Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Look At Hoodoo


We all know what Hoodoo is; an African-American folk magic. My question is do we really understand what that means? Hoodoo was brought from Africa by a people much to KEEP Hoodoo, Conjure, Rootwork , or whatever you wish to call the work as pure as possible. When these folks were brought here against their wills they used their knowledge to protect themselves, heal themselves and their loved ones. No one taught them this they brought the knowledge with them.
These folks weren’t Christians they had their own believe system; but due to the fear of the unknown they were not allowed to practice it. In order to hold on to their heritage they incorporated Hoodoo with Christianity. Therefore the Bible became a large part of Hoodoo. What other things had to be change in order for them to hold on to their way of worship? They were brought into a whole new  different world than they were use too. Do you really understand the gift these Ancestors have given us? Does their suffering not call out to us to keep the work as pure as possible?

I claim this as my heritage and I can tell you it really bothers me what people are doing to Hoodoo. I don’t understand why folks have to change things to suit themselves. I am a traditionalist, and have been called closed minded where  Conjure work is concerned; and I agree. I am! If all this mix matching doesn’t stop; Hoodoo will go from being very powerful to just another watered down system that will die out because the work will be useless. I have been asked what makes Conjure work so powerful. I tried to answer as best I could.

 It’s a scheme of things that make this work so powerful. One you need the power of God! I feel like you must have a gift for the work. I think that it is important to have a working relationship with your Ancestors. You have to have a power within yourself; that you can push forth into the work. You need to be in balance with yourself. If you have these things going for you then you have an open channel for Spirit to reach you. The roots and herbs that are used in the work hold a power of their own. Words hold power and the Bible is full of powerful words! Between the power of God, your Ancestors, the roots and herbs, and the power of the Bible and prayer you will have total success!

 I would suggest that if you have a need to remove or add to Conjure work that you look inside yourself and see if this is really what you need to be doing. If you have adverse feelings toward God, the Bible, Christians and the Psalms then you need to move on to something else because these things make up Hoodoo. I have never been into controversy but where Hoodoo is concerned I plan on speaking my mind. If you are going to practice Hoodoo, then practice Hoodoo; don’t mix it up  with Vodou, Palo, Santeria, Wicca, and whatever else is out there.

5 comments:

  1. I agree Mama Starr. When I first started to really research folk magic,(well I was looking for ozark and/or appalachian granny magic but couldn't find much there so took the hoodoo approach) something clicked that told me this extra stuff just doesn't seem to fit the box...I thought I had to buy a companies products until I was gently reminded that it is a practice of using what's available to you at a reasonable price. That I could put the power behind my own oils and such if I wanted!! Imagine that lol....Thanks for your info, teachings and books. It means a lot to me!!

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  2. Thank you. This work is older than all of us and lets don't forget the Ancestors who suffered. Folks sometimes forget the suffering of those who brought this work here many years ago. We should honor them and try to keep the work as pure as possible. Always use what you have, you can make it work. Momma Starr

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  3. Oh I agree that more honor should be given to those who went before us, related or not, most of them have suffered things that we today can only imagine what it was like to go thru!!!

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  4. The more folks like you that speak out will put this work right back on track; instead of the run away train it has become. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. We need more folks like you speaking up. Momma Starr

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  5. Aww thanks for the kind words!!

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