Product Description

2005 Coalition of Visionary Resources (COVR) Winner for Best General Interest Book!

Hoodoo is an eclectic blend of African traditions, Native American herbalism, Judeo-Christian ritual, and magical healing. Tracing Hoodoo's magical roots back to West Africa, Stephanie Rose Bird provides a fascinating history of this nature-based healing tradition and gives practical advice for applying Hoodoo magic to everyday life. Learn how sticks, stones, roots, and bones - the basic ingredients in a Hoodoo mojo bag - can be used to bless the home, find a mate, invoke wealth, offer protection, and improve your health and happiness.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #189755 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

About the Author
Stephanie Rose Bird is a hereditary intuitive, contemporary rootworker, solitary green witch and visionary.  She has been involved with mysticism, symbology, spiritualism and the occult for thirty years.  Bird is inspired by her ancestors, in particular her grandmothers, one of which was a psychic and the other a spiritualist minister and herbal healer.  Her uncle, a Santeria priest, Babalawo of Shango, taught her the Ifa traditions of the Yoruba people.  Bird studies healing, magical and divination traditions of indigenous people around the world with a focus on Africa.  Her passions include keeping the ancient traditions alive and updating them so that they evolve with us, suiting our current environment and lifestyles.  She is a member of the American Folklore Soceity, the Herb Research Foundation and the Handcrafted Soap Maker's Guild.

Bird holds a BFA cum laude from Temple University and an MFA from UC San Diego, and has received multiple academic awards.  Bird was an assistant professor at the School of the Art Institute of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1986-2002.  Bird is active advising masters' and doctoral candidates, giving lectures, conducting goddess rituals, and writing for numerous publications.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1

Fixin' to Work Roots

Hoodoo began in folks' sheds, basements, and kitchens. It seems as though once it spread into the hands of merchants, the demise of this folkcraft began. The renewed interest of late in Hoodoo, rootwork, and conjuring affords a wonderful opportunity to start fresh from scratch. If you want to be a hoodoo, who else can you depend on to procure the proper ingredients, and blend them at the right time and in the right way to produce the desired results?

Time and Space Time is one of the main elements needed for rootwork. Luckily, you don't have to run out and buy it. You do, however, need to have some set aside. I can't sugarcoat this for you. Just like a good soup stock, tasty stew, or homemade pie, your herbal brews and fragrant oils will take time and skill to fix them up just right. On average you will need to invest at least an hour for the preparation of your handmade treatment. While recipes that require infusions or distillation will take longer, some treatments are instant. If you crave convenience, the latter are the recipes for you. One of the main reasons the making of Hoodoo products was relinquished to others was the rise of companies interested in marketing to African Americans. This group of companies, salesmen, and merchants saw an opportunity to profit from the folk beliefs and the lack of time folks faced for mixing their own products. Now, instead of quality products, we are sold inferior blends that often are little more than sweetly scented, colored waters and synthetic oils-a pale memory of the depth and texture the old hoodoos who were well versed in herbalism invested in their roots.

The real deal is, if you want your rootwork to take, you need to be absolutely certain that the roots, berries, beans, and herbs are authentic and that the harvest was correctly timed astrologically according to the effects desired. Many of us are unaccustomed to spending hours in the kitchen, and even less time in the garden or woods. However, if you want to be a good hoodoo, let me help you become reacquainted with the lost art of patience in pursuit of quality. Start slow; take your time, gradually build up your expertise, taste, and skill, and before you know it you'll have all the herbs and equipment needed to formulate a unique repertoire of recipes for your loved ones and yourself.

Clean, organized space is also essential. Having a work space (such as a level table or countertop) clear of clutter for your cookery is very important. Clean space will save you the agony of messy accidents or contaminating your brew after all of the love and care you've put into making it.

Equipment and Tools In this book I have tried to give ample options in the recipes with consideration for various budgets, time constraints, and geographic locations. This is designed to ease your passage into the art of rootworking as gently and painlessly as possible. Before fixin' to work up a mojo, sachet, wash, or anointing oil, however, you need certain equipment to get started.

Apron A plastic "splash-proof" apron sold by soap suppliers and chemical shops is highly recommended for protection against the caustic sodium hydroxide used during cold-processed soapmaking. Also consider putting on old clothes to use as smocks or work clothes.

Blender A blender is used for thorough mixing and liquefying.

Bottles and Jars Bottles and jars are very important pieces of equipment. I like using recycled bottles as much as possible for shampoo and conditioners. Mouthwash, liquid dish detergent, shampoo, and conditioner bottles, as well as lotion, yogurt, and baby food containers are all useful. Glass storage jars are used mainly for oil infusions and tinctures. Tinted glass ones with spring or cork tops work well.

At times you will want to make special blends as gifts or for stores. There are plenty of specialty container suppliers who carry powder dispensers, spritzers, cologne bottles, flip-top body-wash bottles, and decorative jars with screw tops for this purpose. It's nice now and again to use these decorative containers for yourself -especially the powder dispensers, since powders are essential to hoodoos. Pretty perfume bottles used for storing personal scents also add a nice touch. They can be bought new or at antique shops. There is more information in appendix B about commercial bottle suppliers.

