Historical and Contemporary Hoodoo Root Doctors, Practitioners, Fortune Tellers, and Shop Owners

ariela · Unread post by **ariela** » Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:51 am

this is amazing...thanks for sharing! I assume you've been there.....being from NYC this seems so ......wow.....

Unread post by **catherineyronwode** » Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:21 pm

Actually, no, i have not been there -- only via google maps! I'm still hoping someone will drop by, take some pictures and post them here -- and find out why the place is called the Hoodooo Community!

tray2129 · Unread post by **tray2129** » Fri Nov 23, 2012 7:03 pm

I remember Mrs. Sara Murphy & she did have an extremely well known reputation in Robeson Co. NC & the surrounding areas.

I've been told that her daughter took over the practice.

period · Unread post by **period** » Thu Dec 13, 2012 4:22 am

Does anyone have links to where i can get information on the history of love spells, love magic and love potions.

Unread post by **Mary Bee** » Thu Dec 13, 2012 4:35 am

Hello:
If you read miss cat's online book "Hoodoo in Theory and Practice", you'll learn quite a bit about hoodoo love workings:

http://www.luckymojo.com/hoodoo.html

Pay attention to the Come To Me, Love Me and Reconciliation brands described.

Good luck,
Mary Bee

Unread post by **rev.jordan** » Sat Dec 15, 2012 11:10 am

Tray,

I have been attempting to locate descendants of Murphy who might be interested in sharing some of their memories. Do you know how to contact her descendants? If so, please PM me.

I'm going to collect her graveyard dirt this weekend.

SHAKUR1971 · Unread post by **SHAKUR1971** » Sat Dec 15, 2012 6:19 pm

Hello,

WOW, when I read the name, I knew immediately who you all was talking about and it brung a huge smile to my face. Mrs. Murp was the true meaning of the words "The Truth".

I went to her several times on different occasions and she helped me out each time and the last time I went to her home, Louise (her daughter) told me that she had passed and I cried like a baby because Mrs. Murp (I called her this) told me to come back to see her and I didn't come back when she told me too, and now she is gone.

Whatever work she did for anyone, you would see your results within 9 days guaranteed. She is truly missed by many people.

P.S.
Obskultus, I'm going to PM you.

Unread post by **catherineyronwode** » Fri Jan 04, 2013 11:10 pm

I have added some new genealogical information about the Bichon family to the already extant Southern Spirits page that describes the Bichon Drug Store, a.k.a. Bichon's Pharmacy in Houston, formerly one of the best hoodoo shops in the country. If any of you have photos of the Bichon Drug Store, please let me know:

Here is the (so far pictureless) web page URL:

Bichon's Drug Store
by Sig Byrd
http://www.southern-spirits.com/byrd-bi ... uston.html

Enjoy!

mysterymaiden · Unread post by **mysterymaiden** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 7:33 am

Hi everyone! I have been browsing the forums and you all are very helpful to one another, so I'm sticking my virtual hand up hoping for some help from you all. I'm a murder mystery writer and I'm researching Hoodoo for a plotline I'm working on. My victim was found with a Mojo Bag (of course, they don't know at first what it is). Of course, I want to represent Hoodoo realistically and avoid at all costs the "Hollywood" idea of Hoodoo and the Voodoo/Hoodoo confusion, and am making a point of being very precise in the details to ensure the integrity of the mystery. So, with all that preamble, I'm hoping you all can help me with the contents of my victim's Mojo Bag. I have found plenty of information about what COULD be in his Mojo Bag, but I'm more concerned about what SHOULD be in his Mojo Bag, if you understand my meaning.

The year is 1899 in Louisiana and my victim is a rich, power-crazed man who heads up a secret brotherhood parading (pardon the pun) as a Krewe. Thanks to inside information, he has been taking over plantations in financial jeopardy, and has grown fearful of some of the inhabitants of one of the plantations. His Mojo Bag is for protection from their 'magick'.

I would really love any help or opinions, as I mentioned, I want to keep the details as correct as possible to do justice to Hoodoo as a whole. Thanks everyone!

