New World Witchery – The Search for American Traditional Witchcraft
A show about magic and witchcraft in North America
Hi everyone!
Today I’ve got a few photos of things to tease and entice you. We’ve got something happening in the very near future and I wanted to let you blog readers be the first to know about it. You can probably guess from the pictures what the announcement will be.
Be watching for an update soon! Until then, thanks for reading!
-Cory
Hi everyone!
I promise I will eventually get the rest of the cartomancy thread and look at how to do an actual reading, but I’ve not had time to take the photos I want to use for that yet. So today, I wanted to recommend something I only found last week. It’s a podcast called “5-Star Spells” and it’s found on BlogTalk Radio. For those who don’t know about BlogTalk, it’s a phone-in format open radio site that lets people broadcast their shows without having podcasting equipment. The radio shows go out live at specific times, then get recorded and transferred to a podcast feed for posterity (and for those of us who just prefer podcasts).
5-Star Spells is a show with a group of some of the most talented and knowledgeable root workers and readers around. I’ll get into them individually in a moment, but as a whole they represent some of the best minds, hearts, and hands in the conjure business today. What’s even better, they all interact like family, with a tremendous amount of positivity towards each other, even when it’s clear they aren’t exactly alike. They pass on lots of useful information, a good bit of personal philosophy (anecdotally, which is my favorite way to get philosophy), and a lot of laughter, which is pretty refreshing, actually. Oraia Sphinx actually tipped me off to them at almost the exact same time I had downloaded their first episode, so that was serendipitious, I thought. The show’s most frequent callers are:
Rev. Mother Susan Asselin – The show’s primary host, she operates out of a Little Italy-style neighborhood in Providence, RI. She and Sindy Todo refer to each other as “cousins” as they recently discovered they share some branches on their family trees. I’ll be honest and say I probably know the least about Mother Asselin, but from what I hear on the show, she’s knowledgeable, spirit-filled, and wise. Her website is called MotherMystic.
Dara Anzlowar – The owner of HoodooRoots.com, and the owner and manufacturer of Hoodoo Roots and Folk-Magic Traditional Spiritual Supplies. She also runs two Yahoo groups, Hyatt Spells and Conjure. I’ve followed Dara’s posts in those groups for a while now, and having a voice to put with the brilliant insights is very nice. She works in a very traditional style, and provides a strong traditionalist viewpoint in the discussions that come up on the show, though she is also immensely cordial and kind in conversation.
Susan Diamond – She owns the Serpents Kiss occult shop and co-owns the 2Hoodoos site with Orion Foxwood. She has a very sweet disposition on the show, but also provides a lot of interesting information (listen for her contributions in the Family Folklore episode). She and Orion provide the most “pagan” voices on the program, but they also have some very traditional leanings as well. She offers a wide variety of services and products, so check her out. She’s also a member of the Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers (AIRR).
Orion Foxwood – I know many folks already know who Orion is, but there are probably a number of people who don’t. The sole regular male voice on the show, Orion grew up in the southern Appalachian Mountains surrounded by the magical and mystical traditions of the area. He says he was born with a caul (also called a “veil” sometimes) which is commonly associated with having second sight or visions. He’s published several books on his Faery Seership tradition, and has a bevy of websites including the aforementioned 2Hoodoos, the House of Brigh, and the Foxwood Temple of the Old Religion.
“Auntie” Sindy Todo – One of my favorite voices on the show, Sindy Todo provides sass, humor, warmth, and a heckuva lot of good information on 5-Star Spells. She always has something nice to say, blessings to pass out, and good news to share. She is based in Seattle, and has a website called Todo Mojo which offers her magical services. She’s also a member of AIRR, and seems like one of the most genuinely likeable people I’ve ever heard.
Starr – A Texas based conjure woman working in the old-style tradition, Starr is another favorite voice of mine (they’re all wonderful in their own ways, of course! I just have a thing for sassy women with southern accents). She specializes in spiritual cleansings and also is one of the foremost experts on working with the Native American spirit Black Hawk. She doesn’t appear on every show, but when she’s on, she’s a great participant and a wonderful resource for good, solid hoodoo information. She’s a member of AIRR, too, and operates a website called Old Style Conjure.
