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

 

Comments

[omi]

i'm so sorry to hear about lady comes calling. i've lost a few pets over the years myself, so i know how you feel. i have my first cat now--oludare--and i've had him since he was 12 wks old. he's the first animal i've actually "raised" on my own. so i know i'll miss him whenever he goes...

take care.