Unread post by **Mary Bee** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 9:44 am

Good protective herbs would be John The Conqueror root, Devils' Shoestring Roots, and Black Cohosh Root.

I might include a bit of Master root so this man can be "masters" over his enemies.

Good luck,

Mary Bee

Unread post by **catherineyronwode** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 9:57 am

Each toby maker has his or her own ways of working. Some would use Graveyard Dirt in such a hand, or a coin.

As for roots, some might employ Devil's Shoe String Roots and Black Snake Root, as Mary Bee said. (She called it Black Cohosh; most Southerners call it Black Snake Root.) Sampson Snake Root is another good one, as is Rattle Snake Master root.

But a good hand is like a good recipe -- chef's hold their recipes tight, and so do toby makers.

And NO ONE in Louisiana would have spelled the word "magic" with a "k" at the time and place in which your story is set, as you just did. That peculiar pseudo-antique literary affectation was not yet visible on the horizon in Louisiana in 1899, LOL!

Good luck.

mysterymaiden · Unread post by **mysterymaiden** » Thu Jan 24, 2013 10:11 am

Wonderful information, thank you both so much! I knew that about the "k" on magic, it was more of a wink-and-nod type thing. I really appreciate the replies, you both have helped me immensely.

Unread post by **catherineyronwode** » Thu Jan 24, 2013 5:40 pm

Glad to be of help.

Alas, a wink-and-nod from one culture when posted in a culture that opposes it is not always received with cheer. Aleister Crowley, the notable promoter of "magick-with-a-k" was one of the most ignorant and vile racists ever to defile the study of occultism. Please see:

Aleister Crowley: A Legacy of Racism and Nationalism:
RACISM, GENDER-BIAS, and Other Forms of BIGOTRY in the Writings of ALEISTER CROWLEY

http://www.arcane-archive.org/faqs/crowleyracistfaq.php

Enjoy!

mysterymaiden · Unread post by **mysterymaiden** » Mon Jan 28, 2013 1:09 pm

Wow, that I definitelt DIDN'T know, but thanks for the info!

ziasews · Unread post by **ziasews** » Sat Feb 09, 2013 1:03 pm

Hello all,

I am a writer, looking to use accurate Hoodoo information in my story.

One of the females is a rootworker and has had a forced abortion by a man who she will eventually work to ruin. She goes to the cemetary to visit the grave of her aborted baby.

What would she bring to protect the baby's spirit and help it obtain heaven?

thanks in advance.

MoonBreath · Unread post by **MoonBreath** » Sat Feb 09, 2013 9:47 pm

What time period are we talking about? How far along was the baby?

Until quite recently, miscarried babies, stillborn, or any child who dies before baptism in the Catholic Church were buried in a special section just outside the graveyard.

I guess that wouldn't matter if your lady is not Catholic ... or if the story happened today.

Unread post by **catherineyronwode** » Sun Feb 10, 2013 2:49 pm

ziasews

I agree with MoonBreath -- and i will note, as did he or she, that you do not seem to provide us with a handle on the culture you are describing, or the time period.

1) Abortion was illegal everywhere in the United States until 1973. If your story is set before 1973, the following information will be of assistance:

A) Village midwives / cunning women who performed abortions usually buried any remains on their own home property, not in graveyards. There are many accounts of this.

B) Doctors and midwives who performed illegal abortions disposed of the remains surreptitiously, as any hint of such activity would have resulted in suspended licenses or hard jail time.

C) At the time of this writing i am 65 years old, and having had two illegal abortions myself, before Roe v. Wade, i speak from experience. During the era of illegal abortions, virtually all abortions were performed before the end of the first trimester -- and many doctors refused to perform them after the third month under any circumstances, due to concerns about the need for post-operative care, which could not be supplied in most "abortion mills" or "back alley" abortion clinics. When an abortion is performed in the first trimester the remains are insignificant and the remains were never taken to a cemetery, nor was the woman who had an illegal abortion allowed to see or handle them.

