Rub-Down And Tea Rite

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Herbal teas cleanse your mind and body of those negativities that could possibly interfere with your manifesting capabilities (Photo courtesy of Batara Gat Baya).


A freshly brewed cup of tea and a light-touch therapeutic massage is, in truth, stimulating and invigorating; they do stimulate the nervous, circulatory, and other main systems of our body. These curative mores are two of our oldest forms of medicine, not just for physical health. I have mentioned before that everything in the physical world has its spiritual counterpart. Moreover, the spiritual counterpart is actually the source of the physical properties of a thing; therefore, tea drinking and rub-down have been regarded by some spiritual workers as keys to good health, tranquility, and clarity.

I learned how to make herbal teas and herbal oils and to perform the rub-down and tea rite from a spiritual worker and a root doctor from California and Oregon. The healing rite they shared with me consisted of two parts: first performing a massage to the afflicted body parts while praying for healing and deliverance, and then giving the client a herbal tea to drink, which is usually offered hot to rid the body of any accumulated materials in the muscles left during the rub-down session. The client is also sent home with a tea concentrate or packet of herbs from which to brew tea to be drunk, usually for three days.

Rub-down is actually a Native American orientation, particularly Cherokee influence. Rub-down rite entered Hoodoo practice during the time when some enslaved Africans revolted and fled the colonies to seek refuge among the Native Americans.

Cherokees were among the tribes that took Africans as servants. Still, unlike their former White owners, Africans worked side by side with their Native American masters since they were known people who resisted the European system of chattel slavery. There were also enslaved Cherokees, and Africans worked and lived among them in communal quarters. During this time, they produced collective recipes, developed unique customs and traditions, and shared natural healing modalities. Some even intermarried and had mixed children.

In Cherokee tradition, 'touch' is a spiritual action, and they don't consider it a relaxing therapy; it is more than that. Internationally renowned traditional healer and an apprentice to North American Indian medicine men, Kenneth "Bear Hawk" Cohen said in his articles that Ancient Cherokee people were well versed in body therapies, breathing exercises, and energy work.

In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the suppression of Native American and African practices and beliefs gave rise to these 'spiritual workers.' The healers could syncretize the ancient healing mode with the new religion by exchanging native prayers, chants, and songs with Christian prayers and biblical verses.

Some people begin the rub-down rite with a foot-bath or spiritual foot-washing as the feet connect us to the earth, our roots, and our energy flow. Though I heard from other spiritual workers that it is customary to dress the head first and then work on arms and hands before doing the legs and feet, as it is widely believed among Hoodoo practitioners that healers should expel the negativity through the soles of the feet; that's why they are the last parts that are touched.

To perform the hands-on work, I ask the client to sit down on a comfortable chair and relax. What follows is a light massage and anointing of the head. This is done by rubbing or warming the oil up in my hands and pouring a little amount of oil over the client's head first. Then I gently pinch the bridge of the client's nose with my middle, index, and thumb fingers. After that, I lift my index finger so only the thumb and middle finger touch the client. Slowly, I spread the thumb and middle finger apart, rubbing two arched lines above the client's eyebrows, and I ran them upward to the top or crown of the client's head. I do this three times, saying, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Next, using my fingertips, I make light circular motions across my client's head, moving from back to front, front to back, side to side, and ensuring I run my fingers under the hair and at the temples. With one hand, I cup the client's nape and gently rub it with the thumb on one side and the other fingers on the opposite side, moving up and down. Lastly, I place my right hand on the client's forehead, with my hand sideways, thumb downward, and fingers positioned horizontally, while I put my left hand at the back of the head. Then I gently push both of my palms upward, rubbing the entire head with the oil and applying mild pressure on the skull; palms should end up over the head. I do this three times while I say my extemporized prayer. I finish it by lifting my hands, bringing them together in a prayer position, and saying, "Amen!"

