What Is Folk Judeo-Christianity?

Traditional Southern Hoodoo altar (Photo Courtesy of Hoodoo, Conjure and Rootwork Facebook Group)

Due to Christianity's medieval-thinking, fundamentalist, and conservative stance, I understand that many folks have this notion that studying or practicing folk magic would conflict with Christian teachings. I still, however, like to point out that people can freely believe in Jesus and in the Bible and at the same time practice magic just like what we, Hoodoo practitioners, are doing through folk Judeo-Christianity.

This does not mean that religions, especially Christianity and Catholicism, can be reformed, as their Scripture and doctrines are based on claimed information from an All-powerful Deity written down by people long ago. Reforming such books and writings means denouncing that religion's messiah, prophets, sages, and Church doctors and doubting or denying the sacred messages within. What can be reformed, though, are the people still accepting their label as Jews, Christians, or Judeo-Christians.

I also understand what other people say: practicing magic will never work within the Judeo-Christian faith since it is primarily an anti-magic tradition. Still, suppose you consider your faith in Jesus and the Bible to be a living 'folk tradition' (as opposed to Fundamentalist tradition), a spiritual path, not an archaic religion. In that case, you could do and believe in anything, even though the clergies say, "no, you can't!"

To be a living folk tradition, your spiritual path should be updated as your knowledge and experience grow. You could tap the inner teachings of Judeo-Christian faiths and the apparently disparate system of magic. This is because; your path is not a religion in itself but a cultural system with different forms, expressions, and ways that like-minded 'folks' harness to understand the matrix of life and commune directly with God and the spirits.

A traditional Hoodoo spell is designed to help you gain the favor of the jurors and judges, block the opposition in court and make your lawyers do well during tribunal proceedings and hearings. A powerful magical working when you are dealing with civil or criminal cases and legal paperwork, so things go in your favor. This Court Case spell called upon the presence, power, and assistance of Latin American Folk Christian Justo Juez (Just Judge).

The Ten Commandments, for instance, can be demonstrated in two ways. Fundamentalist Judeo-Christian faith only considers its exoteric (outer) meaning, while Folk Judeo-Christians and conjure workers emphasize its esoteric (inner) importance. For example, the commandment, "thou shalt have no other gods before me" to the mystics esoterically means, that putting lesser gods such as money, fame, sex, and power before God means that grace cannot be received. This doesn't mean that there are no other spirits in existence. The commandment, "thou shalt not make any graven image" esoterically implies that we may make images or paintings that represent the Divine but that they should not be set in stone as the only correct image of the Divine.

The esoteric interpretations and explanations of the Bible's passages will even sound to some people to be ridiculous to discourage weak-hearted Christians from further explorations. But upon more serious contemplation and reflection, they will contain a more coherent and ultimately more convincing view of the nature of things that can be found in conventional Judeo-Christian systems of thought. The largely esoteric and hidden biblical explanations are not meant to be dogmatic pronouncements but merely alternative ways of viewing the Divine, man, and nature. If one studies this with an open mind, they will help him to understand better and apply their magical learning to biblical studies.

The thing about Judeo-Christian why it is very contradictory is that this particular faith has its own doctrines about 'most' things regarding the Divine and the world in general. As I said, it is more conservative, making most followers more arrogant and close-minded. Now, I would like to emphasize the word 'most' in the first sentence of this paragraph. Yes, Judeo-Christian does have a particular or separate approach to life in 'most' areas, but not in all areas. The Judeo-Christians, though they claim to be living independent lives apart from mysticism and esotericism, are still very much part of the mystical and esoterical world. As such, Christians share many of the beliefs, customary practices, and practical everyday patterns of life and wisdom that are common to other people from other cultures.

The Christian holidays, for instance, such as Easter, All Souls Day, and Christmas, bear the distinct mark of ancient festivals. This example shows that cross-cultural influence or borrowing was taking place on several different levels among several people of the ancient world. Judeo-Christians too are part of the environment of cultural sharing. This is another good reason I believe one can still practice magic and be a Bible-believing person.

But in this matter of borrowing, Fundamentalist Judeo-Christianity does differ from other cultures in one area: the biblical God is a jealous Deity. For this reason, Fundamentalist people believe that dependence upon or borrowing from different cultures doesn't necessarily mean agreement. Apparently, the way I see it, they think that the borrowing wasn't a kind of acculturation or syncretism derived from the cross-fertilization of ideas but instead characteristically cast the borrowed ideas in a different mold. However, this mold resulted in disregarding and maligning the esoteric beliefs and magical practices. Since Judeo-Christians placed all thought and every aspect of their lives, wherever derived, in and under the full theistic context of Yahwistic faith.

So we see that even though the Judeo-Christian faith did embrace various practices, it still wants, mainly because of the misinterpretations, prejudiced understandings, or one-sided explanations of biblical commands, to shatter magical and other esoteric traditions. The forces and powers utilized by magic practitioners are falsely identified as Satanic and demonic. They are said to be powers that pollute people's minds, diverting them from redemption and holding them hostage to Satan. This is why I believe one can't practice magic and be a Fundamentalist Christian at the same time. You are either a Christian or a magic practitioner. You cannot be both.

Nevertheless, I must still return to what I emphasized at the beginning of this post. I believe you can still practice magic and simultaneously believe in the Bible, Jesus Christ, and the biblical God - but if and only if you're doing it 'outside' the Fundamentalist Judeo-Christian faith. With all these laws and prohibitions against magical and occult studies affecting the inner desire of everyone's heart, we should never forget that each folk also has his own peculiar manner of thinking and cultural upbringing. Not just because one believes in Jesus Christ, he must reflect primarily and fundamentally a Western Christian way of looking at things. Though the Bible in which he based his faith is a Judeo-Christian book, he may stand in distinct contrast to other orthodox Christians; one's beliefs could be different from conservative faith - in nature of his God, in the manner of worship, in ethical values and in practice, one could have unique and separate ways outside the boundaries of Fundamentalist Christianity.

