Do Spiritual Workers Have To Charge For Their Services?

People have to understand those spiritual workers have to charge a fair amount they deem worthy of their services.

Yes, reputable workers and readers charge or accept donations because our work must have an energy exchange. Second, the spells, readings, and healings we perform on behalf of our clients should be valued and treasured. As Matthew 6:19-20, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be."

Even Jesus himself didn't work for free. Jesus and his disciples received donations. He actually appointed Judas Iscariot as their treasurer (John 12:6). Their followers also gave them monetary payments and donations, as well as food, clothing, and shelter for their work.

In Luke 10, Jesus sent his disciples out for their preaching and healing ministry with instructions to accept food and shelter from those to whom they preached. As Jesus said in that particular chapter, a worker deserves a wage: "When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house." (Luke 10:5-7)

In Luke 8:1-3, several women whom Jesus and the apostles healed from spiritual diseases financially supported and purchased and built homes for them out of their income. "After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means." (Luke 8:1-3)

Even in traditional African spiritual paths, every ceremony, ritual, spell, and spiritual work has a fee that belongs to the spirits. The spirits determine the rates, charges, or fees and must be paid before performing any workings. This monetary exchange is expected to be used to purchase ritual paraphernalia such as candles, herbs and roots, tools, and offerings. 

Free conjure work is for emergency situations and those who are financially inadequate only. 

Laundry Bluing

Sodium Carbonate with ultramarine or aniline pigment

Hoodoo practitioners use laundry bluing, especially brands such as Reckitt's Crown Blue squares and Mrs. Stewart's liquid bluing or hand-made Mexican blue anil balls. Others prefer to create their own by mixing washing soda and synthetic ultramarine dye for various magical and spiritual purposes.

Also known as "lucky blue balls." (Photo courtesy of Alchemy-Arts.com) 

The anil balls are often sewn up with a lump of alum crystal, nine silver dimes, and sometimes, Lucky Hand or salep root to create a powerful gambling mojo hand, which they feed once a week with Whiskey to keep the winning streak going. 

Laundry bluing is also used to make Peace Water by dissolving it in spring water and then layered with oil, Florida water, and other floral essences. Spiritual workers pour out a bowl or glass of Peace Water to keep the space clear of malignant spirits and draw benevolent spirits.

Blue water baths and floor washes are also prescribed to clients before doing any spiritual work by mixing laundry bluing; Ammonia for purification or Florida water for good fortune; and a tablespoon of alum for protection, or Epsom salt for cleansing, or sugar for success in a tub or pail of water.

Old-time folk magic practitioners initially used bluestone or copper sulfate as an ingredient for spiritual washes and liquids but were replaced due to its high toxicity.

Mundanely, fabric bluing is a household product used to restore the fabric's whiteness and improve the textiles' appearance. This particular purpose is why conjure workers and spiritualists use it to restore peace in an inharmonious home and enhance the luck of a not-so-fortunate person.

Spiritual Foot-Washing

Spiritual foot-washing is a traditional Christian Hoodoo rite offered by conjure workers to lighten mental, emotional, and spiritual loads and cleanse one from crossed conditions and messes thrown by enemies. Some major Protestant churches, like The Church of God and Saints of Christ, Primitive Baptist Church, and African Methodist Episcopal congregations, are known to do this as part of their religious rituals, especially every Maundy Thursday. Spiritual workers and other Christians perform this ritual differently, but the purpose remains the same.

Foot-washing originated in ancient Israel. Jews, like all other Oriental people, wore sandals and usually went barefoot inside the house, so washing their feet was necessary. Hence, among Jews, the host was obliged to give his guest a bowl or basin of water to refresh and clean his feet; failure to do this was a sign of inhospitality.

At the Last Supper, Jesus washed his disciples' feet (John 13:1-17). 

Besides "netilat yadayim" or hand-washing, foot-washing was also a primary ritual performed before participating in Temple rituals. In Old Testament times, a bronze laver sited outside the Tabernacle of Meeting, between the door and the altar of burnt offering, cleansed the priests' hands and feet. Foot-washing in Ancient Israel was also a form of servitude, the lowest form, as a matter of fact, performed only by slaves in bondage. 

In the New Testament era, Jesus' gesture toward his disciples became a significant spiritual act since it was never seen before that a master washed the feet of his servants. Jesus humbled himself to his disciples through the foot-washing ritual, which did not make him 'lesser' in any way, shape, or form. His humility was a sign of divine servitude for the early Christians. 

Followers of Christ continued to practice this foot-washing ritual for themselves and their converts. They performed it in Antiochia, later spreading to the Church of Milan. However, many early Christians opposed its practice mainly because they believed sins were already cleansed during baptism, so they found the ritual foot-washing rather pointless. Even so, many people still took it up as a sacrament. Its observance at the time of baptism or immersion was maintained in North Africa, Gaul, France, and Rome as the Western Church sanctioned the sacramental idea of the rite.

Still, despite the sanction, some Church leaders and bishops did not believe that foot-washing should be regarded as a holy sacrament. They vehemently disapproved of its implementation in newly established Churches and the consistent application of other existing assemblies. Due to this, many Christians refused to participate in the ritual. Foot washing, therefore, diminished in practice. As time went by, the Roman Catholic Church eventually transformed it into a splendid ceremony observed during the coronations of kings and emperors, installation of Popes, and other high clerical officials.

The primitive foot-washing was then rediscovered and restored by Protestants in revivals of the Christian religion. Though Lutherans and Calvinists repudiated the ceremony, the radical sects of Protestantism recreated the practice of the apostolic era that early Christians abandoned. Since that time, Protestantism has been the only Christian denomination that practices the ritual of foot-washing.

During the First Great Awakening, poor White farmers who were Baptists made enslaved Africans attend and participate in their Church services. The Protestant religion appealed to the slaves greatly, so many converted. Blacks also found opportunities to have active roles as they were appointed leaders and preachers. Some even founded Churches exclusive to Blacks where they were free to mix Christianity with traditional African beliefs. This was especially true in plantation areas around the Low Country. As they read and studied the Bible, they found inspiration in stories of the deliverance of the Israelite slaves from Egypt and the gesture Jesus had shown to his disciples when he stripped off his divinity, humbled himself, and acted as a servant through foot-washing.

The ceremony was mainly found in districts of the South and South West of the United States. Churchgoers in those remote places believed that foot-washing should be practiced by all believers in Christ and considered it a gospel commandment that must be observed until the Second Coming of the Messiah. Members of Black Churches in Louisiana called themselves Baptists but retained some Catholic customs, such as celebrating Catholic holidays and feast days and veneration of Church saints. They also preserved and practiced the ritual of foot-washing.