2) Regardless of the time period of your story, hoodoo is primarily the folk-magic of Black Protestant Christians.

A) Most Protestants do not believe in the baptism of infants, and babies who die before the age of consent are simply considered innocents. Hence if they die unbaptized, there is no need to "do" anything to ensure a favourable judgement of their souls after death. Furthermore, among most Protestants, infant baptism is actually considered to be a gross misunderstanding of God's plan for humanity. (To put it mildly!) Among most Protestants, baptism is performed by a preacher or pastor or apostle only upon those who have reached the age of consent, as Jesus demonstrated Himself when He was baptized by John the Baptist.

B) There is no provision in the Protestant denominations to "help [anyone] obtain heaven." In Protestant denominations, it is believed that God makes His own decisions, and only by grace can one be saved through faith, and not by the works of men, lest any man should boast, and above all this means that there are no "indulgences" or "penances" that can "buy" anyone's way into Heaven, and that, my friend, is that. Here's your proof text:

Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

(In fact, the perceived abuse of the selling of indulgences and absolutions by mere men (that is, the idea that souls could reach Heaven through the "works" performed by Catholic priests or any other human beings) was one of the major foundational premises informing Luther's 95 Theses -- and thus undergirds the entire gamut of Protestant religious denominations.)

3) Regardless of the time period of your story, if the hoodoo practitioner in your fiction were Catholic, for instance, living in the Catholic areas of Louisiana or Maryland, then root doctor or not, she would probably pay money for a mass or a series of masses to be said for the unshriven baby and she could go to confession and be given a penance or series of penances to perform for her own sin. This has nothing at all to do with hoodoo, obviously, as it is a religious matter. Perhaps you have confused hoodoo with a religion?

Good luck!

MoonBreath · Unread post by **MoonBreath** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 3:56 pm

Like Miss Cat said, most Protestants would not be worried about the salvation of the baby - they would assume it was in Heaven. That is why I sort of assumed your lady was Catholic ... in the past many Catholics have experienced great stress over the salvation of their unbaptized babies. Especially if their community buries the unbaptized little ones just outside the graveyard. Of course, this is not an issue today since the Church recently stated these little ones are presumed to be with God. In the past, however, it was a big, painful issue for lots of folks.

If your setting is going to be a real place, like New Orleans or Mobile and the protagonist is Catholic ... do some historical research on how that Catholic community handled burial of unbaptized babies for your time period. I have heard some babies were buried in the graveyard (like if the family was close friends with the priest and he knew they were planning on having the child baptized promptly ). But that probably would have only happened in the past 50 years or so... Many Catholic cemeteries in the past had rules about the unbaptized not being buried on holy ground. But a grave is a grave, so dirt could still be taken from that child's grave and used ....

Good luck with the book!

Unread post by **catherineyronwode** » Sat Mar 30, 2013 3:10 am

This article by the Pagan Newswire Cllective is an illustrated account of a visit to Lucky Mojo in February 2011.

http://pncminnesota.com/2011/02/25/hoodoo-pilgrimage/

Lots of pictures -- and an interview with yours truly.

They really showed a lot of the shop and caught the flavour of our weirdness! (This was before the Great Repainting, so the shop looks a bit different now, but you'll get the idea.

Thanks, PNC-Minnesota, for the post about us!

Unread post by **jwmcclin** » Sat Mar 30, 2013 7:31 pm

This is beautiful cat. Thanks for the link.

AprilRaine · Unread post by **AprilRaine** » Sat Mar 30, 2013 8:12 pm

Thank you for showing this to us. What a great interview and fantastic pictures to go along!

Unread post by **Joseph Magnuson** » Sun Mar 31, 2013 12:30 pm

I remember reading that article a while ago. Nice little interview is well worth the read!

Unread post by **Papa Newt** » Sun Mar 31, 2013 6:31 pm

Thank you for posting this, Miss Cat. It is a delightful article.

Unread post by **DocMurphy** » Fri Apr 19, 2013 12:00 pm

Oh! How cool I came across this! Judy and her husband Nels are friends of mine here in the Cities; PNC does great work for the community here. So glad to hear about the connection. (Another sign!)

