Hoodoo teachers and courses

[Samael777]

Hello everyone,

I’ve been contemplating enrolling in a hoodoo course. I’ve already completed a few courses, including one with a local teacher and another at the Blackthorne School. However, I’d like to attend a course taught by one of the renowned hoodoo teachers.

I’m currently thinking about enrolling in one of the courses offered on the Crossroads University website, which are created by Denise Alvarado. However, I’m curious to know about other great hoodoo teachers who might be worth considering.

If anyone has any recommendations, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Morell]

My recommendation is to build on what you have already learned.

You say that you've completed few courses. So recapitulation is in order before you put into it more money:
What did you learned so far?
How is it useful to you so far?
Does it work?
Were you able to build your own independent practice?
How good is your practice after all those courses?
After multiple courses, are you now at least half capable of teaching that stuff yourself?

So? What do you have?

 

[Samael777]

T

My recommendation is to build on what you have already learned.

You say that you've completed few courses. So recapitulation is in order before you put into it more money:
What did you learned so far?
How is it useful to you so far?
Does it work?
Were you able to build your own independent practice?
How good is your practice after all those courses?
After multiple courses, are you now at least half capable of teaching that stuff yourself?

So? What do you have?

Thank you for your reply.

I’ve been practicing the stuff I’ve learned so far, but the results are inconsistent, mostly unsuccessful though.
But I know that I’ve been studying diligently what I’ve been taught, and integrating with knowledge from books, and I feel a strong attraction for the tradition itself, so I don’t want to just dismiss it like it’s not useful or not capable of bringing results.
So I was wondering if maybe learning from some other, more affirmed and possibly knowledgeable, teachers could help me figure out what I’m doing wrong so far, just in case my original sources were not that good in teaching.

For example, the local teacher mostly provided recipes and information taken from one of the most known authors, without giving explicit credits to her, so this made me wonder how much of a good teacher really was.

I’m asking for reviews and opinions on good teachers then to avoid wasting more money and time.

 

[MorganBlack]

Echoing what Morell said.

Pick a couple of the plants and learn their history and stories. Look at the Doctrine of Signatures for how humans have thought about them.

That said, are you comfortable using the Bible as a ritual liturgy? Hoodoo is mostly African-American Baptists, some Catholics, and a bit of Mexican Brujeria, and some Spiritualism. Much of this stuff entered into modern pagan "witchcraft" (appropriated, the kids say) around 1980 from white pagans ( in New York City and Houston, Texas, and parts of the South) hanging out with Latino brujos and brujas. Then from Catherine Yronwode hanging out with old root-workers in Oakland, CA started publising info online in the late 1990's.

Nobody minded then, but we have to be more sensitive these days. So if that is your deal

----------------------------
Starr Casas - Rootworker from Texas. Hoodoo getting the Millennial social justice treatment right now and she's becasue she's a white woman from Texas.

Catherine Yronwode, (Lucky Mojo Forum, The Lucky Mojo Hoodoo Rootwork Hour). She is getting gruff right now too for being a Jewish woman.

IGOS Sorcery & Witchcraft Course
is basically Hoodoo with the Bible removed, and using the Malcolm Mill's Potion Book (that was stolen by Herman Slater and republished as his Magickal Formulary), which then entered into Wicca and neopaganism in the early 1980's. Before then modern pagans has no sorcery tech of their own (they were afraid of the grims) , and some wags might say, they still don't

Collection - IGOS Sorcery Course 11 Lessons

https://mega.nz/folder/gyY0jI4Q#Q2Dye2j9XGObV_Mo6knSCQ

wizardforums.com

Ancient Wisdom: The Master Grimoire by Pat Kirven Sawyer (2005) also uses the Mills book, and is Hoodoo with the Bible removed.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 4:14 PM

Kept meaning to add this here.
I have a hardcopy, purchased when when it came out, and it was not as expensive as it is now.

Book – PDF - Pat Kirven Sawyer - 'Ancient Wisdom: The Master Grimoire' (2005)

Ancient Wisdom: The Master Grimoire by Pat Kirven Sawyer The Master Grimoire is the definitive magickal cookbook with thousands of recipes to keep cauldrons bubbling with delight. The is the definitive compendium of herbs, oils, and incenses for ritual ingredients, baths, tinctures, perfumes...

wizardforums.com

 

[Samael777]

Echoing what Morell said.

Pick a couple of the plants and learn their history and stories. Look at the Doctrine of Signatures for how humans have thought about them.