Cleansing one's feet has a powerful resonance in the history and culture of the African-American community. Black people materialized their Christian faith and honored and worshiped God proudly with their feet; they used their feet to march on the street bearing the Good News, to dance and sing hallelujah and praises to God, and to release themselves from the bondage of apathy, discrimination, oppression, and violence. Because of this, the ceremony meant so much to them, and they performed it reverently and dignifiedly. To some strangers, who, out of curiosity, were visiting Churches during foot-washing days, they found this rite ridiculous. Good old Southern preachers directly rebuked and cursed these "limbs of Satan" as they were showing signs of disrespect. 

Mother Pollard, an African-American community elder in Alabama, is a great example or model who expressed her faith and spoke her theology with her feet when she said the famous lines, "My feet is tired, but my soul is rested" during the Civil Rights Movement and Montgomery Bus Boycott in the mid-1950s. Black folks use their feet to live out their holiness, so it is imperative for them to spiritually cleanse themselves from offenses, which could be their own transgressions or assaults of other people in the form of nasty tricks, jinxes, and such, and that seems unavoidable for those who walk in the dust of the world. 

A rootworker tears the leaves and releases their herbal essence for foot-washing. 

My method of this ritual was shared with me by a Judeo-Christian Church minister and spiritual worker. The implements and supplies traditionally used for foot-washing are a large glass or stainless pitcher with warm water, a large ceramic bowl or stainless basin (do not use plastic), a clean white towel, holy water, and Abramelin, Blessing, or Van Van oil. Some folks use spiritual soap to clean their clients' feet and even floral colognes or fragrances to perfume the feet, while others use herbs. A regular prayer service is usually conducted before washing the feet, requesting God to pour the precious blood of His son, Jesus, to cleanse us of our sins. Then, I ask my client to remove his shoes and socks and help him place his feet in the basin of warm water. After that, I add holy water and pour a few drops of oil into the basin. During this time, I usually read scriptures such as John 13:1-11, pray about the condition that needs to be addressed, or offer prophetic guidance while massaging the soles and heels of his feet. I take the pitcher of warm water and pour it over each foot. That's the understanding that all my client's interactions in the physical world, walking and working, should be done in a wise, meaningful way and that he should not be led astray but be guided in the direction of peace, righteousness, and wisdom. Throughout this course, I invite my client to confess all his wrongdoings directly to God, release all the feelings of guilt and shame, take the opportunity to talk to Him about his personal issues, refocus on his priorities, ground himself, and center his energy. People who are gifted in tongue, let the Holy Spirit fill them. While praying, I gently stroke the ankles, toes, and top of my client's feet, giving special attention to the spots that feel tender and sore. When I am done cleansing his feet and praying for his path and journey, I take them out of the bowl or basin, dry them in a white towel, and anoint his feet with oil. After I have completed the foot-washing, I wash my hands in warm water and then dry them on a clean towel.

Ariel Marzan, our colleague and fellow conjure man, blessed the spiritual water for foot-washing. 

Spiritual foot-washing can be an emotional experience. Most of my clients sob and cry during the entire ritual. Crying is an excellent way to release emotions and purge oneself of all past mistakes, stress, frustration, anxiety, fear, and drama. Crying is not a sign of fragility; it strengthens someone because the sense of relief and renewal fights the pain when every tear has been shed.

This ritual is a reminder, too, that everyone is holy. Just as the High Priests in the Temple in biblical times prepared themselves by washing, so do we wash every once in a while. Performing a simple act representing something sacred and meaningful is a unique pleasure. The primary purpose of foot-washing is to cleanse us of negative emotions, bad intentions, and evil inclinations and to imitate and remember Jesus in everything we do. As long as genuine motivations and emotions are behind the act, this hands-on spiritual service will bring feelings of kindness, humility, empathy, purification, and healing to the client.

Little John To Chew Root

alpinia galangal

Also known as Chewing John, Court Case Root, Thai Ginger, or simply Galangal, this root is a premier herbal remedy widely believed to help win court cases and remove jinxes.

Rootworkers advise their clients to chew a galangal root, retain it in the mouth while praying, swallow the juice, and then spit out the cud to break a jinx, turn the enemy away from harming you, or get a favorable result or verdict in court. This trick is actually an African-American derivation of the Kongo practice of chewing and spitting the root of a plant called "disisa" or "nsanga-lavu" to drive off enemies and evil entities. Interestingly, both disisa and galangal are members of the ginger family.

This protective trick was found in the narratives of former slaves Frederick Douglass of Maryland and author and abolitionist Henry Bibb of Kentucky, who said that he had spat galangal's juice toward his master to prevent punishment.

When doing this, I recommend boiling the root in sugar water first for an hour to soften it up while keeping a brown candle (for a court case) or white candle (for jinx removal) burning in the kitchen. Then, before chewing, dress the root with Court Case oil for a fair trial or Jinx Killer or Uncrossing oil for jinx removal.

Others brew Little John into tea to bathe themselves or rinse the clothes they will use in court hearings or proceedings.

This root is also one of the main ingredients for Q or 'Queer' oil since Little John to Chew is known to attract love and passion in gay men when combined with other John roots; High John the Conqueror and Dixie John.

Herbalists state that, like ginger, the root is a calmative for the digestive system; thus, it is believed to aid one's nervousness, anxiety, and stress and promote one's confidence. This medicinal use is responsible for the root's magical property, allowing one to stand and testify convincingly and authoritatively before the court. To use as a tea, pour 1 cup of boiling water over ½ to 1 teaspoonful of the root. Allow to steep for 4-7 minutes, then strain. Drink 1- 2 cups of tea daily. If desired, add honey and/or lemon to taste. 

 A sweetening spell utilizing the power of Chewing John root to work on the judges' sympathies.

Ammonia Solution

Aqua Ammoniae

Also called Hartshorn Water, Spirits of Hartshorn, or simply (inaccurately) Ammonia, it is a solution of Ammonia in water, denoted by symbols NH3(aq). Ammonia is called water or spirit of Hartshorn because of the experimentation of the early chemists in the 17th century when they tried to distill ammonia solution from shavings of harts' (a species of deer) horns and hooves.

People pass ammonia inhalants under the nose when reviving someone suffering from the loss of consciousness or fainting.

It is also a standard household cleaner with a magical reputation in the Hoodoo tradition as a purifier, protectant, cleanser, and a polite substitute for chamber lye or urine. I know some practitioners conclude their house cleansing ritual by pouring a small amount of Ammonia down the drain.

