Language of the Blues - Edmonton Blues Society

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African American charms made with High John
In Voodoo in
New Orleans, author Robert Tallant interviewed hoodoo practitioner Abner Thomas, who
the same as Big John; that is the strongest. 258
There are as many ways to use John the Conqueror in a spell as there are desires that
people have. Folklorist Harry Middleton Hyatt collected many stories about the use of
roots to get a job, control a lover, protect oneself from evil curses, etc. Many involved the
African practice of activating a spell by spitting, as one interviewee told Hyatt:
kin git High John de Conker and go anywhere to the boss to get a job, they put it in their
mouth and chew it and spit, and walk up and talk to this boss and spit around, say if there
259
Hyatt also related the story of a man who wanted his wife back. The man tucked a piece
of root into his cheek and went up to his wife, who had left him, and asked her to return
to him. He kept chewing the root, spit the juice out on the ground a few times, and said,
thing she knew she was headed back home with him. 260
High John is also inserted into luck balls or Jack balls, carried in the pocket, or included
in mojo
appropriate oil. Some ways to fix the root include 261 :
To attract money: Wrap folding money around the root and keep it as a pocket piece.
Anoint the root regularly with John the Conqueror Oil, rubbing it in well.
For luck in gambling: Combine a John the Conqueror root and a silver dime with a lucky
hand root and wrap them as above in a $2.00 bill. Dress the mojo with Lucky Hand Oil or
To attract women: Place John the Conqueror root in a red flannel mojo bag with a
lodestone dressed in magnetic sand. Anoint the mojo with love-drawing oil and wear it
hidden below the waist.
Songs:
- Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield)
- Muddy Waters
- Willie Dixon
120