They did an interview with me a while back, too. LOL.

Murphy

Unread post by **Joseph Magnuson** » Fri Apr 19, 2013 1:56 pm

Minnesota is most definitely in the house!

Unread post by **DocMurphy** » Fri Apr 19, 2013 3:00 pm

Yeah, Minnesotans are all in the house because MN got12-22 inches of snow today!

Ah, well... until there's winter-be-gone mojo... LOL..

Murphy

Unread post by **Joseph Magnuson** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 3:23 pm

HA! Wow, crazy... I'll trade you some of our Northern Florida 85 degree humidity!? Deal?

Vestapol · Unread post by **Vestapol** » Mon Jun 10, 2013 8:23 pm

Friends, let me set the context for the point I want to make. I've been reading casually about Hoodoo for years. Mainly tangent to my passion for Blues history. I've visited Hoodoo stores in Atlanta and New Orleans, and done field research on Blues musicians in Anniston, Alabama and the Mississippi Delta. I've carried my precious Mojo Hand since 1994. I'm not new to Hoodoo, but...

I just read the Hoodoo History page at Hoodoo in Theory and Practice by catherine yronwode --HOODOO, CONJURE, and ROOTWORK: AFRICAN AMERICAN FOLK MAGIC (http://www.luckymojo.com/hoodoohistory.html) and gotta say it brought everything together for me. Etymology, geography, historical and folklore research on the many roots of Hoodoo. And it corrected false assumptions I'd never thought to question. Just excellent scholarly synthesis, cat.

So. For the sake of building new knowledge. Who else besides Forum participants has this vision? Is there any one scholarly book that captures all this? Are African-American Folklore scholars like Bernice Johnson Reagon connected to any of the Forum leaders? Is the Smithsonian hip to what's collected in this Forum and its related links?

Cheers,

Doug

Unread post by **catherineyronwode** » Mon Jun 10, 2013 11:01 pm

Doug, i've been pretty much 'buked and scorned by academics for the past 20 years. Some have asked for my time, and a few of those have even cited or quoted me -- but only as a shop-keeper, never as a researcher, because i am of no use to them in academia. You see, i have no letters behind my name and although i have taught 1,850 students (including all the moderators of this forum), i live outside the walled garden of the Universityverse, in the wilds of Autodidactia, where Smithonians never go. In truth, i don't have a high school diploma or even a GED.

Unread post by **DocMurphy** » Tue Jun 11, 2013 10:29 am

It chafes my hide to hear your work has been 'buked and scorned, Ms. cat.That sort of discrimination you've faced as an independent scholar is precisely what I'm fighting against. It's just wrong. And frankly, lettered types are missing the point by not including independent scholars in the circle.

The excuses given by ivory-tower types for not taking indigenous knowledge or experiential knowledge acquisition seriously is simply professional intimidation. And, frankly, jealousy. If an anthropologist or social scientist had the long history of relationships, rapport, and experiences getting to understand the cultural context of a folk practice that you have, they'd be rolling in the fellowship dough. The fact is many social scientists prefer theory to people, which as an anthropologist myself, I have no patience for.

The other issue in the halls of academe is still this idiotic problematic relationship scholars of human culture have with magic. Every culture in the world has its magical practices -- it's nearly a human universal -- but the questions of the discipline still are around why human beings think magically, why we engage in irrational practices, how can modern civilized people still believe in magic, yadda yadda... which, again, is people nervous about experiencing knowledge rather than theorizing safely about it.

I am "lettered" and even my research on a magical religious community raised eyebrows, as well as full knowledge that I was a magical practitioner. It forces even the lettered to fight to be taken seriously. I ended up lucking out -- the lettered folks on my dissertation committee included an astrologer, a gambler, and a Vodou houngan. And they accepted my "insider" knowledge as well as my booklearnin'.

Keep up the research and the writing, Ms. Cat. Your work is expertise. The ivory tower is not as solid as it looks, and eventually, knowledge and good work win out.

