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Author Topic: Hoodoo.  (Read 2862 times)

SatSekhem

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Hoodoo.
« on: November 12, 2011, 01:26:51 pm »
What exactly is 'hoodoo'? What makes this aspect of craft magic different from other traditions?
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spoOk

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Re: Hoodoo.
« Reply #1 on: November 12, 2011, 02:55:55 pm »
Quote from: SatSekhem;29932
What exactly is 'hoodoo'? What makes this aspect of craft magic different from other traditions?

 
off the top of my head,in my experience i would say its the origins.
from what I've seen it was African origins then brought to another continent and needed to adapt to new surroundings new available ingredients and new surcumstances. some native American influence got in there and some colonial Christian conversion influence seeped in too.
hoodoo I've noticed takes up what it sees as symbolic ideas from anywhere it can and uses them how it best fits into its own system.
like reciting certain biblical verses that are suggestive to a certain end.
Ize bel zafen.
Ize bel daleen.

catja6

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Re: Hoodoo.
« Reply #2 on: November 12, 2011, 03:52:40 pm »
Quote from: SatSekhem;29932
What exactly is 'hoodoo'? What makes this aspect of craft magic different from other traditions?

 
Hoodoo is American, primarily African-American, folk magic -- as opposed to Vodou, which is an African Diasporic Religion. Hoodoo is also referred to as "conjure," "rootwork," and various other regional names.

When slaves were brought over from Africa, those who were sent to the Caribbean were under French or Spanish -- and therefore Catholic -- control; they were mainly put to work on enormous sugar plantations.  Also, these slaves were mainly from tribes (Fon, Yoruba) that had elaborate hierarchical pantheons.  So, in the Catholic-dominated Caribbean, slaves developed the syncretic religion of Vodoun -- hiding their tribal religion within Catholicism's structure of saints.

In British-Protestant America though, slaves were often working on much smaller farms with more direct supervision and interference by whites; the majority of slaves here were from tribes (Ashanti, Fanti) where there was less emphasis on a formal pantheon and more on ancestor veneration.  Since British law, unlike that of Catholic countries conceived of slaves as property, not people, there was less of an impetus for slaveowners to forcibly convert, but more opportunities for slaves' activities to be scrutinized and penalized for "heathenism," a lot of the overtly religious elements fell away, but a system of folk medicine and magic remained.  This combined with some Native American practices and pieces of European folk belief to form a magical system, one that was fairly adaptable to whatever the stated religion of the practitioner was.  That's Hoodoo.  

(Louisiana Voodoo is sort of halfway between the two -- the French Catholic influence means that more religious elements remained than in Protestant areas, but the smaller plantations, etc., meant that emphasis shifted to folk magic.)

Hoodoo is, especially today, a very hybrid practice; in the early-to-mid 20th century, European grimoires -- the only ones available, pretty much -- were adapted by African-American practitioners.  Hoodoo is sometimes used as a general term for the folk magic of the southern US, but the bulk of it is African/African-American.

Like a lot of folk magic, as opposed to more formal traditions of ceremonial magic, Hoodoo is very much a weapon of the oppressed.  It's very pragmatic and direct, and a great deal of the magic is concerned with gaining an advantage over enemies and/or bosses, evading the law, and other stuff that looks ethically dicey to people whose magical experience has been primarily Neo-Wiccan.  But again, this is very much the practical magic of marginalized, disadvantaged people, who can't trust the formal social power structures and for whom this was often their only recourse.  

The best resource on the web is Lucky Mojo.  
http://www.luckymojo.com/

For books:
Black Magic, Yvonne Chireau
Conjure in African-American Society AND Hoodoo, Voodoo and Conjure: A Handbook, Jeffrey E. Anderson
Mules and Men, Zora Neale Hurston
Voodoo and Hoodoo, Jim Haskins

spoOk

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Re: Hoodoo.
« Reply #3 on: November 12, 2011, 04:17:51 pm »
Quote from: catja6;29952
Hoodoo is American, primarily African-American, folk magic -- as opposed to Vodou, which is an African Diasporic Religion. Hoodoo is also referred to as "conjure," "rootwork," and various other regional names.

When slaves were brought over from Africa, those who were sent to the Caribbean were under French or Spanish -- and therefore Catholic -- control; they were mainly put to work on enormous sugar plantations.  Also, these slaves were mainly from tribes (Fon, Yoruba) that had elaborate hierarchical pantheons.  So, in the Catholic-dominated Caribbean, slaves developed the syncretic religion of Vodoun -- hiding their tribal religion within Catholicism's structure of saints.

In British-Protestant America though, slaves were often working on much smaller farms with more direct supervision and interference by whites; the majority of slaves here were from tribes (Ashanti, Fanti) where there was less emphasis on a formal pantheon and more on ancestor veneration.  Since British law, unlike that of Catholic countries conceived of slaves as property, not people, there was less of an impetus for slaveowners to forcibly convert, but more opportunities for slaves' activities to be scrutinized and penalized for "heathenism," a lot of the overtly religious elements fell away, but a system of folk medicine and magic remained.  This combined with some Native American practices and pieces of European folk belief to form a magical system, one that was fairly adaptable to whatever the stated religion of the practitioner was.  That's Hoodoo.  

