rootwork the rootsblog: a cyberhoodoo webspace

hoodoo haints: the 101 talismans of rickydoc: i do so love the game

hello world, sorry i been out of the loop
been struggling with the page

rest for the weary been beating me all
about my head and shoulders

and i am in a funk about the time i give rootsblog
and nothing seem profound enough to

invest time better spent wrestling w/that novel
that never seems to move toward being done

i just work and work and work and then i look at it and
its like damn, still so much work need to be done

dont never get no down time

cause whenever life do let up for just a minute i got to
try to clock some pages or im still a failure

sitting here at the sacred desk now trying to focus
and clock some pages and aint nothing happening

and if aint no work getting done dont nothing else get done
so i havent posted in almost a week and feel like i should say something

but as you see i got nothing to say
no words of power and significance

someething that might make a difference
in the sudan on in the congo, harlem or the delta

oh what the hell, ima put up my 101 talismans, i fear this will be of
no interest to anybody but myself

i fear that the folk who will be interested will jack me up for who
ive left off the list, or snicker in private

afraid that somebody will use my research and take advantage
of all the effort ive put into compiling this list but you cant worry about

that when you deal in the net, the hyatt hoodoos i culled from a posting on lucky mojo
and the list itself was put together w/input from the hoodoo way list

live by the net, get poached by the net
part of being a 21st century literary man

cant be worried about copyright or making money - establishing yourself
as a worthy thinker on the net is as important as doing it in the print world

that mean putting your work up and out there
even so raw it embarrass me

first ima layout the raw list
edit it down to 101

why 101, i like the poetry of it:
one hundred and one talismans

most problematic be the contemporary hoodoos
basically these the serious hoodoos that i know of

i know there a multitude i dont know of but i can only work the ones i know
i think thats part of my mission you know, i keep the records for my generation

also power positioning i must admit
its the record keeper get to define the moment

im often apologetic about my insistent power positioning

positioning myself as the record keeper so as to define the historical moment
gatekeeper determining who in who out the historical narrative

get on my wrong side i will curse you, i will erase you, i will ignore you

be cool w/me i will bless you, i will anoint you - and mythmaker
as an attempt to shape the future, the destiny of humanity

and trying to position hoodoo as the prophetic tradition in atr family, a kind of overtradition
and trying to position blackfolk as guide and guardian of humanitys destiny

just power power power, always the power, flowers
personally too, constant power games all the time

in power, every move i make about power

sometime i get apologetic and shameface about it, but then i remind
myself, ima hoodooman - magician, sorceror and wouldbe prophet

power is what i do
power intellectual is what i am

ideological orchestrator
metaphysician and master of the longgame

doing what high magicians have always done
trying to rule the world pinkie, more or less

shape the future and nudge reality

i work for a weak team (blackfolk) so i got to play my
power games real indirect, longgame, thats the hand i was given

the hyatts are all the hyatts i could identify, got to go thru and
extract only the ones that i think most illuminated

like dr yousee, one of my favorites, and of course all
the memphis hoodoos

might rename some, hyatts names for them
often werent reflective of their true value

then got to give them attributes
mythological narratives

refine list till im dead

this i will invest time to because it is a motif in rest for the weary
also playing with concept of a hoodoo pantheon

who knows if that seed that will take
if it does, got a lot of trip value

destinically speaking
worthy game, win or lose

also some folk on this list, they not really hoodoo
taking some discretionary choices as payment for

applying myself to this task, i figure
the gods owe me a couple of personals

folk who have become part of my spiritual world
part of the record keepers narrative

folk like babajohn o killens, the great griot master of brooklyn
not technically speaking a hoodoo but who was instrumental

in forging my vision of the hoodoo future

folk like davidwalker and sojourner truth, martin and malcolm
spiritwarriors who have also become cultural icons

naturner and gullahjack, harriet tubman, maybe ida b

its because im defining hoodoo as an atr overtradition
im including diasporic folk like boukman dutty and nanny accompong

zumbi of palmares

and forces from other atr pantheons, just added that, very raw
determing which atr forces to include will be a big challenge

make me think how hoodoo has become such an integral part of my vision
if i was a conventional intellectual i would not have such a hard time establishing

