Hoodoo refers to African traditional folk magic. A rich magical tradition which was (for thousands of years), indigenous to ancient African botanical, magio-religious practices and folk cultures, its practice was imported when mainly West Africans were enslaved and brought to the United States. Look up hoodoo in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Sorceress by John William Waterhouse Magic and sorcery are the influencing of events, objects, people and physical phenomena by mystical, paranormal or supernatural means. ...

Hoodoo is used as a noun and is derived from the Ewe word Hudu which still exists today. Hoodoo is often used in African-American vernacular to describe a magic "spell" or potion, or as a descriptor for a practitioner (hoodoo doctor, hoodoo man or hoodoo woman), or as an adjective or verb depending upon context. The word can be dated at least as early as 1891.* Some prefer the term hoodooism, but this has mostly fallen out of use. Some "New Age" non-Diaspora practitioners who have taken up Hoodoo as a hobby employ synonyms, including conjuration, conjure, witchcraft, or rootwork. The latter demonstrates the importance of various roots in the making of charms and casting spells. It is important to note that in traditional African religious culture, the concept of "spells" is not used. Here again, this Afro-botanical practice has been heavily used by the New Age, and Wiccan communities who have little understanding of "Hoodoo's" spiritual significance as it is traditionally used in Africa. An amulet characteristic of hoodoo is the mojo, often called a mojo bag, mojo hand, conjure bag, trick bag, or toby; this is a small sack filled with herbs, roots, coins, sometimes a lodestone, and various other objects of magical power. Noun or noun substantive is a lexical category which is defined in terms of how its members combine with other grammatical kinds of expressions. ... Ewe is a Kwa language spoken in Ghana and Togo by approximately three million people (Capo 1991). ... The Afro-American religions are a number of related religions that developed in the Americas among African slaves and their descendants. ... In grammar, an adjective is a part of speech that modifies a noun or a pronoun, usually by describing it or making its meaning more specific. ... It has been suggested that Verbal agreement be merged into this article or section. ... Year 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... New Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. ... Look up Synonym in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... It has been suggested that Witch be merged into this article or section. ... Primary and secondary roots in a cotton plant In vascular plants, the root is that organ of a plant body that typically lies below the surface of the soil (compare with stem). ... An amulet from the Black Pullet grimoire An amulet (from Latin amuletum, meaning A means of protection) or a talisman (from Arabic tilasm, ultimately from Greek telesma or from the Greek word talein wich means to initiate into the mysteries. ... Mojo (pronounced or ) is a term commonly encountered in the African-American folk belief called hoodoo. ... Magnetite Lodestone or loadstone refers to either: Magnetite, a magnetic mineral form of iron(II), iron(III) oxide Fe3O4, one of several iron oxides. ...

_____

• An earlier attestation dates from 1863. A Confederate infantryman, wounded in the failed assault against Union-held Helena, Arkansas on 4 July, said, "Since that day at Helena I tell the boys I would rather buck against a hoodoo than try to down old Glory on the Fourth of July." Barring a radically different meaning of "hoodoo," the reference seems to be to trying to beat a curse (as being preferable to refighting the Battle of Helena). ^{[citations needed]}

Spirit-based natural magic

As can be expected, most practitioners of hoodoo are African American, but Whites and Native Americans also use hoodoo, although their practices share commonalities more with Pennsylvania Dutch pow-wow magic, rather than with the practices in West Africa. In its home of Africa, Hoodoo (Hudu) is a well respected tradition, which is typically passed through old family priestly lines. Today, in America, traditional folk knowledge is passed from person to person; and there is no evidence of a structured hierarchy. An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Native Americans are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska. ... The Pennsylvania Dutch (perhaps more strictly Pennsylvania Deitsch or Pennsylvanian German) are the descendants of German immigrants who came to Pennsylvania prior to 1800. ... Pow-wow is a system of American folk religion and magic associated with the Pennsylvania Dutch. ...

