rootwork the rootsblog: a cyberhoodoo webspace

on the hoodoo book of flowers and the passing of lady comes calling

FRIDAY

hello world, got a taste of the blues today, cat died, car died, family issues in the delta and almost
lost my most treasured protege, sometime it dont pay to get out of bed

so anyway this morning followed a rootsblog link to some brother call
himself rawdag, fellow writer w/rootsblog in his links, will give him a link

from his site, i followed link to site called the black accountability network, which
say its working to hold black leadership, opinion makers, public officials and institutions accountable - 

im down with that

wandering thru these folks links i realize its a whole lot of black blogs, in
particular of the younger generation, i aint been keeping up with,

if i get me a little work done this weekend, ima try to upgrade my links, in
the meantime i love this logo of the black accountability folk, they call it
the watchdog - now thats what im talking about

a real thanksgiving prayer: black commentator article on thanksgiving say the land of the free
was founded on genocide and slavery, and includes a thanksgiving prayer

given by william bradford, former governor of plymouth, who chronicled the 1621 feast that became
thanksgiving, after 1637 attack designed to finish off the pequots (foxwood casino) once and for all:

"Those that escaped the fire were slain with the sword; some hewed to pieces, others run through with their rapiers, so that they were quickly dispatched and very few escaped. It was conceived they thus destroyed about 400 at this time. It was a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the fire...horrible was the stink and scent thereof, but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they gave the prayers thereof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for them, thus to enclose their enemies in their hands, and give them so speedy a victory over so proud and insulting an enemy."

a luta continua
rdoc

THURSDAY

hesitant to leave this weeks post until i work on that holybook segment - but like that
shark in the water i got to move on - do what i can this weekend and move on

my literary companion, the indomitable calico, lady comes calling, died yesterday
been w/me a quarter of my life, used to just sit on the desk while i wrote - ima miss her so much

conflict down in memphis over civil rights museum - old lorraine hotel where king was shot -
memphis holyground - local activists want to wrest control from corporate board

and change the focus to an activist operation over exclusively museum - i can relate, its
kinda musty as it is now, and deke pope, one of the activists,  is an old comrade in struggle,

and i been pleased to see martin luther king III
trying to live up to his daddys name recently

problem is that black members of that board, folk like maxine smith and ben hooks, are the old lions of the struggle in memphis and family friends, damn near surrogate parents and my earliest mentors in struggle - its hard for me to take sides against them, and as a  memphis bougie insider i know that there are some personal issues with instigator d army bailey on this one

also though it is not the institution i woud like it to be, it is an institution when so many
of this sort die out, im hesitant to fix what aint broke

bottomline: i too would like the influence of the chairman of the board
conservative memphis business tycoon pitt hyde, reduced

institutions like the civil rights museum have to have corporate support
but not necessarily corporate control

and i too would like it to be somehow a more
activist organization, 21st century stylee - bottomline

bonnie took that lady in the window picture, bonnie and lady were really close,
bonnie took better care of her than i did, she pampered that kitty something awful

and lady returned the love, allowed bonnie liberties she never allowed me
they were good for each other, they were good to each other

we decided to have her cremated, scatter her ashes out back,
maybe take some to the delta, drop them in the mississippi

my little familiar is gone - all my love lady
we had a good run

rdoc

TUESDAY

hello world, rest beating me all about the head and shoulders, let me give you some quickies
lets background this one 2nd lining w/the wild magnolias

aids on the congressional plantation: dc got highest aids rate in nation, blacks 87% of aids cases - and the beat goes on

prognosis: all kinds of ameliorative policy/organizing issues got to be addressed , such as dc being only us city w/federally mandated ban against needle distribution

but the only one that will truly flip this trick will be behavioral changes on our part: guess im blaming the victim right

sudan; newly arrived teacher at british private school in khartoum allows class 0f 7 year olds to name teddybear muhammad w/predictable results, arrested and threatened with x many lashes: didnt she get the memo - what planet she been on

dick cheney hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat: that dick cheneys heartbeat is irregular aint news, whats news is that he got a heart: i thought he was some kind of vampire clone or something

annapolis: bush et al say they will start real negotiations on dec 12th, with intent of cutting a deal by the end of next year (ie end of bush presidency): the real deal: getting the arabs to play along on iran and iraq for the rest of bushs term: watch and see  - as the palestinians get strung along; again; bottomline: bush dont care bout no palestinians

sean taylor brought a machete to a gunfight, thats when you need a pistol, when somebody breaking into your home, i agree w/gil scot heron on this one: when other folk give up theirs i will give up mine



MONDAY

hello world, the arabs are in at annapolis, guess they figure got to be in it to win it
invoking the spirit poster from chester higgins exhibit at schomberg

recently read article by ofari hutchinson on black - hispanic
tensions cause me to think on it, he laid out the problem

but didnt make any suggestions about addressing it - apparently he just
put a book out on issue, i assume the book more pro active

give those of us who still believe in that oldschool alliance something to work with
another one i read couple of days ago but couldnt find again made comment that

its a class issue, that as folk from either race move from the scrabbling
for survival they tend to be more tolerant of each other

also said that hispanic hostility more from 2nd generation than immigrant generation
which you would think worked against class thesis but dude was convincing

im feeling a little humble about my hoodoo thing today

went monitoring hoodoo sites the other day and it was all folkmagic
and as you know dear regulators i am so uninterested in folk magic

i am really out of step with my hoodoo colleagues on this one
traditionally hoodoo is pretty much defined by folk magic

then i went by this site where this well known hoodoo is selling a radiotronic machines or
something like this and i wont call names and that aint really what its called i dont think

which is cool because i dont want to get engaged in no war w/a sorceror of his stature

but it look like a farce to me, a cigar box with glittery stuff on it that he claim
you use to 'dial' up spirits and i wonder if he really believe this or do he know its a beat

he too knowledgeable not to be aware this a classic spiritual hustle

and because he is so knowledgeable and im so out of step with hoodoo today
i feel like im the one need to step back and forgo this commentary

but at the same time feel like i got to speak truth to the people and give true commentary
on hoodoo today - got to establish myself as the spot where folk know they can come hear

the hoodoo truth of things - the hard truths make other folk tremble - this the holyground
thats what make me historical - thats my power

my geas is that i speak truth as i see it
and this is a geas i cannot break

then i was thinking, take a cigarbox, put some spiritual stuff on it and sell it for $150
that aint much different than what i would do as an artist, we call them spirit boxes too

and i would sell it for much more than $150 by calling it art and my position, much like his,
would be if you dont want it, if you dont believe in its efficacy, dont buy it - no problem

o what a twisted web we weave
i need to get some work done

my love to you all

rdoc

SUNDAY

hello world, weak week workwise, a lot of downtime,
thats not good, restful but not good

and im not really feeling the hoodoo book of flowers
just not the time for it yet i guess, but i will wait

until the 2 weeks are out before i judge it, problem now
is if im not getting novelwork done, aint nothing else getting done

and i understand the process, trying to take the endgame to
higherground mean stuff bubbling in the internal computer and

just not ready to manifest yet, i need to chill and concentrate
on taking care of various critical life issues but at the same time

you have to remain focused and frustrated if you want to break thru
to higher creative ground, no focus no grace

what i got to do is fix my prophetic sequence, the primary sequence
of the text, how do i have him manifest the prophetic

what i have to do is note how im attempting to manifest the contemporary prophetic
in the realworld and translate that to my fictional storyteller character

so primarily im doing it in my Work (my novels/my nonfiction) working out the cosmology
attempting to manifest a contemporary prophetic mode by:

trying to develop an afrospiritual cosmology
trying to build facilitating institutions
trying to influence afrospiritual practitioners
trying to develop a new school of hoodoo
trying to develop a custodial school of afroam literature
trying to develop an illuminative way
trying to transform the tribal soul and destiny
trying to build a myth of myself as a hoodoo prophet
trying to change the global perception/position of blackfolk
trying to make a contribution to the destiny and welfare of all humanity
trying to be a powerful artist and craftsman, write good novels and historically significant works
trying to be a powerful magician, metaphysican and ideological orchestrator
trying to understand and maximize the web as ideological instrument

(i got so many initiatives in play that it dont bother me when one or two collapse, as they often do - aint
like i aint got plenty else to do, i just pick up the pieces, put them back in play and keep on pushing)

okay, those are the general trends, how precisely do they manifest day to day
and how to translate that into a fictionally viable sequence for a storyteller (instead of writer)

also my realworld magic is very prosaic, in fiction i get to play with that and make it
dramatic and magical - got to remember that as i work out this prophetic sequence

1st thing to do probably is to go into it, extract the prophetic sequences and see what i got already
i got passages that allude to all these but they arent coherent, they kinda whatever i threw in at that

moment, i got to systematically break that down and make it viable, lets give it a week rick
see how it flows, more like a week and a weekend, cause i got to go back to schoolhouse tomorrow

more or less,

end of year woodshed is on rick, everything else got to be
ruthlessly backburnered, nobody said it was gon be easy

in the name of the conqueror
rdoc

SATURDAY

hello nanakwame (love that name) thanks for the love
always good to get some love, feel like folk care

you must be talking about katrina omogun
thats my girl

okay world, im on it, dug in with rest for the weary- finished futurescenario, decided need to
pre-redpen last 3rd of novel, its weak, needs work, cant have a weak endgame, endgame

is my specialty

(and that of the conqueror -  yesterday i restrung the beadbandolier i wear under my clothes during performance, originaly a yoruba belt it kept breaking during performance so lastnight i restrung it on nylongwire thread, decided to afroamericanize it, so i added a redblackgreen&gold 9 bead sequence, put some highjohn on it and added a malachite and brass sequence im going to give to the conqueror as attribute)

as you see i got a little discretionary time
when im working good is when i got discretionary time

i always give a little to rootsblog cause this my little public dialogue
and i try to keep it fed, a post every couple of days is obligatory

writers that aspire to greatness its important to generate words
for historys sake, who knows what will take

so im thinking the best use of discretionary time is holybook, problem w/doing holybook
online is that putting raw holybook up is really embarrassing

really really embarrassing, here you are suppose to be showing wisdom and its weak
craft, its weak conceptually, spiritually, politically, knowledgeably, everything

but i know that if i leave it up a couple of weeks, letting embarrassment drive me to
work on it every couple of days, i will eventually have a pretty nice little product

so with that little literary caveat let me pick up the legba toss:  0:0
im not going to worry about setting up background, go to the hoodoo book of flowers

category if you want background, (you know what i should do is go into that category
myself and revise that sequence of repetitive posts into a coherent presentation

i should do that with all the important ones, part of what i like about network (blogwork) is that
you can revise initial posts to reflect developments, not only does it clean up text, it gives

it a prophetic modality

forgive this phase dear regulators, 1st will pull up last hbof post, then go into offline notes and just dump everything that might be in the legba 0:0 toss and start cleaning it up, will give myself 2 weeks

before i judge the quality of it (premature judgment would leave to abandonment pf project)

just gon pull it in right now, work on it later
right now got novelwork to do

(consider doing legba and the conqueror at the sametime:)

0:0: legba toss: all bets off
9:9: the conqueror: conquers all obstacles: grace

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_________________________________________________________________

0:0:  legba gift
in the name of the trickster

crossroads: where every move changes things
when destiny lies in the choice of the moment

1) progression: it is in the beginning that the paths are laid

beginnings are always hard, preparation a must
the moment is auspicious, seize the day

2) storyline:

bluesman at the crossroads, got a deal to strike, my soul for the craft
want to play this guitar like nobody else ever played

told he could come to the crossroads at midnight, strike a deal w/the devil
dont know what to expect, dont know what the devil look like, just know he

in the market for soul, know he got to keep his wits about him cause he in
the realm of the trickster

late night at the crossroads, cars drive slowly by, curious looks
that note the guitar strung across his back and cross themselves

then he show, a bent over two head man, you the devil ask the bluesman
and legba laugh, thats what the christians say, are you a christian, if not call

me legba, god of the crossroads, i am in th market for souls
can you make me a bluesman, and legba smile again, i can give you talent

but aint nobody make a bluesman but a bluesmans heart
(okay im running out of steam on this one, finish it later)

3)  lifework:

initiation: awareness, understanding life as illumination, the 1st step of a lifelong journey
family:  two families, family you come from, the one you begin, better integration is the call
health:  health is an all abiding concern, renewed attention to the ital lifestyle is this toss
love:
community:  when 9 of my folk gather a community has been established, or needs to be

4)  the tradition

the divine in its many names and permutations, illumination of the african way of god -
the call of the divine is in this throw

5)  magic

making real into the world that which was not, the 1st step of magical is magical imagery, that which is to be manifested must first be conceived - the power of the magician, the power of the artist, the power of ideas

magical meditation is the power to build images in the mind and feed them power until they are real in the world - feats of magic: making real that which was not require thorough preparation and sanctification

preparation is called for here, sanctify yourself

6   illumination

life as a constant quest for illumination
the first step of illumination is to see, to open your eyes

7)  prophecy

to step on the prophetic path, the anointment
you have been chosen

8)  destinywork and the longgame

the roots of the african way of god in the americas were laid when , african captives were dispersed and not allowed to practice their religions - where allowed african religions were fused with catholicism because it had room for the african gods in the catholic saints

in the united states, where african culture/religion was more severly repressed, african religion lost its divine nature and became magical - hoodoo

the african american slave community under mortal siege denied its priests, turned to its sorcerors - most every major slave rebellion included african holymen jamaica's macandal, brazil's ganga zumba, hait's boukman, gullah jacks and nat turners, inspiring the slaves to battle by claiming to protect from bullets and harm, by claiming those who died in the cause would be instantly transported back to guinee

since this afrospiritual practitioners have taken care of the tribal soul and destiny

responsibility is the call here and destiny lies in the moment -
this is not about you, the generations are calling you

9)  the geas of rickydoc

listen firstborn to the geas of rickydoc
and i will give you a mission greater than your adversity

i will give you responsibility for humanitys destiny
you have been chosen

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_________________________________________________________________

9:9: THE CONQUEROR
in the name of the conqueror

endgame: strong endgames should be opened ended
preparation for the next phase, manifstations of grace

1) progression: grace

2) storyline:

The Legend of Highjohn the Conqueror
(The Way Zora Neale Tell It.  Jackie Torrance on the riff)

For a longtime Highjohn de Conqueror was just the name of a plant that grew wild in the marshland.  It was dug and dried and carried in the hand or worn about the neck to ward off haints, disease and nightmares.  The power root.  Break any obstacle.  Cause any problem to fall.  After awhile that plant became so powerful it began to walk like a natural man.

Now Highjohn the human kept out of the sight of folk.  Live Legba child in the swamp somewhere.  But whenever you in trouble you whisper his name and you can feel the Conqueror as he pass you in the breeze, listen good you hear him whisper in the trees. 

Zora claim the Conqueror must walk on the wind, cause he move so fast.  Say maybe he in Mississippi when the lash fall on a slave in the Sudan, but before the blood dry on the back the Conqueror is there.  Beating the unbeatable and superior to the whole mess a sorrow.  Claim this our day.  Claim to know the way.

Zora say its the Conquerors voice come through clearest on Sunday morning.  Say its the Conqueror whose worksong sustain you in the field.  Say wherever the work the hardest the Conqueror is there.  Lifting the hoe higher than anybody else and still have time to wipe the sweat from your brow.  To give you a cool drink of water. 

Zora say he apple pie sweet and  breh rabbit quick.  The cool breeze on a hot summer night and the wetness of a sweet summer rain.  He the hopebringer.  The burden bearer.  The battlefighter.  The jackpot winner.  He a mighty power.  An ultimate force.   When you whisper my name that bee dont sting.  That sqeeter dont bite.  That snake dont strike. 

Zora claim the conqueror help the slaves get free by tricking old massa.  Say after the slaves was free, the soul of the conqueror went into the Highjohn de Conquer root.  Waiting to return whenever there a need.  Say you call him and he be there before you finish saying his name.  Highjohn de Conqueror. The Mighty Conqueroo.