After anointing my client's head, that's the only time I can start doing rub-down on distressed body parts of my client. First, I pour oil into the palm of my hand, and while rubbing it between my hands, I usually recite another prayer. Next, I was taught that I have to warm my hands over the flame of a candle, just like how Cherokees warm their hands over burning coal when doing bodywork. Then I circle my palms on the distressed body part, spreading the oil, applying pressure, and gradually increasing from light to medium to warm up the muscles. After that, I was told to rub the muscle to enhance deeper circulation. My mentors did not teach me exactly how to perform any body massage techniques (motions, strokes, etc.) aside from what I've shared, as they said no one taught them too were to press their fingers. The only advice I've got from them is to let my fingers obey the dictates of my heart.

Nevertheless, for beginners in folk healing, here are the links to helpful video tutorials explaining and demonstrating how arms, hands, and feet massage is being done. Filipino practitioners may also incorporate our traditional "hilot" techniques when doing the rub-down rite. One can do this while he speaks his prayer or petition for the client aloud, to be released from the condition causing whatever problem he is experiencing.

For the rub-down, one may use olive oil or any cooking oil and add a few drops of essential oil of your choice for immediate physical and spiritual detoxification and wellness action. Others prefer to naturally infuse their massage oils with herbs.

In preparing herb-infused rub-down oil, my mentors instructed me to use dried herbs instead of fresh herbs to prevent the oil from becoming rancid. The dried herbs are cut or crushed with mortar and pestle before adding to a glass jar.

Next, fill the remaining space in the jar with oil, ensuring the herbs are well covered. Stir well and cap the jar tightly.

Then place the jar on a warm sunny windowsill and prayerfully shake once per day. After 2-3 weeks, strain the herbs out of the oil, pour them into glass bottles, and store them in a cool dark place.

On the other hand, the old-fashioned tea-rite came from the extensive tea culture in West Africa. In this region, folks prefer green mint tea, similar to the Gullah morning tea recipe. Tea drinking, throughout history and even today, is actually a vital part of the social and spiritual life of Africans, especially those folks from Senegal, Guinea, Gambia, and Mauritania, where tea is prepared and presented in an elaborate process known by the Wolof term, "attaya."

As Africans were considered to be immigrants in America at the time of slavery, there were traditions they carried with them to the New World. One of the most vital expressions of their old nation in their lives in America was tea-making and drinking.

Enslaved Wolof, Fula, Mandinka, and Moor brought the African tea culture to the New World by including it in their home remedies. Unlike the true purpose of the tea ceremony in West Africa, tea preparation in America within the Black community at that time was rarely seen as drinking for enjoyment. Hot teas were prepared when one had a cold coming on, when one had an upset stomach when one was experiencing difficulty sleeping, or when one was having headaches or muscle pains. There was always an association between tea preparation when there was and illness. Things started to change; however, when these people met Native American herbalists, chiefly from the Choctaw, Muscogee, Cherokee, and Seminole tribes, they began learning about different ways to approach wellness through food and beverage. They learned about herbs in America, not just their medicinal uses but their culinary, household, and even magical uses, as well as different processes of propagation and harvesting of the herbs and refining and preserving the leaves, flowers, roots, and barks. They began to understand the properties of herbal teas and how they could incorporate them into their spiritual works. They also saw how these magical properties of herbs manifested in Native American practices and recognized and realized how these plants' properties had similarities with the properties of local herbs and spices back from their motherland, Africa.

Many of these people were dispersed throughout the American South during the antebellum era. At that time, Africans started learning about different methods, not just for healing but also for various magical and spiritual works and everything alternative to how they were taught by the natives. They were inundated with other fellow Africans from different ethnic groups and other American Indians from different tribes. Over time, slaves' knowledge of the nature and function of plants immensely grew to a great extent. Enslaved Africans then started preparing and prescribing teas when people wanted to be spiritually cleansed from spiritual maladies, jinxes, or crossed conditions, when people tried to protect themselves from evil influences, when people wanted to feel energized, inspired, and motivated, or when people wanted to attract success and good fortune. They realized it didn't have to be that beverage one went to just when he was sick. They learned how teas could be engaged in a way where one experienced 'healing,' not just for physical ailments, but for any kind of condition. That's now how their descendants approach making their blends; they want them to be curative or remedial and, at the same time, to have spiritual and magical components.


I use chamomile tea and Van Van oil I personally prepared and blended for jinx removal and spiritual cleansing.  