The goal of hoodoo is to allow people access to supernatural forces to improve their daily lives by gaining power in many areas of life, including gambling, love, divination, cursing one's enemies, treatment of disease, employment, and necromancy. As in many other folk religious, magical, and medical practices, extensive use is made of herbs, minerals, parts of animals' bodies, an individual's possessions, and bodily fluids, especially menstrual blood, urine and semen. Contact with ancestors or other spirits of the dead is an important practice within the conjure tradition, and the recitation of Psalms from the Bible is also considered magically effective in hoodoo. Due to hoodoo's great emphasis on an individual's magical power, its basic principles of working are easily adapted for use based on one's desires, inclination and habits. Look up Supernatural in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The term gambling has had many different meanings depending on the cultural and historical context in which it is used. ... This article is about the religious practice of divination. ... The term disease refers to an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs function. ... Necromancy (Greek νεκρομαντία, nekromantía) is a form of divination in which the practitioner seeks to summon operative spirits or spirits of divination, for multiple reasons, from spiritual protection to wisdom. ... dvdsvdxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Herbs: basil Herbs (IPA: hə()b, or əb; see pronunciation differences) are plants grown for any purpose other than food, wood or beauty. ... Minerals are natural compounds formed through geological processes. ... Menstrual cycle The menstrual cycle is a recurring cycle of physiological changes in the females of some animal species that is associated with reproductive fertility. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Horse semen being collected for breeding purposes. ... Psalms (from the Greek: Psalmoi (songs sung to a harp, originally from psallein play on a stringed instrument), Ψαλμοί; Hebrew: Tehilim, תהילים) is a book of the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh or Old Testament. ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library of Congress. ...

Home-made potions and charms form the basis of much old-time rural hoodoo, but there are also many successful commercial companies selling various hoodoo components to urban and rural practitioners. These are generally called spiritual supplies, and they include herbs, roots, minerals, candles, incense, oils, floor washes, sachet powders, bath crystals, and colognes. Many patent medicines, cosmetics, and household cleaning supplies have been also aimed at hoodoo practitioners and have found dual usage as conventional and spiritual remedies. A close-up image of a candle showing the wick and the various regions of the flame. ... Incense is a preparation of aromatic plant matter, often with the addition of essential oils extracted from plant or animal sources, intended to release fragrant smoke for religious, therapeutic, or aesthetic purposes as it smolders. ... Patent medicine is the term given to various medical compounds sold under a variety of names and labels, though they were for the most part actually trademarked medicines, not patented. ... For other uses, see Cosmetic. ...

Differences between Voodoo and Hoodoo

Hoodoo and Voodoo are often mistaken for one another. Some believe that the terms may have a common etymology, with the religious persecution and suppression of the Voodoo religion in America, "hoodoo" is what remains. Voodoo (Vodou, Vodoun, Vudu, or Vudun in Benin, Togo, southeastern Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Senegal; also Vodou in Haiti) is a name attributed to a traditionally unwritten West African spiritual system of faith and ritual practices. ... Not to be confused with Entomology, the study of insects. ...

The ancient African religion of Voodoo is an established religion with its ancient roots in West Africa. Its modern form is practiced across West Africa in the countries now known as Benin, Togo, and Burkina Faso, among others. It is practiced all throughout West Africa; particularly, among members of the Fon, Ewe and other West African groups. In Haiti it is practiced in a syncretic form that has been greatly modified by contact with the Catholic church. Syncretism is the attempt to reconcile disparate, even opposing, beliefs and to meld practices of various schools of thought. ...

In the U.S., Hoodoo is not a religion -- that is, it is spiritual and magical in nature, but it does not have an established theology, clergy, laity, or order of liturgical services. Hoodoo shows obvious and evident links to the practices and beliefs of African folk magico-religious culture. The Hoodoo practiced in the U.S. by the enslaved Africans was brought from West and Central Africa, specifically, the area that is now known as the Congo and Angola, Togo, Nigeria and other West African regions. A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ...

