041223
the weather has changed, been porch weather
so i can work on mi roots wo killing myself
mi high john the conquer roots
worked into works of art and magic
using cowries and 7 african powers elekes
i dont do the crystals no more
too much work, this is a 1st generation
one for phil le marche - i dont do wrap
around elekes any more either, just
one row now - oldman got to restrain himself
i love doing them, each root is shaped diff
so i follow the natural grooves and i always
leave a natural groove for the thumbwork
also i place the cowrie for thumbwork in hand
high john the conqueror is my patron haint
the returning culture hero i want to be
(you need me you call me i will come)
it was zora neale did the mythwork during WWII
when she conflated the jophn the trickster slave tales
with the high john the conquer root
swore HJ tricked old master to free the slaves
and that his soul now resides in the conquer root
waiting to return whenever blackfolk in need
the magical use of the root is to overcome
all obstacles, you got a challenge coming
up that you need your confidence boosted you
feed that root your favorite scent or spirit and
all obstacles will fall before you - guaranteed
when i abandoned the folk magic paradigm i kept the conquer root
felt like i could retool it for a 21st century sensibility and i am a
horse of the conqueror - shalabongo
so i do them up for folk, they have become rare
because they are illegal to import and over
the years the stock had dwindled so you only
find shake and babyroots these days but i
got a plenty and its summer porch weather i can
do the do - its been years since i done roots
ive become severely allergic to them,
and my shaky hands, hell i cut myself
even when i was steadyhanded
(when it happens i rub the blood into the
root, they are truly Worked by Flowers)
soo i bought some anticut work gloves
and i been waiting till i can sit on porch -
masked and goggled (entertaining neighbors)
sat down yesterday and got three prepared
i was surprised i got thru 1 much less 3
finished my hoodoo almanc draft yesterday, which is why
i had the discretionary focus to Work roots in 1st place
ima spend the next two weeks getting thru my backlog
i been promising some folk roots for years
so who do i absolutely owe in what order
dana XX
desmonde XX
michale jackson X
sheree and danian X
arthur, james, fred, cleveland,
annie and sarah
ishmael reed
kayla
bruce smith X
jen
nana
mikael
channel
X them when ive started working them
double XX them when they done
then maybe the griot shop folk / mi students
these are the folk i owe, then i will start
working thru new owes
be safe
040923
mother nature has no soul
came up with that line today and it gave me chills
am conventionalizing my narrative of almanac this draft
i write in same no cap broken lines i do here but i did
a segment conventional and it looked good and im tired
of writing books nobody will by so anyway i was working
on a section called Divine Evil and this line
popped up and i hesitated, di i want to say that
do i believe that, well yes i do, so . . .
JUN27: ON DIVINE EVIL
Folk blame God for the Hammer. Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, random violence, debilitating diseases, wars and privations. Don’t waste your time wondering why me, Lord, blaming God - God aint got nothing to do it. We no longer think Thunder is God’s Anger. We know now thunder is meterological process that we thru undertstanding harness as electricity.
There is much that we have not figured out but we do know this. Mother Nature has no soul. When the earth shifts in search of its own equilibrium people die. When galaxies shift planets die/ Suns expire. Most folk panic when megadeath catch up w/them but now is the time you must be ruthlessly logical. If you survive, rebuild better, stronger, no blame. If not sing your best death song and go w/dignity. Sometime survival is more than self, sometime survival come down to family, community, humanity, and the only sacrifice I will accept is your own
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