Spiritual workers from New Orleans add a tablespoon of Ammonia to the Protection bath, which is mixed with salt and vinegar. Other practitioners from other parts of the Southern United States mix Ammonia, cinnamon powder, and saltpeter for Cleansing and Protection baths. Both spiritual baths are performed for nine consecutive mornings to ensure safety and defense from harm.

A common practice, especially among shop owners and storekeepers, is to add Ammonia to floor-scrubbing water with Chinese Wash, cinnamon powder, and sugar and to mop the corridor or sweep or scrub the sidewalk inward toward the front door of the shop while reciting Psalm 23, to draw good customers.

There's also an old-fashioned trick in African-American tradition where conjure men and women put a name paper of their convicted enemy in an empty sugar bowl. Then they put in red pepper, black pepper, nail, door key, and Ammonia. They cover the sugar bowl and set a second door key upright in the bowl, resting against the side, which they turn every day at noon to keep their enemy in jail. They add a little Four Thieves Vinegar every time they turn the key.

And, of course, the traditional reversing work where Ammonia is also utilized. This simple spell is performed by writing out the situation you want to turn around on a slip of paper and taped to the inside of the jar near the top, with the written part turned inward to hide your intention. The Ammonia is poured until the jar is about half full while stating your situation with a strong emphasis and praying over it. The jar is closed tightly and turned upside down to make the Ammonia cover the slip of paper and work its magic.

Be careful not to breathe the fumes when using Ammonia.

Materials needed for Ammonia Jar Spell to reverse situations and make them come out in our client's favor.

Taping the petition paper inside the mouth of the jar.

Is New Orleans The Center For Hoodoo?

I am unsure where this belief started, but New Orleans is not the center for Hoodoo. I just want to clarify that what is primarily practiced in New Orleans IS NOT even Hoodoo. Most of what is practiced in New Orleans is called Louisiana Voodoo (and it's not the same thing as Hoodoo). Another Christian folk magic practice infused with concepts gleaned from a blend of Spiritualism, Haitian Vodou, French Catholicism, and Pentecostalism. I'm not saying that New Orleans has no authentic Hoodoo or conjure practitioners. There is a great deal, but this is not where Hoodoo originated, flourished, and developed.

A Gullah 'praise house' in St. Helena Island, South Carolina, and its pastor, Reverend Henderson. (Photo courtesy of Julia Cart, National Humanities Center)

If there is a capital of rootwork and conjure tradition, it would be found in places such as South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, where old African-American practices are still being performed. These include Ring Shout (counter-clockwise worship dance), which is an integral component of the Hoodoo tradition. In addition, indigenous plants and herbs historically used by Gullah people and Low Country folks are mostly found in these places.

Conjure woman gathering herbs for 'Hoodooing.' (Photo courtesy of Newbell Niles Puckett Memorial Gift, Cleveland Public Library, Fine Arts and Special Collections Department)

The African-American population living in the coastal regions of the Southern United States retained and preserved their African folk beliefs and cultural heritage while adhering to Christian teachings.

During the colonial days, there was a fantastic fusion of customs and traditions from the Mende, Baga, Fula, Kongo, Mandinka, Wolof, and Yoruba tribes, to name a few. Some plantation overseers and rice-field owners who were afraid of slave revolt simply ignored this homegrown way of spiritual healing and were allowed it to carry on. While some slave masters left the place due to malaria and yellow fever becoming endemic and were forced to assign and appoint Africans as overseers, known as 'the drivers'. By 1708, there was a black majority in the colony as the White population continued to dwindle, and more and more African slaves were imported each year.  

Due to physical remoteness, isolation, and relative freedom from White slave owners and the significant influx of Africans, the 'Black-Belt Hoodoo' practice thrived from the antebellum period until the reconstruction era. Some Whites even visited slave quarters to consult about their ailments and conditions. Until the mid-20th century, the Low Country was the cradle of the Hoodoo practice. Each area had its own conjure doctor. Even a former local restaurateur in the South once said he saw cars lined up as far away as Alabama.

Ed Murphy, a Mississippi conjure doctor, had three birthmarks on his left arm representing the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Having strange birthmarks is one of the best-known signs that a child is gifted for the work. (Photo courtesy of Newbell Niles Puckett Memorial Gift, Cleveland Public Library, Fine Arts and Special Collections Department)

Most of the acclaimed conjure men and women were residents of the states mentioned above, too: 'Gullah' Jack Pritchard was from Charleston, South Carolina; Mr. Ed Murphy was from Mississippi; Aunt Caroline Tracy Dye was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina (though she was more recognized in Arkansas), Marie Steel was from Washington County, Georgia, and Aunt Sally was from Gee's Bend, Alabama. Among those time-honored root doctors, Dr. Buzzard was the most famous.

Dr. Buzzard, also known as Stephany Robinson, was an African-American from St. Helena Island, Beaufort County, South Carolina. He was said to have wielded enormous spiritual power, which he passed on to his son. His specialty was "chewing the root" in court, a practice that could get favorable results and verdicts from court hearings or proceedings. 

Even today, the Gullah family traditions are still strong in the Deep South. I can say that nine out of ten have a family member who still practices the old-fashioned Hoodoo, providing glimpses into the Deep South's past. Even to those who have left the South and migrated to other parts of the U.S., the old ways have persisted, and the people have not lost their identities.

Is Hoodoo Satanic Or Demonic?

There is no such thing as Satanic Hoodoo. Satanists do not call on the blood of Jesus Christ, pray and devote to the Judeo-Christian God, and recite scripture to empower their magical and spiritual work.

The 'Devil' that we, Hoodoo practitioners, invoked in our works differs from Satan. The devil in Hoodoo is a revered spiritual entity. He is like Papa Legba, Eleggua, or San Simon, a trickster spirit inhabiting the crossroads but has limited influence within their own realms. Some people see him as a lesser chthonic entity that is essentially malicious at times and is quite good at name-dropping, posturing, and pretending to be more influential than He really is. 

He is definitely a psychic construct or, in the concept of the Book of Enoch, an 'egregorial power' that has so much energy. Fear and adoration fed into it, forming its existence and becoming the entity the fearmongers created. If one tracks the mentions of the ha-Satans through the Holy Scriptures, there's a significant gap between 'Satan' and 'The Devil' and the functions they actually serve in the various texts over time. So, for most Hoodoo practitioners, we don't equate The Devil with Satan, Lucifer, Baphomet, or any of the Ba'al or ha-satan entities. The Devil is The Devil, and his influence only goes as far as you allow it to because he's a collective psychic construct.

