Hoodoo and Conjure Quarterly, a Groundbreaking New Magazine!

A family in New Orleans awakened not long ago to find a cross of moist salt on the front porch. Neighbors gathered and the newspapers carried headlines concerning the symbol that portended trouble for the members of the household, for Voodoo, hoodoo, and conjure, though subdued, still exists in that city.

If you should wake up tomorrow morning and find a cross of salt upon your front porch, what would you do?

If you live in Iowa or Michigan or even Pennsylvania, you might just sweep it off the porch and chalk it up to a neighbor’s prank. But if you live in Louisiana you might act quite differently – for a cross of salt, in the language if hoodoo, means trouble!

That is why Mr. and Mrs. Gauthier of New Orleans thought twice before sweeping away the cross of salt that they found on their porch a few months ago and that is why neighbors flocked to the Gauthier home to examine it and the newspapers carried headlines about it. For Voodoo and hoodoo is not dead in New Orleans. It has been trampled upon by the police, it has been scoffed at by the intelligent element of the city, it has dwindled, withered, lost many of its followers – but it still lives! (Hammond, 1930, New Orleans Times Picayune)

Today, hoodoo and conjure are emerging from the shadows and into the lives of everyday people. There seems to be more root workers, two-headed doctors, conjurers, Voodooists, and hoodoos more than ever before. People are flocking to related social networking sites hungry for information about taking control of their lives, defending themselves from their enemies, thriving in a recession, and connecting to the Invisibles. Websites  are popping up daily that specialize in the art of conjure. These websites feature “love doctors”, “rootworkers”, and “Spiritual Mothers” who offer a variety of psychic and spiritual services and carry the hard to get sticks, stones, roots and bones needed by the eclectic conjurer. Hoodoo no longer belongs to the poor black demographic of the South as typically depicted; indeed, practitioners cross every racial, political and socioeconomic line.

In 1930, the three  by two foot cross caked mass  indicated someone put it there in a thoroughly dampened condition. There were neighbors who insisted that they had heard strange noises in the early morning hours: there were others who spoke of seeing a dark form glide by the house: there were some who had heard nothing but the baying of hunting dogs. But on one thing all agreed: a cross of salt does not mean death. A coffin with a name written upon it with pencil dipped in vinegar would mean that, or an acorn stuffed with hair and bearing four holes in its side, but a cross of salt only means trouble.

The neighbors stood and gossiped. Some recommended throwing finely chopped basil leaves over the cross to destroy the “gris gris”: some staked their all on a frizzly chicken, the most potent of all spell-breakers, but gradually they began to speak of other things and to recall the tales told by their grandmothers and great grandmothers of the days when Voodooism was at its zenith in Louisiana.

Marie Laveaux, Voodoo Queen. Copyright 2010 Denise Alvarado

In the 1800s, tales of the swamps abound where the Voodoo worshipers gathered on St. John’s Eve to dance in wild ecstasy.  Tales of Dr. John, who lived in a house on Bayou Road, was sought by those who wished to gain fortune, love, or domination over the mind of a hard master. Tales of the infamous Marie Laveaux, the greatest queen that the Voodoo religion ever bowed to,  singlehandedly put the business of Voodoo and hoodoo on the map with her potent gris gris charms that consisted of a magickal symbol or vévé written with dragon’s blood ink on parchment paper and sewn into cloth or leather bags. Her clients spent thousands of dollars on these charms and swore by their effectiveness (Alvarado, 2009). Marie Laveau’s successor Malvina Latour… each of  these calm, deliberate and powerful names are not forgotten, for they once struck terror into the hearts of thousands. These names still remind one from time to time of  what many believed to be a  short, strange chapter in Louisiana history (Hammond, 1930, New Orleans Times Picayune) .

What is Hoodoo?

In its purest form, hoodoo taps into the primordial belief that every living thing has Spirit. Every rock, tree, root, and stone is connected to a single Divine energy and as such, is Divine energy. The practitioner understands that it is the root that connects and grounds the universal life force; thus, the ultimate power lies within the root.

The prevailing contemporary definition of hoodoo states hoodoo is a magic and folkloric system that taps into the ancient healing traditions of our African, Native American, European, and Latino ancestors and is not connected to the religion of Voodoo. I tend to disagree with this view. Perhaps because where I grew up (in New Orleans) hoodoo and Voodoo are not separate for many practitioners, but are intertwined, connected, and complementary. When enslaved Africans came to New Orleans directly from Africa, they arrived with intact, encyclopedic knowledge of the use of herbs, roots, bones, natural elements and their spiritual qualities. According to Dahomean cosmology, the knowledge of how to utilize the sacred herbs, roots, bones, and other natural elements for controlling and changing one’s destiny was given to them from Legba, who received the knowledge from the Forest Spirits.

