What do you think?
Rate this book
Hoodoo, Conjuration, Witchcraft, and Rootwork, Volumes 1-5
Classical anthropology study of African American beliefs.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1974
18 people are currently reading
697 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 4, 2014
This is truly an informative, insightful book. Anyone interested in African American history, magic, culture, and hoodoo would truly benefit from this collection.
I currently am in the process of reading volumes 1 & 2, and both books have really improved my understanding of hoodoo in history, theory, and practice.
For those wondering, this book is not simply a list or collection of spells. Hyatt did a wonderful job of preserving various Southern dialects, which to some may be considered 'slang' or improper spelling, but to those of who are aware of various African American linguistics, it's a snapshot of the past.
The interviews provided in both books I am reading really shows the difference between hoodoo practiced decades ago and hoodoo practiced now. The use of personal concerns (chamber lye, hair, nails, ect.), the use of floor washes to draw business, and crossings are all described in individual spells.
If you are African American and interested in the history and culture of your people or just simply hungry for traditional books on hoodoo, then these volumes are worth your time to either hunt down in PDF format or splurge for online.
I currently am in the process of reading volumes 1 & 2, and both books have really improved my understanding of hoodoo in history, theory, and practice.
For those wondering, this book is not simply a list or collection of spells. Hyatt did a wonderful job of preserving various Southern dialects, which to some may be considered 'slang' or improper spelling, but to those of who are aware of various African American linguistics, it's a snapshot of the past.
The interviews provided in both books I am reading really shows the difference between hoodoo practiced decades ago and hoodoo practiced now. The use of personal concerns (chamber lye, hair, nails, ect.), the use of floor washes to draw business, and crossings are all described in individual spells.
If you are African American and interested in the history and culture of your people or just simply hungry for traditional books on hoodoo, then these volumes are worth your time to either hunt down in PDF format or splurge for online.
September 21, 2016
Feel free the skip the nostalgia and go straight to the review below...
As a kid I had a fascination with folklore, superstitions and ghost tales. To some extent it's still true, but I was a kid when I first heard of Hyatt's work.
Hyatt's extensive book "Folk-lore from Adams County, Illinois" is listed in the bibliography of Alvin Schwartz collection of superstitions for young readers "Cross Your Fingers, Spit In Your Hat," I still have my old copy. In the bibliography of that book Schwartz noted that the 1965, 2nd Edition of Hyatt's book has "16,537 entries, the largest single compilation of folk beliefs relating to the United States."
(In 1974 when Schwartz's book was published Hyatt's book still was the largest. Then in 1981 a collection with 36,209 beliefs was published by Wayland D. Hand, "Popular Beliefs and Superstitions, A Compendium of American Folklore." I bought that one many years later...but I digress...)
Well you can imagine my excitement. This was the early 90's, few people had the internet at that point, and I lived in a small town with one tiny bookstore. But somehow I located a copy and somehow I convinced my mother that "Folk-lore from Adams County, Illinois" was what I needed for Christmas. Every boy needs one, right? I still have it.
I didn't discover that Hyatt also published this massive 5-volume set until I was in my 30's. I was excited until I discovered they cost around $400-1,000 each! Cough! I managed to peruse the first four volumes by requesting them through an Inter-Library Loan some years ago. (Now there's places you can download them.)
Enough nostalgia...
These aren't books I would recommend to the average reader unless they have an obsessive, deep interest in the topic. If you have an interest in literal hoodoo there's cheaper and more readily available options. This is for people who want to dig deep into the history, and in particular the folklore of African-Americans in the American South in the 1930's.
These books are collections of transcribed interviews and oral accounts from 1,600 informants Hyatt interviewed across the American South in the 1930's. The first two volumes were published together in the 1970's, the last three were published later.
The first volume is the most approachable. It goes through a series of beliefs in a more succinct fashion whereas the latter volumes are primarily long-form interviews. Volume one covers topics such as: Ghostlore, Spirits with Special Forms, Sell Self to the Devil, Graveyard Dirt, Folk Medicine and the infamous Black Cat Bone.