In Conjure tradition, though, he can be a helpful ally to guard one's property, make someone lustful, dominate or cause harm to an enemy, drive unwanted people away, compel a debtor to repay money owed, and get easy money without much effort.

Red Devil Lye is an American brand of lye (a caustic chemical used in liquid soaps and toilet bowl cleaners) used by old conjure works to protect and send enemies away. 

An old-fashioned work utilized a drain cleaner bearing a drawing of the face of the devil. This product, called 'Lewis Red Devil Lye,' was sold in boxes before with labels of a big, furious, smiling devil (they now replaced it with plastic bottles and reduced the size of the devil, as shown above). That artwork of the devil in the vintage container was why some practitioners bury four unopened containers of Red Devil Lye at the four corners of a property with the Devil images facing outward to guard one's premises.

But I know few conjure men who work with the Demons, primarily Chthonic entities from the Judeo-Christian pantheon and the Goetia; I was one of them. The synthesis between Demonolatry and Hoodoo has its origins in the late 19th and early 20th Century with the experimentation of the urban conjure workers of Chicago and similar areas because of the availability of Judeo-Christian grimoires and pseudepigraphical writings to the public, like the Keys of Solomon, the 6th and 7th Books of Moses, the Book of Enoch, Lemegeton, and many others.

I didn't worship Satan because I had never been contacted by him, and I was neither a Theistic nor a LaVeyan Satanist. I did practice Demonolatry, though, to some extent, but differently than the usual practice of ceremonial magicians.

Now, one may ask, do practitioners who practice Goetic Hoodoo still worship the Biblical God? How is it possible?

Goetic Seals.

In my previous post, I discussed the two kinds of "servitus"; latria and dulia. Latria is the service given to God alone. At the same time, dulia is a service that is different in nature and degree from that given to God because it is paid to the saints, angels, non-Christian deities and spirits, and even 'demons.'

There are those very intensely dogmatic people whose worldview is a great battle between the two forces in the world—good and evil. The captain of the good team is the Biblical God, the Father, assisted by His Son Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and a host of angels, saints, and blessed spirits. The captain of the evil team is God's archenemy, Satan, assisted by Lucifer and other demons and evil spirits.

This approach does not follow most forms of Hoodoo and Jewish tradition. The so-called 'Satan vs. God' approach is an anathema to my personal beliefs and Folk Jewish tradition because of the whiff of dualism inherent in it. The Infinite God is One and only One. He acts in many different ways, but I don't believe that there are 'two' armies fighting for humanity's souls in the world's complete sense.

The Bible does speak of the entity called 'Satan.' Still, it sees Satan and other demons as intelligent agents of God, testing the sincerity and inner worthiness of man's deeds, the strength of his convictions, and the endurance of his spiritual and moral fiber. Although I agree that Satan and some demons seem to entice man to do wrong, they are not inherently evil beings who can control other people. Instead, they are conducting a 'string' operation, overtly enticing mankind to do evil but, in reality, working for God. The book of Job explains Satan's role here on Earth: "God sends out Satan to test Job's righteousness." This is the spiritual structure in which Goetic Hoodoo employs their works.

Bay Laurel Leaves

laurus nobilis

Laurel is an ancient symbol of success, triumph, and victory; many old rootworkers brew their leaves into tea to dissolve Crown of Success bath crystals or mix Crown of Success oil. This spiritual bath is done by washing oneself upward (from feet up to head) to draw success and good fortune while praying for a successful marriage, victory in sports, politics, and competitions, or recognition in school or work.

Bay leaves may be added to any spell to ensure its success!

Conjure workers are also known to place bay leaves in each corner of the room or house to stop interference by unwanted people while doing a domination job or enemy work. This practice stemmed from its household use, in which folks placed dried laurel leaves in their rooms to keep moths and bugs out. Moths and some other insects in Native American and old Appalachian folklore are believed to be spirits of the deceased, and they are thought to be the protective ancestral spirits of your enemy watching over your works.

Bay leaves are also used to ward off evil; that's why some practitioners brew the leaves into a tea and add it to floor wash, which is usually a blend of Chinese Wash, Ammonia, holy water, and salts in a bucket of water to get rid of jinxes and undo any kind of enemy tricks laid in one's house.

Bay leaves are also used to aid headaches and migraines and calm nerves. Thus, they are magically used to increase wisdom, clarity of thought, and insight by burning them as incense or steeping their leaves in olive oil and using them to massage your head. The oil can also be used to relieve muscle aches and pains.

For digestive relief and other health benefits, the leaves should be steeped in hot water for several minutes before straining. Since bay leaves taste slightly bitter, you would likely want to use honey or fruit syrup for flavoring. 

Ritually Fixed And Prepared Jewelry

Ritually fixing and enchanting client's gold wristwatch for his Steady Job spell. 

Charmed jewelry pieces in Hoodoo practice have origins dating back to ancient civilizations of Africa, where people make necklaces, bracelets, and anklets out of organic beads and other curious objects in their region. Beadwork has been an integral part of Central West African history from time immemorial. They function as a currency, possess authority, indicate wealth, serve as spiritual talismans, represent a connection to the deities or spirits, and form coded messages. 

Africans started with materials they used to find easily in nature, such as shells, woods, bones, seeds, stones, ivories, and pearls for various magical and spiritual representations. In the pre-colonial era, some kingdoms in Congo used beaded masks and crowns to acquire psychic abilities. Further north were the Yoruba and Fon people, who used strands of beads as emblems of their spirits. Some jewelry was also created to represent ancestors and other entities, facilitating communication with the spirit world. Bamum people used jewelry made of cowrie shells like money, becoming a symbol of wealth. The Krobo tribe was one of the main Ghanaian ethnic groups that utilized glass African trade beads called Bodum beads in their culture. Old and valuable beads were often imbued with magical and medicinal powers and passed down through families as heirloom pieces. From Ewe to Aja to Akan tribes, all across West Africa, beaded jewelry had long held a sacred place in animist religions. The priesthoods of their indigenous spirituality used them in rituals, and they were often left at shrines as offerings to the spirits. 

Bodum beads. (Photo courtesy of Jack DeWitt)

As time passed, they tried making different combinations; they began using gold and silver metals, red and pink corals, amber, copal, citrine, and even diamonds. During the colonial period, beads manufactured in Europe, such as millefiore and chevron beads, were used as mediums of exchange or payment for gold, salt, and slaves. The beads were worn for prestige and ceremonial purposes and occasionally buried with the dead. Nowadays, Africans use almost every material for their jewelry. Many traditional healers in Africa these days still wear native jewelry and beadworks as amulets, which aid them in their divinatory and mediumship activities. In contrast, other people wear them as they believe they can support them in particular spiritual issues or areas of their lives. Bead colors and types are usually chosen by the healer following the person's character or specific conditions or ailments that must be addressed. 

