Little John To Chew Root ~ Filipino Conjure & Rootwork

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.

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.