Community All Jar Bundle – November: The Living Veil

November’s theme is The Living Veil, a month devoted to the relationship between the living and the dead, ancestral remembrance, the mysteries of death and spiritual passage, and gratitude for the lives that made our own possible. This month’s All Jar Bundle brings together all five community workings—Health, Love, Protection, Money, and Sour—beneath an altar dedicated to honoring the dead while tending the needs of the living.

Our ancestors understood that life contains many kinds of struggles. They knew sickness and recovery, love and heartbreak, prosperity and hardship, safety and danger, friendship and betrayal. They worked, raised families, buried their loved ones, and eventually joined the generations who had gone before them. Their experiences became part of the knowledge passed forward through families, communities, stories, customs, and spiritual traditions.

November’s complete bundle draws upon that inheritance, bringing five important areas of life together under the theme of remembrance, continuity, and the wisdom of those who have crossed beyond the veil.

This working is for those seeking comprehensive spiritual attention across their health, relationships, protection, finances, and difficulties with enemies or troublesome people. It is particularly appropriate for those who feel that several areas of life need attention at once or who wish to participate in the full November community altar.

All five jars will be prepared and worked throughout the month. The Health Jar will be worked for healing, renewed strength, recovery, emotional steadiness, and peaceful rest. The Love Jar will support affection, attraction, reconciliation, passion, companionship, and lasting devotion. The Protection Jar will establish spiritual defenses around the individual, household, family, business, and personal well-being. The Money Jar will draw prosperity, employment, income, profitable opportunities, and greater financial stability. The Sour Jar will address enemies, betrayal, gossip, harassment, malicious interference, and people whose harmful actions need to be stopped.

The altar will be fixed with the traditional roots, herbs, minerals, and curios appropriate to each condition. Angelica, life everlasting, rosemary, eucalyptus, hyssop, chamomile, and ginger will support healing and endurance. Rose, damiana, catnip, hibiscus, lavender, magnolia, and honey will feed affection and romantic bonds. Devil’s shoestring, rue, black mustard seed, bay, and iron will strengthen protection. Bayberry, alfalfa, five-finger grass, cinnamon, sassafras, patchouli, and magnetic sand will draw prosperity. Vinegar, lemon peel, peppers, alum, poppy seed, sulfur, and rusty nails will give force to the Sour Jar.

Each petition will be written by hand, dressed with its appropriate condition oil, and placed into the corresponding jar. Blue and white candles will be worked for Health, pink and red for Love, red and white for Protection, green and gold for Money, and black and red for Sour. Psalms and prayers appropriate to each condition will be prayed across the altar throughout November.

In keeping with The Living Veil, the altar will also include a dedicated place of remembrance for the dead. Fresh water, white candles, and prayers of gratitude will honor the ancestors whose lives, labor, sacrifices, and knowledge helped sustain the generations that followed.

Particular attention will be given to the many roles our ancestors occupied. Some were healers who cared for the sick and comforted the dying. Some were devoted partners whose love held families together. Some were fierce protectors who guarded their households through dangerous times. Some were industrious people who worked tirelessly to provide for their children. Others were formidable individuals who knew how to confront enemies, survive betrayal, and defend what belonged to them.

Their experiences remind us that ancestral wisdom encompasses the full range of human life.

November’s work will also acknowledge the mysteries of passage between the worlds. Across spiritual traditions, psychopomps serve as guides for souls making the journey from life into death. Their place in the spiritual imagination reminds us that mortality is part of a larger order, and that the relationship between the living and the dead deserves reverence, understanding, and care.

Within Hoodoo and the broader African diasporic traditions, the dead have long occupied an important place in spiritual life. Ancestors are remembered through prayer, offerings, stories, family customs, and the preservation of knowledge. The cemetery, the household altar, the family Bible, and the names of those who came before us can all become places where remembrance takes on spiritual meaning.

The Living Veil invites us to approach these mysteries with gratitude and courage. We remember the dead because their lives mattered. We care for the living because our time together is precious. We seek healing, love, protection, prosperity, and relief from trouble because these are the conditions through which we experience the gift of being alive.

November’s All Jar Bundle will bring these concerns together in one sustained working. The five jars will receive attention according to their individual purposes while the ancestral altar honors the generations whose lives made our own possible. Through prayer, remembrance, and traditional conjure, we will ask for strength in the present and blessings upon the lives we are still here to live.

Suggested Alignment

During November, prepare a simple place of remembrance in your home. Set out a glass of fresh water, a white candle, and photographs or written names of deceased family members you wish to honor. You may include a small object associated with a loved one, a family Bible, or something that reminds you of the people who came before you.

Light the candle safely, read Psalm 23, and say:

“I remember those whose lives made mine possible. I give thanks for their labor, their love, their courage, and the lessons they left behind. May the beloved dead rest in peace, and may the living be blessed with health, love, protection, provision, and the wisdom to handle the troubles of this world. Help me make good use of the days that have been given to me, and may I leave something worthy for those who follow.”

Throughout the month, practice gratitude in a tangible way. Prepare a meal from an old family recipe, visit or tend a family grave, share a story about someone who has died, preserve an old photograph, or ask an older relative about a person you never had the opportunity to meet.

The Living Veil also offers an opportunity to consider your own legacy. Think about what you want to leave behind: knowledge, kindness, financial security, family traditions, a business, a home, or simply the memory of having loved others well. Choose one small action that moves you toward that legacy while you still have the opportunity to build it.

To Be Included

Send your full name, date of birth, and a petition for each of the five workings: Health, Love, Protection, Money, and Sour. Keep each petition focused on the condition you want addressed during November.

For Love and Sour petitions involving specific individuals, include their full names and dates of birth when known. You may also include the names of deceased ancestors you wish to honor in your personal prayers during The Living Veil.

All five petitions will be worked throughout November as part of the complete community altar, with each jar receiving the roots, herbs, condition oils, candles, and prayers appropriate to its purpose.