Charmed rings and earrings for rheumatism. (Photo courtesy of Newbell Niles Puckett Memorial Gift, Cleveland Public Library, Fine Arts and Special Collections Department)

The said African tribes brought this custom of ritually fixing jewelry to America. The conjure workers set jewelry made from lucky pieces, amulets, charms, and other materials prevalent in the Hoodoo tradition to work for a specific condition. 

A technique used by all Hoodoo healthcare providers was the use of strings to tie sacred healing knots. This old practice also came from West Africa, where people from Senegal down to Kongo tied strings around their waists or wore them as necklaces or bracelets for healing and preventive medicine. The ritually fixed string or thread was documented by Newbell Niles Puckett in South Carolina in the 1920s and 1930s. String or yarn soaked in turpentine and tied around the waist for nine days was used to cause miscarriage. Tied around the head with a knot in front was used to treat headaches. Tying a string around the left wrist using sixteen knots and traditional prayers was seen as a protective gesture against death and diseases, just like the Yoruba "Icofa ide" bracelet (Icofa means First Hand of Orunmila). 

Patsy Moses from Fort Bend County, Texas, narrated how Black folks during her time wore their jewelry that was specially crafted to empower or amplify a specific quality of a person, heal sickness, and bring about a particular desired condition: "De big, black nigger in de cornfield mos' allus had three charms round he neck, to make him fort'nate in love, and to keep him well and one for Lady Luck at dice to be with him. Den if you has indigestion, wear a penny round de neck. De power of de rabbit foot am great."

In due course, different types of amulets emerged in the Hoodoo scene besides single-knot and multi-knot string amulets, such as root necklaces, animal bone necklaces, prayer bead necklaces, religious pendants and medallions, and silver coin jewelry.

Fixing a client's necklace pendant and crystal bracelets to ensure her success and victory! 

Today, Hoodoo practitioners fix and enchant modern jewelry in several ways and for many different reasons. Often, we find that folks use such jewelry for empowerment and motivation, for protection and to ward off evil, to heal specific parts of the body or remove adverse conditions, or as a sacred marker of a rite of passage such as baptism, marriage, or the birth of a child. This particular custom originated in African tradition in which parents adorned their children with beads when circumcised or had their first menstruation as a rite of passage into manhood or womanhood.

A King Novelty Co. catalog advertising the alleged good luck ring reputed to have money-drawing power induced in it. 

My technique of enchanting jewelry for personal strength, courage, and spiritual power was taught by a conjure worker in Southern California. She instructed me to put seven kinds of empowering herbs and roots like High John the Conqueror, Master of the Woods leaves and althea leaves and roots, and chunks of pyrite into a bowl. Then, I should stir them thoroughly with my hands while praying to God and instructing the herbs to aid me, activating them to boost my determination to win. After mixing the herbs, I was told to place the jewelry in the jar and then add the mixture while reciting Psalm 23 and Psalm 118:14-29 and praying to God to grant the jewelry power just like how He granted Aaron's staff power; power to inspire, to give me courage, tenacity, and force of will and to help me gain what I may have been lacking motivation wise. Before wearing it, she also instructed me to dress the jewelry with Power oil and smoke it with frankincense to invigorate and increase the power of enchantment.

Crystal bracelets and the appropriate dressing oils for them. (Photo courtesy of Marlon Molarte, The Crystal Diva)

Accessories that can be blessed can be crafted or designed personally or purchased from jewelry or gift shops. However, heirloom pieces of jewelry, such as wedding rings, lockets, pendants, etc., are the most recommended to use by most conjure workers. Those who are into gemstones and crystals and are familiar with their magical correspondence can make bracelets or necklaces to be ritually prepared and fixed. Others even incorporate symbols and sigils that can work for whatever the practitioner or the client desires.

A charmed prosperity pendant infused with appropriate prayers for the conditions the person is intended to address. 

How do these pieces of jewelry help people to achieve their goals?

On a superficial level, the charmed jewelry is a colloquial adornment or accessory reminder. As people go about their daily chores, whether at work or at a casino, the jewelry anchors them to the world of magic and the Spirit.

The challenge is to make magic a part of daily reality. People see or wear jewelry regularly as a tangible reminder of the incorporeal God. Seeing God in their lives is a progression from recognizing His presence in mundane things like jewelry to the magical and spiritual realms.

Stones, minerals, and fossils that hold ancient energy and existed in nature millions of years ago are believed to possess great power. (Photo courtesy of Marlon Molarte) 

In this way, charmed jewelry has metaphysical talismanic benefits, helping to safeguard one from evil spirits, influences, or energies and making the wearer more focused on attaining his goal. The magical accessories remind us that God is always watching us and providing our necessities, and our actions should reflect that realization.

I had heard of a friend's client who was extremely lazy and willing to give up his work just to eat, sleep, and play online games for the rest of his life. Once on his bed and at the moment of his idleness, the man's charmed pendant for success 'slapped him in the face.' Yes, he was struck literally, but also psychologically—with the jewelry around his neck appearing as a witness against him, not doing his part to succeed. 

Enchanting a beauty pageant crown for a Crown of Success.

How Do Hoodoo Reconcile Their Spirit Work With Worshipping The Jealous Biblical God?

First of all, I would like to make it clear that this religious spirit work or working with other deific spirits mainly occurs to those who are Folk Catholic Hoodoo practitioners and not to those who work within Protestant tradition since we have to remember that Protestants view devotion to the saints and the Virgin Mary and veneration to other deities or spirits from a different culture as idolatry.

Coming from the Folk Catholic stance, we believe in the two types of "servitus" St. Augustine of Hippo distinguished during his time and later detailed more explicitly by St. Thomas Aquinas:

The first is called "Latria," the highest form of worship and adoration; this is given to God alone. Worship or latria is a kind of 'service' rendered to the Supreme Being, encompassing the attitude of veneration and love toward God and the activities, spiritual works, and rituals in which the homage finds expression. For us, the fabric of worship is woven of many strands. In our tradition and practice, we follow; these may be summarized as acts of cleansing and purification, sacrifices and offerings, charity works, the observance or celebration of festivals and feasts and other appointed times, and meditation or prayer understood in its broadest sense.