One of the most amazing things about this group of folks is that they all get on so well. Well enough, in fact, that they’re all getting together in November for a weekend of conjure classes and socializing! I’m hoping to provide more info about this sometimes oon, but for now you can read all about it at the Traditional Folk Magic Festival website. And you can hear all about it on 5-Star Spells, which, again, I highly recommend.
Okay, that’s it for my recommendation today! I hope you can forgive the delay in the cartomancy finale, but I’ll have that soon. Until then, thanks for reading!
-Cory
-SHOWNOTES FOR EPISODE 14-
Summary
Today we are truly blessed to have an interview with renowned rootworker and teacher Catherine Yronwode of the Lucky Mojo Co. Then we briefly discuss Christianity in hoodoo. Laine tells us about Magical Soap in WitchCraft, and Cory talks about Spiritual Cleansing Baths in Spelled Out.
Play:
Download: New World Witchery – Episode 14
-Sources-
Some of Cat’s many wonderful sites:
Lucky Mojo – Her main site and online store
Lucky W Amulet Archive – A repository of info on lucky charms
Southern Spirits – Her site on Southern folklore and history
Arcane Archive – An archive of magical lore and practice from around the net
YIPPIE – The Yronwode Institute for the Preservation and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology
Herb Magic – A site on magical plants and roots
Missionary Independent Spiritual Church – The world’s smallest church, and part of the long tradition of Spiritual Churches in the United States
Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers (AIRR) – A body of trained, professional rootworkers with experience and accountability
Hoodoo and Rootwork Course – One of the definitive training programs in traditional hoodoo
And, of course, her book Hoodoo Herb & Root Magic is often referenced on the blog and in the show.
Cory also reference’s Draja Mickaharic’s Spiritual Cleansing, a definitive guide on the topic.
Promos & Music
Title music: “Homebound,” by Jag, from Cypress Grove Blues. From Magnatune.
Promo 1- Inciting a Riot
Promo 2- Pagan in the Threshold
Greetings everyone! Today, I’m going to cover another piece of our recent Lucky 13 podcast: Van Van oil. This is one of the most common hoodoo oils around, and actually shows up in other places fairly often, too. Because it is made from grasses found in Southeast Asia, it has a long history in medicine and magic from those areas. Some of the grasses used in Van Van are also grown in West Africa, which is likely one route through which Southern conjure practices adopted this formula.
The basic ingredients in a Van Van blend are oils from:
Most of these are not easily available in bulk herb form, with the exceptions of lemongrass (which you can find at almost any Asian market) and vetiver (which can often be found in herb or metaphysical shops). All of the oils except gingergrass are readily available from any aromatherapy or herbal extract dealer. Gingergrass oil, which can be hard to find, is often left out of homemade Van Van recipes, or something else might be substituted for it.
The proportions heavily favor lemongrass in the recipes I’ve seen, almost to the point of exclusivity. There are some who solely use lemongrass oil and add dried botanicals to it in order to round out the recipe. Generally speaking, a home blender would use:
All of these would be carefully blended in a sterile jar, then topped with a carrier oil (sweet almond or jojoba would be excellent). The proportions above are merely suggestions, and you would do well to contact a trained herbalist before blending these on your own. In reality, you might be able to use just the first three oils and have some pretty solid Van Van oil, so don’t spend loads of money tracking down rare herbal ingredients unless you really feel compelled to do so.
Additions to the recipe vary by practitioner and region. For example, in New Orleans, one might find lemon verbena added to the mix. In fact, this may be how the formula got its name. According to Cat Yronwode, Creole rootworkers would sometimes use lemon verbena in their blends in order to supplement the strong lemon-musk scent of the oil. Verbena—a related herb—was often called vervain, and that was given a pidgin phoneme of “van van.” The name does NOT have anything to do with vanilla, which is not found in any traditional recipes for this formula. Judika Illes, whom we’ve referenced several times before, suggests adding another wild Asian grass—patchouli—to the blend, but I’ve never done this myself (I’m not a fan of patchouli, personally). Other additions might include pyrite chips or “lucky” things like four leaf clover charms (which can also be anointed with Van Van and carried for luck).
