Spirit Possession And Mediumship (Contact With The Dead)

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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.

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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.