Thats what Zora Neale say.  Ask her yourself if you dont believe me.

3)  lifework:
    initiation:
    family: 
    health: 
    love:
    community:

4)  the tradition

5)  magic

6   illumination

7)  prophecy

8)  destinywork and the longgame

9)  the geas of rickydoc

--------------------------
_______________

okay, i can see already this aint gon work
just dont have the time it need put into it

every hour i put into this thats a hour that come out of rest for the weary
thats a no can do - i just got to be patient rick, holybook soon come, soon com

got to trust god gon give me the time
i need to make that happen too

my love to you all
rickydoc flowers

doing what i can

 

0:0: the conjurors gift:1st toss in the hoodoo book of flowers

WEDNESDAY MORNING

hello dear regulators, ive decided i cant do the hoodoo book of flowers
maybe every once in awhile when im burned out on the novel but i messed

around and gave my 3 hour work session this morning to this thing instead of to the novel and
feel terrible, i could have gotten a whole paragraph of my novel done this morning, i cant take it

i cant do nothing that take away novel time and

seeing the quality of this hoodoo book of flowers passage, its going to take more
time and investment than i have to give it right now

god i want to do my little holybook so bad
so bad - i fear dying without leaving a viable draft of it

i just got to be patient, and depend on gods grace
surely the gods would not call me, and not allow me to manifest

i will do this thing when i finish my novel
and not before  -  laserfocus rick, laserfocus

no major projects rick, absolutely none
until the novel is done

my love to you all
rdoc

TUESDAY

hello world, i feel like a shark in the water
got to keep moving to stay alive

got so much i need to do with that last post
but who got the time, schoolhouse got me by the  . . throat

and the world spinning like crazy, me and that shark, we got to move on
i will stay in this week for awhile, hopefully get a chance to play with that last post

(thats what i like about doing weeklong posts, gives me chance to edit, reflect and revise)
but in the meantime i want to make a couple of snide comments about blackwater

seems iraq is not the only government they willing to defy w/their cowboys ways
they have also told congress to kiss their  . . . throat

state department told blackwater not to give waxman documents requested for
a congressional probe into their activities

blackwater has become a potent symbol for bushs outsourcing of
government services, mercenaries governed apparently by no law

except a license to kill

im outta here
rdoc

comments postscript: me and you omi, we on the same page homegirl
i do tend to as you say 'freestyle' but i appreciate

communal work too, one climbs to higher heights when
one worship w/de bredren and sistren

i will always remember a reading i did once at the ethical culture center
in manhattan - under a quote that said something along the lines of

where folk meet to seek the highest, that space
is holyground  (like rootsblog maybe)

much love
rdoc

MONDAY

hello world, in particular snake 2g and omi
fellow travelers and keepers of the faith

dont get me wrong now yall, you know ima believer

i just believe we got to be stronger
than we been

cause we been losing out for awhile now, 2 - 3 thousand years
cause blackpeople all over the world suffering

cause as contemporary shamans i believe that responsibility
taking care of the tribal soul and destiny, is on us and

our indigenous spiritual traditions

cause if we want to get our people out of this historical trickbag
we have found ourselves in, we got to flip the script, get on the

good foot and transform our people
into an illuminated people of astounding power

and when i say the good life, im talking material

but even more im talking spiritual power, the illuminated life
of achievement and significance, one that contributes value

to the human condition
and so forth along these lines

i believe it is critical that our spiritual traditions be stronger than theyve been
i believe this is an evolutionary thing and its time to take the next step

speaking of which i believe ima try to move my

wouldbe holybook into high gear for a minute, been trying to wait till i finish
this novel but this novel taking forever

been buried in rest for the weary lately, thats why i aint been online
got caught up in the rebuild of the draft, which i am really loving by the way

im so close now i can taste it, and every discretionary moment been thrown
into rest for the weary - take an act of god to stop this show

which is of course what i fear -so let me knock off some commentary
right quick and get back to work

jena 6: good to see that movement energy
like gil scot say, glad to see resistance growing

but it was sobering to read the comments on this abc post
one guy says he will pray for the poor folk of jena, that if he was one of the

poor folk of jena he would lock his family in the basement till the savages leave
and so forth along these lines, lotta comments on how the

jena 6 deserve to be charged with whatever, a lotta comments
on how obama going down cause he didnt speak out against it

and, in jessies words, prove he white

probably get just the opposite on black lists
situations like this remind you just how far we have to go

folk like to think we postrace but scratch the surface and its not
much better than shiites and sunnis in iraq

what the haters dont understand is that blackfolk not objecting to them being
punished, we objecting to unequal punishment,

slap on the wrist for whitefolk, jail for blacks, we grew up with that
southern justice and it piss us off to see it still happening 21st century

and obama is in a very ticklish situation, identify too much with black
causes and hes toast, dont identify and hes toast

i dont think he will be able to pull it off
i dont see how anybody could,

i been trying to give him enuf room to make a credible run
anybody running for president is going to have to make more compromises

than i would be comfortable with, but unless he out and out do wrong
ima give the brother a shot, unlike his homeboy jealous jessie

quickie on guilianis calls from wife during nra speech
how many times do you plan to run that little routine

how many times will repbulican audiences fall for it - well, based
on how many times theyve fallen for bushs iraq okeydoke

they will fall for it over and over and over

in the sudan, more problems over darfur in the west and
in the south, conflict over oil may derail that hardwon peace

or should i say that ceasefire,

and now the arab tribes in chad say they being harrrassed by
the chadian goverment, hard to sympathize with them,

the chadian arab tribes  made common cause with their cousins from sudan and
began to attack chadian africans like they had done in the sudan

so now the chadian government is attacking them
my humanitarian instincts say thats probably wrong too, but i believe ima give

the hordesman control of this issue

i have many faces, many masks, depending on the situation, sometimes, most of
the time i let the poet handle things, the sensitive humanitarian, but sometimes i call

on the hordesman, when battle has come to us, when its about protecting the lives
of my people and ensuring the survival of my culture, im liable to unleash the hordesman

the more ruthless me, the one i generally keep under lock and key
the one whose response to pressure is to gather a horde and fling it into battle

the hordesman has requested control of the darfur situation

like the dinka in the south, the only thing that will stop the arab depredations in darfur
the sudan, chad, etc, is when the blacks are capable of defending themselves

instead of crying out to the international commuity to save us everytime the hammer falls
i have little sympathy for the so called arab tribes of chad in this matter,

but one thing the hordesman knows, that master of real politic, is that this situation
is more complicated than i can ever encompass, and a strictly nationalist response

probably wont get it, too many nuances particular to the region

and that militarization is probably not the answer either but im tired of
 blackfolk being kicked around by the sudan, the libyans, the eritrians etc

okay, what else do i need to catch up on

would you believe i accepted an invitation to speak at a big antiwar rally being held
here in syracuse on the 29th of the month, the syracuse peace council, at 1st i told them no

i been telling everybody ask me to speak/present/etc no - when i was a kid and hordesman was my
primary mode, it was a big challenge to put an audience in the palm of my hand but i aint a kid no more

and i tend to avoid the anxiety, the effort etc, unless i am properly motivated
or getting paid, but the more i thought about it the guiltier i felt, so i told them yes

now i got to figure out what to say, 4 minutes in a string of antiwar speakers
i am not looking forward to this cause you know i got to shine, ima natural born showboat

and its been a long time since i tried to move the people
for these kind of tasks i assign the hordesman - he do know how to stir the crowd

i guess thats it for the moment, part of the reason i been off the grid
is that im not feeling my social/political commentary as words of power

you know me dear regulators, if my words aint words of power
i feel like im wasting my time and energy, of which i seem to have

less every year so im going to i think work on my holybook
for my rootsblog time,

and got to reload rootwork.com as part of that, lost my old hosting service
in the past, jeff parker, my mentor in online literary game, set up websites for me

this time im on my own, which is cool, i need the skilz, parker just show me the way
okay so anyway, the point is that the text of the hoodoo book of flowers is on rootwork.com

and these segments go in it, so hopefully will have it back up this week sometime
okay, a quick catchup for those who dont know - trying to do a hoodoo holybook

have tried different formats in the past, tried biblic, koranic, ifa, iching, nothing has worked
much less been luminous, now trying a divination system of my own making