So just what is Van Van oil for and how does it work? Well, it’s considered a sort of ultimate luck formula, having sway over money, prosperity, gambling, love, and anything else that might need a little luck. It’s often used to anoint talismans—like the rabbit’s foot—or mojo hands made for gambling or love. As for how it works, lemongrass (and all citrus grasses) has a powerful “cut and clear” effect…think of how many lemon-scented cleaning agents there are. They just make things seem cleaner (lemon also has some antibacterial/antimicrobial properties, and is a potent preservative in small doses—sliced apples are often treated with a lemon juice extract to keep them from browning). Citronella does something similar (think of how citronella candles, torches, and oils repel nasty insects like mosquitoes). These grasses cut and clear any negative influences, warding off bad luck. Palmarosa and gingergrass (which come from the same plant, in reality, Cymbopogon martine) are muskier, and so have a slight sexual connotation. If you think of something being clean, bright, and sexy, it’s not hard to imagine lucky in the mix, too (think James Bond in a casino). Vetiver is the muskiest of all, with strong earthy tones. Earth has connections to abundance and prosperity (think of fertile black soil planted with seeds which grow into crops), plus there is a strong sexual current again. Sex + money + nothing standing in your way? Yeah, I’d say that’s pretty lucky.
A few quick notes:
Magico-botanical notes come primarily from Cat Yronwode’s book, Hoodoo Herb & Root Magic.
You can find Van Van oils at the Lucky Mojo Co., Music City Mojo, Toads Bone Apotheca, Queen of Pentacles Conjure, The Conjure Doctor, and just about any botanica or root shop around.
That’s it for today. Thanks for reading!
-Cory
Back in Blog Post 76, I mentioned that I’d be following up with some other types of success mojos. Academic success is fantastic, but if you’re not in school it’s probably not going to help you much. So today I thought I’d take that scholastic success mojo hand and rework it for a few other needs. I hope it helps!
Building upon the basic Crown of Success mojo, which would generally include a John the Conqueror root in a red flannel sack anointed with Crown of Success oil, you could vary your specific ingredients for particular results:
Better Business – Add herbs like sassafras, five-finger grass, or cinnamon, plus a lodestone and magnetic sand. Try to use an odd number of ingredients. Pray Psalm 8 or a similar prayer.
Gentle Judge – A court-case success hand. Use gravel root, little John to chew/galangal, cascara sagrada bark, sugar, and tobacco. Pray Psalm 36 or a similar prayer.
High Rollers – This is a gambling success mojo. Use Job’s tears, a gator paw, a badger or gator tooth, a raccoon penis bone, a rabbit’s foot, and/or a four-leaf clover charm (primarily use curios for this one). Pray Psalm 41 or Psalm 62 or a similar prayer.
Lucky in Love – With this success hand, it’s less about attracting a new love and more about strengthening one that exists (say, for example, during the process of courtship and marriage). Add angelica root, violets, and roses (if trying to court a woman) or vanilla, tobacco, and dragon’s blood resin (for courting a man). You can use lavender if you’re courting someone of the same sex, as well. Pray Psalm 139 or a similar prayer.
Make It Rain Money – Add cinnamon, collard seeds, beans or peas, lucky hand root, rice, and/or rose of Jericho (things like seeds, beans, peas, and rice all signify abundance). Add a lucky penny or a silver dime if you like, or a silver charm like a four-leaf clover. Pray Psalm 126 or a similar prayer.
There are so many variations on these types of mojos, so please try them out and experiment. I’ve had a lot of success (and the irony of that is not lost on me) working with these types of hands, so I encourage everyone to give them a try.
I’d like to close this post by sharing something one of our wonderful readers mentioned to me. Odom of the Evil Eye recently wrote me about an academic success hand he’s working on, and he included an ingredient that struck me as just perfect for that kind of work: coffee. He made an excellent point that as a stimulant coffee can help keep one awake and alert, and that the university coffee house is such a ubiquitous piece of the college landscape it almost serves as a shrine to this kind of work. So good eye for that connection, Odom!
