From its humble beginnings the musics known as Jazz and Blues have been marked by magic and mystery. Music legend tells of Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil at the crossroads for the ability to play like a master. Jazz great Jelly Roll Morton speaks of the hoodoo women of New Orleans in a 1941 interview. Female Legends Bessie Smith and Gertrude “Ma” Rainey also allude to hoodoo practices in their songs “Lady Luck Blues” and “Louisiana Hoodoo Blues,” respectively. There is a clear underbelly of hoodoo in the lives and consequently the music of the African-American south.

Eric Clapton called Robert Johnson “the most important blues musician who ever lived.... His music remains the most powerful cry that I think you can find in the human voice.” Now much speculation has been given as to wether or not Johnson really was attempting to commune with the devil. Among Southern root workers, or Hoodoo practitioners, there are several practices revolving around the contact of a spirit named Legba, who has his origins in west african lore. In both Hoodoo tradition and New Orleans voodoo Legba is seen as the guardian of the crossroads. Always a trickster he serves as an intermediary between the world of the living and that of the spirits. Many spells involve leaving offerings to him at the crossroads in order to open the way to success. It appears that part of the reason that this hoodoo related tale has sprung up around Mr. Johnson is that he himself lived a life of legend with many twists and turns. By many accounts he began his career as moderately decent musician who after a series of misfortunes reemerged as a musical great. The lyrics of his songs feature many veiled and unveiled references to hoodoo, mojo and related terms.

“Ma” Rainey sung of the heart of louisiana hoodoo, the root workings used for love. She proclaims “Going …Down where the hoodoo folks can fix it for you with your man.“ Southern root magic, also known as hoodoo or conjure most frequently deals with magic to regain lost love. It is rumored that even Queen Victoria herself, partook of the magics of New Orleans hoodoo. The folk religion served then, as it does now as a vehicle for female empowerment and success. In “Lawd, Sedn Me a Man Blues,” Rainey repeatedly belts out “send me a zulu, a voodoo, any old man. “ She seems to long for the magic that these time honored anacestral figures hold. When singing the blues one must pray to all who will listen. Most often these are ancestors, who can confer knowledge, luck and blessings on the living.

New Orleans knows a lot about the dead, and also the living. It has been said that the city itself is synonymous with both Jazz and the religion of voodoo. The song “Lucky Rock Blues” written by Katie Winters and Louie Austin tells of “goin to New Orleans to find that lucky rock.” Generally speaking rocks can be used as talismanic objects charged for a specific purpose, or they can be used more specifically for the deity Maman Brigitte. The loa, or goddess, Maman Brigitte is venerated as the first woman born in every cemetery. Devotees often build memeorials to her out of piles of stones. These memorials are similar to the cairns built in Ireland, which can be viewed as some level of syncretisism with the Celtic goddess Brigit. “Lucky Rock Blues” claims its’ rock can release the mind of “all this trouble.” Again Voodoo and Hoodoo are called upon as a remedy for a multitude of pains.

Rainey’s comtemporary Bessie Smith also melodically documented life in the world of southern hoodoo. Rites and remedies.
Some of the most extensive research done on early Hoodoo practices in the 1920’s and 1930’s was conducted by anthropologist and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston. Better known for her literary work, Ms. Hurston was also a playwright, a filmmaker, and a voodoo priestess initiated in several different spiritual houses. Her most powerful legacy is the folklore and anthropological research that she collected during her fieldwork throughout the southern United States. Hurston chronicled the practices of folk magicians, also known as root doctors, or two-headed men and women. The two heads were said to represent the practitioners’ ability to see into both this world and the next. These individuals crafted their own magical techniques based on both their ancestral knowledge and the natural elements they had on hand.

The above is a reprint from an earlier piece I wrote. Please enjoy and leave me a comment if you like

Lilith Dorsey