Volume two is primarily a series of rather meandering interviews, but they're fascinating to read and full of stories of witchcraft and spells. Volume three has more interviews for about half of it's length, then covers topics such as sexual impotence, and spells using blood, urine, excrement, sweat, etc. Volume four covers spells using hair, fingernails and folk medicine. It also covers how to help a murderer escape, or how trap one. It has a large section on graveyard spells and even using hoodoo to win court cases. The final volume is a bit of a miscellaneous, covering spells using salt, nails, pins, frogs and various other things. It ends with a series of interviews Hyatt conducted in Florida in 1970.
Here's a sample of what you can expect from the interviews. Typically Hyatt's questions are in parenthesis, but I've put in Q&A to simplify. From Volume 2, page 937. They're discussing whether witches and the belief that witches can "ride" a person in their sleep:
A: Well, did [do] you believe in there [is] sich a thing as a witch?
Q: Well, I don't know.
A: Well, there is sich a thing as a witch .
Q: There're the things that ride you, aren't they?
A: Yes sir.
Q: How do you keep them from riding you?
A: Well, you kin take a pair of scissors an' put underneath your head or you kin take a new piece of lumber an' put it underneath your head [the latter being unusual].
Q: What are these witches?
A: Well, I'll tell you. A witch is a person that has sold herself to the devil...
Hyatt was a good interviewer, he tried to get at precisely what the interviewee was meaning. For example, from Volume 4, page 3,326 under the heading "Head of grave - Dirt from near tombstone of person who lived evil and wretched life. This dirt near house causes disturbance":
A: Well, dey takes a tombstone, from mah undahstandin', from a person dat dey knows is very evil an' lived a wretched life. Jis' lak if ah wanted tuh have disturbance in de home or anythin', well , ah take dat from dere an' ah put it anywhere aroun' yore house.
Q: What do you take, the whole tombstone?
A: Take de whole tomb stone - de dirt on it.
Q: Oh the dirt on it?
A: Yes, an' put it anywhere roun' yore house an' dat. Yo' ain't goin' tuh live in dat house. Yo' undahstan'?
Q: How do you get that dirt off this tombstone, how do you get it?
A: Dig it.
Q: Oh, you dig it near the tombstone?
A: Yes, sir.
As you can see it's written in dialect. I like this a lot, it reflects the time and subject matter.
If you're wondering why these are so hard to find, at the start of volume 3 we read:
"Volumes One and Two are Boxed Together and Sold As a Set. During 1971-1973 American University Bookstore, Washington, D.C., Distributed 300 Sets; the Author Another 300 Sets Outside of the United States. Of Three Sets 500 Are Now in the Libraries of the World; 100 in Private Hands."
Hyatt intended to publish an index for this collection, and it certainly would be valuable to have but he died before it could be completed.
Other classic volumes that may be of interest:
Puckett, Newbell Niles - Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro
Hurston, Zora Neale - Tell My Horse
Tallant, Robert - Gumbo Ya-Ya
As a kid I had a fascination with folklore, superstitions and ghost tales. To some extent it's still true, but I was a kid when I first heard of Hyatt's work.
Hyatt's extensive book "Folk-lore from Adams County, Illinois" is listed in the bibliography of Alvin Schwartz collection of superstitions for young readers "Cross Your Fingers, Spit In Your Hat," I still have my old copy. In the bibliography of that book Schwartz noted that the 1965, 2nd Edition of Hyatt's book has "16,537 entries, the largest single compilation of folk beliefs relating to the United States."
(In 1974 when Schwartz's book was published Hyatt's book still was the largest. Then in 1981 a collection with 36,209 beliefs was published by Wayland D. Hand, "Popular Beliefs and Superstitions, A Compendium of American Folklore." I bought that one many years later...but I digress...)
Well you can imagine my excitement. This was the early 90's, few people had the internet at that point, and I lived in a small town with one tiny bookstore. But somehow I located a copy and somehow I convinced my mother that "Folk-lore from Adams County, Illinois" was what I needed for Christmas. Every boy needs one, right? I still have it.
I didn't discover that Hyatt also published this massive 5-volume set until I was in my 30's. I was excited until I discovered they cost around $400-1,000 each! Cough! I managed to peruse the first four volumes by requesting them through an Inter-Library Loan some years ago. (Now there's places you can download them.)
Enough nostalgia...
