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:

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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
 
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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

Comments

[omidele]

WOW. i mean...WOW.

i'm currently training in the ifa tradition. i don't know a whole lot about hoodoo (i suppose i didn't grow up southern enough...lol. i'm from baltimore), but just the concept of what you're trying to do & the way you speak on the notion of the "longgame"...

fascinating.

seeing us get back to our spiritual roots is extremely edifying, whether they are "purely" african or mixed with the things we learned on these shores. while i understand the importance of initiation among my ancestors & my current elders, i'm also well aware that at the end of the day, it's one's character, spirit, and heart that make the real difference.

aboru, aboye, abosise.

peace & blessings

~omi~

[rickydoc flowers]

wow i mean wow
cant tell you how much your comments mean
to me my brother

cause i do believe we afrospiritual practitioners
have a distinct responsibility as cultural custodians

i believe that we spose to be guiding the tribal destiny and providing a way - guide and guardian is what i call it

and that if the race stumbling its our fault
so when a fellow practitioner say they feeling it

thats what i live for
far as im concerned thats the answer

i think about haitian vodou sometime
and i think if vodou was on the case

haiti just couldnt be in the shape its in
i believe the criteria of judgment for a systems value lies in the lifecondition of its adherents

i look around the world and blackfolk on the bottom of their respective societies wherever you find them in the world

everywhere in the world aint nobodys fault but ours
our culture must be empowered in some way we havent figured out yet

afrospiritual practitioners love to talk about our power, we so strong in the magic, so strong in the spirit, but our people are suffering so somehow someway we got to get on the good foot

okay, let me get off my hobbyhorse

thanks for the shoutout
together we can do this

in the name of the conqueror
good looking out

[omi]

(i'm a sista, btw. *grin*)

good points...and i agree with you. i've wondered about that myself.

i think part of the problem is refusing to systematically honor our ancestors and our children. it seems to be both the simplest and most difficult task ahead of us, but it's also key to our forward movement and survival.

we're also going to have to organize. i think this kind of thing is a good start: http://www.narcworld.com/home.html.

ifa--and other atr systems--is a way of life that reinforces values i was raised with, e.g. the importance of family, children, and elders. simply being exposed to this way of thinking and being is healing, let alone the rituals, prayers, etc.

maybe that's the key: extrapolating (and remembering/reinforcing) those ideals to our community at large and putting aside the "my house is better than your house" mentality.

thankfully, it seems that the atr houses are becoming like non-denominational xtian churches--there are so many people with so many paths that you can step into one house and learn about three or four different cultures.

the ancestors are leading us towards unity, slowly but surely. i firmly believe that.

but we weren't broken down in a day, so we won't heal in a day. even tho many days it seems imperative that we try.

peace.

my apologies omi, i stand corrected

please replace all my brother reference
w/my sister

pleasure making your acquaintance

always good to meet folk who see as you do
always good to meet a fellow traveler

get a little reassurance along the way

in struggle
rdoc