References in other media

Music

Many blues musicians have referred to hoodoo in their songs (for example, "Louisiana Hoodoo Blues" by Ma Rainey, "Hoodoo Lady Blues" by Arthur Crudup, or "Hoodoo Man Blues" by Junior Wells), and such elements have become important to the music. In addition to the expected terms hoodoo and mojo, other conjure words in such songs include jinx, goofer dust, nation sack, black cat bone, graveyard dirt, and black spider dumplings. Blues is a vocal and instrumental musical form which evolved from African American spirituals, shouts, work songs and chants and has its earliest stylistic roots in West Africa. ... Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett Rainey, better known as Ma Rainey (September, 1882 – December 22, 1939), was one of the earliest known professional blues singers and one of the first generation of such singers to record. ... Arthur Big Boy Crudup (August 24, 1905 – March 28, 1974) was a delta blues singer and guitarist. ... Junior Wells (December 9, 1934 - January 15, 1998), real name Amos Blackmore, was a blues harmonica player based in Chicago who was famous for playing with Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, Lonnie Brooks, the Rolling Stones and Van Morrison. ... A jinx, in popular superstition and folklore, is: A sort of curse placed on a person that makes them prey to large numbers of minor misfortunes and other forms of bad luck; A person afflicted with a similar curse, who, while not directly subject to a series of misfortunes, seems... Goofer dust is an old voodoo practice of African Americans in the Southern States of the United States. ...

The Creedence Clearwater Revival song Born on the Bayou references hoodoo in the line "I can still hear that old hound dog barking, chasin' down a hoodoo there". From the context it would appear that the term use is a 'hoo doo there' perhaps a southern, black, or cajun slang for someone or something that does not belong, as in 'who is there?'. Creedence Clearwater Revival, commonly referred to by their initials CCR or simply Creedence, was an American rock band, fronted by John Fogerty. ... LP/CD of Bayou Country Born on the Bayou is the first track on Creedence Clearwater Revivals second album, Bayou Country. ...

Paul Simon's song "Loves Me Like a Rock" makes a pun on the word "hoodoo" by pausing after the beginning of the phrase "who do you think you're foolin'" and then repeating the words "who do" while the backup gospel chorus the Dixie Hummingbirds sings the syllable "hoo..." to fill up the pause in the lyrics. Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, half of the folk-singing duo Simon and Garfunkel who continues a successful solo career. ... The Dixie Hummingbirds is one of the most influential groups in gospel music, spanning more than 75 years from the jubilee quartet style of the 1920s, through the hard gospel quartet style of Gospels golden age in the 1940s and 1950s, to the eclectic pop-tinged songs of the...

Rock band Muse recorded a song entitled "Hoodoo" on their album Black Holes and Revelations. Muse are a popular Brit Award-winning English rock band formed while at Teignmouth Community College in Teignmouth, Devon in 1992. ... Black Holes and Revelations is the fourth studio album by English rock band Muse, released in July 2006. ...

Goth band The Deep Eynde recorded a song called "Hoodoo", released in 1995 and can be found on one of Cleopatra Records many compilations. Gothic rock (also called goth rock or goth) is a genre of rock music that originated during the late 1970s. ... Cleopatra Records is a Los Angeles based independent record label. ...

Stoner Metal band Clutch recorded a song entitled "Hoodoo Operator" on their album "Slow Hole to China." Stoner music, stoner metal and stoner rock are interchangeable terms describing a sub-genre of rock music. ... Clutch is a musical group from Germantown, Maryland in the United States. ...

Television

The subject of hoodoo is often brought up on The CW television show Supernatural.

Many references of Hoodoo where made in the episode Crossroad Blues and Playthings on The CW show Supernatural.

Movies

Hoodoo is the subject of the movie The Skeleton Key. The Skeleton Key is a 2005 horror-suspense film released in the UK on 22 July and in the USA on August 12. ...

Other Musicians who Referenced these Practices in either their songs or Lifestyle

• Screamin' Jay Hawkins^[1]
• Skip James^[2]
• Big Bill Broonzy's song "Bad Luck Man"
• Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile (slight return)"
• Peter Green's "Black Magic Woman" (later made famous by Carlos Santana)
• Aerosmith's "Hoodoo / Voodoo Medicine Man"
• Insane Clown Posse's "Southwest Voodoo"
• Dr. John
• Billy Bragg/Wilco in Hoodoo/Voodoo on Mermaid Avenue

