Monday, April 9, 2012

Conjure Craft

There is no such thing as Conjure Craft. Hoodoo works with God, the Bible, Ancestors, and the saints. That's it!

There are no demons, gods, goddesses, deities, or anything similar in Conjure work.

Some practitioners are blending hoodoo with wicca and other pagan practices but what they are doing is not Hoodoo. It's a mish mash.

I first saw the term Conjure Craft at the website of a well known pagan publisher where someone used the word. I could be wrong but I think she coined the term. Whoever started it doesn't matter but it is important to remember that paganism has nothing to do with Hoodoo/Conjure/Rootwork.

I'm not against Pagans or their practices. I'm not here to judge pagans and what they do but we have to be honest with ourselves and each other about what is what.

There's Conjure work and then there's paganism. Keep the two separate. Just like Hoodoo isn't another form of Santeria or ATR; it is not American paganism or pagan magick of any sort either. Drlovebug

6 comments:

  1. I know exactly who you are referring to and all I have to say is that this Wiccan author is very controversial and likes to claim things as her own when she ought not to.

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  2. Now don't get me wrong. Her book has some useful information in it but it's too white washed, too black washed, and does a disservice to Conjure. There's too much about orishas and other things that don't belong to Hoodoo.

    She talks about American conjure but she doesn't actually give you true conjure work as practiced in the South. This is one of my problems with folks online.

    People are either trying to make Conjure too damn white or too damn black. The red always gets left out. Either it's pre-Christian paganism that gets thrown in the mix or the ATRs. Frankly it gets on my nerves.

    I'm not downplaying the suffering of my African ancestors. Yes hoodoo comes from Africa but that doesn't make it an ATR. At the same time you can't throw out the Native Americans. They practiced this stuff too then there's the Irish and Welsh. They were slaves and worked right along with the negroes in the fields. This didn't happen only in the Deep South but even down here in big ole TEXAS.

    Most black people are mixed with Irish and Native American blood. You'll find this in the other races too. This shows the diversity of Conjure work but it's being misconstrued without a firm understanding of American history. Drlovebug

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  3. Yep. The Native Americans always seem to be pushed aside.

    People online think that the European influence is Wicca. Nope. The influence is the Scott-Irish. I did a lot of blogs on them. The term "The black man" is Scott-Irish. Why would a black person say, "The Black Man at the Crossroads". LOL The Scott-Irish also had a long history of use of the crossroads, and even the term "hoodoo" is Scott-Irish, meaning "cursed, unlucky". Most blacks don't use the term "hoodoo" but prefer "roots". So that's the true European influence. Wicca has nothing to do with it.

    I want to see more blacks and more Indians take center stage. I'm white and have nothing against white people doing cojure work but I feel that blacks and Indians are not being represented right and I think they need more of a presnece and especially online.

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  4. That's very interesting! I have some Scots-Irish ancestry; though much more German. My family is all mixed up... I'm 1/4 Tuscarora Indian, my 3rd great-grandfather was listed as "Black" in census records, I have two female ancestors born into slavery who were listed as "mulatto"... yet, I'm blue-eyed & fair-skinned and look like I just stepped off the Viking ship, LOL

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  5. @ Lee,

    Very similar for me too. I look pure white but am Scott-Irish, Cherokee, Blackfoot, & Sac&Fox. Some of my family has cards but my immediate family do not. We're trying to get them.

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  6. I had to google the words "conjure craft" to see what y'all are talking about. It goes to show how much I pay attention to what others are doing. I just worry about keeping my own stoop clean; guess I miss a lot of internet goings ons. Momma Starr

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