Thanks for reading,
-Cory
For today’s entry, I thought I’d approach two books which share a lot in common and which can be useful to people who really enjoy candle magic. First up, there’s The Master Book of Candle Burning by Henri Gamache. This is a classic in many hoodoo circles, and falls into the same category of early 20th-century magical texts as the reprints of Black & White Magic by Marie Laveau and Mysteries of the Long Lost 8th, 9th, and 10th Books of Moses, also by Gamache. All of these small books (usually only around 100 pages each) contain lots of great information on their particular magical subjects, and all are the source of much debate regarding authorship (Marie Laveau most definitely did not write Black & White Magic, which is usually attributed to “N.D.P. Bivins,” whoever that might be).
Candle Burning, though, holds a special place in my heart. In its pages, Gamache outlines the “Philosophy of Fire” which he traces through a number of the world’s religions, especially linking it to Judeo-Christian and Zoroastrian practice. Most of what he describes is pseudo-history, though it offers some good food for thought, at times. What makes this book so invaluable to a magic worker are its spells. In its pages, it offers spells, prayers, and psalmic rituals for:
There are so many wonderful rituals in this book, covering a wide variety of problems, that I can’t help but recommend it. The prayers (and psalms) are all centered around Judeo-Christian religious philosophy, but in a fairly non-denominational way (emphasizing God as a powerful force rather than as part of a Trinity or some particular theological concept). One of my favorite spells is the last one in the book:
TO CONQUER FEAR
Light your two Monthly Vibratory Candles [candles dressed to match you astrologically], two Daily Cross Candles [crucifix candles or candles inscribed with a cross], and the following Special Purpose Candle: one Red symbolizing faith and one Gold to soothe nerves. Read Psalm 3 giving special attention to verse 3:
“But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.”
Affirmation [prayer]: “Dear Lord I ask you to help me with my needs in this life and smooth my way. Protect me so that no one may cause me harm. In your light, darkness flees. I fear not, knowing you are with me.” (p.106)
The book has its issues, of course. It makes heavy use of “black” versus “white” magic. It denounces the black magic as a “perversion” but then proceeds to provide numerous candle rituals for things like breaking up a couple or causing confusion. Still, if one can forgive it these foibles, it’s a great text to have on hand.
Similarly, The Magical Power of the Saints by Rev. Ray T. Malbrough proves
itself a useful text full of practical candle burning rituals. There are many who do not like Malbrough, primarily because he blends hoodoo and Wicca in some of his books without letting the reader know which is which (his Charms, Spells, & Formulas is guilty of this, and apparently his Hoodoo Mysteries is even worse about it). However, most of the rootworkers who discuss him seem to offer at least some praise for Saints.
Malbrough focuses on the Catholic saints in candle form (and a number of condition candles, which are designed to invite specific conditions into a person’s life—e.g. Anima Sola/Lonely Soul, Just Judge, Lucky Bingo, etc.). When I picked up the book I thought it would mostly be about the cult of certain saints like Dr. Jose Gregorio or Santa Muerte or the Infant Jesus of Prague. Instead, I found it’s mostly candle magic focused on specific spells, much like Gamache’s text. It definitely has a flavor of Catholicism about it, and actually falls pretty close to what I would think of as New Orleans-style Voodoo (though the connections to things like the Seven African Powers are only cursorily glossed). For comparison, here’s Malbrough’s overcoming fear spell:
TO OVERCOME FEAR
Sometimes fear can be difficult to shake off when it gets hold of you. Then there are those people who get a thrill from putting fear and superstition in your mind.
As you can see, Malbrough is much more complicated than Gamache, and he definitely infuses his rootwork with some more Wiccan ideas (such as the “stones for courage” he mentions for the mojo hand, none of which show up in any of the African-American hoodoo sources I’ve found). So long as you can separate the wheat from the chaff, though, this is a pretty solid little book with good candle burning rituals. If you have this and Gamache’s Master Book of Candle Burning you will cover most of your bases as far as hoodoo candle magic goes, so I certainly recommend picking up both. If you can only do one, I’d start with Gamache and try Malbrough once you’ve gotten the hang of a few of these rituals, though (perhaps an Obtaining Money burning so you can afford to buy the book?).