a position in the literary canon/imagination

but im not just asking blackfolk/the world to buy into my vision of the future
its buy into my vision of the hoodoo future  -  that complicates it (and my Works)

but its because of my hoodoo identity that i believe
myself capable of influencing the future and shaping

reality, of conjuring

there are times, looking back over my life and wondering if i have spent
my talent/potential in vain - i wish i was a normal writer

normal intellectual, w/normal ambitions

but then again, i do so love the game
a visionary in the line of o killens

love it

so everybody in the 101 talismans of rickydoc not hoodoos
but rather hoodoo haints, which is my chosen name for hoodoo forces

our version of orishas, lwa, saints, gods, etc
a particularly hoodoo term ive decided to put it to use

i love being a writer

anybody else this attempt to define a hoodoo pantheon
would be at best academic, at worst delusional

but as a metafictional novelist its just research for my novels
no matter what, win or lose, realworld or not, i write about it

that make it real if only in fiction
the transactional border of the realworld and mine

song of the conjureman
making real into the world that which was not

i love being a writer
i really do

win or lose
i really do

-----------------------------

HOODOO PANTHEON: ANCESTORS AND FORCES

CONTEMPORARY HOODOOS

cassandra wimbs
cat yronwode
daughterofoshun
djenra windwalker
dredlok
dr kioni
ibeshe
katrina omogun
papa ce
papa gede nibo bey lakwa
raven
ra khu
rickydoc
siren noir
stephanie rose bird
snake 2g
oshuns daughter
rootwomin
misnippy

HOODOO LEGACIES
zora neale hurston
gullahjack
marieleveau:
old divinity
gullah buzzard flock
papa yousee:
dr moore
davidearl jackson
jim jordan
aunt caroline dye
black herman
mammy pleasant: http://www.shapingsf.org/ezine/afamerican/mpleasant.html>
father divine
tituba
dr jim jordan
7 sisters of new orleans
paschal beverly randolph
henri gamache
black herman
mother leafy anderson
cecile fatima

LITERARY PRACTITIONERS
charles chestnut
henry dumas
arthur flowers
gayle jones
ishmael reed
sheree thomas
john edgar wideman
babajohn o Killens

CULTURAL HEROS
highjohn the conqueror
shine
john henry
frankie and johnny
brer rabbit
jim crow
mammy
sambo
aunt jemima
zip coon
caldonia
mojo hannah
old black joe
staggerlee
anansi

HOODOOS FROM HYATT
samuel forman
george jackson dennis
zippy tull
aunt dinah
ethel waters
rootdoctor johnson
doctor paul bowles
ms lenny griffin
mrs. myrtle collins of memphis
toby cason
doctor washington
marcus brown / william brown / peter brown
doctor washington of charleston
doctor maguin
dr. williams of beaufort
rev. a. c. foster
a consolidated-minded woman
charlie wilson
doctor delong of chicago
the unkus man
jughead johnson
the boy-girl
madame henrietta joseph
albert pike
divine healer
doctor cunningham
madam griffin
frank harris
the laughing doctor
dr yousee
the patient doctor
henry l. timmons
a doctor at ease
doctor harris
peter blake
papa see-er
chicken
ready money
gifted medium
dark lady
mrs murray

DIASPORIC ANCESTORS
boukman dutty
mammy accompong
zumbi of palmares
ganga zumba

AfFROAM ATR FORCES
Oshun
Legba
Shango
Yemaya
Ogun
Babalu
Osei
Damballah
Azaka
Erzuli
Olodummare

CULTURAL ANCESTORS
harriet tubman
david walker
martin luther king
Malcolm x
marcus garvey
sojourner truth
bob marley

SPIRITS OF THE AMERICAS
coyote

AFROAM HOLYGROUND
Palmares
Mississippi delta
New Orleans
Dismal Swamp and Nat Turners hanging tree
The African burial ground nyc
Jamaican cockpit country (maroons)
Bois Caiman (?)
Memphis

