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DID YOU SAY HOODOO?
Hoodoo is a form of American folk magic
with it's taproot in Africa. Grafted onto
this core are distinct European and Native
American herbal and magical practices and
beliefs.
Hoodoo is not Voodoo, Santeria, or any other
religion. It is a living and organic magical
system with a strong African heartbeat.
Virtually all practitioners are Christian.
WHAT IS ROOTWORK?
Rootwork, hoodoo, and conjure are terms
which are often used interchangeably.
Rootworkers are specialists in magic who
use the innate powers and properties of
herbs, roots, trees, and a variety of
other natural substances to produce desired
changes in circumstances and conditions.
Additionally, there are traditional methods
which are utilized in creating, combining,
preparing, and deploying magical substances
and artifacts for utmost effect.
DOES MAGIC REALLY WORK?
Folk magic to my mind is based upon one
primary assumption: that everything is
connected.
Essentially, if the thread that links
two things is found, a gifted worker can
cause change to occur in the lives and
circumstances of those for whom he or
she works. That magic works is an undeniable
fact. People can be helped to find love,
fulfillment and happiness, and in some
cases to reconcile with those they have
lost. Adverse circumstances can be altered.
Financial difficulties and career troubles
can be resolved and transformed. Good
luck can be enhanced. Protection can be
established to guard the vulnerable during
periods of strain or attack. Unnatural
illness caused by the deliberate use of
witchcraft or by the envious and unkind
can be healed, and negative conditions
caused by an evil spell can be broken.
Virtually any situation can be approached
from a magical standpoint. However, some
circumstances are less easily changed
than others, and a very few may be virtually
intractable. Even there, however, there
is usually a way to ameliorate conditions,
at least to some degree. Any rootworker,
magical worker or spiritual doctor who
tells you that they are able to give an
absolute guarantee of success should be
regarded with caution.
WHAT DOES ROOTWORK INVOLVE?
HERBS AND ROOTS
Hoodoo employs a huge materia magica.
Plants in general can be categorized as
providing either food, physical medicine,
or, in some cases, poison. Plants also
have spiritual natures and spiritual properties,
subtle qualities which may or may not
be closely related to their physical medicine.
These spiritual properties can be accessed
and utilized to benefit us. Knowledge
of which herbs, roots, and trees to use
for spiritual conditions and ailments
is the special provenance of the rootworker.
The methods involved are many and varied,
and range from the creation of individualized
mojo bags, to making herbal teas used
to bathe in, drink, or sprinkle, to burning
herbs and wafting their smoke about the
client, and more. Minerals and other substances
are also employed.
CANDLEWORK
Candles of various colors and types are
often employed by rootworkers as part
of the magical process. It is common for
candles to be annointed with oils and
prayed over prior to being lit. Candles
are one way of throwing up a flare into
the subtle or spirit world, to bring about
actual changes in life.
SPIRITUAL BATHS
Often a rootworker will have a client
take a bath, or series of baths. These
are spiritual baths, affecting the nature
and spirit of the individual, and are
not the same as your daily cleansing routine.
There are many different types of baths
for many different conditions. Baths can
be taken once, at the beginning of rootwork,
or a series of baths can be prescribed.
Generally, the baths involve complete
ritual immersion in water to which specific
herbs, roots, minerals and other substances
have been added. The client may be instructed
to bathe in a certain direction; for instance,
a client may be told to draw the bathwater
up from their feet to their head, in order
to draw whatever their goal is towards
them. It is a general rule not to use
soap during spiritual baths, and it is
most common for the bather to be instructed
to allow themselves to air dry, rather
than to towel off. Click: A
Spiritual Bath Recipe
SPIRITUAL AID
Working with spirits beyond those of the
plants used is common amongst rootworkers,
but it is also highly individualistic.
Many rootworkers feel that they are assisted
by specific spiritual forces to accomplish
their work. Often conjures will work with
one or more of the saints, many of whom
are recognized as being willing helpers
in particular fields such as retrieving
lost items, health or love.
PRAYER, INTENTION AND THE BIBLE
More than any substance, more than any
candle, more than any ritual, mojo, or
bath, I believe that prayer is in and
of itself is the single most powerful
factor in magic. Prayer with intent and
focus is incredibly potent. As the overwhelming
majority of rootworkers are Christian,
the Bible is used extensively. The Psalms
in particular provide specific ways to
call upon the Power of the Holy Spirit
to surround, recognize and assist the
individual in question.
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