There has been a lot happening in conjure's little corner of the world--both virtually and practically. First off--there has been an unfortunate spate of copyright abuse happening all over town! Miss cat and Lucky Mojo are both plagiarized on a pretty continuous basis as are other up and coming authors. If you notice pictures or text from the Lucky Mojo website or its affiliates like Herbmagic.com please let cat know.
Secondly, there has been a great deal of discussion about Hoodoo, Voodoo, New Orleans style Voodoo and what people mean when they say traditional Hoodoo. I have sat back and watched some newer workers (both professional and amateurs get swept away in the tides of popularization--they take whatever sounds sexy and trendy in the moment and they slap it on Hoodoo. Going along with this attitude is a resistance to what I consider "traditional" conjure. Some people refuse to accept that there is a tradition behind Conjure, they wish to explain it as an ever changing and ever evolving form of magic, they tend to down play its Protestant Christian roots, in some circles the fact that at its core Hoodoo is an African American magical tradition is ignored while in other circles it is presented as "Afrikan" but not African American and lumped into the same category as Yoruba and other ATR's.
Many Conjure workers today--well respected workers too--will begin advising their clients to work with this or that Saint--never mind that the largest number of participants in Hoodoo have been and still are African American Protestant Christians who do not work with Saints and do not practice saint veneration. And nevermind the fact that the number of people who grew up with traditional Hoodoo and do work with Saints is very small and specifically located in a couple of places in the country only--notably New Orleans and Maryland. Other workers combine their professional Hoodoo practices with all types of other practices and religious traditions--some of which just simply do not work together. As Hoodoo becomes more well known and more popular outside of the Southern and African American communities we are seeing more and more new interpretations of the core magical tradition. In some cases purveyors will argue that this is all part of the tradition, while in other cases folks decide the best thing to do is to get rid of ideas like tradition all together. All of which begs the question--what do I mean when I use the word tradition?
Hoodoo is a traditional form of folk magic, it is a living tradition and it is documented as such through primary sources including books, interviews, music, and folk tales. While it is not a religion, anyone who bothers to delve into any of the primary source materials that I listed above will find that it goes hand in hand with protestant Christianity, specifically African American protestant Christianity. There is also the living tradition of Hoodoo in which lore, knowledge, and tricks are passed down from one generation to another orally and by demonstration. We know that there are certain things that are agreed upon across the board by most people who do the work and who seek out the work, just as we know that not everything is consistent or agreed upon. Newer workers, and often to my mind, workers who were not raised in this tradition, will latch on to the fact that some elements of Conjure were not consistently practiced in just one way and extrapolate from this fact that therefore there is no one coherent tradition when it comes to Conjure. In our day and age this makes it easier to appeal to certain audiences and markets that are interested in Conjure but unable or unwilling to adjust their own views and beliefs so that they fall in line with the greater tradition--for instance, some groups that are becoming more and more exposed to conjure tend to be uncomfortable with Christian prayers and would rather be able to say their own prayers, even if they are working a down home root work spell. Some teachers will tell you that your religion doesn't matter at all, but the truth is that if you want to conjure, you need to be able to work with the Bible and Jesus.
Commercialism is another area of contention within the wide world of Hoodoo. Many of us grew up with commercial Hoodoo products and to us its nothing new. In other cases though, folks tend to see making and selling products as some kind of exploitation of ignorant and superstitious people. Of course, anytime you are working within a commercial context either is possible, but I know many very legitimate makers and sellers of Hoodoo goods--most notably my teacher miss cat yronwode of Lucky Mojo and some of my fellow AIRR workers like Momma Hen and Karma Zain.
I find in my own practice that my clients know what they are looking for and they know when they have found it. People choose to work with me because I am sincere in my efforts but also because I am grounded within tradition, and I don't have a problem saying so. In fact, I feel that turning my back on the traditions that make up the foundation of conjure work in order to make a couple of extra dollars or to make folks feel more "comfortable" not only is pointless, I feel that it is morally irresponsible. Other workers can and will do whatever is best for them and their business, my roots are in the American South and have been watered and nourished by many clients who grew up with this tradition in their own lives and families. My teachers have molded and formed me, drawing forth knowledge that I already possessed and adding to that knowledge in spades. For them I have absolute devotion, loyalty, and respect. Nowadays my clients come from all over the world, and I work with many who teach me as much if not more than I teach them.To me, that is the most important element of traditional Hoodoo--the exchange of knowledge between worker and client and student and teacher. So thanks to each and every one of you for all that you have taught me and may we all continue to learn and grow without forgetting how deep our roots go!
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