Tea preparation and drinking (and even the rub-down method), though, have struggled to survive because a lot of African-American conjure doctors are increasingly reaching long-distance clients, and their works consisting mainly of the setting of lights and performing spells; making hands-on work (tea preparation and rub-down) ultimately a minority.

Yet African-American tea culture is fascinating, and they have so much to offer in healing and folk magic. To show that teas are really part of the Hoodoo healing tradition, here's a song entitled Hand Reader by Washboard Sam, where a combination of herbal tea and pills were prescribed by a worker to remove the client's bad luck:




HAND READER BLUES

by Washboard Sam

I went down to the hand reader and to have my fortune told
I went down to the hand reader and to have my fortune told
He said, "You need to catch policy, doggone your bad luck soul."

He give me some good luck tea and said, "Drink it before it gets cold"
He give me some good luck tea and said, "Drink it before it gets cold"
He said, "Drink it all day, doggone your bad luck soul."

He give me some pills, to drive my blues away
He give me some pills, to drive my blues away
He said, "You bad-luck rascal, take them three times a day."

Blow it now, boys, blow it

Bad luck fell in my family, and there was no one home but me
Bad luck fell in my family, and there was no one home but me
I was a fool for thinking my happy days would ever be

Some folks don't think herbs work because they don't have enough information regarding the proper preparation of the herbs, so they end up using formulas that don't have the strength to do what they are intended to do. Making herbal teas is a bit more involved than just dunking a teabag in a cup of hot water to get the most out of the herbs. I was taught that herbal teas are best used with consistency, and are usually consumed for at least a few days, so it's easier to just make a sound, potent concentrate - enough to last for three days (it begins to break down after that) - and just add hot water whenever one drinks a cup.

 This is how I was taught to make enough herbal tea for three-day use:

- 12 teaspoons (about 1/4 cup) of dried herbs. (Use heaping measurements if the herbs are cut large or the flowers are whole; use scant measurements if the herbs are finely cut or powdered.)
- 6.5 cups of purified water. (Do not use tap or distilled.)

Over a medium-low setting, I was told to heat the leaves, flowers, or roots gradually until the water was hot but not boiling; then, I covered and removed the pot from the heat and allowed the tea to cool. Afterward, I strain the liquid from the herbs and refrigerate the tea in a glass container (do not use plastic!)

To use, I heat plain purified water to boiling. Then, I place four ounces of the tea concentrate into a cup and fill it with hot water.

The concentrate can be reheated if adding hot water doesn't make the tea hot enough to one's preference. Add four to six ounces of water for every four ounces of concentrate, then heat slowly.

An alternative to stove-top cooking (which I usually do) will be the heater if we have one. A prayer can be spoken during the tea preparation and/or before giving it to the client. Some root doctors also interpret the patterns or 'signs' in the leaves after the client has finished drinking his tea to further diagnose the client's illness or condition.


A painting by Harry Roseland shows an African-American woman reading tea leaves for her young, wealthy, White client.


Here's a list of traditional herbs used in preparing teas for spiritual cleansing, uncrossing, road opening, and protection:

  • Angelica root - protection and empowerment of women
  • Blessed Thistle leaves - blessing and healing
  • Boneset leaves - road opening, healing, and protection
  • Burdock root - spiritual cleansing, uncrossing, and protection
  • Chamomile flowers - spiritual cleansing and jinx removal
  • Eucalyptus leaves- casting off evil intentions and influences and healing
  • Ginger root - healing and protection
  • Jasmine flowers - purification and unconditional love
  • Lemon Grass leaves - spiritual cleansing and protection
  • Lemon peel - cut and clear from old and unwanted conditions
  • Mint leaves - protection
  • Orange peel - road opening and success
  • Rose petals - removal of love-jinxing tricks
  • Rosemary leaves - tranquility and empowerment of women
  • Sage leaves - spiritual cleansing and clarity. 

Just a word of caution: some teas are safe during pregnancy, but others might not be a great idea. It is essential to consult your physician first before drinking any tea if you are pregnant. 


Photo of prescribed herbal tea taken by our client. 

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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.