Sticks, Stones, Roots, and Bones: Hoodoo, Mojo & Conjuring with Herbs

Introduction
Once upon a time, we were Africans involved in a unique lexicon of beliefs, lore, stories, and customs that were designed to help integrate us into an environment filled with plants, animals, elements, and a complex array of spirits. With the advent of slavery (see Figure 1), the physical bond with the motherland was broken, but like seeds lifted from a ripe plant by wind, we found fertile ground in distant lands elsewhere.

Our beliefs took root in the Americas in slightly altered forms. The freshly sown seedlings took hold strongest in sunny climates reminiscent of the fair conditions in Africa. The various hybrids of African-based religion are now thriving in coastal Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba in the form of Candomble, Shango, and Santeria, and in Louisiana and Haiti in the form of Vodoun. In the southern United States, Hoodoo took root in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, and North and South Carolina. Hoodoo was established during slavery times using the available plants in the United States and borrowing from the ancient wisdom of the Native Americans.

With immigration and migrations of freed slaves in North and South America, the growth of African-based religions spread from the older cultural centers of Bahia (Brazil), Havana (Cuba), and Yorubaland (Africa) to dynamic industrial centers such as New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, and Chicago (see Figure 2). Some of our traditional practices were transformed into systems that strongly incorporated Catholicism. For example, the elaborate system of saints, priests, priestesses, deities, and ceremonies honored by Catholics is included in Santeria of Spanish-speaking countries and Vodoun of French-speaking areas. Santeria, Shango, and Vodoun are unique blends of Western and non-Western religious rituals, ceremonies, prayers, invocations, and blessings, but they are also open to include the darker side of the spiritual world: jinxes, curses, and hexes.

On the other hand, Hoodoo and Candomble are distinctly American (North and South). Therefore, they are multicultural and reflect strong links between various indigenous groups, Judeo-Christian faiths of the dominant cultures, and West African magickal and medicinal herbalism. They are primarily healing traditions that involve the use of herbs, plants, roots, trees, animals, magnets, minerals, and natural waters combined with magickal amulets, chants, ceremonies, rituals, and handmade power objects. (Handmade power objects empower the practitioner to take control of his or her own fate, rather than place power in the hands of synchronized deities or religious leaders.)

Since Hoodoo is an American tradition that is widely practiced in the areas my kin are from, it is the primary Africanism that was passed down to me. The word "Hoodoo," however, was seldom spoken by African Americans. They did not really want to name or recognize this eclectic collection of African holdovers that endured and reminded us of the Middle Passage and slavery. Popularly called both "Hoodoo" and "Voodoo" by the uninformed, the term is of dubious origins and is most likely the creation of the media as an adulteration of Vodoun. The word "Hoodoo" was never spoken in my home, yet its tenets were evident in my upbringing. The term is a useful way to give form to the colorful and specific folkloric beliefs practiced by a wide range of believers, including the Gullah people of Georgia and the Carolinas, Black folk in major metropolitan areas, White folk of the Appalachians, and Native Americans.

Since it is not a religion, Hoodoo has always been practiced by a wide variety of people, regardless of ethnicity or religious affiliation. Its attractiveness lies in the fact that it is natural, nondogmatic, and practical. Primary concerns of hoodoos include blessing the home and keeping the domestic environment peaceful and free of unwanted intrusions, whether they are bad vibes brought about by humans, animals, or spirits. Other concerns are gaining a life mate who is loving and doesn't cheat or abandon his or her spouse, general health and happiness in life, predicting the future, controlling people when necessary and freeing oneself or others from undesired control, using hexing and unhexing, and drawing luck in seeking employment, career advancement, good grades in school, winning money, lucky breaks, or the good fortune of success. In short, Hoodoo is concerned with health, wealth, love, luck, and happiness—concerns to which many people can relate.

The means used to achieve the desired situation is called the laying of tricks and fixing tricks, which are kin to European witchcraft spells and Gypsy charms. These objects are reminiscent of African herbal bundles. The most common form is a bag of tricks, also called a nation sack, gris-gris, hand, mojo, trick bag, luck ball, or flannel,which employs herbs and other magickal ingredients.

The use of the terms my mojo and his (or her) bag of tricks are often included in the lyrics of traditional African American blues songs, particularly those of the legendary Muddy Waters, who is also called the "Hoodoo Man." Unfortunately, the lyrics have been misinterpreted.

Mojo was interpreted as a metaphysical aura of sexual power or prowess, and the trick bag was interpreted as a metaphor for various forms of misleading behaviors. In reality, a mojo and a bag of tricks are one and the same: a bag of charms that serves as an amulet for purposes ranging from attracting a lover and maintaining a relationship to drawing luck or attracting money. These bags are carried close to the person—usually on the thigh, in the bra, or in a special pouch under one's clothing. If someone "steals your mojo," they have stolen your special amulet that holds your hopes and dreams. The mojo is a personalized item that carries your personal energy. Therefore, it is very dangerous—possibly fatal—if it falls into the hands of another, especially if that person is a hoodoo, witch, or conjurer.

In addition to the mojos, a wide variety of herb-based scented oils and incenses are employed in Hoodoo. Oils can be applied to the person, diffused in the air, set out in significant areas of the home, and used to dress candles. Whimsical names abound, such as "Van Van Oil," "Black Cat Oil," "Fast Luck Oil," and "Bend Over Oil." Numerous types of herbal incenses are used with equally intriguing names. The incense is burned while chanting, singing, or praying.

Salts have been used for cleansing and healing for thousands of years. They are enjoying a renewed interest by adherents to feng shui philosophy who use it in the same way as Hoodoo practitioners. In these disparate practices, salt is placed on the floor and in corners during spiritual cleansing, and the crystals are used during bathing for curative and restorative purposes. In Hoodoo, sweet waters are also applied to the body and left in bowls to deter or attract spirits and humans. In Hoodoo, divination is achieved using other natural materials (such as crystals, tea leaves, coffee grounds, animal bones, water gazing, crystal gazing, and seashells) as oracles to predict the future. Dream interpretation, controlling dreams through lucid dreaming, and astral projection are also important activities. Ancestral and natural spirits are acknowledged, invoked, and utilized for protection, predictions, healing, curses, and blessings.

he most striking features of African-based belief systems have been passed down through the generations. They shape Hoodoo and are shared in this book for the development and affirmation of personal strength, self-determination, connection to nature, awareness of the environment, and connection to our past.

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