#starr casas

So, with the disclaimer that I'm currently reading through two very long books that have definitely been taking a while, I did manage to finish 6 books off this month. And set aside quite a few that I couldn't get past the first twenty pages on, but that's neither here nor there. We did hit a total of 1101 pages though!

1/10 - Why Did They Publish This?

None applicable.

2/10 - Trash

None applicable.

3/10 - Meh

None applicable.

4 to 6/10 - Mid-Tier

None applicable.

7 to 8/10 - Good With Caveats

Hero Factory Secret Mission 3: Collision Course | Greg Farshtey [Juvenile] Hero Factory Secret Mission 4: Robot Rampage | Greg Farshtey [Juvenile] Hero Factory Secret Mission 5: Mirror World | Greg Farshtey [Juvenile]

Putting all three of these together because these are the last three books of the Hero Factory Secret Mission series. I am chewing on drywall because they were working from where the cartoon series ended (episode 10, don't talk to me about episode 11) but they didn't close anything and in fact introduced MORE plot points that never finished up. I'm going insane. But on the bright side, Bulk got more of the respect he deserves.

Queer Mythoogy: Epic Legends From Around The World | Guido A Sanchez, James Fenner [Juvenile]

While this book was overall great and very much meant for a juvenile audience (aided by the fact that the author, Guido A Sanchez, is a middle school teacher), my primary complaint is repetition. While there are many myths from various areas, we return to Greek-Roman mythology six times.

While the goddess Athena does appear, she appears in the context of female lovers, leaving this book rather lacking in aromantic or asexual representation. I am not redacting any points for that, however, as I find the overall myths chosen to be written as wonderful examples of gay, lesbian, and bisexual/pansexual love and a multitude of transgender and nonbinary figures featured.

This book is overall quite short at 112 pages, with each myth taking around 5 pages plus a full-page art piece each. Overall, I cannot recommend it enough for the juvenile demographic or someone returning to reading mythology and wanting something lighthearted. While violence and death do feature in several stories, ultimately the figures do reach some form of happily-ever-after.

And that, more than anything else, is important to me.

9/10 - Very Very Good

Destroy All Humans. They Can’t Be Regenerated, volume 5 | Katsura Ise, Takuma Yokota

We love to see a romance subplot that turns into epic card duels. At least all of these idiots are willing to talk about their crushes and the information eventually gets back to who it needs to. Looking forward to the next book!

Llewellyn’s Complete Book Of North American Folk Magic: A Landscape Of Magic, Mystery, And Tradition | Cory Thomas Hutcheson, Brandon Weston, Melissa A Ivanco-Murray, Starr Casas, Stephanie Rose Bird, H Byron Ballard, Benebell Wen, Jake Richards, Alexander Cummins, Lilith Dorsey, Sandra Santiago, Robert L Schreiwer, Via Hedera, Kenya T Coviak, Ixtoii Paloma Cervantes, Robert Phoenix, Eliseo "Cheo" Torres, Morrigane Feu, E F E Lacharity, J Allen Cross, Morgan Daimler, Dee Norman, Aaron Oberon, Mario Del Angel-Guevara

So with the disclaimer that it's cringe that H Byron Ballard is a loud and proud TERF now, I do genuinely recommend this book. Very good disclaimers, in-text citations with matching footnotes, emphasis on safety... And they don't hesitate to address the realities of North American history. I respect that they're not trying to cover various Indigenous American cultures with this book because there's a limitation on pages and space, and the editor and all authors also recognize this even though the title is "complete". Generally, I would recommend this book as an introduction to folk magics in areas and as a way to work through what feels like coming home if you're also in North America and looking for direction for learning about folk magic in or from your area.

Random guess at the target demographic: Pretty much anyone interested in the idea of folk magic in North America but has no idea where to actually start and thus needs a "road map".

10/10 - Unironically Recommend To Everyone

One thing that I think sometimes gets lost when we talk about Southern folk magic is that there's a lot of regional variation within the Southern US. Appalachian folklore and folk magic is trendy right now, but Appalachian traditions are actually very different from what other communities in the South are doing. While authors like Rebecca Beyer and Jake Richards do a great job of documenting Southern Appalachian lore, I think Starr Casas is one of the most high profile authors who covers what I would consider Deep South folk magic.

I know some people have issues with Casas, and I personally don't agree with her on everything (for example, she uses the words "hoodoo" and "conjure" interchangeably, while I use "hoodoo" specifically to refer to African American practices), but she is clearly very dedicated to documenting traditional Southern conjure as it was taught to her, and I can respect that.

This book is an herbal, and like most herbals, it's somewhere in between a spellbook and an encyclopedia. This is not a Conjure 101 book. Instead, this is a book for people who are already familiar with the basics and who want a reference book where they can quickly look up the lore and uses of different plants and curios in this tradition.