Invoking the aid of Catholic miracle workers, St. Martin Caballero, and Budai or Hotei, the Laughing Buddha in a Money Drawing Spell.  

To answer the question if one can work with a deity or a spirit without worshipping them, it depends on who you will work with. But since most of them are otherworldly kings, princes, and judges, they require and seek the veneration of men. However, in our tradition and my personal experience, some deities are acceptable to work with, and many don't demand people to worship them.

Upper altar at Missionary Independent Spiritual Church. (Photo courtesy of catherine yronwode, Lucky Mojo Curio Co.)

We have seen Hoodoo practitioners who work with and pay homage to Papa Legba or Eleggua; Hotei, Budai, or Pu-Tai, best known as the Laughing Buddha; Ganesha and other deities and spirits from different cultures. In my case, I venerate and work with many spirits from other cultures, from Judeo-Christian to Oriental to African to the Caribbean and even Goetic. I don't worship these entities but venerate and/or work with them.

This second type of servitus is called "Dulia." We call this veneration given to the Catholic saints and other non-Christian deities and spirits.

Worshipping for Folk Catholics means complete obedience and observance to God's statutes. But if one just chooses to 'venerate and work with other spirits and deities, we are not required to obey their religious decrees and statutes conservatively and orthodoxly like their initiated devotees do.

But this does not mean one should blatantly ignore or completely disregard the deities' culture and tradition he is venerating. Because gods and spirits still prefer specific offerings, sacrifices, or veneration. Yes, 'veneration' is personal but also cultural and traditional. Every culture and tradition has its own system of veneration and beliefs. Your actions and materials in venerating should comply with the deities' cultural and traditional standards. 

Some conjure men and practitioners, though, who are not Catholics but consider or identify themselves as Christians yet work with other deities and spirits uphold the African religious belief that the distant and unfathomable Supreme Creator is unconcerned with the affairs of humanity, as such, they must invoke the power and assistance of lesser spirits such as deities from other cultures, spirit guides, ancestral spirits, folk saints and even Catholic Church saints for intercession. I know many Protestant Christian Hoodoo practitioners working with St. Expedite and St. Cyprian of Antioch, with deities such as Shiva and Mercury, with intermediaries spirits such as Baron Samedi and Mami Wata, and with folk saints such as Santa Muerte and San Simon.

A private altar to Jesus and Shiva in the home of a Christian Spiritualist worker. (Photo courtesy of catherine yronwode, Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers)

So, you see, worship and veneration are two different things. Worship (Latria) is the service given to God alone. At the same time, veneration (Dulia) is a service that is different in nature and degree from that given to God because it is paid to the saints, angels, non-Christian deities and spirits, and even demons.

Conjure doctor/shaman's working altar to St. Expedite. (Photo courtesy of Ariel Marzan)

Pyrite

Iron Disulphide

Also known as 'Fool's Gold, pyrite is highly regarded as a powerful amulet for gambling luck, money-drawing, and business matters.

I usually put pyrite chunks dressed with Fast Luck, Money-Drawing, Prosperity, or Wealthy Way oil on stores' and offices' altar spaces (if there are any) or in drawers where they keep their cash to bring more sales and income.

A big pyrite chunk and bracelet on our money altar.

It is also an excellent practice to place a chunk of pyrite if you are candle-burning for job-hunting, success, and victory. After the work, the pyrite can be carried as a good luck charm or reused in future workings.

I also include a piece of pyrite in a money-drawing mojo bag, which I fix for my clients, along with mercury dime and money-luck herbs such as cinnamon, alfalfa, Irish moss, and other herbal curios.

Mojo Bag

What is a mojo? A charm bag of African-American Hoodoo practice filled with magical ingredients accompanied by positive prayers and instructions for each ingredient.

Traditional charm bags originated in West and Central Africa, specifically from Bantu and Kongo tribes. When African charm traditions were brought to the New World, they changed and took on different forms. Many African Islamic and indigenous beliefs fused and then further creolized with native and colonial ideas.

Some folks told us that mojo bag fixing and preparation are inspired by the distinctive Kongo accessories, called "minkisi" (singular "nkisi"), worn by "banganga" (singular "nganga") or healers to show their status within their community. Objects such as fruits ("luyala"), charcoal ("kala zima"), mushrooms ("tondo"), fossil resins ("luhezomo"), white chalk or kaolin clay ("luhemba"), red fruit ("nkandikila"), kernels or nuts ("nkiduku") and any other pieces considered spiritually significant, or any articles that shamans may have found a resonance or unique attraction to are held in this accessory bag. These objects are called "bilonggo." 

Also, in Kongo tradition, the vessel or body for an nkisi, known as "nitu," is not limited to a red leather bag or cloth since other folks use a wooden box, gourd, animal horn, or tooth, monkey's skull, or snail shell. Nkisi is thought to hold a force from the dead that has chosen to yield to a superior power - the human will. The spiritual forces that may reside in it are ancestral spirits ("bakulu"), tutelary spirits ("bisimbi bankita"), or earthbound spirits ("minkuyu"). Banganga talk to their minkisi to seek advice and guidance, just like what the owners of mojo bags do nowadays. Often, their patients are told to return for their solution or treatment in the morning so the banganga can wait for the answers or diagnosis through dreams or omens. 

A medicine container or nkisi mbumba. (Photo courtesy of Smithsonian Museum of African Art) 

The "nkita nsumbu" is a popular non-figurative nkisi in which the bilonggo are kept in a bag or sack. It is employed to heal boils and bodily swelling in women, ailments thought to be caused by bisimbi bankita. These medicine bags usually contain kaolin clay, nuts, seeds, shells, eggs, white chalk, quartz crystals, flowers, beaded items, and a knife blade. This particular type of nkisi greatly resembles the modern-day mojo hands, not just in their physical forms but even in their magical methods and materials employed in the construction.

A Kongo medicine bag made in the late 1800s, typically carried by shamans. (Photo courtesy of Wellcome Collection Gallery)

Some people say, though, that charm bags were remodeled from the container of magical power called "mooyoo," which is usually found in the lower abdominal region of figurative minkisi - "nkisi biteke" (more prominent figure) and "nkisi nkondi" (more petite figure); a physical representation of a spirit crafted into the form of human or animal. Some practitioners supposed that this is where the term mojo is derived. Like mojo-making, a ritual expert activates it by breathing into the mooyoo, the 'breath of life or 'spirit,' and immediately seals it (typically with a mirror). Among the people of the Congo basin and Mayombe forest, especially the Kongo, Teke, and Yaka people, healing and divinatory powers are enhanced by fetishes such as this.