That said, are you comfortable using the Bible as a ritual liturgy? Hoodoo is mostly African-American Baptists, some Catholics, and a bit of Mexican Brujeria, and some Spiritualism. Much of this stuff entered into modern pagan "witchcraft" (appropriated, the kids say) around 1980 from white pagans ( in New York City and Houston, Texas, and parts of the South) hanging out with Latino brujos and brujas. Then from Catherine Yronwode hanging out with old root-workers in Oakland, CA started publising info online in the late 1990's.

Nobody minded then, but we have to be more sensitive these days. So if that is your deal

----------------------------
Starr Casas - Rootworker from Texas. Hoodoo getting the Millennial social justice treatment right now and she's becasue she's a white woman from Texas.

Catherine Yronwode, (Lucky Mojo Forum, The Lucky Mojo Hoodoo Rootwork Hour). She is getting gruff right now too for being a Jewish woman.

IGOS Sorcery & Witchcraft Course
is basically Hoodoo with the Bible removed, and using the Malcolm Mill's Potion Book (that was stolen by Herman Slater and republished as his Magickal Formulary), which then entered into Wicca and neopaganism in the early 1980's. Before then modern pagans has no sorcery tech of their own (they were afraid of the grims) , and some wags might say, they still don't

Collection - IGOS Sorcery Course 11 Lessons

https://mega.nz/folder/gyY0jI4Q#Q2Dye2j9XGObV_Mo6knSCQ

wizardforums.com

Ancient Wisdom: The Master Grimoire by Pat Kirven Sawyer (2005) also uses the Mills book, and is Hoodoo with the Bible removed.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 4:14 PM

Kept meaning to add this here.
I have a hardcopy, purchased when when it came out, and it was not as expensive as it is now.

Book – PDF - Pat Kirven Sawyer - 'Ancient Wisdom: The Master Grimoire' (2005)

Ancient Wisdom: The Master Grimoire by Pat Kirven Sawyer The Master Grimoire is the definitive magickal cookbook with thousands of recipes to keep cauldrons bubbling with delight. The is the definitive compendium of herbs, oils, and incenses for ritual ingredients, baths, tinctures, perfumes...

wizardforums.com

Thank you very much for all the info you provided, I’ll look into the IGOS course you linked, as well as into the book.
About the Bible, I don’t mind it. I think it’s a powerful addition to the toolbox.

I know of Starr Casas and Catherine Yronwode, I have some of their books and they are definitely good in what they do. I don’t think they are currently running courses, but I’ll look further into this.

 

[MorganBlack]

know of Starr Casas and Catherine Yronwode

Excellent!

It sounds like you have the knowledge, but maybe need to put it all together with a little spark. Here's my take and what has worked for me.

Start with spend some time in contemplation about what you want and why you want it. Think about your objective and making a petition paper. This is probably the most important first step. Find any knots in yourself and work though them.

Don't rush this. We often get what we think we deserve. So we need to be good with feeling we deserve better, but not in a hostile or bitter way. This exercise help reset your baseline expectations that crystallized around maybe the people in your early childhood, who maybe did the best they could , but did not always fulfill your needs.

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Since you are fine with the Bible-flavored magic look on Youtube African-American preachers giving rousing sermon, not to what they say, but how their voice sounds and how their body moves .They are passionate. Full of emotion. This will come in handy when you speak you peition paper out loud to the plant spirits.

And this is a bit out of left field, but take a look at Neville Goddard's New Thought techniques. This helps learning to use your imagination well. Read about Neville calls "Living from the End" Tie all this emotion into your imagined end anchored to the materia magica, and EXPECT (meaning feeling is simply true) that God (or the gods, if pagan) and the spirit / angel of the plant see what you see, what you have projexted into the spirt world (The Imaginal) and are already bringing about what you want. I did this intutitively over the year; and while many authors will say visualize your objective, this is a bit more complete, I feel.

Mitch's book is a great intro.

Book – PDF - Mitch Horowitz - The Miracle Club: How Thoughts Become Reality

Following in the footsteps of a little-known group of esoteric seekers from the late-nineteenth century who called themselves “the Miracle Club,” Mitch Horowitz shows that the spiritual “wish fulfillment” practices known as the Law of Attraction, Positive Thinking, “the Secret,” and the Science...

wizardforums.com

In Hoodoo it was found over the years a high percentage of old mojo bags that were collected and studed,used a seal from the 6 & 7 Books of Moses. They are a good power supply, but other seals can be used, like those of the other grimoires.

 

[Samael777]

Fantastic, thank you very much for all of your suggestions! Lots of useful advice. I’ll try as you suggested, and I will look into the books you recommended.
Very helpful!

 

[Sabbatius]

A good addition to Hoodoo, Conjure and Rootwork is the Cunningfolk practices and Appalachian Folk Craft.