9 cowrie tosses, 9 times 2, (made a divination chain after papa gede nibo bey
showed me the way) - so its 81 progressions - would like to coordinate this with

my 101 hoodoo haints initiative, the 101 talismans of rickydoc,
(so ima need 20 more somehow - i will figure it out as i work it)

you have to understand dear regulators that im about to let you see me make the
sausage so its going to be rough, hopefully ima put one a week up so its going

to be very rough, these 1st drafts will not be good drafts until ive finished
the whole draft and can start cleaning it up, but ima use working it out publicly to drive me

to completion, the embarrassment of weak work out there does it every time
the first 9 progressions are initiation:

the first toss is 0:0: 9 open cowries, 9 open cowries

very rare to get this divination so i call it the conjurors gift
(opps - freudian slip: i meant the conquerors gift)

for each one i will have a 9 block sequence of text
right now im thinking

1)  the progressions
2)  the story
3)  lifework: initation, family, health, love, commuity
4)  the tradition
5)  magic
6   illumination
7)  prophecy
8)  destinywork and the longgame
9)  the geas of rickydoc

so ima try to knock my initial draft and cleanup
over the next week or so, theoretically this will

take approximately 2 years (right, dream on rick)
cause i got to do it in my discretionary time

of which i have none, between family, schoolhouse, palf
and trying to maintain novel momentum im stressed

overextended, overplayed, underpaid
okay, quit crying rick, you do love the life

so - do the draft - 0:0: the conquerors gift

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

0:0:  the conquerors gift
in the name of the conqueror

crossroads: where every move changes things
when destiny lies in the choice of the moment

1) progressions: it is in the beginning that the paths are laid

beginnings are always hard, preparation a must
the moment is auspicious, seize the day

2) storyline:

The Legend of Highjohn the Conqueror
(The Way Zora Neale Tell It.  Jackie Torrance on the riff)

For a longtime Highjohn de Conqueror was just the name of a plant that grew wild in the marshland.  It was dug and dried and carried in the hand or worn about the neck to ward off haints, disease and nightmares.  The power root.  Break any obstacle.  Cause any problem to fall.  After awhile that plant became so powerful it began to walk like a natural man.

Now Highjohn the human kept out of the sight of folk.  Live Legba child in the swamp somewhere.  But whenever you in trouble you whisper his name and you can feel the Conqueror as he pass you in the breeze, listen good you hear him whisper in the trees. 

Zora claim the Conqueror must walk on the wind, cause he move so fast.  Say maybe he in Mississippi when the lash fall on a slave in the Sudan, but before the blood dry on the back the Conqueror is there.  Beating the unbeatable and superior to the whole mess a sorrow.  Claim this our day.  Claim to know the way.

Zora say its the Conquerors voice come through clearest on Sunday morning.  Say its the Conqueror whose worksong sustain you in the field.  Say wherever the work the hardest the Conqueror is there.  Lifting the hoe higher than anybody else and still have time to wipe the sweat from your brow.  To give you a cool drink of water. 

Zora say he apple pie sweet and  breh rabbit quick.  The cool breeze on a hot summer night and the wetness of a sweet summer rain.  He the hopebringer.  The burden bearer.  The battlefighter.  The jackpot winner.  He a mighty power.  An ultimate force.   When you whisper my name that bee dont sting.  That sqeeter dont bite.  That snake dont strike. 

Zora claim the conqueror help the slaves get free by tricking old massa.  Say after the slaves was free, the soul of the conqueror went into the Highjohn de Conquer root.  Waiting to return whenever there a need.  Say you call him and he be there before you finish saying his name.  Highjohn de Conqueror.  The Mighty Conqueroo.

Thats what Zora Neale say.  Ask her yourself if you dont believe me.

3)  lifework:

initiation: life as initiation, becoming aware, conscious, the moment of understanding life as illumination is the 1st step of a lifelong journey

family:  two families, the family you come from, the one you begin, better integration of the two is the call here

health:  health is a primary concern, renewed attention to the ital lifestyle is whats is called for in this toss

love:

community:

4)  the tradition

the divine in its many names and permutations
illumination of the african way of god requires . . .

5)  magic

making real into the world that which was not
the 1st step of magical is magical imagery

that which is to be manifested must
first be conceived - the power of the magician, the power of the artist

the power of ideas

the conjuror is skilled in the creation and vitilization of mental images
magical meditation is the power to build images in the mind and

feed them power until they are real in the world
this is the power of the conjure

feats of magic: making real that which was not
require thorough preparation and sanctification

peparation is called for here, sanctify yourself

6   illumination

7)  prophecy

8)  destinywork and the longgame

the roots of the african way of god in the americas were laid when
african captives were dispersed and not allowed to practice their religions

where allowed african religions were fused with catholicism because it had

room for the african gods in the catholic saints

in the united states, where african culture/religion was more severly repressed
african religion lost its divine nature and became magical - hoodoo

the african american slave community under mortal siege denied its priests, turned to its sorcerors. 

most every major slave rebellion included african holymen jamaica's macandal, brazil's ganga zumba, hait's boukman, gullah jacks and nat turners, inspiring the slaves to battle by claiming to protect from bullets and harm, by claiming those who died in the cause would be instantly transported back to guinee

(WEDNESDAY POSTCRIPT:  OKAY, THIS IS JUST NOT WORKING, IM NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS ONLINE, (I KEEP TELLING MYSELF THAT AND KEEP COMING BACK ADDING MORE, WE SHALL SEE, RIGHT NOW IT DOESNT FEEL LIKE ITS WORKING, THIS RAW TEXT IS KILLING ME, ITS EMBARRASSING ME - KEEP DOING IT FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK RICK, WHENEVER YOU GOT A DISCRETIONARY HOUR OR SO, BUT I REALLY NEED TO GIVE THOSE DISCRETIONARY HOURS TO THE NOVEL, THATS IT, I GOT TO FINISH MY NOVEL BEFORE I DIG INTO THIS, I JUST GOT TO BE PATIENT, PATIENCE PUPPY, PATIENCE)

9)  the geas of rickydoc

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

okay gotta go,, will work this later this week
duty calls, manuscripts must be read

i dont know if im going to be able to do this
its going to take too much time away from my novel

and the newage tonality is embarrassing me
i thnk im going to have to be patient and just do this after novel

i gave the morning to this and i could have clocked a page
or two, i will have to see

my love to you all
in particular snake and omi

fellow travelers and
keepers of the faith

rdoc

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

MONDAY postscript: i am a horse of the conqueror
a once upon a time (and still) horse of legba

but i am trying to supplant legbas role in the

african american pantheon w/the conqueror
as the african american afrosprititual rep

what african american panetheon you might ask
well thats what the 101 talismans of rickydoc aspire to be

and in it i see the conqueror as an african american legba
the trickster, the messenger, the gate opener

but with attributes specifically designed for our culture
our history, our destiny - our space and time

trying to give the conqueror attributes and a narrative
in rest for the weary and the rest of my works

so i was going to start with the conqueror

but my training is to open w/legba and im thinking maybe
i will open with legba instead and let the conqueror close

so 0:0 will now be Legbas Gift
while 9:9 will be The Conquerors Gift

but since i love the Conqueror so, i will do it first
which means i will do Legba and the Conqueror together????

because all this time i been thinking of the conquerors attributes
as the beginning, the opening toss,, and now i got confusion in my head

cause part of 0:0 is now legba and part is the conqueror
which is kinda appropriate since i consider them both riffs on the same thread

i will have to sort it out wont i
in the name of the conqueror

im outta here

rickydoc flowers
wouldbe prophet of the hoodoo way

hoodoo haints: in the name of the king, toni cade bambara and cultural workers, rickydoc flowers and ideological orchestration