Others thought its etymology was related to the West African word "mojuba," meaning a prayer, as it is prayer in a bag or a spell one can carry. According to Yoruba thought, prayers, praises, and songs hold a life force called "ashe." Enslaved Yoruba people brought the concept of ashe to the United States through charms, amulets, and power objects. In Yoruba tradition, a power object known in some lineage as "awure" is a collection of ashe. 

Ashe is the spark of life. It is like the spiritual fuel of creation, and nothing can exist or function without ashe. It is present in all-natural, organic, man-made, and inorganic materials. Yoruba charms usually contain herbs, bones, shells, and prayers. This captures the magical powers within the ashe of each plant, animal, and voiced word. Like Yoruba charms, mojo bags are created by changing the use of the things and the maker's consciousness from without to within, from physical to spiritual. Rootworkers attune themselves to the 'spirit force' or ashe within the things around them and the ashe within them through the recital of blessings, which transforms a variety of mundane materials and actions into spiritual experiences designed to increase awareness of the presence of the spirits. By doing this, they change their view on the material world dramatically and qualitatively, turn everything into unity, and utilize the new functions of things that are more natural, useful, and lovelier than what they presently know them to be.

Before the rise of Islam in Mali and Gambia, the Bambara people also made power objects called "boli" that were usually encrusted with things associated with the purpose of the charms. Encrustation was the process of giving food or nourishment to the boli. Food sustained the life of the charms, and Bambara people typically fed their power objects with mixtures of ground stones, bones, animal skins, animal parts, minerals, alcoholic beverages, honey, animal blood, chewed and expectorated herbs, and other vegetable matter. Hoodoo practitioners have also adopted this routine as most of their charms are fed with herbal blends, powders, dressing oils, liquors, and body fluids periodically to maintain their lives.  

In Louisiana, these amulet bags are called "gris-gris." Some historians say they originated from the Dagomba people in Ghana and were adopted by other Muslim tribes. The original gris-gris was usually inscribed with scriptures from Qu'ran and was used to ward off evil djinns and misfortunes. When the practice of making and using gris-gris came to the United States with enslaved Africans, Islamic texts were lost over time. They were progressively replaced by magical alphabets, sigils, and symbols from Judeo-Christian grimoires. The belief in giving protection and luck to its owner soon changed, and gris-gris were thought to bring malefic magic or sorcery upon the victim. Slaves would often use the bag against their masters to get revenge. There are stories in Louisiana about folks who had upset other people and then waking up one morning with a gris-gris on their doorsteps. Folks tend not to touch such objects, and others would go so far as to have their house moved so they wouldn't have to cross it. Over time, practitioners of Louisiana Voodoo eventually adapted the concept and principle of charm or spell bags, which were already common in the practice of Hoodoo.

Mojo bag is also known as the trick bag, root bag, and curio bag in some parts of Georgia and South Carolina, jack bag and toby in Maryland and Delaware area, nation sack in Mississippi and Tennessee area, and jomo or mojo hand throughout the South. The word 'hand' in this context may derive from the use of finger and hand bones of the dead, herbs like five-finger grass and lucky hand root, and animal curios like alligator's claw and rabbit's foot in mojo bags or possibly, a correlation between what the hands can get like coins and bills when one owns a money-drawing or a gambling mojo bag, for instance. In that sense, the charm is a 'helping hand.' Other researchers and folklorists said that the word, 'hand' in mojo hand came from the Bantu term "handa," which means 'escape, or be rescued from danger.'

Conversely, the nation sack is an old traditional Hoodoo charm of particular interest to women because it keeps a man faithful and true to his wife by controlling his ability to be sexually aroused with other women. Nation sack is actually a misnomer for nature sack. Marketers of Hoodoo suppliers misunderstood specific African-American pronunciation patterns and labeled the product 'nation' instead of 'nature,' which was pronounced by Blacks at that time as "naitcha." Original nature sacks were fixed and tied by midwives conjure women throughout the Black-Belt South, not only in Memphis. But it was only in Memphis that the sack started to be known as the nation sack since people, as already mentioned, misunderstood Southern Black pronunciation patterns. It was also confused with donation sacks carried both by preachers and prostitutes around the place in the late 1800s. Nature sack refers to male sexual potency and virility as nature. In Hoodoo, to say that a man has lost his nature means that he either cannot get an erection or has difficulty with such. 

The Big Hand Brand Curio Bag advertisement above depicts a popular mojo bag consisting of magnetic lodestone, High John the Conqueror root, Salep or Lucky Hand root, and Devil's shoestrings in a red flannel bag.

Mojo symbolizes its owner's power, so it must be fed regularly with energy to stay alive. It is also widely believed that every mojo bag contains fragments of its owners' spirits. Making a mojo bag is a good practice, too, for refining non-living material things and elevating them to a state of being sentient and spiritual.

What goes into a mojo bag?

• Herbs and roots
• Minerals (pyrite, lodestone, sulfur, salt, blue anil balls, etc.)
• Animal parts (black cat's hair, chicken wishbones, rat bones, cowrie shells, rabbit's foot, etc.)
• Personal concerns or items (nail clippings, hair, pieces of fabric from one's clothes or underwear, etc.)
• Lucky charms and tokens (dice, skeleton key, mercury or silver dime, magnetic Scotty dogs, horseshoe nails, blue glass eye disks, etc.)
• Soil, dirt, and dust (bank dirt, footprint dirt, dust from Churches, etc.)
• Paper talismans (seals from the Key of Solomon, 6th & 7th Book of Moses, etc.) 
• Petition papers
• Trademark ingredients (a unique ingredient of the root doctor or  practitioner)

The oldest mojo bag recipe for good juju that I am aware of contains rock salt, black pepper, red pepper, chicken feet, a rabbit's foot, ashes, and razor blades.

Preparing a mojo hand for love with a red candle, Come To Me oil and powder, Crown of Success powder, rose petals, and love-drawing flowers and herbs.

Assembled ingredients for a money-drawing mojo bag.

Color Symbolism of Bag/Cloth

In contemporary Hoodoo practice, rootworkers use other colors of cloth.

Green - Money, business, a steady job, gambling, good crops
Black - reverse evil, malediction
Red - Romance, sex, passion
White - Healing, protection
Blue - Peace, harmony
Pink - Love, affection, attraction
Purple - Power, control, persuasion, dominance
Orange - Courage, motivation, inspiration, road opener
Yellow - Devotion, attraction
Brown - Justice

How to prepare a mojo bag?

As with all contained spells, the ways and methods of making mojo bags vary from practitioner to practitioner; however, specific elements in the process are standard in the Hoodoo tradition.