Evidence for the survival of the sacred knowledge of plants and roots (hoodoo) and their relationship to the Spirits of Vodou (Voodoo) can be found all along the coast of Africa. For example, power objects such as medicine bags containing medicine (bilongo) and soul (mooyo) created by specialists for reasons such as health, protection, and fertility are found among the Bamana of Western Sudan. In addition, the bocio of Benin and Togo are for all intents and purposes assemblages of a variety of “curios” used to house particular Vodou Spirits for specific functions, and are activated by a trained priest, akin to the rootworker in hoodoo. The Nkisi of Congo origin are charms or talismans created out of natural elements and are similarly activated by a specialist and powered by nature to perform particular functions such as healing or protection. It is not uncommon to find these objects with personal items of their possessor attached to them, a sympathetic link from the person to the magical and spiritual realms.

As a result of slavery, tribes and families were separated, religious expression was forbidden and the traditional transmission of the sacred knowledge of the African religion of Vodou was all but stopped. Tragically, the trauma associated with slavery forced a separation of the magic and religious aspects of Vodou. The natural response to this psychic wounding was to adopt and assimilate similar beliefs and practices of the indigenous peoples of North America and Europeans to fill in the blanks, as it were, forming what we call hoodoo today (Alvarado, 2010).

About Hoodoo & Conjure Quarterly

Recognizing the resurgence of folk magic and the growing community of hoodoos, healers, and conjurers, Planet Voodoo has created a new, high quality magazine that meets the needs of today’s conjurers. Hoodoo & Conjure Quarterly magazine shares historical and contemporary information about the conjure arts, including magico-religious practices, spiritual traditions, folk magic, hoodoo, and religions with their roots in the African Diaspora and indigenous herbalism. Each issue of Hoodoo and Conjure Quarterly magazine brings you original and traditional formulas, spells, tutorials, root doctor and conjure artist profiles,  and more!

We know you’re looking for a  fresh, new source about hoodoo and conjure. If you’re excited to get your hands on the first issue of this ground-breaking magazine, hold on to your mojo bags, because we want you to know  a few things about Hoodoo & Conjure Quarterly. Please keep reading…

Hoodoo & Conjure  Quarterly™ is a thoroughly researched periodical  by experienced practitioners and a PhD level social scientist who is also a practitioner. Our sources come from a culmination of growing up in New Orleans absorbing the culture, lifelong learning from family, teachers, and other practitioners, sacred texts, folklore literature, and what speaks to us through Divine channels. When you read a copy of Hoodoo & Conjure Quarterly™, you can be confident that what you read is the real thing. Whether you are a beginner who is just intrigued by the notion of folk magic, want to pick up some techniques for your trick bag, want to learn about the African -derived and indigenous spiritual traditions, or want to keep up with the social world of today’s root worker, Hoodoo & Conjure Quarterly™ delivers!

Here’s what you can expect with every issue of Hoodoo & Conjure Quarterly™:

• A presentation of the seminal folkloric texts and European grimoires that heavily influence hoodoo
• Indian Spirit Guides & the Contributions of Native Americans to Hoodoo and Spiritualism
• The Power of the Root: Magico-Pharmacology
• Today’s women and men of conjure
• International hoodoo and conjure – meet practitioners from around the world
• Spells, works, and conjuring tips and tricks submitted by you, the reader
• Our ongoing Voodoo Hoodoo formulary that you can add to your own personal spellbook
• Working with the saints and psalms
• Conjure artist profiles – meet up and coming new artists as well as established artists inspired by Voodoo, hoodoo, magick and mojo
• Contests for free products
• Interviews with well-known authors and artists
• Tips for  starting and running a successful business in the magickal arts
• Resource guides to help you find what you need to fix your own bottle spells, foot track magick, love gris gris, and more!

Click here to join Planet Voodoo’s Conjure Corner, the only educational and social networking site for New Orleans Voodoo and hoodoo.

Did you know that hoodoo is one of the best types of folk magick you can do? It’s true. Not only will you benefit tremendously from the empowering nature of hoodoo and conjure, but you will also benefit a lot from the every day aspects that are an inherent part of  this kind of magicospiritual tradition. So why is a southern style folk magick a good thing, and how can having more information in your knowledge base benefit you? The first thing that you need to take into consideration is the fact that learning is a journey, not a destination. Most helping professions require ongoing education to keep up with the latest techniques and trends of their field. Hoodoo can be considered a helping profession because most rootworkers actively help others improve their lives using the power of the root. A person’s spiritual wellbeing is often directly associated with how fast or balanced their lives happen to be, and how connected they are to the world of nature, Spirit, and other human beings. This means that if you are interested in living your best life, you’d be well served to apply a little mojo to it.

The contents of Hoodoo & Conjure Quarterly™ are primarily hoodoo, conjure, folk magic, indigenous cosmology, and topics related to the African derived traditions. This is what folks asked for, and we mean to deliver! We also will offer a few articles in each issue outlining various aspects of hoodoo and conjure, including rootwork, laying tricks, botanical and zoological curios, candle magic techniques, dreamwork, divination, New Orleans gris gris, magickal formularies, working with the saints and psalms, doll magick, and spells, spells, and more spells from the best practitioners around.

Now, go forth and conjure your world, New Orleans style!

Click here for Planet Voodoo’s Official Website