Have you ever heard of hoodoo? Many will immediately decide that we are talking about a hoodie - a popular type of sweatshirt. But no, hoodoo has nothing to do with sweatshirts and other wardrobe items. Hoodoo is the same African religion as voodoo, but practically not studied.
The most widespread modern magical practices of hoodoo are in the United States. And there is an explanation for that. Hoodoo, like voodoo or water, was brought to the States by black slaves who were forcibly taken out of Africa to work on plantations by greedy traders in human goods. The slave traders, of course, did not care who they sold, but the markets of the New World were valued for strong and tall Africans, and not undersized savages from the tropical jungle.
Nigerian roots
So the main influx of slaves came from the valleys of the Niger and Congo. It was from there that one of the Ewe tribes, which called itself Hudu, was born. In the 17th century, the Hoodu tribe was ousted from their homeland by the Yoruba warriors who created the Oyo empire in Nigeria.
When the hunt for "live goods" began, the hoodoo became its first victims. They were sturdy in appearance, and it turned out to be very easy to lure them into a trap by offering bright beads and other trinkets, moreover, they were strangers to the local African tribes, and the native kings with great eagerness captured them and sold them to sailors at a bargain price. Together with other tribes, the Ewe Hoodos soon found themselves on the other side of the Atlantic. And they brought there their myths and their belief in witchcraft.
The Hoodoo tribe did not have a single god, nor gods as such. But they revered the dead ancestors and believed in demons, who were called Aziz. The Aziz were vicious and insatiable creatures. They demanded complete obedience and various gifts, and for their willfulness and insufficient respect they sent misfortunes, illness and death to the unfortunate. In every hoodoo village there were knowledgeable people who could negotiate with the Aziz by performing magical rituals. However, they had to pacify their dead ancestors, who wandered after death, always hungry and very angry.
Those who found themselves in slavery to hoodoo attributed their troubles to the fact that the ancestors in their distant homeland remained unnatural and abandoned, so that overseas witchcraft practices were carried out with redoubled zeal. Planters and local priests began, of course, to introduce Christianity among their slaves. The African people liked the holy book, the Bible, but did not make them Christians. But then it turned into a great new tool of old witchcraft! The Bible, readily distributed by missionaries even to illiterate Africans, immediately became a kind of protective talisman. The slaves sincerely believed that the one who carries this holy book with him can not be afraid of any enemies, visible and invisible, he cannot accidentally die, drown or perish in a fire, and no one will incriminate him. In a word, a wonderful book.
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But, however, it did not replace the already existing and proven over the centuries old instruments.
Means and methods
Remember how one of Mark Twain's characters, Mrs. Watson's nave Jim, talked to his hairball? He got this ball from bovine abomasum and believed that there was a spirit in the ball and this spirit knew everything, so he asked the spirit in the ball questions and received some answers from him. In hoodoo magic, a similar device was used - Jack's ball, or ball of luck. This item was made very simply: a couple of magic items were wrapped with a long thread until a ball was formed, then a certain number of knots were made on the thread: one number was required to attract luck, the other to turn the ball into a fortune-telling instrument. For both of them, objects were wrapped in a ball that tied him tightly to the owner, that is, that stored personal information about him - pieces of tissue with body secretions, nails, hair, and so on. If the ball was supposed to affect the enemy, then similar objects belonging to the enemy were placed inside it.
The Mojo bag, or the bag of luck, had similar properties. Originally, these talismans were made from red flannel linen worn by slaves, as it was the cheapest. The lingerie for the mascots was not washed - the more the bag is soaked with sweat, the better. Many items of a purely personal nature were put in it, as well as roots, leaves, bones, stones, small amulets, pieces of sacred texts. In order to lime another person, the bag was accordingly filled with things related to the enemy. As hoodoo developed, the red color of the fabric was considered to attract love, and the color of the bags of luck began to vary. Green - to attract wealth, white - to protect against disease. They could also put the bone of a black cat in a bag, which had a whole range of magical properties and could make a person famous and rich.
