Lucky Mojo Forum

[areder]

I came upon this site yesterday while searching on the word "hoodoo," occasioned by a Wisconsin Public Radio show on same. I am intrigued by the Jewish aspects of hoodoo. I am Jewish and have felt for a long time that there are deep historical connections between people of Jewish and African descent that have been mostly erased from the Jewish cultural memory but less so the African-American one. Essentially, I believe there is considerable genetic as well as cultural overlap between people of those descents. This site seems like a possible gathering place for people whose studies might have taken them in that direction.

If that's the case, can any of you point me toward more information on this subject?

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

[CopperFox]

Hello, Areder!
You have definitely come to the right place -- the information you are looking for is here. Check out the Lucky Mojo webpages available for free study and you will find time and again links between hoodoo and the Jewish community. It is good to have you here and I hope you enjoy learning more about hoodoo and how it can benefit you and yours.

[cleopatra]

I have a Bible called The Original African American Heritage Study Bible which contains commentary on that very subject as well as information on African culture that pertains to various Bible passages. I would highly recommend it.

You might also check out The 8th, 9th, and 10th Books of Moses by Henri Gamache. He also believed that the Jews had African roots.

http://www.luckymojo.com/8th9th10thmoses.html

[areder]

Thanks, CopperFox. To be honest, I don't think links between hoodoo itself and Judaism will do me much good. I know there's lots of info on the site about that, but I'm looking for historical connections that go back many hundreds or thousands of years. Here's a sample of what I'm trying to figure out: Many American blacks have the belief, passed down through their families, that they are deeply related in some way to Jews. You don't find the same belief nearly as widespread among Jews, near as I can tell. There are other links between the peoples, too. For example, once you get past skin color, many Jews and blacks have similar facial features. I think there has to be an answer here in the proximity of northern Africa and the Middle East, trade between ancient peoples in those areas, etc. There are also proven genetic links to Judaism in a pygmy tribe with claimed Jewish roots. I'm looking for more data along these lines and hoping people in the hoodoo community here can help.

[areder]

Thanks, Cleopatra. Great references!

[catherineyronwode]

Check out various black tribes of Jews, recently confirmed to be of Jewish lineage by DNA. Go to google and look up the words Lemba Jews, Ethiopian Jews, and Falasha Jews. (The word Falasha is not a currently acceptable term, but older references will have used it and if they are archived at google books, that's the term you'll have to search for.) Also look for books like "Hebrewisms of West Africa."

To return from DNA and religion to folk magic -- there are dozens of "Jewish" spells of magic within hoodoo, some very ancient (2nd century Jewish). The presumption is that these spells passed down through the separated populations for millennia.

[areder]

Thank you, Catherine. I will follow these trails. As you present it, the hoodoo link may be more fertile than I had imagined.

[bluesprof]

My grandmother was a Moorish Jew from the south of France. Although I have not been able to trace her side of the family any further back yet, she was born in 1871 and from my historical research it seems likely that her ancestors had at the very least co-mingled with the Moors who came north out of Africa. She had many little practices that I remember as a child that once I started studying and working with hoodoo seemed very similar to things I learned from the African American rootworkers that I've studied with in the South, as well as practices I've read about in doing research on hoodoo dating back to the 1700s in America. While I haven't ever had a dna test done I am aware that her side of my family carries the genetic condition known as thalassemia, closely related to sickle-cell anemia and also prevalent in peoples of Northern Africa.