St. Peter is an enormously popular saint who is called on for all kinds of things. He's an ally when you need a road or doorway opened (or closed!), and he's the patron of locksmiths and popes. He's called on by leaders and by anyone who needs discernment, wisdom, courage, and/or clarity of insight, especially when at a figurative crossroads.
His reputation for removing obstacles and opening roads towards your goals is legendary, and he can be an ally in nearly any situation where someone is metaphorically doing some gatekeeping and trying to keep you out. He can help you overcome to attain success, knowledge, and freedom.
Esoterically, some interpret the power of binding and loosing to put this work in the arena of the magician and sorcerer, and use the crossroads and keys symbolism to loosen strictures they want to be free of as well as to bind their enemies from taking action or doing further harm. So there are certainly associations here with protection, in a particular sense, as well as with occult wisdom and mastery and gaining access to hidden realms and sources of knowledge.
St. Peter is a big deal, and so are his keys. He might not be the flashiest saint, but he's low-key (pun intended) been all up in the middle of all the shit since the very beginning. Christ said to him, "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19).
St. Peter was appointed by Christ as the first pope of the church, and the keys signify his authority as its first prelate and the authority of the church to bind and loose -- basically to open and close the gates of heaven. This is essentially what gives the church the authority to administer the sacrament of reconciliation and thus forgive sins, opening the gates to heaven for the penitent. But just chew on those words for a minute - whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. I mean, whoa. That's really pretty amazing when you think about it, for somebody besides Christ to have that capability. It's really kind of the definition of magic, in a way - or at least it's getting at the heart of Catholic conjure, I'd argue.
The cross is, in a way, exactly a crossroads, like the quintessence of crossroads even - and that's actually a big part of why/how Catholicism freakin works and makes sense. And why it works as a magical system, as well, which it absolutely does.
And the deities, spirits, lwa, etc of the crossroads in so many cultures -- those crossroads are never just about two paths met and you pick one. They are crossroads connecting the Visible and Invisible worlds, the everyday and the numinous, the world of the living and the world of the ancestors or shades, heaven and earth, the land of the linear and the other-logic of the dreamscape. That crossroads is, in a way, where all juju comes from, or perhaps more properly, how it's accessed at least. So it's the lightning struck wood, the moment of the consecration of the eucharist, the point chaud into which the spirit is drawn and sung, the nkisi, the mojo bag, the lucky coin, the saint's relic, the talisman. These are all events or spaces/places or things or performances that are engaged in opening and crossing the paths between worlds, that are traversing the crossroads for this energy to connect the two realms. You can see why the cross is such a big deal now maybe, if you haven't before. Add in the whole complex Xianity/Jesus/dying God-man layer and (thud) [that's the sound of me stumbling over my Baltimore Catechism and having to basically reboot my brain after I hurt it by thinking too much about Incarnation and the Trinity...]
So Jesus is gonna go, but he's established a means for all this to still be accessible to the faithful even when he's gone. Peter is his representative on earth. Peter takes over the crossroads and holds the keys. Peter is how the conduit to the divine is gonna keep on working. So i know St. Cyprian gets all the sorcerer cred and attention. And I know Moses is the Old Testament's very own rootworking conjure man. I'm not saying either one is not special - they sure are. Quite significant. But Peter doesn't always get his due. And as the first prelate of the church? Peter had some crazy strong mojo. And that's why he appears associated with crossroads spirits in so many places, and why the key symbolism is so significant, and part of why keys are such powerful talismans, and part of why you aren't going anywhere if Legba refuses to open the way for you, etc. etc.
This is powerful stuff - there's a lot of magic here. And so that's why I encourage people who are open to working with saints to spend some time getting to know St. Peter. It's worth your time, imnsho.
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