SUNDAY

hello world, this turned into an interesting post (for this post you
need to put on some cassandra wilson cause this a magic carpet ride)

in the course of it i hainted martin luther king

getting very comfortable calling hoodoo ancestors haints and enjoyiing the process of gradually discovering them like im doing

think ima work it into rest (sorry ec)

im been using this riff where jubilation highjohn drape himself in 101 talismans when he is about to do performancework in the novel,

its become a trope but its 101 just because i liked the poetry of it - one hundred and one talismans

but what i should do is call on 101 hoodoo haints in the lyrical riffs - the hoodoo pantheon of rickydoc - drop an invocation into the text whenever i see narrative opp to do so

do it raw now, clean it up later -  narrative opps that reflect whatever attributes i want to give the haint
was thinking about it cause i hainted martin luther king while writing this post

im getting very comfortable calling my hoodoo ancestors haints
hainting them as the process of transforming them into tribal deities/guides/etc

how would i define that loafication process, that orishafication process,the sanctification process, in which tribal ancestors are annointed, want something very hoodoo, haintifying, haintification maybe

am i deifying them, that dont quite work for a highmagician to construct a process of deification
its beneath me - in the holy narrative im attempting to create, how do i want these tribal haints to function

deities
or something more

gotta be something more

why then do i feel the need to make it a holy narrative
because its more culturally binding, more effective mythwork

but i dont ever want to encourage subjecting humanity to the rule of deities
i think i see deities as instruments of humanity being greater than it is, as guides not masters

at the same time i acknowledge that most folk need deities

or someting along this line, i will have to figure it out later
this dont sound like one i will be able to answer off the cuff

what happen was i working on this presentation for the
educational opportunties center syracuse

cultivating success

my 1st straight up motivational speaker gig
hate to charge them but i aint doing it for free no more

they teach folk struggling, working folk trying to get back in school, immigrants, refugees
im talking to the teachers, consultants, administrators at their annual thingee

talking about teaching as a sacred calling
about teaching folk whove been left behind to catch up
about the challenges of that in the 21st century -

talking about teaching as handling fragile souls and how you get
weary in those social work jobs but you know you doing what

nobody else can . . . (blah de blah de - o you know the routine
my basic riffs shaped to the moment

ima rock the house and get paid, not a lot,
just enuf to feel good about it

that mean i got to shine

conch, anklebells, bluesharp and kalimba
they gon get the throw down - the full monty

trying to think of a performance haint to call on
somebody who know how to put on a hoodoo show

maybe marie leveau
apparently she knew how to put on a show, w/the snake and all

or maybe martin, because thats the kind of show
i really want to put on, on the realside, thats who i emulate

as a performance speaker

i want the martin luther king effect
21st century stylee, hoodoo stylee

im the name of martin luther
thats who im going to call on for performance work henceforth

shame about his daughter dying recently
shame about the family not holding up the torch

but i guess it bes that way sometime
folk got the right to walk their own path

have to remember that w/my nephews, my crew
my daddy didnt push me, he let me make my own decisions

take the consequences of faulty ones
one decision ive never regretted was to hold the torch up high

imogunla alakoye once ask me, who most changed the african american condition
martin or malcom, and imogunla was a malcolm acolyte, even looked like him

but we both agreed it was martin

that say a lot to folk who lived thru the pre civilrights south
i was trying to explain it to a ghanian partner of mine the other evening

who was shall we say not appreciating nonviolence as a strategy and talking a lot of i woulda this and i woulda that and i tried to explain the pre civilrights south situation and why it was the strategic posture appropriate to the moment and the courage it took

and i tried to explain the difference the struggle made in our lives
how the struggle caused us to say we just wasnt gon take this kinda treatment no more

and i was so inarticulate but he felt what i was trying to say

you folk who went through that with me you know what im talking about
i know you feel me

and you folk wasnt there
you feeling it too - i know you do

recently picked up a book walking down jericho road about the memphis garbargeworkers strike that
brought martin to mason temple that rainy night in 68, when he say he been to the mountain top

say he aint fearing no man - may not get there with you
but we as a people will get to the promised land - i seen it he say

thats the hoodoo haint im calling on for performance work henceforth
in the name of the king do i do this

in struggle
rdoc

SATURDAY

hello world
trying to post but not really feeling it

bush giving up a lot of material but truth be told
bushs antics have begun to bore me

his recent comment about the deadlines causing more casualties
same old bush trying to blame otherfolk for the consequences of his policies

we all know why we taking casualties in iraq

bush de classifying years old report on al quaeda in iraq
samo samo - amazing that he thinks we will still fall for this selective intell trick

even folk used to believe him tired of it, he keeps trying the same old techs
the same old slogans

goodling immunized testimony blaming everybody but herself
samo samo - the republican rightwing has just tired me out

darfur  samo samo   haiti  samo samo, im tired
im weary in my bones im weary

this morning i followed a google inquiry to rootsblog posts from 3 years ago
and it was kinda depressing - most of it does not stand the test of time

and i have written a lot of wordage for this thing and still average 50 hits a day
i read about folk w/100s and 1000s of hits a day and there is arthur, still chugging along -

the little engine that could

ive tried being more topical, but topical often bores me
you want straight news best to get it elsewhere

if im going to be putting the time in i have to deal with whats important to me
which often im sure becomes repetitive because it reflects my obsessions

its like im thinking out loud, working thru concepts impo to me as a thinker
a visionary and ideological orchestrator

im fond of that concept you notice, ideological orchestration - got it from toni cade bambara basically
she once at a writers conference john o did at howard referred to writers as cultural workers

the term spoke to me - she called them cultural workers because of her left marxist thing
but ive always been comfortable with the great man/woman theory of history - if you get my drift

so i translated that as cultural orchestrators, befitting a players sensibility who considers everybody, including the powerful to be played - to be placed on the board of destiny - the visionary artist is a manifestation of the individual as historical force - the left i come out of isnt comfortable with that

this comes out of the aesthetic of the griotic literary school of which i am a member - we consider ourselves cultural custodians, shaping the culture through our works

over the years this strategic posture evolved into ideological orchestrators - ideological players like myself
in contention trying to shape the way the world thinks - thereby shaping the future, the destiny of humanity

- the longest most comprehensive game, the one that swallows all others, is the one that wins
that is most influential in the shape of things to come

i think ideological orchestration but often use cultural orchestration because its more digestible to folk

but other writers get deals and make money off thoughts not nearly as pertinent or profound
(at least i think they pertinent and profound, sometimes i wonder if im just delusional)

they get listened to and get respect, me im just out here wailing away for my 50 a day
i console myself w/awareness that visionaries often dont get play during their lifetime

but i do often wonder about this blog and the time investiture, wonder if its worth it
i got to assume it is, i have over the years come to trust my creative obsessions

like when i became obsessed with learning bluesharp
and blew and blew and blew and it felt like a diversion then but i couldnt help myself

and now it (and kalimba) have become integral parts of my identity as a literary bluesman
a performance poet and ritual prophet/sorceror

these obsessions feel like they a waste of time when you caught up in them
but i assume that all this blog wordage will be historically significant somehow someway

one hopes one prays
because i dont seem to have a choice in this, every couple of days i sit down no

matter what and just write about something anything, whatever come to my head
while im sitting there

these blogs dont work unless you get obsessive about it and i tend to
the obsessive, its my artistic temperament, my big projects - novels and holybooks

wouldnt get done if i wasnt obsessive about it
but sometimes it works against me and i hit the wall - repeatedly

just bam bam bam bam bam

ohwell, i got to assume that when the roll is called my name will be there
got to assume it will all work out and the generations will appreciate what ive done

got a little taste of the blues i believe
sorry ec, just dont feel like roaring today

lets do a couple of comments flowers and get outta here
maybe reflect on some ticklish situations in which im not quite following the progressive partyline

lebanon: what can they do, cant enter the camps and cant let fatah a islam keep growing, got to ignore palestinian complaints but i hope they work hard at minimizing collateral damage (dead civilians)

dustup between congressional black congress and fox news in one corner - obama, clinton, edwards
et al in the other - theyve all have refused to participate in a presidential debate cbc set up w/fox in september

im with the candidates, cant support fox news efforts to fake folk out when they use their power so blatantly against our interests as a people - somehow they will context this to their agenda of discrediting us