Murphy
(Ph.D)
St. Paul, MN

Vestapol · Unread post by **Vestapol** » Tue Jun 11, 2013 3:24 pm

catherineyronwode wrote:Doug, i've been pretty much 'buked and scorned by academics for the past 20 years. Some have asked for my time, and a few of those have even cited or quoted me -- but only as a shop-keeper, never as a researcher, because i am of no use to them in academia. You see, i have no letters behind my name and although i have taught 1,850 students (including all the moderators of this forum), i live outside the walled garden of the Universityverse, in the wilds of Autodidactia, where Smithonians never go. In truth, i don't have a high school diploma or even a GED.

There are some scholars who are genuine. Folklorists are a mixed lot, but some are just folks, so to speak. I don't know either of you very well, but intuition tells me Bernice Reagon's spirit is kindred with yours. I bet she would enjoy connecting with you ( you remember Sweet Honey In The Rock?). And she is well-networked with really good people.

Another one who would appreciate your work, tho he's not so deep into African American folklore as he is into Blues history, is Peter Guralnick in Boston. Maybe a connection with him would lead to a network of genuine people who happen to be folklore scholars.

Of course, you may not be looking to make that kind of contribution. I've never tried to publish my field research...I just do it for my own satisfaction. But when I shared it with Peter, he was very encouraging. Ya never know...

Cheers,

Vetsapol

Unread post by **DocMurphy** » Tue Jun 11, 2013 5:53 pm

Well, Vestapol, maybe we need to start a journal! Then we all can publish.

Best,
Murphy
St. Paul, MN

Vestapol · Unread post by **Vestapol** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 8:16 pm

There's a Blues musicians' Forum on which I'm active. They'd appreciate knowing about Hoodoo Jukebox and HOODOO, CONJURE, and ROOTWORK: AFRICAN AMERICAN FOLK MAGIC. I wouldn't do this without permission from Catherine and LMForum leaders, but I'd like to cut & paste sections from here to that Forum.

What do you all think?

Vestapol

Unread post by **catherineyronwode** » Thu Jun 13, 2013 9:22 am

"What do you all think?"

"You ALL? "

You are asking "LMForum leaders" -- RANDOM STRANGERS TO YOU -- if THEY think it's okay for you to violate MY copyrights!

Are you NUTS?

I would be grateful if you mention our products and post links to your friends, of course, but you do NOT have my permission to do any "cutting and pasting" of any writing that is copyright by me or the company my husband and i co-own, Lucky Mojo, including this forum. It is AGAINST THE LAW.

This material, and every web page i have ever written and every book i have ever published, is protected by copyright and i will pursue you to the ends of the earth, spit in your face, and watch you die a terrible death if you violate my copyrights.

Thanks for understanding.

Unread post by **J-Mo** » Sat Jun 29, 2013 10:26 pm

I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the Rootworker Ms. Sara Murphy who lived in Maxton NC. I have had a few people i encountered in my corner of the state who have told me about her. I was told she was a powerful Roootworker who only worked good works and that she gave out jars that contained Epsom salts, Onions and Hot Peppers. Reading through the Baths section of the course i assume the jars contained baths and i was told a small portion of the bath was taken orally.

From what i heard she was considered the last great Rootworker of her line, she has passed on and nobody in her family has been able to take on her work.

Thanks and Blessings.

Jonathan Mote #1850

Unread post by **rev.jordan** » Sun Jun 30, 2013 5:34 pm

--- In hrcourse@yahoogroups.com, "j_mote_1984" <j_mote_1984@...> wrote:
> >
> I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the Rootworker Ms. Sara Murphy who lived in Maxton NC. I have had a few people i encountered in my corner of the state who have told me about her. I was told she was a powerful Roootworker who only worked good works and that she gave out jars that contained Epsom salts, Onions and Hot Peppers. Reading through the Baths section of the course i assume the jars contained baths and i was told a small portion of the bath was taken orally.
>
> From what i heard she was considered the last great Rootworker of her line, she has passed on and nobody in her family has been able to take on her work.
>
> Thanks and Blessings.
>
> Jonathan Mote #1850

I live in Rockingham, about 30 minutes from her grave and I visit her every so often to collect graveyard dirt.

