WORKING THE SPIRIT: BEYOND THE REGISTER OF SPIRITS?
I enjoy doing Facebook Lives and interacting with folx who are both interested in my courses and want to have a little fun and shoot the breeze for an hour. The last one I had this past weekend was a good time for everyone. One question I was asked was, if someone is a practitioner with a devotion to another kind of spirit or deity outside of what I am teaching, is it okay for that person to incorporate Hoodoo into their work with that “outsider” spirit?
As I said then and say now, that is a FANTASTIC question. I immediately said yes and briefly explained, but upon further reflection, there was a qualifier or two I should have mentioned. My overall answer is still yes, however!
One essential qualification is that whoever the spirit is, it is best and appropriate to ask said spirit if it is okay to mix and incorporate Hoodoo into your practice with them. I tell this not to imply that syncretism is wrong in any way, but more that if it IS a spirit you have a strong relationship with, it is best to respect that relationship by asking about significant changes you are considering. I see it sort of like when two people are married. I knew an older couple that, when the man retired, he went and spent a massive chunk of his retirement money on a monster-sized pickup truck without consulting with his wife. He caused World War 3 in his house!
For me, it’s the same with spirits. I will not do arbitrary things in my relationship with a spirit unless it is a bonafide emergency, in which case I will do what I need to do and apologize later. But for standard everyday stuff, or just because I want to change something, I feel it is the right thing to do to ask.
Another qualification, especially when considering incorporating aspects of ATR/ADR traditions, is researching and ensuring what you plan to do aligns with the energies and nature of a spirit. Many of us can be guilty of this and jump head-first into the deep end of the pool when our swim technique is not ready for that. Horror stories also abound of people mixing spirits and their energies in rituals (sometimes in the same tradition even), only to have their lives turn upside down because they did not understand a historical or mythological contraindication.
So, what I am saying for real is to be careful. Hoodoo is a great crossroads practice. You can practice Hoodoo as its own discrete tradition, adding nothing of any other in it, and you can have a complete and fulfilling career of it. But just as many people, for a very long time, have been conflating Hoodoo with, for example, their “mother” religious traditions. Even Hoodoo itself, in its historical context, did some of this. The significant presence of Jewish and Solomonic magic is but one stark example of that. Enslaved people did not start Hoodoo with that knowledge because it was not a part of their tribal culture. It was later grafted into the tradition when the two ethnic worlds encountered each other and exchanged that cultural currency.
The thing that’s great about taking a class on Hoodoo is that it gives you the think tank to not only wonder about this question but experiment and report back to your student colleagues. A vibrancy comes from the check-ins; from my perspective, the material comes alive even more as students engage and reflect and engage more. Sometimes, I weigh in, while other times, I hang back and let the students lead their own discussions and debates. This, for me, is how a person’s practice becomes unique and effective for them. It is familiar, works with their strengths, and sustains a lifetime of practice. It doesn’t get much better than that!
