Hoodoo (folk magic) facts for kids

A Hoodoo candle

Hoodoo is a traditional spiritual practice that started with African-American people. It grew from a mix of spiritual ideas from West Africa, Native American cultures, and European traditions.

People also call Hoodoo "conjure." Sometimes, people get it mixed up with "Voodoo," but they are different. Hoodoo is mostly about helping people in their daily lives. It focuses on things like good luck, protection, health, and love.

The Roots of Hoodoo

Hoodoo began during the time of slavery in the United States. Enslaved Africans brought their spiritual beliefs and practices from West and Central Africa. They mixed these with ideas from Native Americans and Europeans. This mix helped them create Hoodoo. It was a way for them to keep their culture alive and find hope.

African Influences

Many ideas in Hoodoo come from West and Central Africa. For example, the belief in spirits and the importance of nature are key. The Kongo cosmogram from Central Africa is a symbol that shows the cycle of life and death. This symbol is linked to the idea of a crossroads in Hoodoo. Crossroads are seen as powerful places where two worlds meet.

African people also used special objects called nkisi. These were containers believed to hold spirits or power. In America, enslaved people made similar items, like face jugs, which were sometimes called "voodoo pots." These jugs might have been used to protect homes or hold spirits.

Other Influences

Native American traditions also added to Hoodoo. They shared knowledge about plants and herbs for healing. European folk magic and beliefs also played a part. This included ideas about charms and spells.

What People Do in Hoodoo

Hoodoo is a practical kind of magic. It helps people deal with everyday problems. People use different tools and rituals to bring about changes in their lives.

Working with Nature

Nature is very important in Hoodoo. People use herbs, roots, and minerals in their practices. A "root doctor" is someone who knows a lot about these natural remedies. They help people with health problems or other issues.

Charms and Protection

Many Hoodoo practices focus on protection and good luck.

• Mojo Bags: These are small bags filled with herbs, roots, and other items. They are like good luck charms. They come from West African "gris-gris" bags.
• Bottle Trees: Some people put colored bottles on trees. They believe this traps bad spirits and keeps them away from their homes.
• Chicken Feet: A dried chicken foot can be used as a charm for protection. It is also believed to help put a curse on someone.

Spiritual Tools

People in Hoodoo use many different items in their rituals.

• Candles: Candles are often used to focus energy and intentions. Different colors can mean different things.
• Honey Jars: These jars are used to "sweeten" a person or a situation. For example, someone might use a honey jar to make a person more friendly or a situation more favorable.
• The Bible: Many Hoodoo practitioners are also Christian. They often use the Bible in their rituals. They might read certain verses or place the Bible on an altar.

Hoodoo and Community

During slavery, Hoodoo was a secret way for enslaved people to feel powerful. It gave them hope and a sense of control. It also helped them build strong communities. They shared their knowledge and supported each other.

Conjurers and root doctors were often respected leaders. They helped people with healing, protection, and advice. Some even helped enslaved people escape to freedom.

Hoodoo Today

Hoodoo is still practiced today. It has changed over time, but its core ideas remain. It is a living tradition that connects African Americans to their history and heritage. Many people continue to use Hoodoo for personal growth, healing, and to improve their lives.

Images for kids

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  A map of the transatlantic slave trade

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  Kongo Yowa Cosmogram

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  Slave dance and music

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  A crossroads is where two roads meet to form an X. The significance of crossroads in Hoodoo originates from Central Africa's Kongo cosmogram. "It is at the crossroads where many Africans believe one will witness the powers of God and emerge from the waters spiritually renewed."

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  Archeologists found an intact nkisi nkondi inside a slave cabin in Brazoria, Texas.

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  Brooklyn Museum 22.198 Cane / This cane is from the Arts of Africa collection. Bantu-Kongo people in Central Africa and African Americans in the United States crafted similar canes. Historians noted similar meanings and religious use of canes between African and African-American people as they carved animals and human figures onto canes to conjure illness. The difference with African-American canes is North American animals are carved onto canes and historical events are carved about sharecropping and lynchings.

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  An example of an African-American face jug from Edgefield District of South Carolina. Historians suggests face jugs may have functioned like an nkisi, a spirit container. African-Americans called face jugs "voodoo pots" and "ugly jugs." African-American face jugs are similar in appearance to face jugs made by Bantu people in the Kongo region.

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  A West African gris-gris bag, the origin of the mojo bag (conjure bag) in Hoodoo

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  Blacksmiths are respected in black communities because of their knowledge in the mysteries of metal and its spiritual properties.

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  Some African Americans prayed to African water spirits when they baptized church members.

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  Hoodoo artifacts and evidence of Hoodoo rituals were found inside slave cabins in the United States.

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  A Hoodoo stick was found in between the walls of the Bennehan House to curse (hex) the family.

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  A Sankofa Symbol was etched onto the memorial wall at the African Burial Ground National Monument.

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  Bible Quilt 1898 / Harriet Powers sewed biblical imagery and African symbols into her quilts.

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  An example of one of Ms. Hunter's quilts on John's Island, South Carolina.

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  During the slave trade, the majority of Central Africans imported to New Orleans, Louisiana were Bakongo (Bantu people). This image was painted in 1886 and shows African Americans in New Orleans performing dances from Africa in Congo Square. Congo Square was where African Americans practiced Voodoo and Hoodoo.

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  James Hopkinsons plantation slaves planting sweet potatoes

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  African American root doctors developed a variety of herbal cures in the American South.

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  Hoodoo and root work provided medical care for enslaved and free blacks, and a feeling of community as they practiced their rituals in secret away from the watchful eyes of their enslavers.

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  Edisto Island National Scenic Byway - Sweetgrass Baskets - A Gullah Tradition - NARA - 7718281 - Sweetgrass baskets designs and styles are similar to the ones made in West Africa.

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  African American farmer in corn field, Alachua County, Florida in 1913

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  African American midwife with a newborn infant

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  Some rootworkers use Christian imagery on their Hoodoo altars

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  A seal from the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses

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  Gutenberg Bible, Lenox Copy, New York Public Library, 2009. Pic 01

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  Enslaved and free conjurers were leaders of slave revolts in the African Diaspora.

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  West African water-spirit figure (MIA)

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  Pouring of libation in West Africa is also practiced in Hoodoo.

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  Coffin Point Praise House

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  A bottle tree

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  Chicken feet are used in Hoodoo as a charm for protection and to conjure a curse on someone.

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  Honey jars or sweetening jars are a tradition in Hoodoo to sweeten a person or a situation in a person's favor. The practice is appropriated and its meaning is misunderstood outside the African-American community. Traditionally sugar water is used.

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  Animal sacrifice is now a concealed practice in Hoodoo in African-American communities because spiritual merchants and others appropriated the tradition and changed and replaced practices.

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  William Wells Brown wrote in his autobiography he spoke with an enslaved fortune-teller named Frank to know if his escape from slavery on the Underground Railroad would be successful.

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  A bone reading

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  Conjure doctor Dr. Jim Jordan used a crystal ball to divine situations.

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  During slavery, enslaved Africans in America did not use colored candles and glass encased candles as these were not available during the time period. Enslaved people probably used oil lamps for their conjure and rootwork; however, the use of oil lamps was rare on plantations. By the twentieth century, the emergence of metaphysical and New Age stores began selling candles and African Americans incorporated different candles into their spiritual practice.

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  Freedom seekers relied on Hoodoo and conjure to prevent slave catchers from capturing them.

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  Paschal Beverly Randolph

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  Black Herman magician

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  Protesters with signs in Ferguson

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  This photo shows church members praising the Lord. African American conjurers and rootworkers identified as Christian and incorporated the Bible into Hoodoo.

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  Bishop Charles Harrison Mason and other Pentecostal pastors were rootworkers.

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  Zora Neale Hurston's first book published about African-American folklore and Hoodoo was Mules and Men. Hurston published Tell My Horse a book about the practice of Obeah in Jamaica and the practice of Vodou in Haiti. (Image Library of Congress)

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  Minkisi (Kongo), World Museum Liverpool - Minkisi cloth bundles were found on slave plantations in the United States in the Deep South.

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  Bessie Smith wrote and performed several blues songs that reference Hoodoo.