St. Expedite and St. Martha The Dominator are much-beloved saints that are worked within the practice of Catholic Hoodoo and other Folk-Christian traditions.

Folk Judeo-Christianity, in other words, is a Judeo-Christian spirituality of the folks (of the 'people'), disconnected from official Church stances or religious teachings. Regarding the level of 'spirituality,' individual workers will vary in their level of spiritual progress. Folks believing in this type of Christianity do not usually perceive inconsistencies between Biblical teachings and traditional folklore.

That said, I dislike the authority and discrimination that many Fundamentalist Christians show towards other Folk Judeo-Christians, but I equally detest the authority and discrimination that many Folk Christians show towards different paths. Isn't it hypocritical to rain that same authority and discrimination down on them? Imposing one's belief on others comes abrupt, violent, or by force, and if not, then basically from one doctrine to another.

We, Hoodoo practitioners, should know better, and we should live as a follower of Christ who practices African-American folk magic. Damn all those Fundamentalist dogmas claim! Sometimes, we all need cooperation rather than competition and argument. The more we leave religious doctrines in our minds, the more we become human.

The belief in anting-anting is a Filipino folkway of expressing Christian faith but has mythological roots preceding Spanish colonization and Catholicism (Photo courtesy of Ariel Marzan).

Live Things In You

Causing and treating 'live things in you' is one of the folkloric trademarks of Hoodoo practice. This malignant work is similar to "barang" in the Philippines, where the sorcerer makes the insects crawl underneath the skin and eventually makes them come out of the victim's body. Live things in you first came to the attention of White folks in the post-Emancipation period, when former slaves began talking about their hardships during slavery. These Black American narratives, also known to writers as 'conjure tales,' emerged and became the source of oral and written stories about animal entities' intrusion into the body. Though I was taught how to perform this, I don't really recommend it to other folks.

I learned about this sorcerous work from a conjure worker who claims to be of Black Seminole descent, now living in California. He often calls his work 'tricks in your skin'. He said that for them to get the real magic of live things in you, they must follow the precise process that their ancestors taught them; no alterations, no substitutes, so as not to lose the potency of powders or curios they use in this magic.

On a specific day, they gather and/or produce the things they use in this trick, such as:

• Snake eggs, head or skin sheds
• Frog eggs or tadpoles
• Horsehair
• Spider legs and web
• Lizard or salamander eggs or tail
• Dried or live insects 
• Ground puppy.
• Crushed scorpion heads or tail
• Slugs or snails
• Worms

Evil conjure workers only use one of the animal curios mentioned above, and as you notice, the usual species of animal invaders are associated with mud, dirt, or slime. These associations embody impurity and pollution.  

Then the day after, they visit old cemeteries to collect soil mixed with the bones of the dead. He also said he knows other folks who even include toxic plants and metals in the mixture. They start chopping, grinding, or compounding the particular animal curio with graveyard dirt and bones the next day. Then, they put the powder into small vials and bottles, and before using it, they are told to place the container between their thumb and index finger of their left hand and address it in prayer, in which, in the end, the powder 'becomes alive.' The actual process is more complex and elaborate than this, but I refuse to share more since this is a horrible job, and historically,  this condition has already killed people when it isn't removed. A root doctor from Georgia named George Little, skilled in domestic medicine, even once testified and described the deadly consequence of such infestations: "Frawgs an lizuds and sech tings is injected intuh people's bodies an duh people den fall ill an sometime die."

Live things are usually acquired through ingestion, but some people also say that one can acquire them too when he steps upon or sits on the poisoned powder or when the victim is sprinkled with it via other bodily orifices like ears, nose, and open sores or wounds. The victim then feels the effects of the invasion of the live things through certain diseases depending on how one gets inflicted; swollen feet if he stepped upon it, hemorrhoids if he sat on it, stomach aches when he ingested it, and other similar cases. For such illnesses, no amount of conventional medical treatments would supposedly work. Sometimes, they would even get worse. It reveals its real cause when people are already seeing animals such as small snakes, insects, lizards, spiders, millipedes, worms, and bugs crawling just beneath the skin surface, especially on the legs, arms, and belly. Others say its harmful effects are worse as they witnessed afflicted people fall on four, howl like a dog, and die.

Traditional Cures and Remedies

Folk magical treatments for such ailment vary from one practitioner to another. But the most traditional is to induce vomiting by drinking three doses of tea made of black or leptandra root, mixed with alum crystals, or by taking an emetic of poke root, olive oil, and saltpeter. For safety reasons, I do not recommend the latter. This kind of remedial work is actually a Cherokee influence, where they blend and drink what Native Americans call 'black drink' to induce vomiting for purification purposes during their ceremonies.

Bathing oneself with tea-infusion of nettle leaves, agrimony leaves, mint leaves, rue leaves, and wahoo bark is also said to cut off dangerous and deadly sorcery such as this.

Dusting the victim's afflicted body part with powder, mixed with the herbs I noted above, is also a common practice.

Wearing silver dimes or mercury dimes, or any silver plates at the ankle with engraved SATOR square is an excellent protective talisman:

If the plate or coin turns black, you have stepped on a cursing powder, but it would be ineffective. This protection combines Pennsylvania Dutch, Judeo-Christian, and African folk magic - with a distinct reminiscence of ancient practices from the Ewe, Fon, and Ibibio groups.

Origin of Live Things in You

According to some accounts, the practice of afflicting and healing such conditions is a mixture of African and Native American influence, as the stories regarding these are commonly collected from Black people with American-Indian ancestry. This sorcery is actually a type of imitative magic. The most common use of animals such as worms, insects, snails, and other small reptiles is to obtain their symbolism or representation. For example, some insects, such as roaches and flies, are vectors of disease as they are known to carry bacteria. These said insects are used by some evil root doctors to bring illness to their victims. A narrative concerning this particularly bizarre condition of a Cherokee-African- European free man of color can be read at this site: Southern Spirits.