Pros:

• Like Casas's other books, this is very authentic to traditional conjure in the Deep South. She covers things in her books I learned growing up here but have never seen written down anywhere else.

• Very comprehensive. This book covers most basic herbs, but also goes into how to work with houseplants, curios, and Biblical figures.

• Great breakdown of the hot/cold and sweet/bitter system used in conjure, and explains how to choose herbs for a work based on these properties.

• Easy to use as a reference book. It's easy to flip back and forth to find information about a specific plant or curio. I read this as an ebook, which made it even easier to look things up by searching specific words.

Cons:

• Casas is very insistent that conjure must be passed down in person from an elder and is kind of condescending about people who learn conjure from books. This feels... not exactly like gatekeeping, because I see the point she's trying to make, but it rubs me the wrong way. I mean, the people in my family who knew this lore and practiced these works all died before I was born, and my parents and grandparents weren't interested in learning. My only option has been to reconstruct a personal/family conjure tradition based on local lore, talking to other workers, and yes, reading books. And while yes, I think books alone can only take you so far, I think we should acknowledge that not everyone has access to an in-person teacher.

• The other reason this bothers me is because Casas says her motivation for writing her books is to keep traditional conjure alive as the tradition's elders are aging and dying. So if she's aware that elders are dying without passing on what they know, why the insistence that true conjure can only be learned in person? Why write the books at all, then?

Other/Miscellaneous Observations:

• Casas feels very strongly that Christianity and the Bible are essential to conjure. If you do not feel the same, this book will piss you off.

• Casas is from Texas, and while I definitely consider her work more Deep South than Southwestern, there are some regional influences there. For example, Casas works with Catholic saints in an otherwise very Protestant magic tradition.

• Despite the above observations, Casas makes it very clear that she is not overly fond of churches and does not think you have to be a church-goer to practice conjure. She also talks about how she has taught conjure to people who aren't Christian, in case anyone was worried about that angle.

Conclusion: This is a solid reference book and a great collection of plant lore from the Southern US. I'm always happy to add books to my shelf that don't just parrot Western European herbalism, and it's nice to read a book that has info on New World plants. I have more issues with the philosophy/politics of this book than I did with Old Style Conjure by the same author, but this book does do a good job of showing what traditional conjure looks like. I recommend this as a reference for Southern US plant and curio lore, but definitely balance your perspective by picking up books from other authors and looking at other sides of the conversation.

There's some controversy around this book, mostly because Starr Casas is a white woman writing about hoodoo. (Or at least white passing -- Casas does not disclose her ancestry in this book, and I never want to assume based on appearances. Some of the memoir content in this book makes me think she may be from a mixed family.) I avoided this book for a long time because of that controversy, so I want to address it before I move into pros and cons.

When people accuse Casas of cultural appropriation, if they're not talking about her appearance they'll typically bring up this line from a FAQ section in this book: "Q. Can white folks do conjure work? Yes, they can, as long as they honor the ancestors of this work. Those ancestors are the folks who were kidnapped and sold into slavery. They brought this work here and deserve to be honored. And who better to honor them than the white folks who at one time enslaved them?"

I think this line is phrased poorly in a way that makes it easy to take it out of context as giving blanket permission for cultural appropriation. But after reading the entire book, I feel confident that wasn't what Casas was trying to communicate here. Casas is very aware of the legacy of slavery in the South, and she seems to believe very firmly that white folks need to reckon with the atrocity of the slave trade. It's our responsibility to do what we can to make amends for the evils of our ancestors. It's basically the same message other authors, like Aaron Oberon, have phrased better and been praised for.

It is also important to note that Casas isn't claiming to speak for all hoodoo practitioners -- this book is about her family's folk magic tradition, which is influenced by African American practices. She's very clear that other practitioners may do things a different way. She's also very clear about the importance of acknowledging and honoring the African roots of many Southern folk practices, something I personally agree with. The reality is, you'd be hard pressed to find a folk magic tradition in the South with NO African influences, and I appreciate what Casas is trying to do here by explicitly honoring those influences.

(On personal note, struggling to navigate the legacy of white supremacy while honoring Black and indigenous ancestors is something I personally relate to as a white person from a mixed-race family. There are no easy answers here.)

This book, its tone, and the language it uses reminds me a lot of my grandparents. They mean well, and they're remarkably antiracist for older folks in the rural south, but they aren't familiar with all the language and terminology activists use today. They're imperfect in their allyship, but they ARE trying to be allies. It's up to you whether that's a deal breaker for you.

Anyways, with that out of the way, here are my thoughts on the actual book and its content:

Pros:

This is definitely "old style conjure." Everything here feels very authentic and traditional.

I liked the emphasis on using what you have and working with what is available to you. This is not a book that will have you running out to buy that one specific crystal you just have to have for a spell.

I also liked the emphasis on doing things yourself, including making your own oils and powders instead of buying from someone else. This DIY spirit is a big part of southern folk magic as I was taught.

