Hoodoo
Alternate uses: hoodoo (geology), Hoodoo (ski area), Hoo-Doo (character in Lidsville TV show)Hoodoo refers to African-American traditional folk
magic. A rich magical tradition which was (for thousands of years), indigenous to ancient African botanical, magio-religious practices and folk cultures. Its practice was imported when mainly West Africans were brought to the United States and enslaved.
Hoodoo is used as a
noun and is dervied from the
Ewe word "Hudu," which is still exant today. Hoodoo is often used in African-American vernacular to describe a magic "spell" or potion, or as a descriptor for a practitioner (hoodoo doctor, hoodoo man or hoodoo woman), or as an
adjective or
verb depending upon context. The word can be dated at least as early as
1891.* Some prefer the term
hoodooism, but this has mostly fallen out of use. Some "New Age" non-Diaspora practitioners who have taken up Hoodoo as a hobby employ
synonyms to include
conjuration, conjure, witchcraft, or
rootwork, The latter demonstrates the importance of various
roots in the making of charms and casting spells. It is important to note that in traditional African religious culture, the concept of "spells" is not used. Here again, this Afro-botanical practice has been heavily used by the New Age, and Wiccan communities who have little understanding of "Hoodoo's" spiritual significance as it is traditionally used in Africa. An
amulet characteristic of hoodoo is the
mojo, often called a
mojo bag,
mojo hand,
conjure bag, trick bag, or
toby; this is a small sack filled with herbs, roots, coins, sometimes a
lodestone, and various other objects of magical power.
_____
*An earlier attestation dates from 1863. A Confederate infantryman, wounded in the failed assault against Union-held Helena, Arkansas on 4 July, said, "Since that day at Helena I tell the boys I would rather buck against a hoodoo than try to down old Glory on the Fourth of July." Barring a radically different meaning of "hoodoo," the reference seems to be to trying to beat a curse (as being preferable to refighting the Battle of Helena). [Further references confirm that early use of the term "Hoodoo" was used west of the Mississippi at least (see Hoodoo War aka Mason County War- Texas 1870s)...the term being used to describe vigilantes of that cattle "war", it is also suggested that the term may have referenced the white robed Klu Klux Klan riders of the era. In the official definition of Hoodoo there is also a reference to tall ghostlike rock structures in the west as being called Hoodoos, the similarity of the references being obvious.]
As can be expected, most practitioners of hoodoo are
African American, but
Whites and
Native Americans also use hoodoo, although their practices share commonalities more with
Pennsylvania Dutch pow-wow magic, rather than with its more potent practices in West Africa. In its home of Africa, Hoodoo (Hudu) is a well respected tradition, which is typically passed through old family priestly lines. Today, in America, traditional folk knowledge is passed from person to person; and there is no evidence of a structured hierarchy.
The goal of hoodoo is to allow people access to
supernatural forces to improve their daily lives by gaining power in many areas of life, including
gambling, love,
divination, cursing one's enemies, treatment of
disease, employment, and
necromancy. As in many other folk religious, magical, and medical practices, extensive use is made of
herbs,
minerals, parts of animals' bodies, an individual's possessions, and bodily fluids, especially
menstrual blood,
urine and
semen. Contact with ancestors or other spirits of the dead is an important practice within the conjure tradition, and the recitation of
Psalms from the
Bible is also considered magically effective in hoodoo. Due to hoodoo's great emphasis on an individual's magical power, its basic principles of working are easily adapted for use based on one's desires, inclination and habits.
Home-made potions and charms form the basis of much old-time rural hoodoo, but there are also many successful commercial companies selling various hoodoo components to urban and rural practitioners. These are generally called spiritual supplies, and they include herbs, roots, minerals,
candles,
incense, oils, floor washes, sachet powders, bath crystals, and colognes. Many
patent medicines,
cosmetics, and household cleaning supplies have been also aimed at hoodoo practitioners and have found dual usage as conventional and spiritual remedies.
Hoodoo and
Voodoo are often mistaken for one another. Although some believe that the terms may have a common
etymology, with the religious persecution and suppression of the Voodoo religion in America, "hoodoo" is what remains. Mainly because of its wide popularity among mainstream America.
