The Craft; Witchcraft Basics

non-black Hoodoo practitioners

There's debate, heavy debate, in the black community about who is and isn't allowed to practice hoodoo. This post from the Tumblr user @Hoodooyousee sums up what I basically think.

""Can you practice Hoodoo if you’re white? I have a very tiny history of black in my ancestry so I’m obviously not considering myself black, in native and white. But I’ve seen a lot of white Hoodoo practitioners and not so many voodoo or Vodoun (for obvious reasons). Since hoodoo is a practice and not a religion, is it closed off for only black people?""

"This is a question I get all the time and I’ve always been hesitant to answer. However, I think it’s time I do so. I guess I don’t understand why if you truly understood hoodoo, you’d want to practice it. 

Hoodoo was created out of slavery, in attempt to protect and preserve ourselves. It is a blend of African magic and traditions, and Christianity because it was forced on us by our oppressors. A lot of true hoodoo is what the west (i.e. Wicca, high magick) would say is “dark” spells. Goofer dust, jack balls, hot foot powder were used against enemies yes, but that largely included white people. 

If you do your research and you know what to look for several slave accounts and memoirs talk about “working the root” on their masters or some will talk about the “poisoning” of their masters, or finding a packet of sticks and herbs and people falling ill, some even dying. 

The ingredients we use in hoodoo are practical because they HAD to be versatile. One did not buy honey for a jar, they just had it on hand. That’s why so much of hoodoo is dirt, herbs, sticks, and kitchen supplies like sugar and honey. It’s baffling to me why you’d be interested in a practice that was born out of protecting ourselves against the brutality of racism and colonialism. ESPECIALLY when there are so many European traditions that are folk too. That also use dirt. That also use bones and household goods. So why hoodoo? Why practice something born out of black resistance? Why call on a tradition and spirits colonialism tried its best to beat out of us? 

Anyway this is the last time I’ll answer this question because I feel like it’s self explanatory. I can’t stop you from practicing no matter what your skin color is and I don’t wish to. However if you’re non black I invite you to truly ask yourself why you’re so interested in hoodoo specifically vs other non black traditions that probably use very similar things and approaches. I write all kind of spells, not just hoodoo, and invite anyone and everyone to use them. Folk magick is not exclusively hoodoo so there are plenty of other spells on my blog and tips that can be used (:" 

I'm not really against it if you're respectful of our traditions, how these practices were forged from our blood, and know that it's not really your place to speak over black practitioners, it's just...why? What connects you to our traditions? Why do you want to do it? Is it for the aesthetic? If so, that reason isn't really a reason because, again, there are other folk magic that aren't hoodoo and don't have the history of hoodoo behind it.

Generally, the practice is open, but I just ask that you're mindful of your actions and reasons for it, and respect that some black practitioners will ask you to not do certain things (i.e, some white practitioners think it's fun to call on the spirits of our ancestors...for some strange reason) or be uncomfortable with your presence in this craft. Even I'm uncomfortable. Because it's generally open and my choice alone couldn't close it, I don't want to tell people what to do with it, but, that doesn't mean I can't feel a little uncomfortable especially when a white practitioner tells me that I have no rights to have an opinion over a practice that my ancestors suffered for.