The Black History in Black Magic: An Intro to Hoodoo (+ 20 Black Celebs I Think Have Practiced Magic) ❤️🖤💚

Happy Black History Month Bougie Bruja Babies!! You didn’t think I forgot did you?? I could NEVER. I know I have black followers from all over the world, so whether you’re African American, Afro-Latinx, Afro-European, Afro-Asian, Afro-Australian, or you’re straight from the mother land herself, then hoodoo is YOUR history. We can all come together to bond over the beauty that is our blackness and brujeria. So sit back, relax, grab your grimoire, and let’s put the BLACK back in BLACK magic. The History of Hoodoo: So what is a hoodoo? Many hoodoo traditions stem from the Bakongo people— a group of Bantu people— from Central Africa. However, first documentations of the word hoodoo itself derives from the Ewe word hudu meaning “spirit work,” a language that was spoken in countries like Ghana, Togo, and Benin. It’s also possible that hoodoo practices historically comes from the Winward Coast between Liberia and the Ivory Coast) and Senegambia (between Senegal and Gambia). Hoodoo is an umbrella term for African American spirituality doctrines that practice divination, spells/hexes, healing work, and building ancestor connections and conjurings. There were different names for hoodoo practitioners such as root doctors, hoodoo doctors, two heads, conjure men and women, and spirit workers, but their duties were all the same: to heal the sick, detect and hex threats, bring forth good fortune, predict the future, find lost objects, and cast an occasional love spell or two. These are brujas that can break the veil between the physical and spiritual realm through ritual. This ritual would require using environmental elements to invoke divine deities. Why wait til Halloween when we can do this whenever? Ironically, October aka “spooky season” is also now sharing its spotlight with Hoodoo as October is now also considered Hoodoo History Month. Hoodoo can further be defined as “a tradition of synthesis and hybridity.” It’s a mixture of multiple theologies, including but not limited to: Yoruba religion, Igbo religion, Christianity, Islam, Catholicism, Abrahamic religions, trace Native-Indigenous religions, and European Paganism. And along with hoodoo there’s root-work. Root work, which can also be defined as conjuring, is the act of summoning the dead or divine spirits by using herbs and other organic material found in nature. Root work just a reminder to get back in touch with your root chakras (your ancestors, your family, your culture, etc.). Hoodoo ideals were brought over from West Africa during the Atlantic slave trade, and spread across the African diaspora and western countries. These included countries such as Cuba, Haiti, Barbados, St. Lucia, The Dominican Republic, The United Stares, and the continent of Europe. Hoodoo is historically important because not only was it a way to stay connected to African roots, but people also practiced it as a form of protection via potions and poisons from evil spirits (and evil enslavers). It’s a symbol of resistance, a sign of resilience, a way to stay connected to one’s roots, but it was also revenge. It was one way the slaves sought to end their suffering. Our ancestors were forced into a world that was not our own, and hoodoo was a way to create space and make it ours. There are a plethora of stories of slaves using magic for revolution including: the 1712 slave revolt in colonial New York where a witch doctor by the name of Peter gave the Akan people of Ghana magical powder possibly made of cemetery dirt to provide support and protection from the ancestors. Meanwhile, slaves in Alabama would cover their feet and clothes with dirt from the graveyard to prevent slave catchers dogs from finding them. This is what they called “conjuring confusion.” Furthermore, Black sailors in the 1830s carried mojo bags and talismans as good luck charms for safe travel. There’s more stories of a black witch doctor from Georgia by the name of Uncle Charles Hall who provided slaves with charms of protection, and perfected the art of anointing roots and using them for protection (which we’ll read about a little later with Fredrick Douglass). There was even a slave by the name of Old Julie who was successful at conjuring death of colonist, they tried to sell her. But she didn’t want to leave so she they didn’t make her leave— that’s how strong her magic was. There’s even more history of hoodoo post-emancipation with practitioners in the Jim Crow era and black panther party. I can keep going on forever, but fact of the matter is— hoodoo is OUR history. It’s BLACK history. However, hoodoo is not as openly acknowledged, accepted, and practiced as it could by African American. This could be due to the colonization of African Americans by Christian doctrine, and the demonization then loss of their own cultures. Hoodoo was either practiced in secret during slavery, or completely erased from a lineages existence in fear of being caught, captured and punished, or worse, killed. Colonizers tried to convince slaves that anything they previously practiced was simply superstition or sinister. Regardless of the punishment, a rich culture of hoodoo was still practiced in the Souther region of the americas, particularly in states such as Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, and New Orleans. As a matter of fact, we can see a heavy hoodoo influence in New Orleans in the movie The Princess And The Frog. It’s magic that turns Tiana into a frog, and the most powerful magic of all (love) that turns her back human. Hoodoo was furthermore deemed as “black magic” as a way to demonize black people. The point was to associate darkness with the Devil, and African-American alchemy to evil. This was means to control melanated people and what we practiced (because it’s okay when a white man named Christ does, but God forbid we do it!). Anyway, magic is more than just black or white, darkness or light. Yes there are positive energies and negative energies you can work with, magically speaking, but equating these bad characteristics to Black people and their root work is

Raising Your Vibrations with Venus: How to get an Aphrodite Aura by Valentines Day (+ 14 Affirmations from Aphrodite) 💄💋🪞🍓💗