i hear the fox been giving the cbc various sorts of bribes and other pr moves, but their substance is poison - far as im concerned them cbc folk need to straighen up and fly right - or left as the case may be

immigration: conflicted about being supplanted by hispanics but have to come out in favor of compassionate immigration policies because of our historical alliance and because it also affects folk from africa and the caribbean - just hate that blackfolk falling further into the cracks but that aint the fault of hispanics is it

we basically got to do it like the jews did it - small numbers, big game, global backup
got to turn the whole race into players

advice to barack and hillary under attack from republicans for recent vote against funding: ignore them
dont let them get you all defensive about what you know is right - shaping the dialogue is an old repub trick

samesame ex president carter, i admire that man, he speak his mind when he know he right - did it with israel (that took courage), did it with bush (just speak the truth)

hated they forced him to backup w/that silly tradition of presidential courtesy, his allegiance should be to america, to a world afflicted with bushitis - speak truth to the people man and let the chips fall

something i have to constantly remind myself
in the name of jimmy carter

and toni cade bambara

im outta here, taking my blues to

the sacred desk and clock some pages
thats always good for what ails me

my love to you all

rickydoc flowers
hanging in there

hoodoo divination as a science of moral analysis: a system of tribal guidance and life initiation

hello world
and all my generations

on a hoodoo listserve the other day, missnippy raised the question of hoodoo divination systems as 'a science of moral analysis"

i had to ask for clarity
what pray tell is 'a science of moral analysis . . . '

wish i could tell you exactly what she said but i wouldnt feel
comfortable directly quoting listserve folk

but basically she said a system for building good character/ire,
a system for providing a path to your destiny

this of course sent me into a spasm of me me me

cause the hoodoo divination system im trying to build tries to
do just that . . . .my edited reply to her as follows:

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

bout what i figured, just wanted some clarity before i jumped into this discussion
as folk know this question of a hoodoo divination system is one thats dear to my heart

since i dont do initiation i have not had access to the ifa system and that irk me

hoodoo has many homegrown systems, folk use cards, water, tealeaves, ball in jack, etc, the
magical classics from a magical hodgepodge, kinda like hoodoo the system

but ive wanted a more structured system for my own use for some time now
one based on africanamerican culture, history and destiny

personally i prefer the head over the hand
the head just know, the hand use instruments

i feel like that conjuror in hyatt who say my constant study is to know
you when you walk in my door better than you know yourself

personally i think its stronger when you dont need instruments, you just Know
but the hand has its uses too, hoodoo theatre mostly

and as the beating heart of a system of moral analysis
tribal guidance and life initiation - the hand is wthout peer

for passing the knowledge on

as you know the word/concept 'hand' is a
hoodoo workhorse anyway

so i been working on a system, and i do so with all humility
the basic structure ive put online, just the outline, im working on the text offline

and will put it up when its clean enuf not to embarrass me
http://www.rootwork.com/hoodoobookofflowers.htm

then im just gon keep refining it for the rest of my life

i use 9 small highjohn roots and 9 cowries
and i throw twice because 9 just didnt give me enough progressions

the cowries i use for mathematical progressions, the science shall we say
the highjohn roots for totality

i use very small highjohn roots so it will all fit in my hand

i have tried to figure out how to chain them all but ive had
trouble making the cowries flexible enuf for a true toss

i will probably figure that out one day when i got time to really focus
ive found that tosses often fall too often toward the middle for my taste
but i will work that kink out also eventually -what im looking at now is putting
the more  daily questions of life into that busy zone - and those extreme moments of
life challenge and opportunity towards the rarer margins

bunch of kinks i got to work out
but hey i got a lifetime to do it

dont really need the highjohn roots but i like a little highjohn in whatever i do

as you will see, im trying to do a hoodoo holywork
in tandem with it, like the ifa corpus or the iching

im still trying to refine the 'system of moral analysis' as lifetime initiation

once i get that done i plan to translate the kinda generic initiation concepts
into more fully afroam folkloric concepts

ive had folk in the initiatory traditions tell me i cant do this, i dont have permission

but you can imagine what i think about that, ima do a divination system based on
afroam/hoodoo culture history and destiny, thats part of my ministry on this planet

in the name of the conqueror

i just cant really focus on it strong until i finish my current novel
which i consider just another type of sacred text

in my last literary hoodoo class we were discussing the nature of hoodoo sacred texts as explored in ishmaels mumbo jumbo, the variances between written and unwritten hoodoo sacred texts

i consider this my lifetime projects

and appreciate all suggestions, speculations and advisements
in this matter  - as always my appreciation: papa gedenibo bey lakwa

for your epigramic provocations - i be trying to laylow in the lurk
but yall keep talking bout things dear to my hoodoo heart

a hoodoo divination system/holybook is my thing
and i approach it with all humility  - as something thats just got to be done

i believe its our hoodoo generation got to step up
in the name of the conqueror

rickydoc trickmaster
wouldbe prophet of the hoodoo way
 
-------------------------------

to which papa gede nibo bey replied with encouragement
suggestions about how to make a hoodoo divination chain . . .

and an offer to try to try and make one . . .

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

god pop, that would be wonderful

i would really appreciate it, i will try to
do one using your advice but one made
by your hand would mean so much to me

that crabclaw gullahjack hand you once made
me is still one of my primary instruments

should i send you highjohn roots
do you plan to work the roots in

would that mess with the flexibility of a chain toss
(btw: found a new source of bulk highjohn, will tell you if it pans out)

not necessary to have the roots but i love
having the conqueror in the house and that

give me the space for perception of the totality
beyond the 'scientific' given of the progressions

i use flattened cowries in the throw and i try to find
ones that are relatively uniform shaped so as to help
with that tendency to fall asymetrical

i will look at your advice for constructing a chain
but whatever you come up with will be divinely appreciated    

forgive me for macking on but yall got me going now, thinking about how much
i appreciate that crabclaw hand papa gede nibo bey made me sometime back

as some of you know i do hoodoo performance work - on the college circuit mostly
but also in downhome and various sacred environments,

on the college circuit i think more in terms of exposing them to hoodoo as transcendental
communal healing experience, exposing them to the tradition and giving a good show (and getting paid)

but downhome i pull out the stops and do my hoodoo prophecy thing,
depending on how deeply in the tradition the audience is thats how deep i go

when i throw divination for clients or private at home i use a bowl

but when im doing it in public performance i put down a siete potentia eleke
to make a sacred circle, i put my gullahjack crabclaw in the middle of it to sanctify it

then i throw

i got into public hoodoo performance as prophecy thing
cause of reading a book on the prophet diviners of east africa

recently did a string of performancework in kenya back in december
got called mganga maua -  witchdoctor flowers in swahili - god i loved that

specially since i once read a book on the prophetic traditions of east africa
that said the difference between the diviner and the diviner prophet in the traditions of east africa

is that the diviner only throws for clients and self
in private

while the diviner prophet throws publicly to provide guidance for the entire tribe
and since i personally aspire to the prophetic

and since i am trying to position hoodoo as the prophetic tradition in the afrospiritual pantheon
since i am trying to flip hoodoos outsider role into a position of power

make us a more integral part of the afrospiritual traditional family
and still maintain the independence and freedom from subjugation to
other folks dogmas and theologies

that i feel is an integral part of hoodoos magical unique power

the prophet is in it but not of it - the prophet is part of the system
but not subject to it - specifically designated by the culture w/the dispensation
to provide new paths - beyond dogma - in it but not of it

thats why i dont initiate - i serve the conqueror
and the conqueror do not bow

but in order to position hoodoo as the prophetic tradition of the afrospiritual family
i almost have to develop a divination system with the potential of ifa

but based on afroam culture, history and destiny
one designed for a 21st century and beyond mentality

thats why that odu 2007 spoke to me so hugely sometime back

i got a lot of good ideas from that work
bout how to make this work right

one of my biggest problems been maintaining afrospiritual centricity
ive come to learn that i think western, the western part of me has primacy

i struggle with that, i use it and i struggle with it
nurturing my africansoul howsomeever i can

sorry, feel like im hogging the conversation
but this thing of hoodoo divination and prophecy

as 'a science of moral analysis"

a system of tribal guidance and individual life initiation
is one that is truly dear to me

pop i would so much appreciate that chain
to go with my gullahjack crabclaw

in the name of the conqueror
and gullahjack too

rdoc

2007 ODU: CUBAN COUNCIL OF ELDER PRIESTS OF IFA

hello world
and all its generations

this ODU (reading/divination/propehcy) by the cuban council of elder priests of ifa
is important to me on a lot of fronts,

