Is Magic Incompatible With The Bible? ~ Filipino Conjure & Rootwork

Is Magic Incompatible With The Bible?

My answer is no. Magic is one of the most grossly misunderstood parts of the Holy Scriptures. I have received several questions from Christians and even pagans describing magic as 'unbiblical.' On the other end of the spectrum, I receive many messages wanting to learn more about the Biblical magic popularized by various disciplines and traditions such as Kabbalah, Esoteric Christianity, and Hoodoo.

The six points of the Star of David symbolize God's rule over the universe in all six directions; north, south, east, west, up, and down.

These misunderstandings stem primarily from the fact that the magic in the Bible has been severely distorted due to mistranslations and misinterpretations. However, recently, many have wrenched kabbalistic and mystical symbolism for divination and magic, which were an integral part of Ancient Hebraic practice.

Yes, Ancient Hebrews practiced magic. Undoubtedly, many traditional Jewish stories use hidden knowledge to affect the world in ways that could be described as magic. The Talmud and other sources ascribe many mystical and magical activities to prophets and great rabbis. Some rabbis pronounced the name of God and ascended into heaven to consult with the angels, celestial creatures, or even the Supreme Being on issues of great public concern. One scholar is said to have created an artificial man out of clay, a "golem," by using various names of God.

However, magic is not practiced by an average man, which is why I understand that several Jewish and Christian people discourage the pursuit of such knowledge and power as dangerous and irresponsible.

A book that reveals the mystery of sacred scriptural conjurations preserved by African-American elders.

It is important to note that all of these magical effects were achieved through the power of God, generally by calling upon God's name. In the Scriptures, there are two types of magic: impersonal and personal.

In the first type, magic is just a raw practice. The practitioner believes supernatural forces can be utilized through magical acts, incantations, recipes, fetishes, etc. The practitioner, in this case, connects with the forces even though he does not know much about the ruling bodies causing the magic and how it is happening; it is enough for him to know that by performing some act or reciting some chant, or following some recipe, he will get what he desires. I believe God is condemning this as abominable because of the danger it might cause for tapping the 'unknown.'

In personal magic, however, the practitioner knows and believes in the intelligent, sentient, and spiritual Being behind the magical work. He knows the Supreme Being whom men work with when performing such an act. The practitioner personally encounters God and sees His works for themselves. That 'personal experience' of God created the magic, not any 'inexplicable phenomena,' however impressive, conjured through human thought. Through this personal relationship with God, the magical acts become rituals, the incantations become prayers, the recipes become formulas, and the fetishes become tools. These practices were the reason behind the miracles of the prophets or the miracles ascribed to Jesus. In fact, according to some theorists, Jesus performed his miracles using practical kabbalistic techniques learned from the Essenes, a Jewish sect of that time that studied mysticism.

Infusing the condition oils with Latin and Hebrew Christian prayers.

It is ubiquitous to conjure practice to recite specific Psalms over oils, water, and other spiritual supplies to empower them.

Now, how about the biblical verses that condemn magic and divination? Why don't we check the original meaning of the Hebrew and Greek terms used in the Scriptures?

The Hebrew verb "kashaph" comes from the root word denoting to have a 'dark appearance, to be gloomy or to be distressed' but its corresponding nouns "kashshap" and "mekashsheph" are misrendered as a sorcerer, witch, or wizard in the English version of Bible. "Lachash" is a Hebrew word etymologically linked with "nachash" which means serpent. The Greek word "goetes" translated as sorcerers or magicians in the New Testament, actually means impostors and seducers, not magic practitioners. However, this will also apply to fraudulent magicians and charlatans. And "pharmakeia" never meant witchcraft and magic initially but means any practice related to poisonous drugs called "pharmakon" in Greek. So, as you can see, none of those words really refer to magic.

Some Hoodoo practitioners fight against witchcraft because the Bible condemns it.

However, I realize that some conjure workers or Hoodoo practitioners are uncomfortable being called witches. Some even don't like to label their practice as witchcraft. Indeed, Hoodoo is not witchcraft; just because one performs magic does not mean he does witchcraft. King Solomon practiced magic, but he was never considered a witch.

That said, don't be surprised if you see some Hoodoo practitioners against witches and witchcraft. For these folks, 'witch' means practitioners utilizing unjustified maleficium against innocent people. Please be aware, though, that they are not hating Wiccans or other Neo-pagans but are condemning those 'black magic' practitioners.