Casas gives very clear, easily followed instructions and does her best to explain the "why" behind what's included in a work.

Great section on throwing bones!

The most comprehensive breakdown of the uses of dirt of any book I've found so far.

This book genuinely contains information I had learned from oral traditions but had not seen written down anywhere.

This book reminded me so much of the women who have taught me what I know of a Southern folk magic. It took me back to sitting at the kitchen table, watching my mentor do an egg cleanse for someone with holy water she had blessed herself.

Cons:

Like I said, reading this book is a lot like a conversation with a Southern grandparent. That wasn't off-putting for me, but I can see how it might bother some readers.

I think Casas is from a slightly warmer climate than where I currently live. Some of the ingredients she uses in works, like olive leaves, are much harder to find in Southern Appalachia. Again, not a huge issue, but just know you'll have to make substitutions if you're not from a very warm climate.

Casas's practice is very heavily focused on working with ancestors and saints, which is not true for every Southern folk magic practitioner. I think she does sometimes give the impression that everyone has to work as closely with ancestors and saints as she does. You don't.

There's definitely a generational difference here with regards to how things like race, class, gender, etc. are discussed. I'm a younger millenial/elder Gen Z, and some of the language used in this book made me cringe a bit. Nothing as bad as slurs or open racism, but more like using outdated language that is considered poor manners but not quite offensive by younger generations.

Overall Rating: 3/5 stars

Would I recommend it?

Despite everything, yes I would. I think there really is some excellent information here, including things that are in danger of being lost. Casas says she wrote this book as a response to the rise of Internet witchcraft and that her goal is to preserve old style folk practices, and she absolutely accomplishes that goal.

This is definitely one I'd recommend checking out from the library before you decide whether to spend money on it, and it isn't without its flaws, but books about pure Southern folk magic with no New Age or neopagan influences are hard to find, so I wanted to spotlight this one. I got this from the library and am glad I did.

Excerpt from {Read’en Dem Conjure Bones} ©Starr Casas 

Dedicating the Bones

What does the word “dedicated” mean? This is what webopedia has to say “Reserved for a specific use. In communications, a dedicated channel is a line reserved exclusively for one type of communication”. I never thought of my spiritual link with my ancestors as a “dedicated channel” but I guess in reality it is. They come through the bones or the cards as a way to communicate with me. This might not be the “correct” spiritual term but it explains exactly what happens when you dedicate your bones to the ancestors. That dedication will open up the lines of communication between you and your ancestors. You should be able to hear them loud and clear as they speak through the bones.

How exactly do we do this dedication? You could ask fifty workers and almost all of them will tell you something different; but since this is my book I’m gonna tell you one way I dedicate things to my ancestors.

Prayer to Stop Slander/Shut Up

We need Thee, O Lord, to curb vicious tongues from making cruel judgments, vile criticisms, and untruthful statements. Dear Almighty God, silence our enemies. Keep them from speaking barbed words that cut into our hearts and souls. Make their unkind words fall upon deaf ears and shield us from their wickedness and evil. O Lord, make us sweet inside that we may be gentle with others, gentle in what we say, and gentle in what we do. In Thine own strong name we do pray. Amen

Cleansing And Protection Brooms ©Starr Casas

I have used the broom for cleansings and protection for many years.  The broom is one of my favorite tools to work with for a quick cleansing.  The use of the broom in conjure work is being lost due to the fact that these so called teachers that are out there don’t know how you work with the broom. They can’t explain how to use it in cleansings so they just mention it but not how to work with it. The broom is used for sweeping so therefore it can literally sweep a crossed condition off of you. The broom can not only be used for uncrossing but it can also be used for protection.  I’m going to give you a few different works that can be used by working with the broom. This is old work that is being lost and needs to be remembered.

 Now days you can find many different sizes of brooms; for this type of work you need a medium to a small broom. When you use a broom in cleansing work it is called either sweeping or brushing. I have a few different brooms that I use in my cleansings. I think my favorite is the old timey whisk broom I use. It’s the kind folks use to use to sweep their cars out with before we had vacuum cleaners. I’m telling my age now. You can still find them at some of the old auto parts houses. I like this type of broom because it is small and they are put together well. You can use whatever you have; but the broom should only be used for this type of work.

Once you find the broom you will work with you need to cleanse it before you use it. I have a wash I use to spray my brooms down with, don’t soak it just mist it lightly with a spray. Let the broom air dry; once it is dry sprinkle a little kosher salt on it. Let the salt sit on the broom until you are ready to use your broom. To use the broom for cleansing you start at the crown of your head and sweep downward while praying that whatever is there is swept away. You sweep the bottom of your feet also from heel to toe. Make sure you sweep your whole body and you really need to focus on your head. When someone crosses you up that is main part of the body they hit. When you are finished brushing yourself down then lightly spray the broom down with a cleansing wash and let it dry. The next time you want to use it, the broom will be dry.