Screamin Jay Hawkins Jalacy Hawkins, best known as Screamin Jay Hawkins (July 18, 1929 – February 12, 2000) was an African-American singer famed for his wildly theatrical performances of songs like I Put a Spell on You and Constipation Blues. // Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Hawkins originally set out... Nehemiah Curtis Skip James (June 21, 1902 – October 3, 1969) was an American blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. ... Big Bill Broonzy (1893 or 1898-1958) was a prolific United States composer, recorder and performer of blues songs. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Peter Green (born Peter Allen Greenbaum, October 29, 1946, in Bethnal Green, London) is a blues-rock guitarist and founding member of the band Fleetwood Mac. ... Aerosmith is a prominent American rock band, regarded by some as Americas Greatest Rock and Roll Band. [1][2] Although they are known as the bad boys from Boston, none of the bands members are actually from that city. ... The Insane Clown Posse (ICP) is an American hip hop duo originally from Detroit, Michigan but formed in Delray, Michigan, consisting of Violent J (Joseph Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (Joseph Utsler). ... Dr. John is the stage name of Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. ... Stephen William Bragg (born December 20, 1957), known as Billy Bragg, is an English musician renowned for his blend of folk, punk-rock, and protest music, and his poetic lyrics dealing with political as well as romantic themes. ... Wilco is an American rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. ... Cover of Mermaid Avenue (1998) Mermaid Avenue is a 1998 album of previously unheard lyrics written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie, put to music written and performed by British singer Billy Bragg and the American band Wilco. ...

Folk Humor

A sort of "who's on first" routine arose from the sound of the word "hoodoo," which went like this: "You remind me of the man." "What man?" "The man with the power." "What power?" "The power of Hoodoo." "Hoodoo?" "You do." "Do what?" "You remind me of the man..." It may have arisen from vaudeville or burlesque but more likely it's a joke once in common circulation. Whos on First? is a comedy routine made famous by Abbott and Costello. ... Vaudeville is a style of multi-act theatre which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ... Photograph of Sally Rand, 1934. ...

The routine is performed by Cary Grant and Myrna Loy in The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer and is quoted in the Frank Robinson novel The Power, and later referenced by David Bowie's character, Jareth, in the song Magic Dance of the film Labyrinth, albeit using the word 'voodoo' instead of 'hoodoo'. Archibald Alexander Leach (January 18, 1904 – November 29, 1986), better known by his screen name, Cary Grant, was an British film actor. ... Myrna Loy (August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American motion picture actress. ... www. ... Frank Robinson (born August 31, 1935 in Beaumont, Texas), is a Hall of Fame former Major League Baseball player. ... David Bowie (David Robert Jones 8 January 1947) is an English Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger and audio engineer. ... Magic Dance is one of the featured songs performed by David Bowie in the 1986 Jim Henson movie, Labyrinth. ... Labyrinth is a 1986 fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, produced by George Lucas, and designed through the art of Brian Froud and Henson, with screenwriting by Henson, childrens author Dennis Lee, and Monty Python alumnus Terry Jones. ...

Books

Zora Neale Hurston recorded many hoodoo practices and tales. Other authors on the subject include Harry M. Hyatt, Newbell Niles Puckett, Jim Haskins, Mama Zogbe and catherine yronwode. Also Ishmael Reed, in his book Mumbo Jumbo, makes reference to Hoodoo. Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American folklorist and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance, best known for the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. ... catherine (cat) yronwode (born Catherine Manfredi in San Francisco, May 12, 1947 - ) is a writer and editor notable for her extensive career in comic books, in particular for her role as an editor with Will Eisner, Kitchen Sink Press, and Eclipse Comics (where she was the editor-in-chief); she...

Radio

Since 2004, Dr. Christos Kioni, a conjure doctor at Rootwork, Rootworker, Hoodoo, Conjurefrom Florida, has co-hosted and produced a weekly hour-long radio show and podcast on the subject of hoodoo called "The Lucky Mojo Hoodoo Rootwork Hour." Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area Miami Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] km²)  - Width 361 miles (582 km)  - Length 447 miles (721 km)  - % water 17. ... An orange square with waves indicates that an RSS feed is present on a web page. ...

Film

• The Skeleton Key, a film released in 2005, centers on the practice of hoodoo.
• In the film His Girl Friday, the mayor of Chicago calls the Sheriff a HooDoo.

The Skeleton Key is a 2005 horror-suspense film released in the UK on 22 July and in the USA on August 12. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... This is a list of film-related events in 2005. ... His Girl Friday is a 1940 screwball comedy, a remake of the 1931 film The Front Page, itself an adaptation by Charles Lederer, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur of their play of the same name. ...