Thanks for reading!
-Cory
Today I thought I’d share some of the nuts and bolts (or roots and herbs, rather) I used in my recent Crown of (Academic) Success mojo bag. The hand I made was specifically designed for help with schoolwork, and focused on memory, hard work, a strong will, and a little bit of luck. After I go over this basic bag, I’ll try to offer some alternatives for various situations not related to school, but which could use a shot of success.
The ingredients:
(*In most general Crown of Success workings, I use a passage from Psalm 65: “You crown the year with success; your paths drip fatness,” which would be fine. But after discussing it with commenter Odom the other day, I’m reasonably sure I used Psalm 119, specifically the verses “I have declared myself and you heard me; teach me your statutes/make me to understand your ways so I may tell of your wondrous works”)
The herb and root ingredients all relate to success (gravel root, High John, Crown of Success oil), focus and concentration (sage, frankincense, rosemary), wisdom (sage, frankincense), luck (gravel root, Crown of Success oil), memory and calm (rosemary), and study (sage). I know that some folks out there would chide me for using rosemary as a memory herb when Cat Yronwode’s book doesn’t provide that association, but its longstanding folk association with that quality made me comfortable with using it in that capacity. And since I spent a good deal of time studying Shakespeare over the summer, I’ll back up my claim by quoting Ophelia in Hamlet, Act IV, scene v: “There’s rosemary; that’s for remembrance.” So, yeah. That’s that.
When I did this spell, I dressed a small candle with Crown of Success and burned it while I combined the ingredients in the center of the red flannel square. Once I had the herbs and roots together, I wrote out the psalm scroll and added it to the ingredients. I bundled it all up and wrapped the bag’s “neck” up with the twine. I prayed Psalm 119 over it three times (that’s an acrostic psalm, so I only read the pertinent section of it), then singed the ends of the twine in the candle flame. I dressed the bag with the Crown of Success oil and blew out the candle, and voila! One back-to-school mojo!
I fed the bag every day I had class, just before leaving my room. I alternated using Crown of Success oil and whiskey to splash the bag, and I recited Psalm 65 every time I did it (mostly because that’s the one I remember better—you may have more luck with Psalm 119).
Now that I’m done with it for this year, I’ve got it sitting by my bedside (though I should probably put it in my altar desk instead). I’ll bring it back out next year, or if I do some intensive studying (as I’m prone to do every few months), I may use it again, then. When my time at school is done, I’ll probably bury it somewhere on campus.
So that’s the Scholar’s Success bag. I hope that was of some use to someone out there—well, other than me, of course. If you do this spell or something similar, post a comment and let us all know about it! I know I’d like to hear any tips for succeeding in education, especially before next summer when I go back to school!
Thanks for reading!
-Cory
-SHOWNOTES FOR EPISODE 12-
Summary
This episode is a follow-up to our recent special on spell successes. We look at spells that have not ended successfully, and discuss how we reacted to these failures. In WitchCraft, Laine looks at the magic of calligraphy, and in Spelled Out, Cory examines the Green Devil Pay Me Now Spell.
Play:
Download: New World Witchery – Episode 12
-Sources-
Our own experiences, of course!
We also mentioned the book Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells by Judika Illes again.
Laine mentioned the book Learn Calligraphy, by Margaret Shepherd in the WitchCraft segment.
Cory referenced the Lucky Mojo site as a source for things like the green devil figural candles and Pay Me incense in the Spelled Out segment.
Other sites to find Pay Me-type products (many don’t have “Pay Me Now” oil, but various kinds of commanding and money-drawing incenses and oils, which can be used in a similar way): Queen of Pentacles Conjure, Music City Mojo, Forest Grove Botanica, Toads Bone Apotheca, and The Conjure Doctor.
Promos & Music
Title music: “Homebound,” by Jag, from Cypress Grove Blues. From Magnatune.
Promo 1 – Inciting a Riot
Promo 2- Pennies in the Well
While passing by the cemetery on campus one day, I noticed a few little sprouted saplings with very particularly-shaped leaves. I got very excited when I moved in closer and saw the definitive “mitten” shape of some of the leaves. I pinched one and sniffed, smelling a strong spicy aroma almost immediately. I knew at that point I was dealing with sassafras.