From what I understand there is someone in her family who still practices, but it's been awhile since I looked into this and I forget who it is.

If you do a search for her name in the Google news archives you'll find a few things.

Charlie Jackson
#1765

Unread post by **J-Mo** » Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:51 pm

Thanks so much, i think i may have to visit her family. I've been told where her house is and that someone still practices there.

Think i may pay Ms. Murphy's grave a visit, i wish i could have met her in life but at least i can buy some dirt from her. I live in Fayetteville NC and i hear about her works all the time. Hoping i can find out some stories and hopefully share them.

Jonathan Mote #1850

Unread post by **MadameSamantha** » Sat Aug 10, 2013 11:01 pm

Hoodoo hex on Interstate 20: The blinding of Myra Crawford demonstrates how racism and fear of demons linger side by side in pockets of the Old South

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 12753.html

Unread post by **MissMichaele** » Sun Aug 11, 2013 11:34 am

Just a couple thoughts:

The usual conflation of hoodoo and voodoo -- the eye-gouging to end a spirit possession sounds like voodoo to me, a completely different system.

"Pearl has pieces of magic wood, which she chews, while burning candles, in her attempts to ensure good fortune."

I wonder if that's licorice root?

Miss Michaele

Unread post by **Mary Bee** » Sun Aug 11, 2013 4:17 pm

I know that this is a hoodoo forum, but I also practice Haitian Vodou, and I have never heard of eye-gouging as a "way to end posession" in either New Orleans OR Haitian Vodou. There are ways that clergy can send a spirit away; I have had it happen to me many times and my eyes are still intact

Mary Bee

Unread post by **DocMurphy** » Sun Aug 11, 2013 6:09 pm

Also, spirit possession in Haitian Vodou is a sacred and beneficial act and experience. They are conflating "demonic possession" of the Hollywood type with Spirit (Lwa) Possession in Haitian Vodou.

Just addin'.

Murphy
St. Paul, MN

Unread post by **MissMichaele** » Sun Aug 11, 2013 7:01 pm

Mary Bee and Magic Murphy, I stand corrected.

I understand that Vodou includes animal sacrifices, and I know of one (ostensibly) initiated practitioner who has admitted to using live animals as poppets for certain kinds of work -- it's a delicate subject, so I won't be more specific.

I'm also aware of entire religious movements that have been taken in by moral panics about witchcraft, which occasionally lead to gruesome actions like this in the name of salvation or righteousness.

Again, no disrespect intended, and my prayers go with these poor ladies.

Miss Michaele

Unread post by **DocMurphy** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:26 am

Oh, none taken Miss Michaele.

It's just good to have this info out on the forum for people to know and understand.

Murphy
St. Paul, MN

Unread post by **Mary Bee** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 5:20 pm

Oh no offense taken, hon! It's just that if the eye gouging theory this paper article actually happened, we'd all be blind in the Vodou religion

I'm not a mambo (priestess; well, not yet anyway), but I can tell you that one way the priest/ess sends away a spirit if the possession is rough or violent. They draw a cross on the person's forehead with their left thumb.

I feel so bad for these women, and I"ll keep them in my prayers.

Mary Bee

Unread post by **DocMurphy** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 6:18 am

Yeah, this story is just harrowing. There's more going on here than just perverted religious belief in this, I think... there's something else, like mental illness or social illness that may be at play here. It reminds me of another thread where there was a "voodoo priest" that poured Florida Water on someone's head and set them on fire... just awful...

Murphy
St. Paul, MN

Unread post by **Joseph Magnuson** » Sun Aug 18, 2013 10:24 am

This has to be my favorite quote of the entire article:

"As a child, one day she saw the hoodoo man leaving her home, she claims, his eyes burning red and horns jutting from his head. 'Once you've seen a demon, you never forget it,' she says."

Excuse me while I go look for a set of Burning Red Eyes and Horns kit.