Television

Supernatural, a television series on the CW, referred to the practice of hoodoo in a partiuclar episode. Supernatural is an American paranormal drama television series that debuted on September 13, 2005 on the WB, and is now part of The CWs lineup, where the second season premiered on September 28, 2006. ...

Games

Hoodoo (and Voodoo) are a central part of the plot to Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father, an adventure game released in 1993. A hoodoo stick, hoodoo bow and jinxed hoodoo skin are all items in World of Warcraft. Gabriel Knight is the title character in a series of adventure games produced by Sierra On-Line in the 1990s. ... Adventure is a genre of video games typified by exploration, puzzle-solving, interaction with game characters, and a focus on narrative rather than reflex-based challenges. ...

Sports

In English, Australian, and New Zealand sports journalism, the word hoodoo is sometimes used to refer to a team's inability to achieve a certain goal - such as beating a particular opponent or winning a certain trophy. This usage jokingly implies that there is some supernatural force preventing the team from doing so and derives from the false notion that hoodoo magic consists only, or primarily, of curses. For example, the Gloucester Rugby Club is said to have a hoodoo against Bath Rugby Club, having failed in to beat Bath RFU in the English league at the Rec (Bath RFC Home Ground) in their 134 year history. Look up Curse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Bath Rugby - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...

Military history

The first battleship of the United States Navy, the USS Texas, commissioned in 1895, was referred to by nickname as the "Old Hoodoo" due to a series of incidents that occurred after she was commissioned that gave her a reputation as an unlucky ship. The code letter "H" that was assigned to the Texas at that time may have also contributed to the inspiration. At the battle of Santiago, Cuba, on July 3, 1898, the "Old Hoodoo", in the words of a contemporary New York Sun article published shortly after the battle, became the "Old Hero". The firepower of a battleship demonstrated by USS Iowa. ... The United States Navys first battleship was the first to bear the name USS Texas, in honor of Texas, a region that, after being taken from its natives by first Spain and then Mexico, and later becoming an independent republic, was admitted to the United States as the 28th... Combatants United States Spain Commanders William T. Sampson, Winfield Scott Schley Pascual Cervera Strength 4 battleships 1 armoured cruiser 2 torpedo boats 4 armoured cruisers 2 torpedo boats Casualties 2 dead ~100 wounded 474 dead or wounded 6 ships lost The Battle of Santiago de Cuba, fought between Spain and...

See also

• John the Conqueror
• Pow-wow (folk magic)
• Rabbit's foot
• Hot foot powder
• Quimbanda
• Santería
• Vodou

The roots of Ipomoea jalapa, when dried, are carried as the John the Conquer root amulet. ... Pow-wow is a system of American folk religion and magic associated with the Pennsylvania Dutch. ... An exceptionally lucky rabbit gets to keep all four of its feet. ... Hot foot powder is used in African American hoodoo folk magic to drive unwanted people away. ... Quimbanda is an Afro-American traditional religion found in Brazil. ... “Lukumi” redirects here. ... Voodoo redirects here. ...

External links

• Quimbanda - a religious practice from the same roots as Hoodoo - Angola
• Lucky Mojo Hoodoo Rootwork Hour with Dr. Christos Kioni
• http://dmoz.org/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/African/Diasporic/Hoodoo,_Rootwork,_Conjure,_Obeah/ DMOZ Open Directory - Hoodoo, Rootwork, Conjure, Obeah]
• Botanica Macumba, Online Store specializing in Umbanda and Quimbanda products (Hoodoo and Rootwork related)

v • d • e Afro-American Religions
Religions	Candomblé • Hoodoo • Kumina • Obeah • Palo • Quimbanda • Santería (Lukumí) • Spiritual Baptist • Umbanda • Vodou
Deities	Babalu Aye • Eshu • Iansan • Mami Wata • Obàtálá • Ogoun • Ọlọrun • Orunmila • Ọṣun • Shango • Yemaja
Roots	Ifá, Oriṣa (Yorùbá) • Lwa (Dahomey) • Nkisi (Kongo) • Catholicism (Portugal, Spain)