Sassafras is one of those herbs that you can’t avoid in the South. It grows in all sorts of adverse environments: roadsides, hedgerows, waste spaces, etc. It can be short and bushy in its early years of development, but becomes a full-sized tree given enough time. The roots and bark have long been used in culinary and medicinal applications. If you’ve ever had a root beer, there’s a chance that you have tasted this plant, as sassafras and sarsaparilla were the two primary flavors in that drink for a long time. In recent years (since 1960), active ingredient in sassafras, called safrole, has been officially banned by the USDA as potential carcinogen. So most of the root beer sold now uses artificial flavors to reproduce the sassafras and sarsaparilla taste. The leaves of sassafras also feature in Cajun cooking; dried and powdered, they become file powder, which is used to thicken stews like gumbo.
Medicinally, sassafras is a tricky root to use. According to botanical.com, “Oil of Sassafras is chiefly used for flavouring purposes, particularly to conceal the flavour of opium when given to children. In the United States of America it is employed for flavouring effervescing drinks…Aromatic, stimulant, diaphoretic, alterative. It is rarely given alone, but is often combined with guaiacum or sarsaparilla in chronic rheumatism, syphilis, and skin diseases.” It also seems to have a strong effect on women’s reproductive systems, easing menstrual pain, but also potentially causing abortions. Several health problems have been connected to consuming overdoses of safrole, including vomiting, collapse, pupil dilation, and cancer. WARNING! Consult a physician before taking ANY herb or root internally! Sassafras is NO EXCEPTION!
Sassafras bark and root have long been made into teas in the Appalachians. In Foxfire 4, informant Pearl Martin showed students Bit Carver and Annette Sutherland how to gather the herb and make the drink:
“Sassafras is a wild plant that grows in the Appalachians…The spicy, distinct flavor of sassafras makes the tea a popular beverage, served hot or cold…Pearl told us that she could gather roots any time of the year without affecting the taste of the tea. However, the roots should be gathered young, so they will be tender…She chops the roots from the plants, then washes the roots in cold water. Next she scrapes off the outer layer of bark and discards it. Either the roots or the bark can be used in making the tea, but Pearl prefers the roots. They can be used dried or green. She brings the roots to a boil in water. The longer they are boiled, the stronger the tea. To make a gallon of tea, she boils four average-sized roots [which appear to be about a foot long and an inch thick] in a gallon of water for fifteen to twenty minutes. She then strains it, and serves it either hot or iced, sweetened with either sugar or honey” ( p. 444).
While the safrole content of the tea is relatively low, again you should consult with a physician before drinking this tea.
Magically speaking, sassafras is a money root. It attracts business success and material wealth. Putting a little sassafras root in one’s wallet or purse keeps money from running out. Catherine Yronwode has several good charms in her Hoodoo Herb & Root Magic book, including a business attracting sidewalk scrub made from sassafras, allspice, and cinnamon (which has the added bonus of a pleasant aroma), and this powerful little Money-Stay-with-Me mojo hand:
“Jam a silver dime into an alligator foot [available from Lucky Mojo and other botanicas and curiosity shops] so that it looks like the ‘gator is grabbing the coin. Wrap it tightly with three windings around of red flannel, sprinkling sassafras root chips between each layer as you wind, and sew it tight. Just as the alligator foot holds the coin and won’t let go, so will you be able to save instead of spend” (p. 179).
Sounds like a pretty wonderful charm to know, in my opinion. I’ve not seen anything particularly about burning sassafras as incense, but I did find a book called A Collection of Folklore by Undergraduate Students of East Tennessee State University edited by Thomas G. Burton and Ambrose N. Manning which records a bit of superstition claiming that bad luck comes if you “burn sassafras wood” (p. 74). The lore in this particular collection is all from first-hand sources, so I tend to think it’s got some weight. A similar folklore collection from Kentucky elaborates on this point, saying, “If you burn sassafras wood or leaves, a horse or a mule of yours will die within a week” (from Kentucky Superstitions, #2993). I tend to think this refers to burning wood in a fire or fireplace as opposed to using a little bit of it as incense, but take your chances as you see fit. Particularly if your horses or mules are dear to you.
