[Movie Review] Noelle Bowles examines Ryan Coogler’s hit film “Sinners,” speaking with Tony Kail, cultural anthropologist and scholar of Hoodoo, about how this story of vampires and the blues in the Jim Crow south faithfully incorporates Hoodoo and rootworking.
https://wildhunt.org/2025/06/mojo-music-and-magic-in-ryan-cooglers-sinners.html
#sinners #sinnersmovie #pagan #hoodoo #moviereview #witchcraft #africantraditionalreligion #blues #jimcrow #rootwork #vampires #spoilers
Occult Black History Month
let's talk about Betsy Bailey, a woman we know primarily through her grandson Frederick Douglass's writings, particularly in 'My Bondage and My Freedom.'
what we know for certain:
- she was a gardener and root gatherer on Maryland's Eastern Shore
- she was known in her community for interpreting dreams with remarkable accuracy
- she traveled between plantations despite restrictions on slave movement
- she helped raise Frederick until he was around 8
- she maintained significant respect and influence in her community despite being enslaved
Douglass specifically wrote about her 'power of divination' and her ability to interpret dreams, noting how both enslaved and free people sought her counsel. he also documented her extensive knowledge of plants and her regular travels between plantations.
she represents countless others whose names and practices are lost to us. for every Betsy Bailey whose story partially survived through her grandson's fame, there were thousands of others who carried ancient African spiritual traditions, healing knowledge, and divination practices across the Atlantic. their wisdom, largely undocumented, flows through the roots of American folk magic and spiritual traditions.
now, let's speculate (and i want to emphasize here that i am speculating):
given what we know about:
- the role of root workers in enslaved communities
- how plant knowledge was often used to maintain communication networks
- the importance of dreams in African American spiritual traditions
- the ways enslaved people used 'acceptable' roles to mask resistance
it's fascinating to consider how Bailey might have used her recognized roles as gardener and dream interpreter to maintain community connections and possibly aid in resistance. her ability to move between plantations and her respected status would have given her unique opportunities for gathering and sharing information.
but we should be careful not to romanticize. she lived under brutal conditions, and whatever power she wielded was exercised within the severe constraints of slavery.
what's most documented and remarkable is how she influenced her grandson's understanding of power and knowledge. Douglass's later writings about dreams, visions, and natural signs suggest her lasting impact on his worldview.
she represents something crucial about power: how it can flow through unexpected channels, how knowledge passes between generations, and how influence can be wielded even under the most oppressive conditions. her grandson would shake America with words, but first he learned from her that power grows in the dark, in the dirt, in the dreams they can't steal.
attached is the youngest contemporary depiction of Frederick Douglass i could find as no known pictures exist of Betsy Bailey, sadly
#BlackHistoryMonth #history #rootwork #resistance #dreams #BLM #spirituality #divination #dreams #plantmedicine #occult #magic #magick #witchcraft
Ok frens! Have you seen newest #Rootwork by Thandisizwe Chimeringa?
It's a doozy. #LAWildfires
Tune in... https://www.youtube.com/live/9lE0Ov4bBtg
candles burning, sing a psalm
roots aplenty, healing balm
poppets, juju, mojo bags,
florida water washrag
goofer dust and laying tricks
this is how I get my licks
#poem #poetry #conjure #rootwork #hoodoo #folklore #WritingCommunity #ZiraPhema
#Gullah #Geechee lesson on what our flag means
Black is for the #African people
The black inverted triangle symbolize self-determination
The Haint Blue is a #hoodoo #rootwork color of protection from bad spirits #Haints are bad spirits so #HaintBlue protects us from them
Green is for Land
Gold represents the Sun
The #rice crop represents our ancestors agricultural knowledge
Crab represents Unity, Loyalty and Self Sufficiency
Spears represent the #GullahWars
#Kwanzaa Day 6! Kuumba (Creativity) ✨ 🕯️ 🙏🏽 🌈
"To do always as much as we can to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it".
"Why Willie Mae Thornton Matters”
Description: Lynnee Denise - DJ, scholar, artist and daughter of Black Los Angeles - has written a new biography of the blues artist popularly known as Big Mama Thornton.
https://www.youtube.com/live/_AHgWhiaKnk?feature=shared
#ThandisizweChimurenga #BlackPowerMedia #RootWork #Kwanzaa2023 #Kuumba
First, WOOT! Magic in the U.S. made it to Apple podcasts browse carousel as "WE'RE LOVING" and I'm just *hearts and flowers*!
Next, episode 5 is out: Rootwork and the Great Migration! https://www.magicintheunitedstates.com/episode-5
#hoodoo #rootwork #conjure #AfricanAmericanHistory #americanhistory #greatmigration #folkhealing #folkmagic #folkpractice
@SpotifyNews@mastodon.world @applepodcasts@twit.cmck.io @applepodcasts@gateway.occm.cc @amazonmusic@mastodon.socialspill.com
Magic, religion, secular society, and more -- listen to Episode 1 of "Magic in the United States" now! (And please repost, like, and share widely!)
Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and more!
https://www.magicintheunitedstates.com/episodes/s1e1
#witch #occult #esoteric #religiousstudies #history #americanhistory #magic #magick #sorcery #newpodcast #podcast #premiere #witchcraft #halloween #rootwork #conjure #hoodoo #lucumi #spiritualism #espiritismo #spiritism #santeria #wicca #gardnerian
Magic, religion, secular society, and more -- listen to Episode 1 of "Magic in the United States" now! (And please repost, like, and share widely!)
Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and more!
https://www.magicintheunitedstates.com/episodes/s1e1
#witch #occult #esoteric #religiousstudies #history #americanhistory #magic #magick #sorcery #newpodcast #podcast #premiere #witchcraft #halloween #rootwork #conjure #hoodoo #lucumi #spiritualism #espiritismo #spiritism #santeria #wicca #gardnerian
@Urbanhedgelady Come to think of it, include wisdom herbs in SELF-love spells, too -- because the problem you're treating is that you *don't* have an accurate view of your virtues and value.
@Urbanhedgelady
Yeah, that's a non-traditional but powerful way to use love spells.
AND -- I always include wisdom elements in all my love work, because a) the "biological bait" of infatuation can really cloud your thinking and make you needlessly desperate, b) so can poor role models in your life experience, and c) fuck rom-coms anyway.
Raised agnostic by religiously disenchanted parents, I'm a former #jehovahswitness -- converted at 17, and that was all my adolescent rebellion. Twenty years later I had a religious breakdown and took shelter with the #UnitarianUniversalists, a step I recommend to everyone who needs to deconvert. Under their wing, I became a #NeoPagan and learned about #folkmagic, especially #hoodoo (aka #rootwork and #conjure).
2/3
Wanna know what #book is really, really good?
Rootwork by Tracy Cross
#darkfiction #darkhart #hoodoo #rootwork
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/7dad2bed-321c-452a-9aba-5447e657c8f8
#introduction? I’m a full time Private Duty Nurse and a part time Relationship Coach, Reiki Master & occasional Witch for hire. I’ve also gotten into #voiceacting this year as well! I transitioned to #polyamory in 2008 & have 2 life partners.
Would love to connect with folks who have similar interests as mine! #ethicalnonmonogamy, #astrology, #voiceacting, #scifi, #fantasy, #horror, #prisonreform, #mentalhealth, #tarot, #hoodoo #rootwork, #polyamory, #spirituality, #starwars