Personal Advice to Clients with this Affliction

It's good to maintain a healthy skepticism, not to accept at face value everything a person who claims to diagnose a person with such affliction, but to verify everything first by following these recommendations.

And also, many folks only do sleight-of-hand tricks and claim they take out what's causing the illness. Charlatans always commit such fraudulent activity in the name of money.

However, this kind of activity becomes a stereotype of curing Live Things In You because multiple allegations and actual sightings of playacting were documented. And because of this, authentic conjure workers who know their practice suffer from misconceptions, leading to upsetting prejudice.

Snakes' Shed Skins

Various spp.

Snakes - slithering creatures feared by Ibibio, Fon, and other people from Southern Nigeria, frequently play a prominent role in enemy conjure works. The snake species is not crucial as all kinds of snakes worldwide can be used in crossing, such as cursing one's skin to produce certain dermatological disorders.

The shed, along with snake eggs or bones, is used in making goofer dust too.

A cursed powdered shed can also be fed to one's enemy, most often without his knowledge, and can cause small snakes or worms to live inside the enemy's body (similar to what Filipinos call "barang").

Putting snake sheds, combined with salt, black pepper, red pepper, goofer dust, and graveyard dirt, can also cause bad luck, panic attacks, paranoia, and a departure when sprinkled around the victim's home or yard or in shoes, socks, or stockings. Contrariwise, some people place the shed skin around their own property, guarding the perimeter, to keep troublemakers and people with evil motivations and inclination towards them at bay.

This curio can be applied or rubbed on one's penis too (or in a penis figural candle) to cause physical pain and irritation whenever your man tries to get intimate with another woman other than you.

I have known some conjure workers that also utilize snakeskin sheds in break-up or separation works, especially when the couple is difficult to split apart. Wrapping their name papers separately, with snake sheds, black mustard seeds, and guinea peppers, and working them underneath a black candle dressed with Hot Foot, Break-Up, or Crossing oil can cause discord and strife to the couple.

One of my mentors also taught me that snake shed powder can also be used to calm the mind by rubbing them between my hands until it produces heat and blowing them away, together with my negative thoughts, anxieties, nervous conditions, and any mental stress.

Choctaw people and other Native Americans use snake oil, particularly rattlesnake grease, in making liniment for muscle sprains, osteoarthritis, and rheumatism. Cherokees do this by roasting a rattlesnake from the lower half of the body as it is thought to be the fattest portion. Rattlesnakes have a tremendous traditional significance among Native Americans, but the fat of any snake may be employed when doing snake liniments. I know some Hoodoo folks include red pepper, pine oil or turpentine, and camphor for increased effect.

Can Rootworkers Use Synthetic Chemicals In Their Practice?

Spiritual supplies with synthetic chemicals, artificial compounds, and toxic substances (petroleum jelly is used for burns and for creating herbal ointments; Florida Water cologne which is widely used for cleansing, has denatured alcohol as its base ingredient; artificial turpentine is used for blessing and purification as well; Pine-Sol is a household and Hoodoo cleaning product that contains abrasive chemicals such as alkyl alcohol ethoxylates and sodium sulfonate; and mineral oils which are traditionally used in making dressing oils for enemy works).

If a synthetic (as opposed to natural) chemical is available and handy, we can always find ways to convert it into something magically useful. Hoodoo magic is about using what we have on hand to empower our desires and intentions, and I believe there's a bit of magic in everything.

Everything around us, natural or man-made, is essentially a result of our mental boundaries. In other words, we sustain the continued existence and the image of things because we only think of them that way. For instance, even though a lot of magical books out there discourage the use of synthetic fragrance oils since most people look at them as mere imitations of the natural essences of herbs and flowers, I still look at them as sources of magical energy that can be used into any spiritual supply we want to produce and can cause changes within oneself.

Yes! I agree that back in the day, condition oils were mainly created with natural essential oils and organic leaves, roots, flowers, and bark, but that was simply because they had no choice but to use natural ingredients. However, with the rise of laboratory-made fragrances, conjure workers began to use them as substitutes for natural essential oils for reasons of economy. Remember that Hoodoo is folk magic of a community that lived frugally due to widespread economic discrimination and hardship, so it would be impractical to buy expensive ingredients for their spiritual supplies.

I believe if a folk magic practitioner wants to make his own conjure oil and essential oils are beyond his financial reach, then he is justified to use fragrance oils as long as he will add some plant matter to the blend. However, if the herbs are similarly expensive as the oils, one can use whatever herbs he has locally or anything readily available. As for the record, it is customary for Hoodoo workers to rethink and retool their workings as even their slave ancestors, when they were brought to the New World, substituted a lot of things as they had no more extended access to the magical and spiritual ingredients and tools that were abundant in Africa. I think the problem here comes from introducing the concept of recipes. We all have to understand that each rootworker or each family has its own formulas that pass from one generation to another. So one person may include five-finger grass in his Fast Luck oil while the other may add ground nutmeg in his own version, even though its original recipe does not have any of the aforementioned herbs. 

Old-fashioned conjure oils where rootworkers only soak the herbs in their base oils.

Also, herbs and roots are essential in condition oils. When African-Americans were still enslaved, down-home rootworkers only soaked dried leaves and root chips in a carrier oil (mostly cooking oil) and used that as-is as a dressing oil on their candles and anointing oil on people. The use of essential oils just occurred during the time when enslaved Africans began working as hairdressers, barbers, and make-up artists in parlors. Retailers of hair-care and cosmetic products knew about aromatic oils, and this was only reinforced when Jewish folks began to market and sell condition oils, as most customers demanded the strong scent of the herbs or roots in oil. Hence, folks added herbal essences to provide their distinctly volatile and ethereal aroma.

