You Are the Spell
I like to tell my clients that “intention is nine-tenths of the game”. To put it simply, you don’t need the fanciest supplies from some state-of-the-art botanica or herbal supply to manifest the things you’re trying to get. All that matters is that you feel it in your heart.
When enslaved Africans were brought to the Americas, they were forced to leave their traditions behind and assimilate into the religions that dominated their locales. For many, this meant masking traditional practices under the covert guise of Christianity. Some adopted the ways of various Native American tribes. This is why West African Ifa and Catholicism have certain correlations among the Orisha and the Lwa, and also why the Black Masking Mardi Gras Indians are such a large spectacle in New Orleans. But more to the former, there have been written accounts of runaway slaves who carried mojo hands in order to remain undiscovered by slave handlers and their dogs (Read Zora Neale Hurston’s ‘Mules and Men’ for more information).
In Hoodoo (I do use ‘hoodoo’ and ‘conjure’ interchangeably quite a lot, so be advised), mojo hands have had historical use as personal protective talismans. Also known as mojo bags or gris-gris, they are typically made from cloth and filled with roots and other objects associated with the practitioner’s goal in mind. They are then carried discreetly in a spot close to the skin, for as long as is necessary. They are “fed” with things like powder, oil, liquor, and smoke.
Things one might add to a mojo bag:
High John the Conqueror root
Loose change
The bones of a specific animal
Locks of hair
Cornmeal
Stones
Graveyard dirt
When such things couldn’t be accessed—as was often the case when one is enslaved with few belongings of their own—it would suffice to use whatever the land offered. This is also why conjure has so many unique regional variations. The flora and fauna of Illinois are different from those of Louisiana, or Mississippi, or Benin, or Haiti. Additionally, the grand majority of slaves were prohibited from learning to read and write, so petitions were difficult to come by. What matters is that you do your research, give your best effort with what you have, and the spirits will always understand. Imagine buying all your colored candles and eleke beads in bulk and having no idea what they’re for. That’d be a real tragedy.
Many of our ancestors have already committed much of the spellbook to memory. Which spellbook, you might ask? The King James Bible. And not just the book of Psalms, as you may have heard—ALL of it. If it’s not your cup of tea, that’s fine… although it would be a waste of a perfectly sound resource, regardless of your personal affiliation with Christianity. Learn to speak with your soul and words will hardly be necessary.
Without feeling, it’s all just ‘stuff’.