Taste and color
Sometimes one of the three varieties of Jack's root was put in the bag, which were used for healing, overcoming obstacles or sex appeal. Galangal, or Chewing Jack, was used to resolve claims in favor of the owner, because, according to popular belief in the United States, the root makes the breath sweet and pleasant for others, and this has a positive effect on the judges. Low Jack, or trillium, was considered a helper in family affairs. But the most important of the three was tall Jack, the morning glory root that looks a lot like you. The dried scrotum. It was believed that he possesses a whole range of useful qualities - it attracts luck, especially in gambling, lures money, gives tirelessness in love and acts no worse than a love potion.
For rituals, glass bottles were used, especially blue - in the 19th century this was a very common color of glass. Bottles were used to make traps for evil spirits, which were dug upside down near the threshold and in all places where the spirits were especially active. Often, whole trees from bottles were installed in front of the entrance. At home, hoodoo bottle trees were planted to increase soil fertility and to protect against drought and crop failure, which, as you know, bring evil spirits. A wonderful remedy for all diseases was kept in the pharmacy bottle - the vinegar of the four thieves, which was used both as a medicine and as an ointment. The composition of the drug itself varied, but it necessarily included four components. According to legend, four medieval robbers were saved by him during a plague epidemic. Vinegar was used not only as a remedy, but also to remove spoilage.
But to induce damage to the hood, they used a bad powder, which consisted of a mixture of cemetery earth, snake skin, ash, salt and other components. This powder was used to cultivate the land on which the hated enemy walks, but it is even better if the powder was sprinkled right at the porch, or even in his bed. Another way to lime the enemy was to excavate his trace: the earth from the enemy's trace was placed in a bottle, mixed with poisonous substances, the curse was read and sealed, and then either buried or drowned in stagnant water.
But the Bible was, of course, a very powerful tool. They copied it, read it over candles, burned it on candles, even fed the sick and children with it in order to cope with the disease.
Reincarnation
Hoodoo magic is quite democratic. Any person who feels a connection with the spirit world can become a sorcerer. Sorcerers do not undergo any initiation rite, they just start their own practice. But they must know the rituals, be able to guess on cards and build an altar for all types of magical operations using a ball of luck, work with hoodoo dolls, make pendants and amulets, understand plants, stones and other natural components, take out traces, cast a spell on crossed objects, own all spells, and also maintain the functionality of ready-made witchcraft.
In order for talismans and amulets to protect the wearer, they must always be in good shape. That is, they need to be fed on time. And it's not about charging witchcraft with magical power. This makes the sorcerer hoodoo when making an item. Once a week, the amulet should receive a portion of recharge, for example, a magnetic powder that is sprinkled on the amulet, or some powerful witchcraft compound that is used to coat an object, or maybe the necessary bodily fluid - saliva, sperm, urine or blood. Blood is considered the most powerful magical agent. People of the Hoodoo tribe believed that everything in nature is in balance, and only this does not allow the world to fall apart. And the world of the dead and the world of the living are tightly bound by one blood. The blood flowing in the veins of the sorcerer makes him omnipotent and immortal, because it is she who allows him not to die,but to be born again in another body.
It is believed that the sorcerer picks up a healthy young body ahead of time. He only has one year and only one age when it can be done. The sorcerer should be 67 years old, and his new body - 23 years old. The transition takes place only at the good will of the new body. If the sorcerer missed his chance, he falls into the so-called "circle" (something like a Christian hell) and will henceforth experience the eternal "Groundhog Day". But the souls that he took from their bodies will be free. The practice of transferring the soul into a new body is considered reprehensible, because the basic law of hoodoo magic is not to treat others the way you do not want them to treat you.
True, the concept of good and evil is very vague at best. And the destruction of enemies is almost the most popular rite that customers order.
Magazine: Mysteries of History №6. Author: Nikolay Kotomkin