Magic in Hoodoo refers to the mind and spirits cooperating with the material plane or the body to manifest certain activities. Magic works depending on what we seek as its deal or as our guide. Like I said a while ago, everything has magic, and the magical properties of the objects are only manifestations of the spirit forces crying out for expression.

That being said, I believe it doesn't matter at all what oil one uses and has. It doesn't matter if a simple conjure worker uses synthetic oils while I use unadulterated essential oils. Both of them I consider genuine spiritual supplies, just like how most conjure workers treat synthetic chemicals such as some household cleansing solutions (like Pine-Sol and Murphy's Oil Soap), toilet waters (like Florida Water and Kananga Water), laundry bluing (like Mrs. Stewart's Liquid Bluing and Reckitt's Crown Blue), petroleum jelly (like Vaseline), lye (like Red Devil Lye), mineral oil and even aerosol sprays as genuine spiritual supplies, in which we can channel the forces and our energies to draw the effects for our intents and desires. Both of them can give an extra boost to one's magic. But the true magic comes from within and from the Spirits.

This belief that all things are good to use, both mundane and magic, has freed me from misconception; the idea that only this object is appropriate (because the book says so) and all the rest are inappropriate.

I believe that magic is in everything; there's magic in herbal essences, and there's magic, too, in other sorts of aromas.

In our case, as we have developed our own unique conjure oils, the Tim + Neal condition oil collection contains genuine essential oils and fragrance oils, and organic dried herbs and roots.

Our very own condition oils.

Spirit Possession And Mediumship (Contact With The Dead)

A great mystery surrounds mediumship and spirit possession. What is the experience of mediumship and possession? How do we know a medium or a possessed person is real? And do Hoodoo practitioners still do this at this time?

A medium is someone who has a direct line of communication with spirits. A person proved himself as a possessed medium of a genuine spirit by:

• Exchange of personality
• Claircognizance or heightened intuition
• Prophecy
• Unusual strength or capabilities
• Glossolalia, or speaking in tongues

During the time of enslaved Africans in their Motherland, mediumship and possession were part and parcel of African life. Almost all priests and priestesses of indigenous religions and cults were mediums. During their first few years in the United States, some workers still practiced necromantic rituals to divine and heal other people. Compared to the spiritual reality Hoodoo is experiencing today, the Black Belt period was as different as the body and the soul.

What exactly is the experience of mediumship and possession?

There are many levels of mediumship skills. Just as one person may have greater intelligence than another, one medium can be more excellent in mediumship than another. Yet most of them practice this so-called art of mediumship during spirit possession or while in a trance.

While experiencing possession, the limbs tremble as if experiencing seizures and convulsion, the body becomes weak, and one loses control of his stream of consciousness and may experience temporary insanity. Like the transmission of a high-megawatt signal to low-wattage equipment, it would often overload the receiver. All that remains in his conscious mind is a clear understanding of what took place before a spirit possessed him.

When a channeled, divine or prophetic message is given to the possessed medium, the information is usually transmitted via allegory or metaphor. The interpretation may or may not be immediately implanted in the medium's mind. In the case of the latter, someone has to interpret it.

What's in these messages?

The purpose of messages communicated through possessions or mediumship is to make corrections in the direction of an individual or in the order of society at large. Sometimes mediums foretell the future when the spirits deem it necessary that we should know what's to come to encourage us in our purpose in life. Other times it's to remind us that we're slacking off on what the spirits expect from us and warn us of the dire consequences this will bring if we don't get our act together. A medium may also convey a specific instruction from the spirits that are not traditionally practiced as a one-time-only order from on high; in such cases, one must follow that order even if it runs contrary to traditional beliefs. In my experience, messages will never instruct one to commit immoral acts or heinous crimes.

Hoodoo Origins of Spirit Possession

In West Africa, where ancestral veneration is prominent, spirit possession and mediumship are often closely associated. Ancestral spirits are among the entities thought to possess the people, especially during the festivals or masquerades celebrated in their honor.

Shrine House priestess in Ghana. (Photo courtesy of Eliot Elisofon) 

The Fon, Yoruba, Ashanti, and Ga-Adangbe tribes are only a few of the African tribes which have adorcism ceremonies that became the paragon of spirit possession rites in Central West Africa and later inspired the mediumistic and possession rituals found in Afro-American traditions such as Candomble, Umbanda, Quimbanda, Haitian Vodou and even Hoodoo.

Thus, the practice can involve drumming and dancing to induce possession among the Fon of Dahomey. However, mediumship is traditionally not conducted through ecstatic or transcendent dance but through divination in the cult of "Fa"; spirit possession has been assimilated into the ritual to dispense divine messages. Among Yoruba people of Nigeria, spirit possessions through dancing are the culmination of elaborate festivals for the "orisha," divine spirits rooted in ancestral veneration; royalties, warriors, elders, teachers, and founders of cities were celebrated after death and joined the Yoruba pantheon. Mediumship could be performed through ritual dances while possessed. However, it is more of personal communication with the Divine, or through a divinatory practice called "Ifa," where verses of the literary corpus known as the "Odu Ifa" are used to guide the people. Some people from the Ashanti tribe, before becoming an "obosomfo" priest, are being possessed first by the "obosom" spirit at the climax of a festival, where they usually run forth into the wilderness for hours or days and would just emerge until they finally have sealed their agreement to the spirits. Ga-Adangbe people are known to be possessed not just by ancestral or divine spirits but also by the spirits of the dead during some of their rites. In the ceremony, people speak with a voice not their own; they tremble and struggle while the attendants dress them, and they assume the posture and gait of whatever entity takes over them; they may be a hunchback, a pregnant woman, a crippled man, or may go in all four when possessed by an animal god.