See, What Our Path Is

Being immensely interested in African diaspora religions and Folk Catholicism, we primarily honor our ancestors, Church saints, angels, folk saints, and Afro-Caribbean spirits such as loas and orishas. If we absolutely have to put a label on ourselves, we prefer the label of “Folk Judeo-Christian” as we live according to the customs and traditions of conjure workers and root doctors from the Deep South and syncretic followers of Christ in various nations of the Caribbean and Latin America.

Our spirituality includes West African-based Caribbean-style tradition as well as Esoteric Christianity and Yoruba religion. Generally, we practice Gullah folk magic popularly known in the Deep South as Hoodoo or Lowcountry Voodoo; the ancient wisdom founded by Orunmila in Ile-Ife called Ifa, and a bit of Lihim na Karunungan (Filipino Esotericism or Philippine Mystery Tradition).

Respect, What Hoodoo Is

Despite visible evidence of Central West African, Islamic/Moorish, Native American, Judeo-Christian, European, and even a few East Indian/Hindu, Chinese, and Latino/Caribbean retentions, influences, and admixtures, this does not mean that Hoodoo is an open and unrestricted system of eclectic magic.

Conjure, and Rootwork is rooted in African-American culture and Folk Protestant Christianity. Any practitioners of Hoodoo who did not grow up within African-American culture should still have a fuller understanding and high regard for its origin.

In the beginning, the early conjure doctors were entirely Black. The students were all Black, the elders were Black, the teaching was Black, and they focused only on Blacks as their audience. But other races were accepted when they had also been brought into the Hoodoo community and learned the tradition. Even so, we should still acknowledge that Hoodoo, Conjure, or Rootwork is not ours but only belongs to the Black community. We are just believers who are grafted into their rich yet humble tradition and, by word and deed, embrace genuine African-American folk spirituality and magic. This is all we can do for all the blessings we received from God and our Black ancestors.

Hoodoo's lack of religious structure and hierarchical authority do not mean that any person or group can appropriate or redefine it. If one cannot respect Hoodoo as it is and for what it is, then please, do not play with it.

Learn, How Conjure Is Worked On

Authentic Conjure is not all about blending and selling oils and casting spells online to make money. Hoodoo has its own spiritual philosophy, theology, and a wide range of African-American folkways, customs, and practices which include, but are not limited to, veneration of the ancestors, Holy Ghost shouting, snake reverence, spirit possession, graveyard conjure, nkisi practices, Black hermeneutics, African-American church traditions, the ring shout, the Kongo cosmogram, ritual water immersions, crossroads magic, making conjure canes, animal sacrifices, Jewish scriptural magic, enemy works, Seekin' ritual, magical incorporation of bodily fluids, etc.

Unfortunately, they are currently missing in marketeered or commercial Hoodoo, as they are being removed, disregarded, or ignored by unknowing merchants who simply want to profit from an African-American spiritual tradition, thus reducing Hoodoo to just a plethora of recipes, spells, and tricks.

Tim and I are completely aware that we are not African-Americans, so we are doing our best to retain and preserve the customs and traditions of the slave ancestors to avoid unnecessary conflict with the larger Black-Belt Hoodoo community and prevent them from labeling us inauthentic outsiders and our practice as mere 'cultural misappropriation.'

Accept, Who We Are

The byproduct of eons of slave history, Black supremacists believe that only people with African or African-American blood are real Hoodoo practitioners and are often inclined to consider themselves as the elite of the Hoodoo community; a place in which they believed that Whites, Latinos, Asians or any other races who do not have Black ancestry do not belong. Black supremacists are prone to be very hostile towards both “outsiders” and those accepting of them, fearing that their promotion and acceptance would dilute or even negate the Black identity of Hoodoo.

Although we do understand why some Blacks hold this stance, since a lot of people nowadays are misappropriating many aspects of Hoodoo and teaching the spiritual path even without proper education and training (for purely monetary purposes), we would, however, want to say that not all non-Black Hoodoo practitioners are the same.

WE respect what Hoodoo is, and we never try to change it, claim it as our own, disregard its history, take unfair advantage of it, speak against the people who preserve it, and mix it with other cultures (like our own) and call it Filipino/Pinoy Hoodoo, Gypsy Hoodoo or Wiccan Hoodoo because there are no such things.