Sassafras Bark Of Root ~ Filipino Conjure & Rootwork

sassafras officinale, sassafras albidum

The aromatic Sassafras bark and root were once the main ingredient in old-fashioned traditional root beers. In Hoodoo, it is primarily used to draw good fortune in money matters, mainly through business success and the steady increase of wealth.

Sassafras is an important plant to many Native Americans of the Southeastern United States and was used for many purposes, including culinary and medicinal purposes. Choctaw people call it "kvfi" while Timucua people call it "pauane."

Some Native American tribes used sassafras' leaves, roots, and bark to treat wounds and acne by rubbing the plant matter directly into the wounds or pimples. They also used it to cure urinary disorders and high fevers. Both cut sassafras bark and powdered sassafras root were also mixed into various ointments and pastes. Native folks applied it to knees, ankles, wrists, sore muscles, and other areas to aid with relief from discomfort and swelling.

Some folks in the olden days consumed it to improve blood circulation, promote healthy digestion, and more. In modern times, sassafras is primarily used in topical application for external skincare and sore muscle preparations. In this manner, the bark or root can be steeped in oil and used in rub-downs or massages, especially when doing work related to money and finances.

Some sassafras available in herbal shops are the whole, unprocessed form, which contains safrole - healthcare practitioners consider this unsafe as a food.

Sassafras was the first discovery and exported raw material from North America back to the Old World at a time when wood and wooden objects were central to everyday life. In the 1600s, several ships called 'sassafras carriers' made of sassafras wood brought their logs and roots to Europe. Because of the ships' durability, strength and beauty, sassafras quickly developed a reputation for being a 'lucky wood.'

Soon after, since its wood was directly related to trading, exporting, and its status as a highly sought commercial commodity, folks used its barks and roots to make their money go farther and last longer. Some rootworkers began sprinkling a pinch of the root in their wallet or purse where it would come into contact with their cash.

A strong Money-Holding mojo hand utilizes sassafras root chips by sprinkling them to an alligator foot holding a Mercury dime coin, and putting them in a green flannel bag.

To make someone pay what they owe you and protect yourself from unpaid debts, loans and receivables, mix sassafras root, comfrey leaves, bayberry root, calamus root, and clove pods, then get two things from the person borrowing money from you: a hair strand from their head and their complete name written on a piece of paper in their own handwriting. You don't need to explain why you need those things because if they are desperate enough to have the money, they will do as you say. Once you get hold of the paper, write your name across their name on the paper to control them. Around the crossed names, write this phrase in a circle using cursive penmanship: "Being faithful to a trust brings its own reward." Write it in one continuous flow of script letters, without spaces and pen lifting. Do not cross t's or dot i's yet; just write the words in one run and the phrase a few times until you join up the end of the last word with the beginning of the first word, so the circle is complete. After that, you can cross the t's and dot the i's. Place the hair and herbs at the center of the paper and fold the paper towards you until it is small, making a packet. Tie a small ribbon around the packet using jute strings or any threads. Carry the packet on you or place it on your Prosperity or Money altar. Dress it occasionally with Money Stay With Me, Money Drawing, or Pay Me oils to keep it working for you until they pay you.

Another simple Money Stay With Me trick I learned from my teacher is to have a box where you can place bills and coins of all denominations. As you sprinkle sassafras root chips, mint leaves, comfrey leaves, Irish moss, cinnamon powder, clove pods, and magnetic sand on them, pray for the protection of your investments and finance. Cover the box and light a green candle on the first day. Keep your money box for seven days on your altar, vault, cabinet, drawer, or anywhere where you usually hide your cash. After a week, deposit the bills and coins in the bank or spend them wisely and replace it with another stack of bills and coins. Light another green candle and pray. You can do this every month.

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.