A Babalawo (Yoruba priest) performing Ifa with an opele (divination chain). (Photo courtesy of Chief Ogunleye)

In many cases, though, Africans, both from their own land and the American continent, have abandoned their ritual practices in the name of Judeo-Christian religions. However, many continue their involvement in indigenous traditions and syncretize them with their new faith.

In many Black Churches today, especially among the Gullah people in Sea Islands, possession is considered a supreme religious experience. Against the clapping, singing, shouting, and dancing of the Church choir, Black Christian people run, jump, fall, spin, wave their arms, make involuntary movements and talk in tongues as they make their way to the call of God. The roots of this religious service are a reinterpretation of African spirit possession, which can be observed too in Nigeria today.

Worshippers are overcome by the Holy Spirit during a Church service. (Photo courtesy of the Feminist Wire)

Qualifications for a Medium

Although possession and mediumship seem to have been, by and large, a female experience in African and Diasporic tradition, mediums in Hoodoo can be either man or a woman.

Mediums are spiritual people. Reaching the mediumistic state of consciousness required a comprehensive study of the spirit world, prayers, and devotion to the higher spirits and to God and self-purification. It is believed among Christian Hoodoo practitioners that mediums are like prophets and that they should be of a strong character, great in wisdom, who is never overcome by their material inclinations or any thoughts whatsoever about useless things or the vanities and intrigues of the physical world. Instead, he is utterly in control of his passions and desires. He must also possess a broad and correct perspective to comprehend and grasp sublime concepts and is physically sound.

Mediums do not enter into a trance state whenever they desire. Instead, they must concentrate on spiritual concepts and seclude themselves in a joyous and receptive mood because it is believed that great spirits cannot rest upon a person when he is sad or languid. In Africa, it is necessary to have drums played during the possession ceremony before any spirit rest upon the medium. That is why, as you can see now in African Diaspora traditions, people always have rattles, bells, drums, and other native instruments when they seek to intermingle with spirits. Shouts and negro spirituals are common among southern Hoodoo practitioners.

Finally, mediums are personally observant of divine decrees and statutes and encourage others to do the same.

Life with Mediums

What effect did mediumship have on Hoodoo life? In Africa, during ancient times, the spirits of nature would immediately respond to people's actions. If the African people took a spiritual downturn, there would be a direct response such as famine, plague, drought, and pestilence. If the Africans, especially those from Igbo and Yoruba tribes, did some kind of atonement, the situation would immediately change.

When Africans were enslaved in America, mediums took on special responsibility to help others. If people had a problem, they would go to a medium, and he would discern first from the highest level what aspect was holding them back. Even if they had a physical ailment, they didn't go to a doctor. Instead, they went to Elder mediums who would tell them what spiritual flaw brought the sickness - and how to correct it.

People participating in ritual dances very often fall into a trance. (Photo courtesy of Les Stone)

During the Black-Belt period, when Hoodoo was in its prime and powerful state, two-headed conjure doctors who acted as mediums too understood the deepest level of souls. They were confident that the advice they were receiving flowed directly from their spirit guides. This is what life was like at the time when mediums flourished.

Christian slave worship and service in the woods. (Photo courtesy of Library of Congress)

Mediumship and possession as a widespread phenomenon diminished in practice over time. Although mediumship and possession still exist, it is very rare for you to see a Hoodoo worker practicing the latter, except those, conjure doctors who are also initiated into Afro-Caribbean religions. This is because African-American Hoodoo is nothing like the Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Latin American traditions, in which African religions, even its pantheon of spirits, remained intact for years, although conjoined to Christianity. What remains of African religious tradition in Hoodoo is a matter of cultural style, where ancestor worship and possession have been put into Christian Church services through ancestral veneration and ring shouts. Hoodoo retains the African character but not the African religion.

That means all professional Southern-style Hoodoo mediums or two-headed conjure workers I have known, even online, do not actually communicate with "loa," "orisha," "mpungo," "exu" or "pomba gira" since none of them, are actually initiated into African Diasporic Religions. Almost all are Protestant Christians, and a few Roman Catholics. Nevertheless, the principle that the spirit world and God communicate to them through possession and mediumship remains one of the foundations of the Hoodoo tradition. A form of possession from the 'Holy Spirit,' remains the province of some Christian Hoodoo practitioners.

So what is mediumship in Hoodoo, and how to do it?

A Leader-assisted séance. (Photo courtesy of ABC TV)

Mediumship in Hoodoo is a form of divination in which the practitioner consults a spirit and transmits its message, most often ancestral spirits, spirit guides, or spirits of the dead.

Tools like the Ouija board, pendulum, and scrying bowl are often employed to contact or communicate with an entity. However, using these can be inconvenient and complicated since a free hand is needed for solitary seance note-taking. There's a simple yet effective method for making contact with the spiritual world that involves the use of a mirror.

A mirror is a fascinating object: it seems to contain within it a mysterious world that resembles ours yet one that is untouchable by the hand. Hence its association with the world of the souls.

Materials Needed:

- White candle
- Mirror
- Psychic Vision/Spirit Guide oil
- Photograph or any picture that symbolizes the spirit
- An object that identifies the spirit itself (personal belonging of the dead or physical remains such as bones)
- Perfume or scent that identifies the spirit (favorite perfume or incense of the departed)
- Music that identifies the spirit (CDs with favorite songs of the dead)

Ritual Procedures:

Midnight is the ideal time for the seance. In a darkened room, light your candle to serve as a guiding beacon for the spirit into the world of the living. Facing a mirror, place the candlelight below your chin so the shadows would render your face almost unrecognizable in the mirror's reflection. Take your Psychic Vision or Spirit Guide oil and anoint it on your forehead.

Get the photograph and any material that symbolizes the spirit to connect with its energy. Now, grab the object that identifies the spirit, such as their personal belongings, and place it before you. Then, spray on the cologne or perfume that resembles the spirit's scent or light a cigarette if you know the spirit loves to smoke. After that, play any slow music that may give you the sensation of the spirit's presence but please make sure it would not interfere with your altered state of consciousness.