The ancient African religion of Voodoo is an established religion with its ancient roots in Egypt, East Africa, ancient
Ionia and Afro-Rome. Its current roots are in the West African region now known as
Benin,
Togo,
Burkina Faso. It is practiced all throughout West Africa; particularly, among members of the Fon, Ewe and other West African groups. In
Haiti it is practiced in a form that has been greatly modified by contact with the
Catholic church.
In the U.S. Hoodoo is not a religion -- that is, it is spiritual and magical in nature, but it does not have an established theology, clergy, laity, or order of liturgical services. Hoodoo shows obvious and evident links to the practices and beliefs of all African folk magico-religious culture. The Hoodoo practiced in the U.S. by the enslaved Africans was brought from West and Central
Africa, specifically, the area that is now known as the
Congo and
Angola,
Togo,
Nigeria and other West African regions.
Music
Lyrics from Creedence Clearwater Revival - Born on the Bayou includes hoodoo. And I can remember the fourth of July,Runnin' through the backwood, bare.And I can still hear my old hound dog barkin',Chasin' down a hoodoo there.Chasin' down a hoodoo there.From the context it would appear that the term use is a 'hoo doo there' prehaps a southern, black, or cajun slang for someone or something that does not belong. as in 'who is there?'.
Folk Humor
A sort of "
who's on first" routine arose from the sound of the word "hoodoo," which went like this: "You remind me of the man." "What man?" "The man with the power of Hoodoo." "Hoodoo?" "You do." "Do what?" "You remind me of the man..." It may have arisen from
vaudeville or
burlesque but more likely it's a joke once in common circulation.
Books
Zora Neale Hurston recorded many hoodoo practices and tales. Other authors on the subject include Harry M. Hyatt, Newbell Niles Puckett, Jim Haskins,
Mama Zogbe and
catherine yronwode.
Radio
Since 2004,
Dr. Christos Kioni, a conjure doctor from
Florida, has co-hosted and produced a weekly hour-long radio show and
podcast on the subject of hoodoo called "The Lucky Mojo Hoodoo Rootwork Hour."
Film
The Skeleton Key, a
film released in
2005, centers on the practice of hoodoo.
Music
Many
blues musicians have referred to hoodoo in their songs, and such elements have become important to the music. In addition to the expected terms
hoodoo and
mojo, other conjure words to look for in such songs include
jinx, goofer dust, nation sack, black cat bone, graveyard dirt, and
black spider dumplings.The
Muse (band) album
Black Holes and Revelations features a song called Hoodoo.
Creedence Clearwater Revival has a song called 'Born on the Bayou' that includes the line, "I can still hear that old hound dog barking, chasin' down a hoodoo there".
Games
Hoodoo (and Voodoo) are a central part of the plot to
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father, an
adventure game released in 1993.
Sports
In English, Australian, and New Zealand sports journalism, the word hoodoo is sometimes used to refer to a team's inability to achieve a certain goal - such as beating a particular opponent or winning a certain trophy. This usage jokingly implies that there is some supernatural force preventing the team from doing so and derives from the false notion that hoodoo magic consists only, or primarily, of
curses. For example, the
England national football team is said to have a hoodoo against
Sweden, having failed to beat them in 38 years.
Military history
The first
battleship of the United States Navy, the
USS Texas, commissioned in 1895, was referred to by nickname as the "Old Hoodoo" due to a series of incidents that occurred after she was commissioned that gave her a reputation as an unlucky ship. The code letter "H" that was assigned to the Texas at that time may have also contributed to the inspiration. At the
battle of Santiago, Cuba, on July 3, 1898, the "Old Hoodoo", in the words of a contemporary New York Sun article published shortly after the battle, became the "Old Hero".
*
John the Conqueror*
Pow-wow (folk magic)*
Rabbit's foot*
Hot foot powder*
Quimbanda*
SanterĂa*
Vodou*
Hoodoo: A New World Name for an Ancient African Magical Tradition by Mama Zogbé
*
Quimbanda - a religious practice from the same roots as Hoodoo - Angola*
Hoodoo in Theory and Practice by
catherine yronwode at
luckymojo.com*
Blues Lyrics and Hoodoo by
catherine yronwode at
luckymojo.com*
Lucky Mojo Hoodoo Rootwork Hour with Dr. Christos Kioni*
DMOZ Open Directory - Hoodoo, Rootwork, Conjure, Obeah 