ATTRIBUTES
loa
lwa
orisha
mammy, old black joe (old souls)
gal & buck (youth)
auntie & uncle (elders)
pickanninies
mulatto
coons (entertainers)
buddy
magical negro
big black man of the crossroads
highjohn
god
the ancestors
the traveling spirit
nigger
badman
I man
I woman
7 african powers:

TO BE DONE;
alphabetize
add missing entities
develop attributes

----------------------------

now that ive actually put it up one wonders why
kind of thing that i do best to work out on rootwork.com

i will take the time to work on that today
dont know if i will leave this up, too raw too something

help me fill in the holes dear regulators, help me refine it
names you think should be on the list

or off it

and links, plan to link every haint eventually
narratives and all

okay im outta here, let me try to clock some pages
desperationwise i believe i got critical mass

hanging in there
my love to you all

rdoc

baba ernest withers moved on, just when we need him most

SUNDAY

hello world, i look back on the weeks posts and
except for the one on baba withers they bore me

they dont strike me as words of power
words that might make a difference

withers post neither but baba been true force and
deserve whtever recognition i can give

the other stuff my heart aint really in it
dont feel like it justified the time spent, didnt move

the board

i think maybe next week im going to ignore you dear regulators
only reason i do commentary is because i think i should

i justify it by saying it shows the value of the hoodoo perspective in the realworld, the power in seeing well,

in the orchestrative approach to empowerment
sensitize you to the game, make players of you

then again maybe im not pertinent enough, you try to give
insights that are essential to viable function in 21st century society

so that your readers are informed and empowered, your insights considered . well . . essential
but these insights do not strike me as essential

more like i got to write something every couple of days to keep my readership up
(doubled over the last year by the way, not difficult from where i started but stil . . .)

i think next week im going to work on the 101 talismans of rickydoc
the 101 haints of my wouldbe hoodoo pantheon

kinda esoteric for general readership but something that move the board of destiny
if rootsblog investiture dont move the board i cant justify the spent noveltime

just trying to make the
journey worth your while

and mine
and so, quick riff on recent news and im out of here

misguided scientist says blacks got inferior genes, has confused culture with genetics, dont
worry about it, hes in check

huffing and puffing dont prove nobody wrong, just calm down and
be about our business, let our generations tell the tale

painting by george hunt, babagriot my generation
oldschool memphis artists in the tradition

custodians of baba withers line
wc and lt. lee

fellow practitioners and
keepers of the faith

all my love
rdoc

FRIDAY

hello world, i recently received the following
on two of my email accounts

an email from elaine brown regardiing a post i did some time ago
a post i took from another site (w/attribution & links) regarding

controversy other whether she was a cointelpro agent during the 60s
the post gave both sides so i dont feel bad about it or at least i didnt

before i got this email, but i can imagine how it must feel to have
folk claiming you were a race traitor all over the net - not cool

----------------------
You are presently posting lies about me on various websites with which
you are affiliated, that I was a "government agent," meaning a traitor
to the Black Panther Party--of which I was a leading and dedicated
member--to Black People and to the cause of our freedom.  I ask that
you remove this defamatory material from all websites on which you
have posted it or have had it posted.

-----------------------

i will think about it

i think though that i would have been more amenable to taking it down
if she had been a little more personable in her request,

this legalistic bombastic approach dont move me enuf to take down a post
various websites with which i am affiliated?  she got the wrong guy

this mass mailing approach dont get it

im rather proud of that post because it did give both sides, the accusation and
her response to it, thats about the best i can do about a valid controversy:

the charges have been so widely dispersed on the net
that i dont know that even a well written book would flip that script

id hate to be on the wrong side of the net like that

but the way the net work, impersonal email like this
just becomes part of the mix -  not an effective move

fresh red meat to a blogger, fresh broccoli in my case

that said i feel her pain, i will consider it, and apologize for causing her grief if this is a bogus charge
but bogus charge or not, it is a viable topic of debate, that it would be nice to get clarity on

i am unlikely to take that post down but i did find this site that gives more
perspective on the issue (and further muddies the water)

which mostly consists of all those old pantherites accusing each other of
compradorship, it was a twisty little period and many of the panthers were flawed

folk strutting the stage, and a caution against hero worship

one guy says you got to trust the message, not the messenger
but how can you trust the message if you cant trust the messenger