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Sat Nov 02, 2013 9:17 pm

BewitchingBelle has been unable to post to the forum here for a bit because her iPhone can't get through the security screen and i'm unable to help her to repair it (there have been many times when our own iPhone had similar problems). She wanted me to post this link she had located from 2011 about the post-Katrina excavation of the Temple of Innocent Blood (a temple whose name refers to the children of prostitutes) and about Mother Catherine Seals':

She writes to me in email:

"I had located s 2011 link with news of a recent attempt to [formally] excavate Mother Catherine Seals Temple of the Innocent Blood. I have not located any more recent updates, but thought it was exciting news. I had attempted to post the link in the Hoodoo History section. The link to the article can be found here:"

In Search of a Spiritualist, by Mark Sanders, April 2011
http://www.myneworleans.com/New-Orleans ... ritualist/

I went to the article and read it and it made reference to Leafy Anderson and to the book "Spiritual Churches of New Orleans", quoting from it, as well as explaining many interesting facts about Mother Catherine's life and obituary.

As it happens, lately I've been trying to find out more information about the history of New Orleans beyond what may be told to me by those who are promoting modern trends, to what the terms 'hoodoo' and 'voodoo' might have been applied during the course of the past few centuries, and so this was a keen reminder of an important spiritualist faction of that city.

Another reference to Mother Catherine is to be found in another thread (on bone throwing in a post about our late friend Hurkey): bone,-shell,-and-nut-reading-questions- ... ml#p120283

Unread post by **catherineyronwode** » Sat Nov 02, 2013 9:27 pm

Thanks for posting that on behalf of BewitchingBelle. She was the one who informed us of Hurkey's passing, too, by the way.

Hurkey had spent years searching for remnants from the churches of Leafy Anderson and Catherine Seals. I remember the day when he phoned me, so excited because he had found -- in a thrift store, of all places -- a plaster altar-statute of Catherine Seals that had apparently been used in veneration services at the Temple of the Innocent Blood after her death. That was in the late 1990s. Alas, the statue was destroyed, along with all of his other possessions, during Hurricane Katrina.

Unread post by **DocMurphy** » Sun Nov 03, 2013 6:28 pm

Oh, WOW! This is fascinating.

This is research I'd love to stay abreast of, for sure.

Doc Murphy
St. Paul, MN

Unread post by **catherineyronwode** » Sun Nov 03, 2013 7:51 pm

Thanks again, BewitchineBelle. Oh, and in looking over the bones thread that mentioned Hurkey, i saw a post i had overlooked -- you asked permission to quote from my memories of him at a virtual New Orleans cemetery. Please feel free to do so. I really liked him; i was very sad to lose his presence in my life. He never joined the world of the internet, but i wish he had -- he had so much knowledge and was so generous in sharing it. If he had been on the net, he would have been widely recognized as the good reader, worker, and dedicated New Orleans cultural historian that he was ... and perhaps some of the fictional-historical foolishness that has been going around lately would never have gotten off the ground.

Cali_mojogirl · Unread post by **Cali_mojogirl** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 8:33 pm

Man, what a place! I can just hear the jook joint roaring in the background somewhere. And I love Syd Byrd's snappy writing --sounds like the introduction to a great movie (narrated by Morgan Freeman, of course lol).

I bet the original labels for the Bichon's proprietary hoodoo formulations would be quite the collector's items now. Wonder what they looked like.

Thank you Miss Cat for the intriguing research. Perhaps descendants of the Bichon's (lucky

) 7 children will step forward with pics of the old family shop, and/or other memorabilia. That would be great.

.

Unread post by **catherineyronwode** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 11:06 pm

You're welcome. It is worth noting that although i quoted some material about the 400 block of Milan street, which Sig Syrd described as "biracial," Bichon's Pharmacy itself was located in the 300 block (312, to be exact) in the area known as Milamstrasse. Strasse is German (and Yiddish) for street, and probably referred to an area where Jewish shopkeepers served a black clientele.