Recite a blessing or prayer to God and then to your protective spirit guides, asking permission and aid to make contact with an entity. Now with utmost sincerity, call upon the entity while gazing deep into the mirror, introducing yourself, and asking the entity to appear before you. Name the spirit and mention the purpose of the contact. You may notice a sudden chill or warmth, the wild flickering of the candle flame, or a clairvoyant vision in the mirror that signifies that a door is opening in the veil. The calling shall go on until the image of the spirit appears in the mirror in place of your reflection. There would be times when a different entity appears in the mirror, so be careful not to attract some dislocated souls or lower entities. Once the apparition is established, a few questions should be thrown to confirm the entity's identity. Do not trust immediately. The language used when speaking with the entity should be in the same respectful tone and manner as one would use with your relatives, friends, and other folks - not with willful authority but not lowering oneself.

After the seance, it's preferable to leave an offering of food and a candle for the spirit as a gesture of gratitude. Ask God and your spirit guides to close the veil and recite a thanksgiving prayer.

Ancestor Reverence (Veneration Of The Dead)

Today, as we celebrate All Souls' Day, I reckon it is the perfect time to discuss the Hoodoo way of honoring and revering our forefathers; its religious principle, spiritual aspects, and its analogy between the relationship to the Supreme Being.

Working with ancestors is prevalent throughout Africa and is the basis of many African traditional religions. It is actually where the Hoodoo practice of ancestral veneration is derived. 

To establish a working relationship with ancestral lineage, one needs to 'honor' and 'revere' his ancestors.

Who are the Ancestors?

The ancestors are the deceased who were once family, clan, or tribe members. There are two types of ancestors: those still remembered and those already unknown by the living.

The same homage and adoration paid to deceased parents and ancestors are usually given to the deities in Africa. And similar to what Africans do to appease their deities, they present offerings, pour libations, pay homage, and recite prayers to the ancestral spirits. And even though some ancestors are not remembered by name anymore, they can still share in the offerings made to the dead and exert some influence over the living.

The Crystal Diva ancestral shrine is inspired by the colorful egungun tradition of the Ifa, Santeria, and Lucumi religions. 

In the African belief system, the family is made up of both the living and the dead. And the deceased ancestors are still present, watching over the household and the property. Africans are extremely careful to honor and revere their ancestors, not just because they compare it to the honor and reverence of deities but also because they serve as the link between the physical world and the spiritual world, and for this very reason why Africans ascertain from time to time the will of their ancestors through divination.

I also believe that the ancestral cult was the original form of African religion. It seems that ancestral venerations were introduced by great founders and leaders of particular cities or kingdoms. There are some indications that these great men and women were the subject of deification and local worship. Places such as hometowns and graves of the ancestors of the tribes are associated with worship which probably was originally ancestral veneration.

How to honor our ancestors?

Yoruba and Chokwe people honor their ancestors by observing and celebrating appointed times dedicated to them. Masquerades and festivals for the dead are annual commemorations of events the ancestors had experienced in their lifetime, appeals or invitations for the spirits to celebrate and connect to all their descendants, and remembrance of past generations' ethical standards upheld. Thus, it is believed that the celebrations carry the presence and power of the ancestors and their spiritual experiences, and each year, people get to re-experience those events while, at the same time, being reminded of their heritage. This gives each of them the power to do whatever their ancestors were capable of. However, such festivals could not be observed in America when some Africans came there for fear of persecution from the White Christian slave masters, so they created several feasible and workable alternatives, such as constructing the ancestral shrine. Today, masks, skulls, costumed figures, and photographs of the dead are usually seen on Hoodoo altars. Their retention, more than anything else, gives Hoodoo a reputation for being necromantic magic. 

Designating a physical place where people can remember the beloved dead is the first step in how one can honor his ancestors; as this sanctified spot then serves to remind him of the ongoing relationship he has with them, much in the same way that a crucifix, a menorah, a statue of Ganesh, a Voodoo veve, a pentagram or any religious symbols remind people about their relationship with their Gods. The nature of ancestral shrines may vary widely according to one's religion and traditional beliefs. The altar may be a small table or shelf that one can place in the spot selected for the shrine's construction. I recommend covering it with a white cloth and then placing a glass of water and a white or blue candle on the surface. 

It is also essential to cleanse the space of your ancestral shrine by washing it with incense smoke, tobacco, cigar, or sage. If using a cigar, some individuals place a lit end in the mouth to jet smoke over their altar, while others simply blow the smoke over their shrine. To seal the cleansing process, put cascarilla or eggshell powder into a glass or bowl of water, add Florida Water or other spiritual colognes, then sprinkle the mixture on the altar to safeguard it. Cascarilla powder is a protective layer and can work as a barrier to keep unwanted entities at bay. 

Among the Mahongwe subgroup of the Kota people of Gabon, relics or physical remains of the ancestors, such as bones or any body parts, pieces of clothing, or some objects associated with their ancestors, are decorated with talismans, rubbed with powders, and placed into a rattan basket, on top of which stood a "bwete" figure, also called "mbuku ngulu" or "mboy" among the Kota of Congo, and sheathed in a thin copper or brass wires. Hoodoo practitioners adapted this practice by placing personal mementos or relics, the dirt of the graves, or maps of land where the ancestors once lived on their altars. Simply seeing these objects related or connected to the ancestors can serve as a subconscious reminder of their outstanding contributions and can function as a kind of spirit house or energetic link with the spirits of our forefathers. For this reason, I highly advise setting up the altar in a different room than where one sleeps, as eventually, the shrine will grow into a place where the energies of the departed ones dwell in a more concentrated way. 