1, this is a model of what i need to do for my
yearly griotic report

amazing how the universe will give you what you need when you need it

cause 2, as you know dear surfer ive been trying to develop a hoodoo diination system
because i am so envious of this one, the ifa system, and i want to do divination
on a level beyond what i do now but hoodoo aint got no divination system and

ifa they wont teach you unless you deep in the tradition but i cant initiate cause
the conqueror dont bow  -  thats why ima hoodooman in the 1st place

and then there those cultural moments when you realize ifa was designed for another culture
i want something rooted deep in afroam culture history and destiny - thats why ima hoodooman in the 1st place

but i want that divinatory power in hoodoo, i want that prophetic power
so i almost got to  develop a divination system based in hoodoo and afroam culture history and destiny

doing it in conjunction with an attempt to develop a hoodoo holybook
a blackworld holybook based on a sacred history of the black world

the hoodoo book of flowers: the great black book of generations
interesting that i tried all these other formats before settling on an ifa divination model

i tried a biblic format, a koranic format, a iching format - none of them worked
much less achieved numinousity

so now im trying a divination format, an ifa/iching format because i want/need to
incorporate a prophetic element in the hoodoo tradition,

i feel this odu
the conqueror talking to me

problem with me building a afroam hoodoo divination system riffing off ifa
is that as a self taught diviner i know so little, in fact i know nothing, im flying blind
(get it, the blind diviner, ahem)

but im not willing to go through iniitation in another system
just to learn the tricks of the divination trade, i am constitutionally incapable

i will have to speak to the conqueror and patchwork one together
so what else is new in the hoodoo way (and afroam culture)

i envy hoodoos who practice hoodoo in conjunction
with practice in the various african traditional systems

at least they know one system well

i see stuff like this and i wonder how the hoodoo way
will ever reach the kind of divinatory legitimacy ifa has

i want to position the hoodoo way at the crossroads

between systems, in it but not of it, not subject to other folk theological rules and regulations
dont nobody encompass the conqueror - the conqueror do not bow

trying to flip hoodoos outsider status into the power point, the prophetic point
but that mean i need to know all the systems

what you dont know in any one system cause folk
deep in that system to lose respect for you

but when you aspire to be a generalist and know them all
its always something you dont know in any one given system

i keep finding out theres stuff i dont know in my own system

specially when i want to position the hoodoo way as the prophetic voice
in the african traditional family

i see stuff like this and i wonder how the hoodoo way
will ever reach the kind of divinatory legitimacy ifa has

this would be so much easier if i was able to study practice and master ifa
then use that to riff the hoodoo way, but i guess then i wouldnt be driven to do
a hoodoo system would i - gon have to improvise, thats what we do best

anymethod anytime

i would love to study all these systems as an insider instead of a clueless outsider
but the conqueror dont bow - its hoodoo do or die

i myself use my head rather than my hands

but this divinatory/prophetic thread is very much
what i want to incorporate into the hoodoo tradition

this odu spoke to that interest on a lot of levels
this odu answered questions i hadnt even asked

i would be interested in any insight into this process and product

my understanding is in many of the prophetic traditions of east africa the difference
between the basic diviner and the divinerprophet is that the prophet
assumes responsibility for the community and not just the client

the powers are the same, just one works for self and client
the other god and community

the diviners readings are private, the prophets divinations
public and communal

far as i can see the only thing that really distinqiushes those of us
who claim a cultural role for hoodoo is the sense of responsiblity
for the welfare of the community

help the tribe survive another winter, everything i do is about
the survival and the prosperity, the illumination of our generations

this is what the folk who just passing thru would strip from hoodoo

this reading, this process, this power
strikes me as a potential instrument of manifesting that responsibility

be well
rickydoc trickmaster

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

Odu:  OKANA JUANI

Prophecy:  Ire Arikú Oyale, (A well-being of health thanks to
Orunmila) an Adimú offering should be given to Orunmila of obi, omi
tuto (water, and coconut). This offering should given as soon as
possible.

Governing Orisha:  Ochanlá (Female Obatala)
Accompanying Orisha:  Ogun
Banner:  White with purple borders

EBO:  1 rooster, 1 hen with 5 toes, used clothes, a trap, arrows,
dirt from the house, earth from the river, a knife, machete,
surgical instruments, a toy gun, measurements of the person, and
the intestines of the ebo animals. Opolopo owo.   (Lots of money).

Herbs of this Odu:  Chamomile, Cundeamor, Hierba de la Sangre,
Bledo
Blanca and Purple Basil.  (Consult your elders before using.)

REFRANES OF THE ODU:

Dress me slowly because I am in a hurry.
Where the truth is uncovered, the lie is discovered.
In war, he who sleeps loses.
That which has a principle has an objective.
The machete comes and cuts off the head of the corn that challenged it.
The clay doll never falls without ceasing to exist.

OFFERINGS OF THE ODU:  Bananas for Shango.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Ifa Says:  In this Odu there exist affectations to people's health,
with regard to the nervous and gastrointestinal systems, the mouth,
and sexually transmitted diseases.  It is recommended that everyone
attend to his or her oral hygiene, not overeat, especially at
night.  It is advised that people not eat food that is hot, overly
spicy or containing excessive condiments or oil.  Food should eaten
fresh and not leftover for many days.  The general level of
nutrition should be improved for everyone wherever possible
especially for the children.

Ifa Says:  Men should be careful with their sexual relationships, so
as to not develop sexual dysfunction.

Ifa Says:  Men should avoid conflicts between themselves caused by women.

Ifa Says:  This Odu speaks of legal problems and their
repercussions, which could have the consequence of incrementing
corruption and crime at different social and familial levels. 
(This Odu proscribes that all illegal activities be punished with
justice).

Ifa Says:  It is recommended that all property have legal title and
that any issues regarding inheritance be resolved with family
understanding.

Ifa Says:  Avoid any type of family violence.  This Odu prohibits
the mistreatment of women.

Ifa Says: We should care for and preserve our biological and
spiritual families.  The religious community should unite in order
to avoid fraud produced on the part of unscrupulous people; we
should struggle against the commercialization of the religion.

Ifa Says:  This Odu proscribes that Babalawos be humble and an
example for our communities.  He who does not embody these ethical
norms is not a deserving member of our religion.

Ifa Says:  This Odu recommends good relations between neighboring
countries.

Ifa Says:  We should not meddle in other people's business and
maintain good convivial relationships with our neighbors.  (One
cannot be nosey).

Ifa Says:  This Odu warns against family crises due to disrespect
and a lack of understanding of each member's role in the family;
every family should strive to resolve these issues – this includes
our spiritual families.

Ifa Says: In the upcoming year we have to feed Elegua.

Ifa Says:  We should attend to the Orisha The Ibeji (los jimaguas)
and receive them if we do not yet have them.

Ifa Says:  Wear the Achaba (chain) of Ogun.

Ifa Says:  This Odu warns that we should have a religious vigilance
to guard against dirty fighting, sorcery and the sending of spirits
that is present at this time.

Ifa Says:  Pregnant women should take special care with their
pregnancies this year as this Odu warns against congenital birth
defects.  Taboos against sexual relations between family members
should be strictly adhered to.

Ifa Says:  This year, we must pay special attention to our young
people to be sure they are on the right path, as a departure from
the norm could cause mental disorders to develop in their mothers.

Ifa Says:  We should be especially careful driving all types of
vehicles and avoid excessive speeds and driving while under the
influence.

Ifa Says:  We should adhere to our religious instructions in order
to avoid difficulties and problems in our daily lives.