Also note that Sig Byrd, despite being a white journalist, quite accurately described Bichon's as selling hoodoo goods, but that a later reminiscence by an outsider who remembered the place, which i also printed on the page, called it a "voodoo" shop. This is typical of white people -- calling hoodoo Voodoo. Sig Byrd knew better.

I also find this piece of interest when countering the latest internet meme, propagated by white pagans since around 2010, that "it was never called hoodoo." Yeah, right. In Houston, Texas, it was definitely called hoodoo.

And, by the way, the article now has four pictures -- alas, none yet of the drugstore or of the Bichon family, but at least some of their gravestones.

Bichon's Drug Store
by Sig Byrd
http://www.southern-spirits.com/byrd-bi ... uston.html

Unread post by **Joseph Magnuson** » Fri Nov 08, 2013 8:09 am

Thank you for the updates, Cat. It is great to be notified in these forums so I can go straight over and read the added articles. Keep it up!

blackmirror · Unread post by **blackmirror** » Tue Dec 03, 2013 10:56 pm

Greetings!

For anyone interested in the history and folklore of Savannah, GA and the surrounding area,i recommend "Drums and Shadows" by Mary Granger. (Quite a few mentions of rootwork.)

Adde3 · Unread post by **Adde3** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 8:45 pm

It is a phrase that originated in the black community during slavery but in some areas it made it's way into the general dialect of the south. I remember hearing old people say someone has a straight lick with a crooked stick usually when someone does something extraordinary.

Unread post by **catherineyronwode** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 9:28 pm

I have just finished the commentary on a new Southern Spirits web page. Check it out -- conjuration and goophering in Missouri, circa 1840, as narrated by the ex-slave William Wells Brown. Read all about Dinkie the Goopher King in

DINKIE, A CONJURE DOCTOR IN MISSOURI
by William Wells Brown, 1880,
extracted from MY SOUTHERN HOME: OR, THE SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE.
http://www.southern-spirits.com/brown-dinkie.html

Meisterlowin · Unread post by **Meisterlowin** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 11:04 pm

I've been going through the forums for several days now and found them, as well as many of the related sites, very helpful and informative -- particularly http://southern-spirits.com which is a fantastic resource.

Anyway, I live in the mid-Missouri region and have been researching the Little Dixie area and any associated stories of conjure and hoodoo. For more info on what Little Dixie is, wikipedia has more here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Dixie_(Missouri)

I came across a few items and wanted to share them for whomever may be interested.

The first is an article about a local storyteller, Gladys Coggswell, who has been relating stories of local history and folklore for decades. There is only a small reference to hoodoo in the article on the 3rd page, second column; however, the references mentioned are worth further consideration, namely:

Blassingame, John W. The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South, revised edition. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979.

The article about Coggswell can be found here: http://mofolkarts.missouri.edu/docs/cogswell.pdf

The second item I found is from an old newspaper and, primarily, speaks for itself. The full source document for citation purposes can be found here: http://statehistoricalsocietyofmissouri ... r3/id/3304

An excerpt of the pertinent article:
http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/ae21 ... 501969.jpg

Again, I don't know if this will be of interest and/or use to anyone other than myself but I thought I would pass it along anyway if only to have the obligatory post under my belt. Also, if anyone has any further info about where I might find further historical references to hoodoo in Missouri, I would be particularly grateful.

Stirling

Meisterlowin · Unread post by **Meisterlowin** » Mon Jan 27, 2014 9:09 pm

I came across this artist, Renee Stout, who incorporates elements of Hoodoo within her work. She doesn't claim to be a rootworker but instead, in post-modern fashion, has developed an alter-ego conjurer-like figure that allows her to explore themes and issues within social relationships. In my opinion, pretty interesting concept.

Unread post by **DocMurphy** » Tue Jan 28, 2014 10:43 pm

Wow! This is really impressive work. Thanks for sharing this.

Doc Murphy
St. Paul, MN

Meisterlowin · Unread post by **Meisterlowin** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 10:02 pm

Good call to whomever reworked the topic title. In retrospect it was a little random.