Correspondence By Planets ~ Filipino Conjure & Rootwork

Sun
Archangel: Michael
Color: Gold, orange, red, yellow
Crystal: Topaz
Day: Sunday
Element: Fire
Herb: Almond, bay, cedar, cinnamon, frankincense, marigold, Saint John’s wort
Kabbalistic Sephirot:Tiferet
Magickal Property: Creativity, fatherhood, leadership, success
Metal: Gold
Sign: Leo

Moon
Archangel: Gabriel
Color: Silver, white
Crystal: Moonstone
Day: Monday
Element: Water
Herb: Coconut, lemon, lily, lotus, jasmine, willow
Kabbalistic Sephirot: Yesod
Magickal Property: Emotions, intuition, motherhood, fertility
Metal: Silver
Tree: Willow
Sign: Cancer

Mercury
Archangel: Raphael
Color: Green, violet
Crystal: Opal
Day: Wednesday
Element: Air, Water
Kabbalistic Sephirot: Hod
Herb: Bergamot, lavender, lemon, marjoram, sandalwood
Magickal Property: Communication, business, travel
Metal: Mercury
Sign: Gemini, Virgo

Venus
Archangel: Haniel
Color: Blue, green
Crystal: Rose Quartz
Day: Friday
Element: Earth, Water
Herb: Apple, cherry, daffodil, hyacinth, rose
Kabbalistic Sephirot: Nezach
Magickal Property: Beauty, partnerships, love, sex
Metal: Copper
Sign: Libra, Taurus

Mars
Archangel: Samael
Color: Red
Crystal: Carnelian
Day: Tuesday
Element: Fire
Herb: Basil, dragon’s blood, ginger, pepper, pine, mint
Kabbalistic Sephirot: Gevurah
Magickal Property: Aggression, conflict, courage, passion, lust
Metal: Iron
Sign: Aries

Ceres
Archangel: ?
Color: ?
Crystal: ?
Day: ?
Element: ?
Herb: ?
Magickal Property: ?
Metal: ?
Sign: ?

Jupiter
Archangel: Zadkiel
Color: Purple, yellow
Crystal: Amethyst
Day: Thursday
Element: Air, Fire
Herb: Anise, cedar, cinquefoil, clove, nutmeg, sage
Kabbalistic Sephirot: Hesed
Magickal Property: Expansion, abundance, education, law
Metal: Tin
Sign: Sagittarius

Saturn
Archangel: Cassiel
Color: Black, blue, brown
Crystal: Sapphire
Day: Saturday
Element: Earth, water
Herb: Comfrey, hemlock, mandrake, morning glory, pansy
Kabbalistic Sephirot: Binah
Magickal Property: Obstacles, restriction, providence, balance, justice, retribution
Metal: Lead
Sign: Capricorn

Uranus
Archangel: Uriel
Color: Blue-green
Crystal: Quartz
Element: Air, Fire, Water
Herb: Clover
Kabbalistic Sephirot: Hokhmah
Magickal Property: Invention, unexpected occurrences
Metal: Uranium
Sign: Aquarius

Neptune
Archangel: Asariel
Color: Light blue
Crystal: Aquamarine
Element: Water
Herb: Lotus, water lily
Kabbalistic Sephirot: Keter
Magickal Property: Art, healing, visions
Metal: Pewter
Sign: Pisces

Pluto
Archangel: Azreal
Color: Black
Crystal: Obsidian
Element: Water
Herb: Dogwood, Foxglove
Kabbalistic Sephirot: Da'at
Magickal Property: Order, sudden change, death
Metal: Chrome
Sign: Scorpio

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.