Remember, when using recycled materials, it is very important to sterilize them first by boiling plastic containers and cleaning glass bottles with very hot, soapy water. Rinse and allow to dry before beginning. They can also be sterilized in a dishwasher if you have one.

Cauldron A cauldron doesn't have to be fancy or bought from a specialty shop; a plain, castiron Dutch oven will do. However, if you want to brew your roots in a proper cauldron, there are plenty of suppliers who carry them.

Charcoal Blocks Buy charcoal blocks in quantity, as they are the most efficient way of burning loose herbal incense. Avoid those that contain saltpeter; it is toxic when burned. (Traditionally, saltpeter was an ingredient used by hoodoos. Sadly, the type sold today is sodium nitrate, a highly combustible substance that is also harmful to the skin, eyes, and lungs.) Pure bamboo charcoals from Japan are available and make a more wholesome alternative.

Chiminea A chiminea is a portable, miniature fireplace that is generally kept on the patio. This is great for burning incense and for fire rituals if you don't have a fireplace.

Coffee Grinder A coffee grinder is a convenient way to grind tough spices and roots compared to its ancestor, the mortar...(Continues)

Customer Reviews

A Great Start...
...but perhaps not the most accurate source. I'm not a very experienced practitioner in this area (only a little bit throughout the years), but even I noted several mistakes and/or questionable interpretations, for example:

*she says in one place that Robert Johnson himself claimed that he sold his soul to the devil

* she says Scorpio, which is of course a water sign, is most closely aligned with FIRE-- and she doesn't explain the connection, if any, to any African source

* she's concerned about how the word "mojo" is used in a silly movie, but seems to have no idea of any other metaphorical and/or erroneous use of the word, nor does she give much useful information about nomenclature in response to the errors of others

* she has some discordant ingredients in some recipes (her "War Water" is very sweet-- is it for killing with kindness?)

* she ignores the European herbal tradition behind recipes such as Four Thieves Vinegar in favor of implying a deliberate connection to African heritage and deities (a "coincidental" connection to a certain African God or Goddess or an orisha would be a different type of claim...)

* finally, although she insists that rootwork doesn't require fancy expensive ingredients, she's "all the time" listing such in her recipes, and doesn't provide guidance in making substitutions... very annoying.

On the other hand, many of her recipes and ideas are quite usable, and my copy has many pages marked to designate recipes I plan to try. I bought the book because 3 different people interested in folk magic recommended it (perhaps it's relevant that none of them were African-American.) If you'd like to flavor your spiritual practices with some African-American style work, I'd recommend this book. If, like myself, you were looking for something that would give authentic practices without having to constantly struggle with old-fashioned or pedantic language of folklore books-- keep looking. Further steps might be: Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic: A Materia Magica of African-American Conjure and Mules and Men (P.S.), which I have been acquainted with for much longer.

This is not Hoodoo
After reading through Bird's second book, "Four Seasons of Mojo", and seeing how bad that one was I read through this book hoping it might be better; no such luck. This isn't real Hoodoo and any practitioner who is trained in the tradition would either be highly annoyed, or laugh themselves silly, by what is being passed off as Hoodoo.
The problems with the book start right at the beginning. Bird gives the reader the ingredients for a "Fast Luck" Mojo without explaining that "Fast Luck" isn't a generic term for luck. It is a term used in Hoodoo to describe a hand made for luck with money or love. I'll also add that the number of ingredients included don't work to strengthen the spell.
On the very next page the author gives the list of curios/ingredients for a "Stay Away From Me" mojo, but includes Senna Pods and Dragonsblood resin. Interesting, if illogical, choices considering the fact that in Hoodoo, Senna Pods and Dragonsblood resin are used to draw people to you! I didn't analyze all of her recipes, but I'm not hopeful that the book gets any better if it starts off this bad. The mistakes I found in the book are the type you might expect a novice student to make, but not those of someone who deems themselves knowledgeable enough to write a book on the topic.
SSRB reminds of Ray Malborough's Hoodoo Mysteries, and is just as full of misinformation and misdirection. If you are looking for real, authentic Hoodoo stick with Hyatt, if you can afford to collect Hyatt's work; Cat Yronwode, Jim Haskins, or even Henri Gamache. I also have a Listmania, "Hoodoo/Rootwork/Conjure and nothing but", which lists other reputable authors, but do yourself a big favor and pass on this one.

The power of Hoodoo
"Sticks, Stones, Roots, and Bones" is a fabulous insight into the workings of the magick of Hoodoo. This book guides you through the elements of War, Love, Fertility, and Prosperity as seen by the hoodooist, and offers practical information on making your own mojo's and washes.

Hoodoo, not to be confused with Vodou (also spelled Voodoo and Vodoun) is a system of magick that was birthed out of folk magick practices, especially from those of the slaves brought from Africa, but became a collection of various folk magick practices and rootwork.

I recommend this book for anyone who wishes to look into African American spirituality, Santeria, or Vodou. Just remember that she (the author) is only one opinion, and that there are various other books out there as well.