Ifa Says:  The priests of Ifa, the Obases, the Babalochas and
Iyalochas should be careful and prudent while interpreting the
different Oracles.

For general knowledge 

On the first of December of 2006, the members of the Cuban Council
of Elder Priests of Ifa in the presence of a significant number of
Cuban Babalawos, and those of other countries, held ceremonies
corresponding to the preamble of the 2007 Odu of the Year which
were carried out at the Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba. 
>   
The recommendations of Ifa were the following: 

What was requested by the 25 prime positions was complied with, and
in all cases, the response of the deities was satisfactory. 

On December 30, 2006, the corresponding sacrifices, which were
determined in the preamble, were made to the proper deities, which
concluded with the realization of the Odu of the Year in the small
hours of 1 January of 2007.

THESE CEREMONIES TOOK PLACE AT THE "YORUBA CULTURAL ASSOCIATION OF
CUBA."

i works the soul

MONDAY
i works the soul

hello world

just got back from brooklyn
had a good newren workshop
its really growing well
workshops are such a longgame thing
that sometimes you wonder

but we got some good strong writers in there
and we been working lately on preparing the next generation,
most of us now are in our 50s, oldschool warriors still hitting that lick

and we didnt have but a couple of youngsters
so we been concentrating on young talent
we 50 odds figure we got about 10 good productive years left before
we start getting shall we say tired
(hopefully 20, 30 or more, but 10 we can count on)

and im real pleased with the young folk we been
gathering, some good and true talent

got to work on structuring a strong institution to
leave them

those of you who know the history know that i was once
exec dir of the harlem writers guild, a 50 year old institution
ran into some problems with my youthful enthusiasms
and got tossed,

when they tossed me, my whole generation of writers left with me
the real writers, the ones that really cared

they bet on flowers
just couldnt leave me hanging in the wind by myself

the harlem writers guild put out an anthology recently
and didnt include me or my generation, they excommunicated us - that hurt

so me maintaining and taking newren to higher ground
this an act of redemption for me

plus that john o killens, my mentor, was a founder of the guild
i remember a delegation of us going to john and asking him if it was okay if we broke off and started a new guild and him saying okay

just maintain

i was trained to approach this workshopping thing as part of building black institutions

john tried to build into african american literature an infrastructure
that facilitates the nurturing of committed black writers and thinkers

literary visionaries
you train a strong artist/visionary and no telling what they will contribute

(samesame hoodooman, my specialty is unleashing artists - then they produce a healthy body of work and its just grows and grows)

a lot of that is passing on what each generation in the tradition learns to the next generation
i would not be who i am today if i had not been the beneficiary of john o killens life
of struggle and service - and he of the ones who passed it on to him

ive reached that point in my artistic and hoodoo life where passing it on to the next generation
is as important as getting my own work done

i cant let john o, the newren crew, or my literary tradition down
every month i trek on down to the city
finances, weather or weariness, dont nothing stop that show (unless the crick rise)

ima do whatever i got to do to take
that operation to higher ground

whenever you get hammered
when you regroup you got to regroup on higherground
then its all progress, all part of the growing process

that way adversity is transformed into strength
thats what the blues is about

i got to go, got to get todays work done
just wanted to get a post started

my hit numbers been growing since katrina
i got to maintain that

gon be interesting to see what my next phase gon be
i can feel a new level of engagement coming down
i think cause i been in the woodshed and the things i work out in
my novels i generally try to manifest in the 'realworld'

the effort of which feeds back into the authenticity of the novel

prophecy for instance
its a difficult process to explain, maybe later

today im feeling fey today like i sometimes get
dont know where this post will go this week

reason i started this post is i was back there ripping these two tapes
i found at the library:  one - violin, sing the blues for me: african american fiddlers 1926 - 1949
oldschool violin blues, im really enjoying it too

seems the violin was the instrument of choice for african american
musicians until the 1930s or so when the guitar took over

the other - clasic blues: recordings of the smithsonian collection
and im reading the liner notes, right - its been such a music education reading the liner notes
of the 1000s of cds ive listened to since i discovered the public librarys stash

and there was this quote of roosevelt sykes that spoke to me
both as a bluesman and a hoodooman (for me thats always been a paired set)

"now some people dont understand.  they think a blues player has to be worried, troubled to sing the blues.  thats wrong.  ill put it this way: theres a doctor, he has medicine.  he aint sick but he has stuff for the sick people.  so the blues player, he aint worried and bothered, but hes got something for the worried people.  doctor you can see his medicine you can see his patient.  blues you cant see the music, you cant see the patient cause its soul.  so i works the soul, and the doctor works on the body"

thats me
i works the soul

as some of you know my daddy was a prominent medical doctor in old memphis
back when being a black doctor was a big struggle and achievement

believe me, i know

id love to tell his story but im shamed to say
i just dont know it that well
does any man ever really know his father

but i do know he had this abiding sense of responsibility for the health
of the colored folk of south memphis

one of my favorite lines, i use it every chance i get
was one i heard as a child:

doctor flowers still own half the kids on the southside
cause they havent been paid for

ive always wanted to walk in his footsteps
thats what i call myself doing as a hoodoo doctor
he worked the body, i works the soul

rickydoc flowers
spiritdoctor

awaken the sleeper
protect the weak
guide the strong

the hoodoo book of flowers: part 0: outline

okay the latest outline draft of
the hoodoo book of flowers
the great black book of generations

a book of changes
a book of divination

a work in progress

7 cowries on a string
2 open throws & 1 hidden (the hoodoo throw)

rough outline that will revise itself as work progress
but now that i have a functional draft of an outline
i will do the first segment next - legbas gift

gon use a lot of the sacred tarot of the brotherhood of life
and the wilheim translation of the iching
the structure of entries comes from the craft of power by r.l. siu

the introductory epigram is by ras hui

"thats what love, cooperation and unity are in a society
a comforter, im a comforter for my people so i have
great dominion and power, glory and authority
but i use my discretion and my people love i
because i heal their afflictions"

o o o o o o o - legbas gift: the prophets call
(all bets off - move w/caution)

1st movement: invocation
1    x o o o o o o

1    x o o o o o o    1:1:invocation:  will
2    x x o o o o o    1:2:invocation:  knowledge
3    x x x o o o o    1:3:invocation:  action
4    x x x x o o o    1:4:invocation:  manifestation
5    x x x x x o o    1:5:invocation:  inspiration
6    x x x x x x o    1:6:invocation:  universal law
7    x x x x x x x    1:7:invocation:  trial

2nd movement: inittiation:
2    x x o o o o o

8    x o o o o o o    2:1:initiation: sacrifice
9    x x o o o o o    2:2:initiation: fortitude
10    x x x o o o o    2:3:initiation: defeat
11    x x x x o o o    2:4:initiation: finesse
12    x x x x x o o    2:5:initiation: victory
13    x x x x x x o    2:6:initiation:  transformation
14    x x x x x x x    2:7:initiaton:  regeneration

3rd movement: life
3    x x x o o o o

15    x o o o o o o    3:1:life: birth
16    x x o o o o o    3:2:life: youth
17    x x x o o o o    3:3:life: relationships
18    x x x x o o o    3:4:life: work
19    x x x x x o o    3:5:life: mating
20    x x x x x x o    3:6:life: growth
21    x x x x x x x    3:7:life:  maturity

4th movement: empowerment
4    x x x x o o o

22    x o o o o o o    4:1:empowerment: vitality
23    x x o o o o o    4:2:empowerment: preparation
24    x x x o o o o    4:3:empowerment: game
25    x x x x o o o    4:4:empowerment: union
26    x x x x x o o    4:5:empowerment: struggle
27    x x x x x x o    4:6:empowerment: service
28    x x x x x x x    4:7:empowerment: power

5th movement: illumination
5    x x x x x o o

29    x o o o o o o    5:1:illumination: vision
30    x x o o o o o    5:2:illumination: journeys
31    x x x o o o o    5:3:illumination: challenges
32    x x x x o o o    5:4:illumination: crossroads
33    x x x x x o o    5:5:illumination: demonology
34    x x x x x x o    5:6:Illumination: mastery
35    x x x x x x x    5:7:illumination: transformation

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