Spiritual Foot-Washing ~ Filipino Conjure & Rootwork

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.

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.