African American Folk Healing

7. Hoodoo, Conjure, and Folk Healing

7 Hoodoo, Conjure, and Folk Healing Recipe for a mojo bag: Into a small cloth bag, add ingredients that are needed to address the situation you wish to alter. So to attract love, add herbs such as cinnamon or orris root; stones such as lodestones or citrine; or flower petals or oils from roses or lavender. Always add ingredients in odd numbers. Close the bag by binding it with thread. Bless the bag (as you wish) and focus your intentions. Keep the bag near you or in a sacred space. “Feed” the bag at least once a week to maintain its power with whiskey, rum, or other selected items until the purpose of the bag is fulfilled. (Mojo bag kits are also available for purchase.) —From a class on making mojo bags During my graduate studies, I often brought the new ideas I had learned to my mother’s house to discuss with her; her health had started to fail and our time to talk was very important for me. Sometimes the ideas came in book form and I would bring the books and read to her. Once, I brought the Egyptian Book of the Dead. I do not remember what I was studying or what I wanted to talk about with her. I do remember that, as the day was ending, we were seated in her living room in the quiet of twilight. I was reading some passage to her, wanting to illustrate some point I was making, when a picture fell off the wall. The walls were solid, the picture was hung securely—but still it fell. My mother’s response was immediate: “Stop reading that now!” Folk healing practices continue into the twenty-first century for reasons listed in chapter 3, the end of the first part of this book. If we recall, some of those reasons for their persisting were the marginalization of black Americans because of race and class; the lack of access to institutional medicine; the adaptation of folk healing practices and ingredients; the pragmatic and proven efficacy of the cures; and the 141 holistic approach to the person. An additional reason is the down-toearth way that culture is transmitted in families and communities. Cultural transmissions are not just ritualized practices; they are mindsets . Notwithstanding my mother’s college degree and my own education , it was simply time to stop reading from a sacred book at twilight when a picture falls off the wall because, as my mother admonished , “Don’t mess with that stuff!” A folk healing mindset shapes African American activities. This mindset views the world holistically and considers the connections between all human life, spirits, nature, and the Divine as having power. It is logical, in this mindset, to attempt to heal religions or society . Healing has value in itself because it represents a deeper connection to nature, the Divine, and other humans, and is therefore sought for physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual illnesses. Folk healing practices today look and sound different from the practices described in the Slave Narratives and the WSU Folk Archives. In spite of educational levels, the contemporary practices continue demonstrating a mindset aimed toward healing. Modernized Versions We have discussed African American folk healing broadly within larger schemes of black cultural awareness and production. Hoodoo, conjure, rootwork, and juju all provide windows into understanding the broader category of African American folk healing. However, some of the terms need clarification, particularly as they are used today. Generally the terms “hoodoo” and “conjure” are used interchangeably . As seen in accounts from the Slave Narratives, hoodoo is sometimes dismissed as superstition or may be confused with the religion Voudou. Some African Americans may fear the terms themselves because they are seen as non-Christian. Yet, the practices that would be designated as “hoodoo” are ongoing. Defining hoodoo as non-Christian is an oversimplification that reduces the supernaturalism found within black culture’s holistic view to the realm of “evil” magic. Magic has a wider acceptance in mainstream American culture today and this sets up a context for considering the supernatural that is sharply different from the time when the WSU Folk Archives accounts were collected. On an academic level, magic is also seen differently, 142 Hoodoo, Conjure, and Folk Healing particularly as an area for research. For instance, research by Bruno Bettleheim considered the importance of magical thinking for the development...