Que Dieu vous bénisse

Joe . 27 . he/it/il. This is a sideblog of @cajunfr34k!

I’m a born and raised Cajun. After many years of paganism, I’ve decided to reclaim my heritage and practice folk magic/medicine based on Cajun history and culture.

My practice involves folk magic based on Cajun tradition and Catholicism. My patron Saint is Saint Michael, and he is very prominent in my practice.

While I do not consider myself someone who is totally reconnecting to my Cajun ancestors and heritage as I was born and raised in the culture growing up, I am constantly learning more and more about older and more traditional folk traditions that have faded due to the americanization of the Cajun people. It’s my love for my culture that I wish to preserve and carry with me until I’m burned to ash.

I am still learning my way around decades old traditions lost to time, and I’m very flexible in my practice and willing to share what I learn. Join me on my journey!

I am antifascist as Christ wants me to be, and it's simply the right thing to be. There will be no debating any human rights on this blog or any others.

As I'm unlearning a lot of racism within the witchcraft and pagan community, as well as the within Cajun identity itself, I'm going to be sharing resources I come across to hopefully help others on their way. These will be below the cut.

Some things, of course, rely on the traditional way of doing things (such as me looking to Le Petite et Le Grand Albert for the foundations of French magic), at least to me, there are some things that do not have clear historical precedent. As I've been detangling Hoodoo practices from Cajun folk magic, I've come to realize that whatever French-Canadian influence in practice was erased entirely, if there were any. Colonizing Hoodoo in Southern Louisiana to rebrand it as "Cajun witchcraft" with the modern understanding that Cajun is only a label for white people was a conscious decision, and one with which I don't wish to associate.

As a result, I've begun making up my own rules and practices associated with the swamps, bayous, and their creatures. Based on my impressions growing up, what I was taught about them by family, and generally how I was raised around these creatures. I don't believe I'll ever really reveal these associations, at the very least not digitally, because some things are just meant to be private.

When I was doing my research on Gaul beliefs, I came across the term "animism." I had a vague idea of what it meant, but never really realized exactly what it entailed. This, along with my ancestor research, is what made me realize I'm more than just an individual soul.

We are all connected. I am connected to the trees, the animals, the wind, the weather, the clouds. I am connected to everyone. I am a cultivation of several souls. I am everything and nothing. I am the wind, I am my neighbor, I am the puddle on the ground after the afternoon rain, I am the feeling I get when I listen to music, I am everyone's struggles and hopes and dreams. I am everything and nothing, and I feel this deep within my soul.