West African influence on the Americas
Another African origin in Hoodoo is the mojo bag. The mojo bag in Hoodoo has West and Central African origins. The word mojo comes from the West African word mojuba. Mojo bags are called gris-gris bag, toby, conjure bag, and mojo hand. Another West African influence in Hoodoo is Islam. As a result of the transatlantic slave trade, some West African Muslims that practiced Islam were enslaved in the United States. Prior to their arrival to the American South, West African Muslims blended Islamic beliefs with traditional West African spiritual practices. On plantations in the American South enslaved West African Muslims kept some of their traditional Islamic culture. They practiced the Islamic prayers, wore turbans, and the men wore the traditional wide leg pants. Some enslaved West African Muslims practiced Hoodoo. Instead of using Christian prayers in the creation of charms, Islamic prayers were used.
Enslaved African Muslim conjure doctors' Islamic attire was different from the other slaves, which made them easy to identify and ask for conjure services regarding protection from slaveholders.[91][92] The Mandigo (Mandinka) were the first Muslim ethnic group imported from Sierra Leone in West Africa to the Americas. Mandingo people were known for their powerful conjure bags called gris-gris (later called mojo bags in the United States). Some of the Mandingo people were able to carry their gris-gris bags with them when they boarded slave ships heading to the Americas bringing the practice to the United States. Enslaved people went to enslaved black Muslims for conjure services requesting them to make gris-gris bags (mojo bags) for protection against slavery.
The West African Yoruba origins are evident in Hoodoo. For example, the Yoruba trickster deity called Eshu-Elegba resides at the crossroads, and the Yoruba people leave offerings for Eshu-Elegba at the crossroads. The crossroads has spiritual power in Hoodoo, and rituals are performed at the crossroads, and there is a spirit that resides at the crossroads to leave offerings for. However, the spirit that resides at the crossroads in Hoodoo is not named Eshu-Elegba because many of the African names of deities were lost during slavery; but the belief that a spirit resides at the crossroads and one should provide offerings to it originates from West Africa. The Yoruba crossroad spirit Eshu-Elegba became the man of the crossroads in Hoodoo. Folklorist Newbell Niles Puckett, recorded a number of crossroads rituals in Hoodoo practiced among African-Americans in the South and explained its meaning. Puckett wrote..."Possibly this custom of sacrificing at the crossroads is due to the idea that spirits, like men, travel the highways and would be more likely to hit upon the offering at the crossroads than elsewhere." In addition to leaving offerings and performing rituals at the crossroads, sometimes spiritual work or "spells" are left at the crossroads to remove unwanted energies.
In Annapolis, Maryland, archeologists uncovered evidence for West African and Central African practices. A Hoodoo spiritual bundle that contained nails, a stone axe and other items was found embedded four feet in the streets of Maryland near the capital. The axe inside the Hoodoo bundle showed a cultural link to the Yoruba people's deity Shango. Shango was (and is) a feared Orisha in Yorubaland, because he is associated with lightning and thunder, and this fear and respect towards thunder and lightning survived in African American communities. Folklorist Puckett wrote..."and thunder denotes an angry creator." Puckett recorded a number of beliefs surrounding the fear and respect for thunder and lightning in the African American community. In Hoodoo objects struck by lightning hold great power. However, the name Shango and other African deity names were lost during slavery. Therefore, the name Shango does not exist in Hoodoo, but just the name the Thunder God. Enslaved and free Africans in New York were known among the whites in the area to take an oath to thunder and lightning. During the 1741 slave conspiracy in New York, African American men took an oath to thunder and lightning.
Other Yoruba influences in Hoodoo is the use of iron. Horseshoes are made from iron a metal. In West Africa, blacksmiths are respected because they are connected to the spirit of metal (iron). Among the Yoruba, the Orisha spirit Ogun corresponds to iron, and Ogun is called the "god of iron." West African people enslaved in the United States kept the respect for enslaved blacksmiths on the plantation, and recognition for iron. Horseshoes are made from metal and are used for protection in Hoodoo.
In Maryland archeologists unearthed at the Wye House artifacts that linked to the Yoruba people's spiritual belief and practice in the reverence of Ogun, which is why African-Americans incorporate horseshoes and metal tools in Hoodoo because there is a spirit that corresponds to metal that can be invoked for protection from physical and spiritual harm. Yoruba cultural influences survived in Hoodoo, but the names and symbols of Orisha spirits are not present in Hoodoo because that information was lost during slavery; therefore just the natural elements that corresponds to each Orisha remain.
