite prayer you've chosen - there are different ones for different needs, so choose one that suits your case. You can find a list of prayers at StExpedite.org

Optionally, you may also wish to gather:

* Fast Luck incense

* Florida Water

* Queen of Pentacles' Luck-Drawing Herb Blend - which can be used as incense, and as a candle dressing

Due to his quicksilver nature, petitions to him can be made on a Wednesday - ruled by Mercury - during Mercury hour for those who wish to utilize a large boost of Mercurial energy provided by working with planetary timing. However, in crisis situations, you can petition him at any day or time.

(Luckily for those of us who don't enjoy using almanacs and math to figure out the planetary hours, there are several online calculators that will do the work for you - all you need to provide is your location. If you use gadgets/widgets on various homepages, Lunarium has a planetary hour app you can add to your page, as well as moon phase and moon sign apps that are also really useful for magical timing.)

1) Prepare your altar by putting the image of St. Expedite on one side, and a glass of water on the other. If you wish, you can put a drop or two of Florida Water into the glass of water.

If you wish, light some Fast Luck incense, or place some of the Queen of Pentacles Luck-Drawing Herbs on a charcoal.

2) Write out a simple petition paper by writing what you need and when you need it by. The more specific you can be, the better. Rather than "I need money fast", write "I need $550 for rent by Tuesday the 18th".

3) Dress a red candle with Fast Luck oil, inscribing your name (or the name of who the petition is for), and a symbol or word representing your petition. As you rub the oil into the candle, pray your petition fervently over it, while visualizing it coming to pass. You can use small red candles if you wish, or a red glass-encased 7-day vigil candle. I usually use vigil candles for work with saints, but if you cannot or do not wish to leave a candle burning continuously you can work with smaller candles that burn out faster and just repeat the dressing of the candle each day you work your petition.

4) Knock 3 times in front of the image of St. Expedite to call his attention.

5) While holding the candle close to your mouth so that your breath can warm it, pray the St. Expedite prayer, and then proceed to pray/speak your petition to him in your own words. If you wish, you can repeat the St. Expedite prayer several times while you work up energy to put towards your petition.

6) When you are finished praying, blow onto the candle while visualizing all of your mental and emotional energy that you've generated during the prayers going into the candle.

7) Place the candle behind and centered between the St. Expedite image and the glass of water. This will make a little triangle formation.

8) Light the candle to set it working, and let it remain lit until it burns itself out.

9) 3 times each day return to your altar, knock 3 times, and pray your petition to St. Expedite. Do this daily until your petition is granted.

10) If you petition is granted get a pound cake and some red or yellow flowers, and put them on the altar by the image of St. Expedite. Make sure to spread the word that St. Expedite granted your request.

Make sure to pay him promptly upon having your petition granted, as St. Expedite will take back what he gave you, and stir up extra trouble to boot!

I hope that this has helped you to become more familiar with this unique and hard-working saint, and that you'll consider enlisting his aid one day when you are in need.

If you would like personalized advice on if St. Expedite is the right saint for your case, or if he is likely to work for you - or if you are looking for spiritual advice and magical prescriptions in general, please consider booking a magical consultation or a tarot reading with us here at Queen of Pentacles Conjure Shop & Village Witchery.