The ritual for preparing a mojo bag is usually performed in a magical or spiritual workspace or on an altar, accompanied by candle burning and incense smoking.

Stages or phases of mojo making:

• Assembling: gathering all ingredients or materials corresponding to the bag's goal.
• Fixing: prayerfully filling the flannel bag with all ingredients and tying or sewing it up (all mojos should be closed or concealed).
• Awakening or Heating Up: declaring the purpose of the mojo and bringing it into life by an audible recitation of purpose, breathing air out into the bag, and bathing it with candlelight.
• Feeding: unlike other spell bags, a mojo is alive, so it needs to be fed. Foods or nourishment for the mojo could be dressing with a liquid like liquors or other distilled spirits, urine, semen, colognes or perfume, etc., anointing it with appropriate condition oils, incensing, and praying.
• Naming: the bag's name may come to us as we make it.

Mojo hands are usually bathed with incense smoke when feeding it.

Mojo Customs and Traditions

Traditionally, a mojo hand is covered with a red flannel bag because red is considered a lucky color for several reasons. One of the bases is that the color red in Kongo symbolism indicates the binaries of life, such as birth and death, sunrise and sunset, and the color of the earth itself, where magical and spiritual forces intersect. If there is one thing that these African charm bags have in common, it is that they are made of red cloth or leather.

Some root doctors or toby makers ensure that the total number of ingredients comes to an odd number (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13), which is believed to be the luckiest and most sacred number in Hoodoo. Other practitioners, however, don't count the items at all. If one is fixing a love mojo hand, love tokens and trinkets go in pairs: a pair of lodestones, a pair of magnetic Scotty dogs, a couple of miniature turtle doves, and a pair of shells. Leaves and root chips can go by pinch.

Some rootworkers ensure each ingredient is unique and distinct, like one herb, one personal item, and one animal curio. Others use different combinations, and it is acceptable to have more than one herb, mineral, etc., in a bag.

A root doctor making a hand and a suitcase of different kinds of mojo. (Photo courtesy of Newbell Niles Puckett Memorial Gift, Cleveland Public Library, Fine Arts and Special Collections Department)

Blessed and natural waters like Church waters, rainwater, river or spring waters, herbal-floral colognes such as Florida Water and Hoyt's cologne, and even liquors like Whiskey and Rum are used in which large leaves or roots and other solid materials are being soaked.

God-made ingredients such as roots, herbs, animal parts, and minerals used for mojo bags are believed to be naturally and immanently powerful, so traditional rootworkers do not perform any consecration or empowering rituals to bless or charge them with energy, just like how some Neo-pagans do in every implement or supply they have. Instead, rootworkers talk to the herbs and minerals, reminding them of their magical purpose, and they 'bless' and 'thank' God for increasing divine presence in the world through recognition of God's role in creating the spiritual and magical attributes of the herbs, roots, minerals, and animals.

If one uses a drawstring bag to cover his mojo hand, tie the knot in Miller's style, as it is the traditional binding method to secure a sack or a bag. Traditional knot spells could be applied if one makes a nation sack to bind a man's nature. After a woman fills the sack with appropriate ingredients, tie the bag, but don't pull it tight yet. Hide it under the pillow or bed while having sex with her man, and when he reaches the climax, wipe the string of the bag with his semen. Wait for him to fall asleep and immediately, upon retiring, tie the knot tight three times, as she has tied his nature and kept the bag out of his sight.

When feeding, the bag is not generally soaked through the oils, special waters, etc., but simply dabbed with the liquids. The only exception to this rule is a gambling hand, as old-time poker players were instructed by rootworkers to make their women urinate all over the mojo hand. However, such a mojo bag would only be used for one night and should be disposed of properly after the game. 

A simple Money and Luck mojo bag contains nutmeg, lodestone, mercury dime, and sugar.  

Mojo bags are usually always carried by the person, always out of sight and, most significantly, out of the range of touch of others. A mojo is typically worn by a person under the clothes or, if not worn, hidden away somewhere safe. For the first seven days, most rootworkers suggest that their clients keep it as close to the owner as possible, wearing it near the skin. After seven days, it is up to the owner if he would still like to wear it, pocket it, put it in the bag, or hide it in a secret place and only carry it when its magic is needed. Suppose someone accidentally or unintentionally notices the bag. In that case, one should never reveal its purpose but immediately change the conversation topic for him to prevent the 'killing of the hand.'

Just like we need to get our haircut occasionally, mojo bags should constantly be renewed or remade (quarterly or annually). Take all solid hard items such as pyrite, lodestone, shells, claws, or bones out of the bag and set them aside. Leave all the delicate items such as herbs, hair, feathers, and broken items inside the bag and bury them in a yard in a ritual manner. If the petition paper or paper talisman is already worn out or unreadable, bury them with the rest. Wash all the solid items with holy water, Florida water, or Whiskey. Get a new flannel bag, replace the soft and broken things, make new petition paper and paper talisman, and redo everything. Make sure to keep the mojo for three days while doing this rite.

Love Attraction mojo hand with ingredients like a rose petal, lovage root, two magnetic lodestones, and iron filings.

Psalms are customarily being recited to empower the bag. If the bag is prepared for three different conditions, recite three Psalms while passing it through the incense smoke. 

Suppose the bag was prepared and fixed by others. In that case, the owner, upon receiving it, will need to personalize it, generally by dressing it with bodily fluids like urine, semen, blood, or saliva. Though, I reckon it is worth mentioning too that in Hoodoo, it is only women's urine that is considered lucky, not men's, due to the 'copulins' suspended in vaginal fluids, which are basically attractants for males.  

Alright, folks, enough with my rambling; time out for music!

GOT MY MOJO WORKIN'

by Muddy Waters

Got my mojo workin' but it just don't work on you 

Got my mojo workin' but it just don't work on you 

I wanna love you so bad, but I don't know what to do 

Goin' down to Louisiana, gonna get me a mojo hand 

Goin' down to Louisiana, gonna get me a mojo hand

I'm gonna have all you women right here my command

Got my mojo workin'! 

Got my mojo workin'! 

Got my mojo workin'! 

Got my mojo workin'! 

Got my mojo workin', but it just don't work on you! 

I got a Gypsy woman giving me advice. 

I got a Gypsy woman giving me advice. 

I got a whole lot of tricks keepin' them on ice 

Musicians such as Muddy Waters have standard references to mojo bags in the 20th-century blues.

An old-style red flannel mojo bag containing herbal, mineral, and zoological curios.