These aren't books I would recommend to the average reader unless they have an obsessive, deep interest in the topic. If you have an interest in literal hoodoo there's cheaper and more readily available options. This is for people who want to dig deep into the history, and in particular the folklore of African-Americans in the American South in the 1930's.
These books are collections of transcribed interviews and oral accounts from 1,600 informants Hyatt interviewed across the American South in the 1930's. The first two volumes were published together in the 1970's, the last three were published later.
The first volume is the most approachable. It goes through a series of beliefs in a more succinct fashion whereas the latter volumes are primarily long-form interviews. Volume one covers topics such as: Ghostlore, Spirits with Special Forms, Sell Self to the Devil, Graveyard Dirt, Folk Medicine and the infamous Black Cat Bone.
Volume two is primarily a series of rather meandering interviews, but they're fascinating to read and full of stories of witchcraft and spells. Volume three has more interviews for about half of it's length, then covers topics such as sexual impotence, and spells using blood, urine, excrement, sweat, etc. Volume four covers spells using hair, fingernails and folk medicine. It also covers how to help a murderer escape, or how trap one. It has a large section on graveyard spells and even using hoodoo to win court cases. The final volume is a bit of a miscellaneous, covering spells using salt, nails, pins, frogs and various other things. It ends with a series of interviews Hyatt conducted in Florida in 1970.
Here's a sample of what you can expect from the interviews. Typically Hyatt's questions are in parenthesis, but I've put in Q&A to simplify. From Volume 2, page 937. They're discussing whether witches and the belief that witches can "ride" a person in their sleep:
A: Well, did [do] you believe in there [is] sich a thing as a witch?
Q: Well, I don't know.
A: Well, there is sich a thing as a witch .
Q: There're the things that ride you, aren't they?
A: Yes sir.
Q: How do you keep them from riding you?
A: Well, you kin take a pair of scissors an' put underneath your head or you kin take a new piece of lumber an' put it underneath your head [the latter being unusual].
Q: What are these witches?
A: Well, I'll tell you. A witch is a person that has sold herself to the devil...
Hyatt was a good interviewer, he tried to get at precisely what the interviewee was meaning. For example, from Volume 4, page 3,326 under the heading "Head of grave - Dirt from near tombstone of person who lived evil and wretched life. This dirt near house causes disturbance":
A: Well, dey takes a tombstone, from mah undahstandin', from a person dat dey knows is very evil an' lived a wretched life. Jis' lak if ah wanted tuh have disturbance in de home or anythin', well , ah take dat from dere an' ah put it anywhere aroun' yore house.
Q: What do you take, the whole tombstone?
A: Take de whole tomb stone - de dirt on it.
Q: Oh the dirt on it?
A: Yes, an' put it anywhere roun' yore house an' dat. Yo' ain't goin' tuh live in dat house. Yo' undahstan'?
Q: How do you get that dirt off this tombstone, how do you get it?
A: Dig it.
Q: Oh, you dig it near the tombstone?
A: Yes, sir.
As you can see it's written in dialect. I like this a lot, it reflects the time and subject matter.
If you're wondering why these are so hard to find, at the start of volume 3 we read:
"Volumes One and Two are Boxed Together and Sold As a Set. During 1971-1973 American University Bookstore, Washington, D.C., Distributed 300 Sets; the Author Another 300 Sets Outside of the United States. Of Three Sets 500 Are Now in the Libraries of the World; 100 in Private Hands."
Hyatt intended to publish an index for this collection, and it certainly would be valuable to have but he died before it could be completed.
Other classic volumes that may be of interest:
Puckett, Newbell Niles - Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro
Hurston, Zora Neale - Tell My Horse
Tallant, Robert - Gumbo Ya-Ya
Read
January 18, 2023dipped in nd out of this over the years
June 14, 2022
A work of art
November 24, 2021
Amazing decades long academic study of Hoodoo, Voodoo and Folk Magic, with much focus on the Geechee and Gulla Root Workers between The Low Country of South Carolina and the Lower Cape Fear of North Carolina, as well as the Voodoo workers of the Gulf Coast and Mississippi River waters. Highly sought and very scarce, this set is now available for free download from The Internet Archive.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews