Patterson - Hoodoo: Folk Magic (Pagan Portals)

Hoodoo in the form that we know it can be traced back to the early 19th Century, and possibly earlier. Hoodoo is the American name for African American folk magic.

Many religions sprang from the African traditions, such as Yoruba, Santeria, Vodoun and Candombl. Hoodoo came out of those beliefs and is the magical practice, not an actual religion. It is definitely not Voodoo, as it is commonly called by mistake. Voodoo, or Vodou, is a Haitian African religion, while Vodoun is West African.

Hoodoo as we recognise it was established during the times of slavery in America using the native plants and items available to the people at the time and probably taking a little knowledge from the Native Americans too, with definitely some European folk magic thrown in to the mix as well. I do believe a good amount of the Hoodoo magical practices were brought by slaves; they didnt arrive as slaves with no beliefs or practices at all!

A lot of the slaves at the time were forced to follow the Catholic religion. What they did was to incorporate the saints, deities and rituals into their own religion. Santeria is a good example of this, although they also included the darker side of magic such as curses and hexes as well.

If you take a look into the blues music from the times of slavery you will find a huge amount of references to Hoodoo in the lyrics.

Hoodoo is a practice of magic which is based on surviving and the need for things such as healing using herbs, plants, roots, stones, minerals and the like, combined with chants, rituals and handmade items. It is based around a main framework of intents love, success, luck, happiness, health and wealth. It is also a form of magic that works with ones own personal power.

However, I suspect that those practitioners of Hoodoo in America rarely call it by a name, it is just what they do, what they grew up doing, what their mothers and grandmothers did. Hoodoo is often referred to by other names such as conjure or root work in fact a practitioner of this magical practice is often called a root worker or conjurer and sometimes referred to as a Hoodoo Doctor.

Like a lot of magical practices, Hoodoo uses the magical properties of natural items including traditional herbs, roots and minerals, but it also makes use of animal parts and bodily fluids. (No, dont worry you wont have to bash any wild animals, but you will be able to use bones from your Sunday lunch roast chicken or, if you arent too squeamish, road kill!)

The practice includes such things as jinxing, foot track magic, crossroads magic and laying tricks. Foot track magic works with the essence of the person by using their footprints. Crossroads magic works by leaving magical items at a crossroads (no surprise there!) or a place where two roads intersect. Crossroads are magical places and always have been. Probably the most well known item for a Hoodoo practitioner to use is a mojo bag, but in Hoodoo the use of candles, incense, oils, powders, talismans and spiritual washes is also common.

Originally those who worked with Hoodoo would probably have used whatever they could get their hands on, using lamps and plain white candles for spell work, dressing them only with blessed olive oil and using basic items and ingredients that they had to hand.

At some point in the history of Hoodoo, which my research seems to suggest having been about the time of the American Civil War, people started to market oils, coloured candles and vinegars; giving them the fantastic names that we now associate with Hoodoo products. But as with most magical practices my advice would be, use what seems right to you and use what you have to hand and what your intuition and instinct tell you is right. You dont need to splash out huge amounts of cash on branded products; you can make most things you need yourself. If you do purchase items from a shop or online I would just suggest you check out their credentials first and what ingredients they use; there are some wonderful retailers out there, but there are some bad ones too.

Come take a walk with me through the magical art of Hoodoo