I hope this post has been of some use to you! Enjoy the slowly waning summer, and get out in the woods to find some sassafras and other plants!
Thanks for reading,
-Cory
I know, I know, two book reviews in a row may seem excessive, but I spent a lot of time reading over the past few weeks, so bear with me. Plus, you may find some new books to investigate!
Today’s book is Blue Roots by Roger Pinckney. It’s about rootwork, hoodoo, and conjure, but not the broad, general kind so often discussed in other books and on blogs and webpages (including this one). Instead, Pinckney focuses on the healing and magical traditions of one particular group: the Gullahs. Primarily associated with the Savannah, Georgia area, the Gullah people inhabit a large swathe of the lower Atlantic seaboard, especially the islands just off the coast of George and South Carolina. They are often referenced as an “untouched” enclave of African-American culture, and portrayed as a sort of quaint and folksy pocket of rural Americana.
Pinckney does little to disabuse the reader of those notions, creating a fairly warm, nostalgic book about folk healing practices (and a little bit of magic, too) found on the Southern Atlantic coast. The author also spends a good bit of time examining the spiritual practices of the Gullah, with an emphasis on spirits, the dead, ancestors, and African Diaspora remnants. From a section on the “haint blue” paint commonly found around doors, windows, and porches in the Southeast:
“Prior to the [American] Revolution when coastal plantations produced indigo dye for English cloth, planters gave their slaves the dregs from the boiling pots, which the slaves used to decorate window frames and porch posts, in the believe the blue color kept the plentiful spirits at bay. When indigo cultivation declined in the 1780s, Gullah slaves continued the custom with blue paint. It is a practice that survives to this day, perhaps no longer for a spiritual repellent, but as a tradition, nevertheless” (p. 72).
The book generally does a good job of highlighting some of the beliefs and practices associated with the Gullah, and also pays wider homage to the Southern incarnations of hoodoo and African religion. Pinckney sometimes seems uncomfortable with rootwork as a magical practice, and prefers to refer to those who use herbs, roots, and animal parts as “root doctors” rather than “conjurers.” His attitude in general is that of a journalist who does not believe most of what he’s told, but who really wants to. He explains a lot of rootwork’s more magical components as methods of psychological intimidation. In his chapter “The Power of the Root,” he describes an hypothetical visit to a root doctor in detail, then concludes with this sentiment:
“And will the root actually help him? Probably so. If rootwork were not effective, the practice would have died out centuries ago. Most likely, one of the man’s [the client] confidants will mention the conjuration to another, and the news will go whispering through the community until the rejected woman [the target] hears that she has been rooted. And since she knows in her heart that all her subversion was wrong in the first place, she will immediately desist her sundry annoyances” (p. 62).
This perspective is not one I particularly endorse, as I truly think rootwork has power in and of itself, and that the spiritual and magical components are far greater than the psychological ones, but it is certainly not an invalid point of view.
Some of the best chapters in this book are about Sherriff J. E. McTeer and his battles with the infamous Dr. Buzzard. I mentioned both of these famous conjure men in my post on Who’s Who in Hoodoo, Part II, and they both feature prominently in Jack Montgomery’s work, American Shamans. Pinckney spends a lot of time on their lore and their recorded history, which sometimes differ quite a bit. Actually, the lore he presents in most of his chapters is quite good, and he uses a journalist’s nose for facts to substantiate or repudiate certain points, while never discounting the broader nature of a story’s “truth.”
This is a book that I recommend to those interested in Southern rootwork, particularly its history and social relevance. It’s not one you can learn a lot of new tricks from, but you can certainly pick up a few things as you read. If nothing else, Pinckney has a deep love and reverence for the Gullah, the South, and rootworkers at large, so the book feels like a conversation with a good friend. If you think hoodoo, particularly the kind found in the Carolina/Georgia islands, is your thing, check out Blue Roots.
New World Witchery - The Search for American Traditional Witchcraft 