In addition, at the Kingsmill Plantation in Williamsburg, Virginia, enslaved blacksmiths created spoons that historians suggest have West African symbols carved onto them that have a spiritual cosmological meaning. In Alexandria, Virginia historians found in a slave cabin a wrought-iron figure made by an enslaved blacksmith in the eighteenth century which looked similar to Ogun statues made by blacksmiths in West Africa by the Edo, Fon, Mande and Yoruba people. West African blacksmiths enslaved in the United States were highly respected and feared by enslaved blacks because they had the ability to forge weapons.
Gabriel Prosser was an African American enslaved in Richmond, Virginia and was a blacksmith. In 1800, Gabriel Prosser planned a slave revolt in Virginia. Historians assert that Prosser became the leader of the planned rebellion because he was a blacksmith, and enslaved people respected and feared blacksmiths because of their ability to forge weapons and their connection to the spirit of iron. Prosser and other enslaved blacksmiths made weapons for the rebellion, but the revolt never happened because two slaves informed the authorities.
Hoodoo also has Vodun origins. For example, a primary ingredient used in goofer dust is snakeskins. Snakes (serpents) are revered in West African spiritual practices, because they represent divinity. The West African Vodun water spirit Mami Wata holds a snake in one hand. This reverence for snakes came to the United States during the slave trade, and in Hoodoo snakeskins are used in the preparation of conjure powders Puckett explained that the origin of snake reverence in Hoodoo originates from snake (serpent) honoring in West Africa's Vodun tradition. It was documented from a former slave in Missouri that conjurers took dried snakes and frogs and ground them into powders to "Hoodoo people." A conjurer made a powder from a dried snake and a frog and put it in a jar and buried it under the steps of the target's house to "Hoodoo the person." When the targeted individual walked over the jar they had pain in their legs. Snakes in Hoodoo are used for healing, protection, and to curse people. Water spirits, called Simbi, are also revered in Hoodoo which comes from West African and Central African spiritual practices. When Africans were brought to the United States to be enslaved, they blended African spiritual beliefs with Christian baptismal practices. Enslaved Africans prayed to the spirit of the water and not to the Christian God when they baptized church members. Some African Americans prayed to Simbi water spirits during their baptismal services.
The West African Igbo origins are also evident in Hoodoo. Ambrose Madison, a prominent planter in colonial Virginia and grandfather of U.S. President James Madison, died at his plantation (Mount Pleasant, later renamed Montpelier) as a result of an unknown illness. According to research from historian Douglass Chambers, it was believed by Ambrose Madison's family that he was poisoned by three of his Igbo slaves. The evidence that Igbo slaves poisoned Madison is limited; however, the book does offer some information about Igbo people in Virginia. According to academic research, the majority of West Africans imported to Virginia during the slave trade were Igbo.
The Igbo people's spiritual practice is called Odinani that was brought to the United States during the transatlantic slave trade. Igbo people had their own herbal knowledge and spiritual practices that shaped Hoodoo in the United States. Communication with ancestors is an important practice in Hoodoo that originated from West and Central Africa. The Igbo people believe family members can reincarnate back into the family line. To ensure this process proper burial ceremonies are performed. Igbo people and other ethnic groups in West Africa have two burials for their family members one physical and one spiritual. Burial ceremonies of African Americans was influenced by the culture of Igbo people's belief in the care and respect for the dead and ancestors. If family members were not given a proper burial the soul suffered in the afterlife. African Americans in Virginia practiced the two burial ceremonies of their dead that was influenced by the Igbo people. The first burial is physical which is placing the body in the grave, and the second burial is spiritual which involves celebrating the person's life before they died and mourning the loss. These practices ensured relatives would return to the ancestral realm or reincarnate back into the family.
Hoodoo practices also include how African Americans bury their dead. The pouring of libations over an ancestor or recently deceased family member's grave is a way to honor and elevate their spirit. This practice is done in Virginia and other African American communities in the United States which originated from West Africa. Other spiritual practices of African Americans in Virginia can be traced to the Igbo people. The conjure (Hoodoo) practices of African rootworkers in Virginia was documented in slave narratives. For example, some African conjure doctors used conjure canes to contact spirits. The conjure cane documented in Virginia had a snake wrapped around it. African rootworkers and Igbo woodcrafters in Virginia carved snakes onto their canes.
Some African Americans in Virginia are descendants of Igbo people, and their conjure practices are similar. For example, pythons (snakes) are revered among the Igbo because they are messengers of God and represent divinity. This snake reverence among Igbo people was brought to Virginia during the transatlantic slave trade. Other conjure practices traced to the Igbo people is the practice of burying jars and other items to cause misfortune on people. All the person had to do was to walk over it and the magic caused a negative effect in their life. This practice of hiding spiritual items to cause misfortune was found in other parts of Africa.