Present-day Filipinos do the same thing as African-Americans in the South when venerating their ancestors. Filipinos expressed their honor and reverence by having photographs of the dead on home altars, with candles burning before them. 

Ancestral shrine in our home. 

Now that one has set up a shrine for his ancestors, a simple ceremony of calling on them to activate the shrine is recommended as it marks the shrine as a point of contact and communion with the ancestors.

Ancestral spirits are invited through offerings and sacrifices. African-American Hoodoo practitioners have their own styles and methods of giving offerings and libations to their ancestors. Other conjure workers with different racial and ethnic backgrounds have their own, too; case in point, Tim and I. Our methods depend on who is being summoned. Still, offerings are usually a tiny portion of our harvests (in our case, money), fruits and cooked foods native to our provinces, local wines, gold ornaments, tobacco, and betel nuts. Blood from an animal commonly came from chicken or pig, which is usually part of the offerings in a bowl or pot. Salt and some spices are avoided, as they are believed to be distasteful to the spirits according to Filipino tradition. Sometimes we do offer hymns and songs of prayers to the dead. They are said to help the souls stuck in purgatory, asking for prayers from the living to get to heaven.

From this beginning, the process of honoring and revering one's beloved dead can be deepened.

What constitutes honor? Since it is believed among Hoodoo practitioners that ancestral spirits retained their human passions and appetites, one must provide them with food and drink, garments or adornments, and even their vices like cigarettes or liquors and commune with them frequently. And one must cheerfully give them their demands in the form of offerings. If one wants to offer food to their ancestors, it is traditional to place their offerings on chipped or cracked plates as this relates to the practice of smashing plates on the ground at the death of a family member. 

Favorite fruits and food offered to our deceased family members: orange fruit, banana, "suman" or rice cake, and a roasted sunny-side-up egg.

Steamed kangkong (watercress), okra, and yema candies as offerings for my own ancestor.

Candles, food, and drinks were offered before the shrine. 

Also, one must perform for his ancestors all such services as a servant performs for his master or elder; one is duty-bound to render spiritual services even at personal expense.

To what lengths should the duty of honoring the ancestors go? Even were they to ask one to take his purse full of money and cast it into the sea, one must not shame them, manifest grief, or display any anger in their presence, but accept and continue the practice and observance without demur.

How about reverence? What constitutes it? One must not desecrate the place reserved for them. One must not eat or drink generally occupied by one's ancestors. One must not contradict their words, advice, or order, corroborate their assertions in their presence, or call them, even dead, by their first names. 

To what lengths should the duty of revering ancestors go? Even if one is already a well-known conjure doctor or spiritual worker with proven effectiveness and his ancestors thwart or oppose his workings, he must not shame them but should remain silent. If a person of authority were to issue a decree against him, he would be powerless to rebel against it. 

How to commune with ancestral spirits?

Close communication with the ancestral spirits of African-American conjure doctors is closely related to Kongo tradition. Inhabitants of the Kasai region, the Kongo and Songye tribes, believe that exceptional spiritual powers can be acquired through the communication of the dead, primarily through one's ancestors, by creating "minkisi" (singular "nkisi") power objects or medicinal vessels which may or may not contain an ancestral spirit, or a power figure, also called nkisi. 

Nkisi nkondi mangaaka, is a power figure that seals trade deals and punishes violators of agreements. (Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Certain types of power figures or minkisi, which have ancestral spirits embodied in idols or statues, can be used in magic to harm enemies, break malefic magic, ward off evil, draw good luck and success and protect the patient or the community. Healing figures are called "na monganga"; afflicting figures are called "npezo"; blessing and protective figures are known as "mbula"; and the punishing and vengeful ones are the "nkondi." The most popular type of minkisi in the United States is nkondi, as it has become a favorite for art museums as nail fetishes. Spiritual healers or "banganga" hammer nails into the nkondi statue as it signifies one's petition or represents an individual oath, covenant, or pledge to the spirits. The purpose of nailing is to 'awaken' and sometimes 'anger' the nkisi. Hoodoo practitioners awake or call their ancestors by approaching their altar and knocking on their table three times, imitating the sound of hammering a nail into wood. 

People in Congo believe in the presence of the Supreme Being, but it is best accessed through ancestors. Respect for one's ancestors is part of not just spiritual life but daily, even mundane life. The absolute character of honoring and revering the ancestors in Africa is actually a filial duty or a devotion independent of exterior conditions. The commitment to the ancestors remains intact even where there is no debt to be paid, or the ancestors had gone long ago. Indeed, many African tribal precepts stay in force, even concerning ancestors who were known to be wicked men.

The descendant-ancestor relationship is analogous and intricately bound up in the man-God relationship. This is so because in bringing us into this world, our ancestors are in partnership with God; the material substance (genetic component - DNA) is derived from our ancestors, while God grants spirit and soul. 

An African-American ancestral shrine (Photo courtesy of Gina Spriggs). 

Ancestral veneration in African and Hoodoo traditions implicitly suggests an awareness of one's origin, knowledge of one's existence, and grateful acknowledgment of one's resources. 

For this reason, Africans and even some African-Americans elders account honor and reverence shown to ancestors as though it were delivered to the Supreme Being, and conversely, the neglect to honor the ancestors as an insult to God.

Proper behavior towards ancestors is seen as an essential step in the ladder leading to the appropriate behavior toward God. That being said, to answer one's question on how to commune with one's ancestors, I would say communicate with them like how we talk to God; that is through 'prayers.' 

How do they respond?

Ancestral spirits can respond through spirit possession ritual or mediumship practices but may also happen spontaneously in dream contact or visitations, walking encounters, or omens. If you have a framework to receive their messages, their outreach is more accessible. 

Can ancestors aid a root doctor in his magical or spiritual workings?

Absolutely, yes! 