(Louisiana Voodoo is sort of halfway between the two -- the French Catholic influence means that more religious elements remained than in Protestant areas, but the smaller plantations, etc., meant that emphasis shifted to folk magic.)

Hoodoo is, especially today, a very hybrid practice; in the early-to-mid 20th century, European grimoires -- the only ones available, pretty much -- were adapted by African-American practitioners.  Hoodoo is sometimes used as a general term for the folk magic of the southern US, but the bulk of it is African/African-American.

Like a lot of folk magic, as opposed to more formal traditions of ceremonial magic, Hoodoo is very much a weapon of the oppressed.  It's very pragmatic and direct, and a great deal of the magic is concerned with gaining an advantage over enemies and/or bosses, evading the law, and other stuff that looks ethically dicey to people whose magical experience has been primarily Neo-Wiccan.  But again, this is very much the practical magic of marginalized, disadvantaged people, who can't trust the formal social power structures and for whom this was often their only recourse.  

The best resource on the web is Lucky Mojo.  
http://www.luckymojo.com/

For books:
Black Magic, Yvonne Chireau
Conjure in African-American Society AND Hoodoo, Voodoo and Conjure: A Handbook, Jeffrey E. Anderson
Mules and Men, Zora Neale Hurston
Voodoo and Hoodoo, Jim Haskins

 
yes,this. what she sed...."like".
lol
Ize bel zafen.
Ize bel daleen.

2greyhounds

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Hoodoo.
« Reply #4 on: November 20, 2011, 05:06:47 am »
Quote from: SatSekhem;29932
What exactly is 'hoodoo'? What makes this aspect of craft magic different from other traditions?

I do not call myself"hoodoo" but get many items for positive workings from a wonderful shop on etsy which would be considered Hoodoo: conjured cardea: The web address is: ConjuredCardea.etsey.com I really like the shop owner.
Then again i admit I am an etsy addict, I spend time on etsy rather than watch tv if -i have any free time!

Miss

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Re: Hoodoo.
« Reply #5 on: November 20, 2011, 05:32:36 pm »
Quote from: 2greyhounds;31041
I do not call myself"hoodoo" but get many items for positive workings from a wonderful shop on etsy which would be considered Hoodoo: conjured cardea: The web address is: ConjuredCardea.etsey.com I really like the shop owner.
Then again i admit I am an etsy addict, I spend time on etsy rather than watch tv if -i have any free time!

 
I feel you on the etsy addiction! I'm addicted to internet shopping in general, but etsy is one of my favorite. I've seen a plethora of hoodoo supplies there,too.

Miss

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Re: Hoodoo.
« Reply #6 on: November 20, 2011, 05:36:23 pm »
Quote from: catja6;29952
For books:
Black Magic, Yvonne Chireau
Conjure in African-American Society AND Hoodoo, Voodoo and Conjure: A Handbook, Jeffrey E. Anderson
Mules and Men, Zora Neale Hurston
Voodoo and Hoodoo, Jim Haskins

Thanks for adding to my Amazon wishlist! Ha!

Very informative post! Folk magic like this is very interesting.
« Last Edit: November 20, 2011, 05:39:13 pm by RandallS »

LeG

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Re: Hoodoo.
« Reply #7 on: November 27, 2011, 09:08:24 pm »
Quote from: SatSekhem;29932
What exactly is 'hoodoo'? What makes this aspect of craft magic different from other traditions?

 
I don't know how in other traditions, but i know what this word means exactly in slavic language: Hoodoo(Hudo) - destructive actions of one person to another.

spoOk

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Re: Hoodoo.
« Reply #8 on: November 27, 2011, 09:13:08 pm »
Quote from: LeG;31922
I don't know how in other traditions, but i know what this word means exactly in slavic language: Hoodoo(Hudo) - destructive actions of one person to another.

 
ha! that's neat!
is this the meaning of the word as a slavic word or as an adopted word?
if it is just strictly Slavic meaning,in isolation from actual hoodoo,that's cool how it lines up that way.
there is a big aspect of hoodoo that has a separate mind set from other magic forms ,where " revenge,or bettering ones self" isn't considered bad to do,persay.
you still need to be very careful how you apply it mind you.
hexing,crossing,jinxing etc. can get very tangled very quickly.
Ize bel zafen.
Ize bel daleen.

LeG

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Re: Hoodoo.
« Reply #9 on: November 28, 2011, 02:48:46 am »
Quote from: spoOk;31924
ha! that's neat!
is this the meaning of the word as a slavic word or as an adopted word?
if it is just strictly Slavic meaning,in isolation from actual hoodoo,that's cool how it lines up that way.
there is a big aspect of hoodoo that has a separate mind set from other magic forms ,where " revenge,or bettering ones self" isn't considered bad to do,persay.
you still need to be very careful how you apply it mind you.
hexing,crossing,jinxing etc. can get very tangled very quickly.

 
I don't said that it has slavic roots, because i don't know. I just told how it's sounds in my native language. Maybe just coincidence...

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