guess all we can do is accept the period for what it was, try to get as much
understanding as possible for future referene and keep on struggling

a luta continua
rdoc

THURSDAY

hello world, baba ernest withers graduated

legendary memphis photographer and
chronicler of the civil rights movement

irascible elder in his legendary kufi
everytime i see him he ask about my mama

they were about the same age same era,
racemen and racewomen from the oldschool

baba withers did a lot of legendary photos
but i think the one that mean the most to me

was one of the garbage workers strike in 68
my first real campaign in the struggle

my mama had me and my sisters out there on
picketlines, sitins and such since we was old enuf

to wear a sign

but it was the garbage workers strike and the
subsequent death of martin luther king that

turn me out
made me a conscious warrior

the iconic sign of that struggle
was the garbagemens 'i am a man' picketsigns

and baba withers he got this shot of the garbage workers
with their i am a man signs straddling the street

move me to this day

baba ernest withers
1922 - 2007 - well done

in struggle
rdoc

MONDAY

hello world, room being made at gitmo
for a new batch of unlawful combatants

which the bush admin define as combatants outside the military chain
and subject to no international law that they can think of

justice and state have argued that blackwater employees should
not be interned at gitmo for fear they will be radicalized by jihadis

and have suggested they be given their own facilities
the bahamas maybe, honolulu, but the defense dept

concerned about being charged with warcrimes after bush/cheney leave
have insisted that all unlawful combatants must be sent to gitmo

thats what its there for say the joint chief, who then suggest putting
guard uniforms on them to distinguish them from the other guys

see what im saying
rdoc

SATURDAY

hello world

article on foreign policy in focus:
the religion of divide and conquer

how imperial powers have historically used religion
to divide and conquer various populations

article ask what role christian evangelicals play in the
'most religious administration in us history"

ask has that pressure contributed to this 'crusade'
in iraq and the pressure to strike iran

talk about britain in ireland and india
france in africa and indochina

the us in the middleast,

clumsily working sunnis and shiites
in a quest for energy security

fascinating read about
imperial use of religion

and just how much trouble can be bred
in the name of religion and conquest

these matters are of
interest to me

trying to run a chosen people scenario
and avoid the chosen people syndrome

but aint clocked no pages lately
ticktock ticktock, no time to lose

rickydoc has got
the blues

that noose at columbia and cultural dysfunction, high hoodoo and the high hoodoo

FRIDAY DAY

ahem, i look at that last post and im kinda shellshocked
really wandered off the reservation with that one didnt i

trying to decide if should i leave it up or take it down
ima probably leave it up, what the hell, i wrote it didnt i

got to have the courage of my scribblings
but ive embarassed myself, ima chill for awhile

try to clock some pages

thats what i like about being a novelist
if i win i win, if i lose i write about it

all my love
rdoc

WEDNESDAY MAYBE

hello world, sorry i been out of the loop

schoolhouse got me humping, desperately trying to maintain
momentum on novel and trekking to the delta, just dont have no
discretionary nothing

got to make less do more these days
wait till something i think worthy of my time

first off a noose was hung on a black teachers door at columbia
universitys teachers college, 

might be a jena copycat, might be sister enjoy the spotlight

forgive the cynic in me but hard for me
to tremble in my boots on this one

if somebody was to put a noose on my door at syracuse id probably
leave there, great post race conversation piece

okay.rick, enuf frivolity, two more
comments and some closure

one that barack obama, who seems to be losing steam against hillary, is being
chastised by blackfolk for not taking a higher profile with that

but i empathize with his situation, doesnt want to follow the model
of two previous black contenders, jessie jackson and al sharpton

that would not be viable, and i believe folk have to give him room
to make a credible run, kind of a old martin malcom two step

we are diverse enough a people to have all kinds of blackfolk on the field
in spite of the rev jackson and ms dickersons position that he isnt black enuf

of course that diversity doesnt include race traitors like clarence thomas, not in the
book of flowers or the great black book of generations - him i have excommunicated

and truth be told, to run for and actually be president is so compromising that id
rather obama found another role to play, one that will allow him to be more righteous

