Who Are The Hoodoo Saints? ~ Filipino Conjure & Rootwork

Who Are The Hoodoo Saints?

Always remember that the religion associated with Hoodoo is Protestantism, and Folk Protestant Christians do not generally venerate or 'work with' Roman Catholic Church saints (although some invoke the aid of angels, prophets, and other spirits). Considering that, we could say that Hoodoo is not organized around any form of Catholic saint veneration, except among the small minority of practitioners who happen to be Roman Catholics who are often found in Louisiana and Maryland.

To understand what it means to 'work with saints,' one needs to know what a saint is and how the Church became so concerned with saints?

It all started in the Jewish concept of "hasidim" (pious ones), "tzadikim" (righteous ones), and "k'doshim" (holy ones) as these individuals all speak of their "Kiddush HaShem" or The Holy Name. In contrast to Christian beliefs, no miracles are attributed to them or their remains. But they, too, were held in high esteem, and their lives were seen as exemplary and worthy of imitation.

Throughout Church history, different usage of the term 'holy one' emerged. The term began to be used as a title for those of great importance to the Christian religion, especially those of heroic stature. In the beginning, it was only and mainly applied to angels (e.g., St. Michael), people described in the New Testament (e.g., St. Luke), and famous people from post–New Testament times (e.g., St. Patrick).

The origins of applying the narrower meaning of saint to Christians from after the apostolic period can be traced to times of persecution during the early Church period. Certain people who gave their lives for their faith were understandably elevated to a place of great importance. Christians went to great lengths to honor them and preserve their legacy.

This type of behavior continued over time and seems to have related to some interesting (and perhaps developing) theological beliefs. Christians also began to ask for the intercession of saints in Heaven, which would become an essential aspect of later Christian spirituality and Hoodoo tradition.

An enormous change came when, in the fourth century, Christianity was protected from persecution within the Roman world. Naturally, this led to a drastic drop in the number of new Christian martyrs. At this time, non-martyrs began to take on the heroic role of sainthood, especially those who pioneered monasticism, a lifestyle involving extreme denial of worldly pleasures and intense religious devotion. Other important figures, especially teachers and ecclesiastical leaders, also attained this special status and held tremendous significance in the Christian religion.

When Protestantism arrived at the scene, the word 'saint' was adopted by the new Christian denomination, referring to members of the Protestant Church - both those who are currently living and those who have died in a state of faith and grace, as described in the numerous old Baptist hymns.

What is a saint?

A saint is a person of holiness and distinctness. Why distinctness? This is because being holy means being set apart - different from the common people.

Rather, you people are to be holy for me; because I, Adonai, am holy; and I have set you apart from the other peoples so that you can belong to me. (Leviticus 20:26)

My teacher defines sainthood as having extremely distinct or sets apart behavior. So, for example, if one avoids haughtiness to the utmost extent and becomes exceedingly humble to prevent further conflict with anyone, he is termed a saint.

With this in mind, those who belong to the Sanctified Church who also view saints as living or dead individuals who have been or will be taken to Heaven, therefore, consider all the members of their Church saints as well.

Hence, the idea of 'working with saints' (in the sense of 'canonized' Catholic Church saints) is uncommon in Hoodoo's practice. Working with ancestors and other spirits of the dead - some of whom are 'saints' in the Baptist and/or in the Sanctified Church sense - is more common.

The practice of 'working with Roman Catholic saints' only entered Hoodoo when Carribean and Latin American Catholic folk magic practitioners of Haitian Voudu, Brujeria, Curanderismo, and Santeria came into contact with practitioners of Conjure in the Gulf Cost, especially in New Orleans and its sorrounding rural areas. Due to this, many workers developed their own regional Hoodoo.

Tim and I were born, raised, and baptized in Catholic Christianity, just like some conjure workers in Louisiana were; that is why we work with saints. But it should be pointed out that we never neglect the fact that Hoodoo doesn't have an ecclesiastical system of canonization. Thus, we don't teach our students that saint-working is an original part of the Black-Belt Hoodoo.

Spiritual Church women, clothed in sanctity.

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.