So Sabrina, I see you’re back for lesson 2 in the School of Life Series! Good job! I’m so proud of you for your commitment to the class 👏🏽 I promise the lessons won’t be THAT hard. And when all is said and done, you’ll get to graduate! So just study up. And I know, I know— it’s A LOT of reading. But Iin order to be the best bruja you can be, you gotta pick up the books. So are you ready? Class is now in session! This lesson is on the Goddess Aphrodite (aka Venus) and on the planet Venus. You’ll be learning how to raise your vibrations so you can feel like Venus on Valentines Day. When all is said and done, you’ll be able to carry yourself with the same aura as Aphrodite (aka Venus). We’ll leave you off with a few affirmations from the Goddess Aphrodite herself. Before we dive into Venus, let’s revisit the recent discussions on frequencies. If you’re not yet familiar with the basics of frequencies, check out the last two articles on it: https://www.bougiebrujas.com/2024/01/06/the-school-of-life-lesson-1-how-to-start-the-year-off-in-mercury-retrograde-shadow-period-4-ways-to-manifest-with-music/ and https://www.bougiebrujas.com/2023/12/12/the-magic-in-making-meals-3-ways-to-conjure-with-cooking/ They provide insights into why frequencies matter and how to elevate them, particularly concerning the planet we’re focusing on. In our previous sessions, we explored Mercury, enhancing communication skills, and using music for manifestation. Today, the spotlight is on Venus, aligning with the upcoming Valentine’s Day. The planet of love is definitely weighing heavy on peoples minds. We’re going to learn a bit about the planet Venus, the story behind the Goddess Aphrodite (also known as Venus), and learn how to raise your vibrations by working with Venus (both Venus the planet and Venus the goddess). By the time you’re done, you’ll have all the tips and tricks to get that Aphrodite glow! You’ll have her aura, and you’ll even receive a few of her affirmations. And if you work with her well enough, she may even make some of your manifestations come true too! What is Venus?  I LOVE Venus. This pearly white planet is the second closest planet to the sun. It’s called the “twin planet” to earth because they’re the same size— but they must be fraternal twins because the two are nothing alike. Their frequencies and energies are SO different! The frequency of Venus is 221.23 Hz, the HIGHEST vibrating planet out of all of them. Venus literally operates on love and optimism. And earth, the planet following Venus in numerological order, has the second lowest frequency of all planets. Let’s just say—  earthlings can learn a lot from Venusians. The energy of Venus literally radiates love, and everyone on earth can use a little more of it. So make sure you listen up!! Music is the quickest way to the soul in my opinion. It goes right into our ears and pierces our hearts and minds. Even if you can’t hear it, it still finds a way to speak to you. You can feel the beat touching you. That’s bass. Energy. Frequency. That said, Venus is in the key of A. If you need a fast way to boost your frequency, I highly recommend you listen to some songs in that key. If you’re feeling low, this may raise your vibrations. Some of my favorite songs in the key of A are:  ~ I Want It That Way x Backstreet Boys  ~ Someone Like You x Adele ~ September x Earth, Wind, & Fire  ~ My Immortal x Evanescence ~ Take On Me x Aha ~ Bad x Michael Jackson ~ Pompeii x Bastille ~ Dancing Queen x ABBA ~ Girl On Fire x Alicia Keys ~ Magic x Coldplay ~ Halo x Beyonce I will ALWAYS advocate this as the first way to raise your frequency. Frequency is quite literally music and vice versa. Despite our biology, music can quite literally go into our brains and change our chemistry. If you can change the brain, you can change the body. That’s the elements, and that’s alchemy. We’re literally made of magic and music are spells. In order to get on the same vibration as Venus, we want to listen to “feel good” music. And now that we know a bit about Venus (the planet), I’m going to teach you a bit about Venus (the goddess). You’ll then learn how to have the same aura as Aphrodite, how to affirm like her, and how to harness your magic like her to manifest.  Who is Aphrodite? Aphrodite is an Ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, power, and procreation. Her Roman goddess counterpart, Venus, used interchangeably with the planet, represents desire, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victory. Outside of her Greek and Roman epithets, Aphrodite had many evolutions, including but not limited to: Astarte, the Phoenician love goddess (in what’s now modern say Syria); Isis, her Egyptian counterpart; and Inanna, her Mesopotamian equivalent.  Aphrodite has two origin stories. The first one suggest that she’s the daughter of Zeus, and the other suggest that she was born of seafoam from the remains of Uranus. Plato asserts that there is a distinction between the two stories; Aphrodite as a goddess (by the name of Aphrodite Urania) and Aphrodite as a human (by the name of Aphrodite Pandemos). Regardless of who her parents were, she was believed to have been born in Cyprus.  In Greek Mythology, Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus, the god of fire, blacksmiths, and metalworking. It’s believed that she was so beautiful, the Gods would fight for her hand in marriage. Zeus thought he settled the matters by marrying Aphrodite off to Hephaestus; however, Aphrodite didn’t love him, and she went on to have many other consorts, one of which included Hephaestus’ brother, Ares— God of war. They produced many children together including Eros, Phobos, Deimos, Harmonia, Anteros,  Adrestia, and possibly Pothos and Himerod.  And if you know the stories of Aphrodite, then you must be wondering how the Goddess of Love could be filled with so much jealousy… so