than being president of the united states will allow

the other recent news i want to point out is that hispanic poverty has fallen
by some 20% or so in america, not sure of the exact numbers offhand

but this includes the poverty pressures of a constant
stream of new immigrants, legal and illegal

what this says is that, like most other immigrant populations, the hispanics
are getting their act together, and you can see it in their willingness to work hard

to provide for their families, etc etc

in the article it talked about how they are moving into entry level good jobs
that white folk are leaving, like construction, service, etc

said hispanics instead of blackfolk getting those jobs and leaving blackfolk in the dust
which is why we a little leary sometime of immigration reform

but it hurt me to see hispanics (and west indians) getting rousted
families being broken and all, just for wanting a better life

and rickydoc gon tell you the reason blackfolk arent getting those jobs
is because they arent going for them with the kind of determination you need to win

what rickydoc gon tell you is that blackfolkare about to get left behind again, once again
slotted to be americas bottomfeeders in a period of acute economic change

a period of opportunity for script flipping

rickydoc the one gon tell you this is a cultural failing, we are just a weak people
ive said it over and over, wherever you got blackpeople anywhere in the world

they are on the bottom of their respective society
africa, south america, asia, united states, everywhere

this is a cultural failing on our part and we cant get around that
reparations? give me a break, give blackfolks money and they will buy $100 sneakers

spend their money on clothes and cars instead of capital formation

and when you say thats inappropriate you are accused of being a self hater
unlike bill cosby i dont just blame the poor, if anything i blame the bougie class

i represent for not taking care of business, for not looking out for the rest of the race
folk who swear we live in a post black world and they dont have to identify anymore

this noose is for you

okay, so the situation is cultural, and all those little sidegame initiatives on the board wont change that

i have got to change my people souldeep, the old rootdoctor got to turn them into a different kind of people

a mighty and illuminated people
a wondrous and powerful people

(there are some issues in a truly longgame program about how humanity will identify once it reaches for the stars and blackfolk become a star faring people but i wont go there right now, it will just confuse you)

so i look at the board and i wonder how can i transform my peoples souls

ive chosen to lean on my hoodoo identity
which is of course tightly wrapped with my artistic identity

both of them workers on the hoodoo board of destiny
soul workers, destinyworkers

those of you know me know how i feel about the responsibility of indigenous spiritual traditions
for the care and feeding of the tribal soul and destiny, both for individuals and the collective

i look at the influence of buddhism, christanity, hinduism, ifa, islam, judaism, etc and i see
what a viable spiritual tradition can do for a culture, for a peoples destiny

i look at the influence of the bible, the koran, the iching, and so forth and i see what a viable
sacred literature, a good holybook, can do for a culture, for a peoples destiny

and its like hoodoo, a tradition thats only been used for folk magic
is a blank slate to do with as i please, to transform it into the kind of instrument i need

to transform a people
to illuminate a culture

the task too daunting for me to do it in my lifetime so
what i got to do is forge a tradition that will do it for the next thousand years

or so

so i commence to conjuring
now a destinywork spell of this magnitude is a lifetime work

basically im operating in my mythworker mode - Mythmaker
im using this novel to construct the destinywork and explore the concept of mythwork

be nice to explore prophecy, destinywork and this particular spell
with the kind of complexity wideman brought to prophecy w/the cattlekilling

but the novel is a rarefied instrument, it only speaks to longgame thinkers
novels, to be viable, must be an indirect influence

you have to understand the power of ideas
the power of art, and how it work, powerful but indirect

my Works i considers seed of the future
my Ideological Orchestrations, preparation of the ground

so i got three other initiatives that support the destinywork in novel
this weblog, the hoodoo book of flowers and the hoodoo hands

