Introduction to Hoodoo Heritage Month

What is hoodoo heritage month and is it even worth celebrating? I know for myself that hoodoo heritage month is still gathering awareness and participation. The newly founded holiday, started in 2019, is seeing growth each year. This holiday is helping us to spread awareness to the tradition and fix any misconceptions. Many are under the misconception that Hoodoo is nothing more than folk magic, meaning its access would be for everyone. 

Now how does that make it worth celebrating? Simple, because it gives black people a chance to be able to see other sides of their history besides slavery. Although it is a huge part of our American history, there are other parts that we can choose to see. Connecting more with our ancestors and our bloodline might give some people the boost they need in our current society.

Our ancestors weren’t just slaves; they were medicine women, they were warriors, they were teachers. And for those that were slaves they weren’t just slaves. Some fought back like Nate Turner. Some help lead us to freedom like Harriet Tubman. Although unfortunately a lot of them were victims of their circumstances, and we can learn from that. This month is the perfect time for us to celebrate and honor all of those people who make up our past. They lived hard lives and they deserve to have peace on the other side.

Mama Rue and Walking Dikenga

Mama Rue is considered in the eyes of many as the founding mother of Hoodoo heritage month. Being that she is a seeker and a diviner, its important to remember she is more than that she is also a spiritual advisor and a pre-elder. She has her own website where she and her daughter offer readings to the public. She used to have a very active youtube, tumblr and instagram page however her social media presence has declined. This isn’t uncommon for those with deep roots with the ancestors. It is the spirits themselves that gave her the name, Mama Rue. Depending on your background you will know this to be called a witches name. 

The thought first came to Mama Rue from a post that she reposted. Although she did help to build the idea with her facebook family, (the group known as Walking Dikenga). It was the group’s decision to take it from a day to a month. They created set days for certain celebrations as well as suggestions for the other days. With their help we have a clear way of being able to honor all of our past. Including things that some of us may not have thought to.

Who should participate in Hoodoo Heritage Month

This month was created with the intention of helping those of African descent find their roots. Considering it is that hoodoo was created by our enslaved ancestors for their descendants to help them keep a hold of their religion, their culture, and part of their language, out of respect we still keep it that way to this day. The spirits that we work with in Hoodoo are our African ancestors and our enslaved ancestors. Some of them are even spirits that we carried with us from Africa itself. So this month is for African Americans to continue to honor and celebrate and elevate our ancestors for all of their hard work and their achievements that got us where we are today. 

Although I am sure that there are those outside of this description that would love to participate I would urge you guys to find something that aligns with your lineage. For example if you have Scottish roots, Scotland has its own particular type of paganism that you might be interested in, they have their own ways of honoring their ancestors. I humbly believe that if you find yourself within your own lineage then you don’t have to go looking in someone else’s.

How to celebrate Hoodoo Heritage Month

Celebrating each year will look different from the last and will look different from person to person based on where you are at in your own personal journey. One year your celebration might just be learning about the different people and things we choose to highlight and then next year you might be upgraded to leaving offerings and having a table set up of your own. I choose to use my ancestor altar as my table for celebration, and I use a smaller set up close by for those not of my lineage because after Hoodoo heritage month I also celebrate All Souls Day and All Saints Day. This has been beneficial for me and has strengthened the relationship I have with my spirits.

At my smaller table I have a simple yet effective setup. I use a white cloth, a fresh glass of water filled to the brim, a white candle, and an incense as my base for each person. The incense is based on who I am working with that particular day. (Make sure your house is cleansed and protected first to avoid feeding a trickster spirit, no one has time for those problems I promise you.) If I dont print off a picture of that person then I use something to represent them.

I bought a bag of associated charms I got on Amazon to use in my spell workings and for times like this. I say a simple prayer hoping that they find peace and stillness if they lived a hard life. Sometimes I say a simple prayer asking for their elevation and finding their way to the light if they had a violent one. 

Regardless of which table set I discard the offerings from, I leave food and items at the crossroads and pour water out in my plants to give it back to the earth. Feel free to use whatever method you normally use to discard your offerings. I do things according to the way I feel like makes the most sense and based on intuition.

How and when to start

I would urge you to start wherever you are in the month of October. Starting even on the 31st with plans to do the full month next year is better than not participating at all. Part of the reason Hoodoo Heritage Month was created was to start and spread awareness of the culture. If you are new to the journey and don’t have an ancestor altar up yet don’t feel discouraged you can always leave offerings and water at the base of a tree, pick one you can always get to easily. However, just learning is also a form of celebration, you’re educating yourself and eventually hopefully others and that’s why this month was started in the first place. Also learn about your history, knowledge is best friend.

References

Buckingham, Danielle. “Mama Rue on Hoodoo Heritage Month and Our Familial Spiritual Traditions.” Reckon, 6 Oct. 2023, www.reckon.news/black-joy/2023/10/mama-rue-on-hoodoo-heritage-month-and-our-familial-spiritual-traditions.html.

Mama Rue. “Contact Mama Rue.” Card-readings, www.mamarue.com/contact. Accessed 27 Aug. 2024.