10 Things You Didn't Know About Hoodoo
Although remnants of hoodoo still exist throughout American culture, little is known about the African-American slave religion. The sum of African spirituality and Christianity, it is often confused with the voodoo religion.
10 Things You Didn't Know About Hoodoo
Although remnants of hoodoo still exist throughout American culture, little is known about the African-American slave religion. The sum of African spirituality and Christianity, it is often confused with the voodoo religion. Not to be dismissed as mere uncivilized conjecture, hoodoo has its own legacy and will forever be part of the American fabric.
Copyright: Nicole Paschal. All Rights Reserved
1. HOODOO IS NOT VOODOO
If considering what many Americans would consider creepy religions, Voodoo often rises to the top of the list. As images of fowl sacrifices, banging drums, and hypnotic possession dominate pop culture, the American public still knows very little about voodoo practices. Despite the truth and myths surrounding Voodoo, there is one thing it is not—hoodoo. Although lesser known, hoodoo may just be a bit more frightening because almost any practitioner can use it against you at any time and in multiple ways, without you knowing it. Although both hoodoo and Voodoo originate from a mesh of African spiritual practices and Christianity, hoodoo arose as a folk magic under African-American slavery. The anthropologist Katrina Hazzard-Donald describes hoodoo as an, “…African based religion among African American bondsmen.” Since it is considered folk magic rather than a religion today, hoodoo’s reach typically does not extend past American borders. Unlike hoodoo, Voodoo is practiced in many forms throughout the world and remains the official religion of countries like Benin and Haiti. Furthermore, unlike hoodoo, Voodoo possesses formal ritualized holidays with distinct ceremonial practices.
2. HOODOO AS THE ONLY SOURCE OF POWER
Whether during or after slavery, hoodoo just wasn’t practiced for sport. It was a means of influencing the universe and the power structures within it. Although there is some controversy amongst researchers as to the function of hoodoo in early African-American culture, two points of view are most prevalent. Archaeologists believe that the slave’s worldview was formed by forces that was beyond his control. Possessing no agency over their lives, those that believed in hoodoo had a way of gaining power and influence in ways that didn’t exist otherwise. Although the chattel slave might have tried to use hoodoo power against the enslaver originally, he had to refocus his attention to other social ills after emancipation. After slavery, he applied magic to employment issues, gambling dilemmas, relationships, law troubles, detecting an unknown enemy, and more.
The use of mojo against police bullying became prevalent as well. In the 1935 “Alma Egan Hyatt Foundation” study of hoodoo, for example, a hoodoo practitioner states that cinnamon, holy water and java, inclusive of writing the officer’s name 15 times, is a surefire way to prevent harassment by the law. Even today, you can order a “Law Stay Away” mojo online or learn a spell to keep an officer from entering your home. One old mojo, according to luckymojo.com, is to nail Indian head pennies around your door frame. Next, you’d hammer 2 nails on either side of every penny and then flatten them down in an x formation over the coins. This will keep out the law.
Some anthropologists disagree about hoodoo as a source of power for the oppressed. They suggest that hoodoo is merely a survival of West African cultures. It was common for dominated African cultures to implement their conqueror’s spiritual beliefs into their own. Therefore, a new religious subculture using various African religions and Christianity was inevitable.
3. BEWARE OF THE CONJURER
One of the primary components in hoodoo is the idea of the “conjuration.” The act of conjuration is completed by someone known as conjurer, hoodoo priest, or two-head. Known by many names, the hoodoo man could be of any gender and had the ability to access otherworldly powers.
The power of the “conjurer” first gained credibility during slavery. The slaves believed that he could influence lighter punishment for his fellow slaves. One conjurer was believed to be able to enter through 