(and new ren writers guild too but thats another post)

so basically i need to insure the viability of my mythwork by working w/both hands
mythwork by itself dont work, have to also build institutions that facilitate it

inthis case i have to transform the hoodoo tradition
into an instrument of redemption, a role that it has traditionally played in

the mode of gullah jack, zora neale and ishmael
there is a history of hoodoo as an instrument of cultural redemption,

most particular in literary hoodoo
this is not as far fetched as it might initially seem

so i have been trying to reform, regenerate, revise, rewhatever the hoodoo tradition
i have gotten a lot of resistance from folk who want hoodoo to stay a piddling little

folk magic tradition

and have had to make it clear, i dont object to folk being little folk magic hoodoos
spells, hells and black cat bones, if thats what they want its fine with me

its just not for me, im interested in bigger game than that
so folk accuse me of not being true hoodoo

and ive had to define my brand of hoodoo into the hoodoo world
because i will not let hoodoo be defined by mercenaries and folk magic

times are too dear and my tradition too powerful to be allowed to lay fallow
since what i am trying to manifest is more highmagic than folkmagic

and trying to leave room for folk to be folkmagic hoodoos if
thats they want to do

ive made the distinction of calling the hoodoo i practice 'high hoodoo'
and in my more private moments i call myself 'the high hoodoo'

i dont go around trying to claim this title
but in my heart thats what i believe, thats how i conduct myself

the first law of conjure:
conduct yourself as you aspire to be and you are

as a trained organizer i know mythwork on its own is not viable
you have to also build facilitating institutions

i have been trying to build a hoodoo institution that will faciliate this myth,
basically a hoodoo secret society - the hoodoo hands

i was whupped on so bad for this effort that i had to draw back and lick my wounds
basically i lost my confidence, who am i to try to found a new way - be a Waymaker

im constantly having to convince myself that i am not just a deluded fool
out here tripping hard, but it comes with the conjuric territory that you often

a reailty of one

and i dont never give up no destinywork, once you on the board you on the board
accept your insecurities, take your punches, make your adjustments, keep on trucking

till the day i die
and then some

so basically ive got 5 audience, 5 narratives ive got to forge:

the hoodoo world: got to convince them there is more to life than folkmagic, that hoodoo is a serious historical force and potential instrument of cultural redemption

blackpeople: got to convince black people they have a destiny, a mission greater than their adversity, to be an illuminated people, guide and guardian of humanitys destiny, and that hoodoo is the instrument of that destiny

the atr world: got to set up hoodoo as the prophetic tradition of the atr world, convince them that atr needs to be brought into the 21st century and the archaic practices left behind

the worldspirit: got to convince other spiritual traditions that hoodoo and atr are contenders for a better way in the 21st century

the world: got to convince the whole world that hoodoo is a prophetic tradition instead of the joke they think it is now, that hoodoo is a better way for the 21st century and beyond, a star faring tradition

so basically thats my goal as an ideological orchestrator, 5 dialogs ive got to engage in
and i figure i got about 10, 20 more years (god willing) to do it in

got to illuminate the hoodoo tradition and make it a powerful tradition instead of the folkmagic curiosity it is now, which means i have to make it a strong tradition, so when the spotlight hits it folk find it worthy

got to use rest for the weary to build a mythwork of blackfolk as a powerful people with a destiny

give them a vision greater than their adversity
a vision they can believe in

for this to work have to give all humanity a myth they can believe in
a myth in which an illuminated blackculture is guide and guardian of

humanitys destiny
magical negro indeed

and of course a major component of this mythwork is my own life
the mythmakers greatest work - myself as a model of the hoodoo future

thats what Mythmakers do

two other components of that myth designed to have more immediate impact
is this weblog, in which i forge ground for me to stand on, for my vision to be manifest

(may not have a lot of readership but i got some, say 4 years ago nobody thought like me, or understood my position, now a select few do, by definition the sharpest folk on the planet, may not always agree with me but they understand what im trying to do - 10 years from now, who knows - step by step and inch by inch, slooowly we manifest)

and my wouldbe holybook, the hoodoo book of flowers
also known as the great black book of generations

there are times when i doubt myself and my vision and i wonder
if i should stop trying to speak for blackfolk and just speak for all humanity

that is a standing tension of my work
i get a lot of flack from well meaning folk who think i should be post black

and speak for all
most particularly flack from myself

cause speaking for all would be the stronger and more illuminated position
but as long as blackfolk suffering i will be the voice of my peoples

greatest dreams
for i am rickydoc

wouldbe prophet
of the hoodoo way

when you need me you
call me, i will come