Language of the Blues - Edmonton Blues Society

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Songs:
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- Sleepy John Estes (John Adam Estes)
- Willie Dixon
- T.C. Johnson
H O O D O O
Hoodoo is not Voodoo, although the two are often confused. Voodoo- more properly
- is a religion derived from Vodun, which originated in West Africa and
American system of folklore. It consists of tales, herbal medicines, and magic practices,
and is neither a religion nor a denomination of a religion, although it incorporates
elements from African and European religions into its core beliefs. 233
American hoodoo exp
consists of a large body of African folkloric magic with a considerable admixture of
234
According to
Yronwode, a strong vein of English and Germanic folklore runs through African
European occult works like The Black Pullet, Secrets of the Psalms, and The Book of
Secrets of Albertus Magnus. 235 The latter was not actually written by the prolific writer
and 13th century German bishop Albertus Magnus, but was compiled from various
sources by an unknown author. In order to attract readers, it was not uncommon for
books on magic in the 16th century to assume the name of a notable historical figure.
Examples of hoodoo include foot track magic, mojos, the use of indigenous herbs and
roots to treat illnesses and cast spells, and the use of divination charms like Jack balls to
tell the future. A person
Ya-
Harry Middleton Hyatt, an Anglican minister from Quincy, Illinois, collected much of the
information we have about hoodoo practices. 236 Hyatt was an avid amateur folklorist who
began his hobby in Illinois but eventually worked his way throughout the Southern
United States. He created two major collections of his field notes and transcripts,
Folklore from Adams County, Illinois in 1935 and the massive Hoodoo-Conjuration-
Witchcraft-Rootwork in 1970. The latter is considered the most complete reference work
on hoodoo available.
although Eoghan Ballard, folklore academician at the University of Pennsylvania, has an
interesting theory that it derives from judio -
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