As I said, Kongo people create ancestral nkisi, which can protect and defend community members, assault or harm enemies and witches, aid misfortunes, infertility, diseases, and spiritual maladies and provide success in specific pursuits like battling, farming, hunting, etc. Kongo people usually put objects in their nkisi depending on their job or work. A resin pack of medicinal herbs is typically attached to the chest of the figure if the nkisi is for healing and health, iron knives driven into the chest are for protection, shells that resemble female genitalia are for romantic love, sex, and lust, and pieces of poisonous bark or fangs of venomous snakes attached to figure are for enemy works. Their purposes may also depend on the spiritual ingredients or "bishimba" placed within or on the figure. Bishimba is like offerings to the ancestors which can be concealed within the abdominal cavity, put in the horn set at the top of the head, tied around the neck or waist, or placed in the eyes, ears, or mouth of the figure. 

Similar to traditional African practice, Hoodoo practitioners place objects, tokens, or votive offerings on their altars based on what job or occupation their ancestors had in life, what activities or hobbies they loved to do, or what strong and distinct talents they possessed back in the day. Some people who have military people in their ancestry place bullets or gunpowder on their altars, others who had doctors in their family, put medical tools, and an ancestor who loved to play musical instruments during his time would like to see a banjo or a guitar on his altar. 

We work with our ancestors as spirit helpers and intermediaries to our Lord Jesus Christ. 

(Photo courtesy of Georgia Conjure)

Serer people are known ethnic groups in Senegal who petition their ancestors for magical and spiritual aid. In the Serer religion, called "a fat Roog" by the natives, ancestral spirits are considered ancient saints, canonized by the priests of the religions, and associated with certain aspects or facets of life. Like the saints in Catholic Church, who each have special patronage, "pangool" or ancient saints could also serve as intercessors between the living world and the Divine. 

Hoodoo practitioners assumed this practice and treated their ancestral spirits as spirit helpers that could be petitioned for help in certain cases. For instance, a conjure doctor whose grandfather was a military or soldier could petition his ancestor's aid in case of protection, banishing, and enemy works; a rootworker whose great-grandmother was a doctor could call upon his ancestor for spiritual assistance before undertaking to heal, and in-person cleansing works on behalf of his clients. A Hoodoo practitioner whose great-granduncle was a musician could pray to his ancestor for the mastery of his talent.

Is there any other way to honor one's ancestors?

There are other ways some African-Americans do to pay homage to their ancestors: to keep their behavior and tradition intact. Everyone must remember that one's behavior towards his traditional heritage reflects very much on his ancestors. When one chooses to continue what his ancestors did and practiced during their time, this is a source of joy and honor to the ancestors and causes others to praise and admire them. Conversely, improper behavior towards the ancestral folkways is a source of disgrace and ignominy to the ancestors, in their own eyes and in the eyes of others.

Even in Judeo-Christian tradition, the Scriptures state: "Honor your father and your mother." Some people thought that after a parent's death, one is already exempt, but sages taught that if our father or mother has died, one is obliged to honor them even more through the proper observance of customs and traditions they shared with their children. This reminds one that he is part of his parent and his ancestry that defines and shapes who he is today and who to become. Ignoring family traditions is a sure sign of 'disobedience.'

The Gullah people in the American South honor their ancestors by holding steadfastly to the ways of their enslaved African ancestors, passing on their customs and traditions from one generation to the next. People keep the West African music alive by performing ring shout; they make baskets using sweetgrass the way their ancestors did centuries ago; they weave their quilts similar to traditional strip loom used by African tribes; and they practice Hoodoo, conjure, and rootwork by respecting the tradition within and not deliberately removing its Christian and Central West African elements.

What to do when our ancestors don't match our spiritual path?

African ancestors, slave ancestors, unknown ancestors, and our known ancestors are being honored and revered with equal importance.

My partner Tim and I practice Hoodoo, which originates not from our country but from American South. To our knowledge, we both have no ethnic or ancestral lineage to Africans or African-Americans; that's why it surprises many people when they interact with us because they know we are Catholic Filipinos, yet we practice a practically foreign spiritual path.

Yes, we may not have an African-American cultural heritage, but we honor the enslaved African ancestors and our ancestors correspondingly. We honor our own ancestors in character and skills (My partner, Tim, for instance, has particular relatives who were folk healers who used traditional Latin prayers called "oracion" in their spiritual works; it would not hurt him to do the same in their honor) and we revere the ancestors of Hoodoo folk magic through learning and applying how they practice their own spirituality. To those who are in the same situation, why not give these techniques a try.

As already pointed out, ancestral veneration is integral to Hoodoo tradition, but what if one doesn't know his ancestors? Has no idea where he came from? And not sure about his roots?

I was adopted into a brilliant and loving family when I was still an infant, and I wouldn't want to change them for the world. Even to this day, I still have not met my biological family. I admit I was angry with them before, as I learned about my real identity. I was asking God why did He let my family abandon me? Why did my mother give me away? Did they ever realize the grief I was feeling over losing my relationship with them?

But as I learned the words of God and started to walk in Christ, I became more appreciative of being accepted and raised by someone who didn't give birth to me.

I am blessed and grateful to my foster Mom. I thank her for all she has done. I am grateful to God, too, because I realized He was the One who gave me to my foster family. He placed me in someone's care because He chose me and adopted me into His Spiritual Family. If it wasn't for Him, where would I be? I suppose I wouldn't have the same spiritual and magical opportunities. I am just thankful He allowed these things to happen.

"In the Messiah, he chose us in love before the creation of the universe to be holy and without defect in his presence. e determined in advance that through Yeshua the Messiah we would be his sons - in keeping with his pleasure and purpose -  so that we would bring him to praise commensurate with the glory of the grace he gave us through the Beloved One." (Ephesians 1:46) 

I am contented and happy to consider Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as my ancestors. It would mean a lot to me to show our Forefathers I'm submissive to their God. It will be my way of saying thank you for helping me get here.