Michael Potts's Blog: Bits and Pieces: Book Reviews and Articles on Writing, Horror Fiction, and Some Philosophy - Posts Tagged "west-african-religion"

Voodoo and Hoodoo by James Haskins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a good, short introduction to voodoo and hoodoo that is useful to the layman or to someone just beginning research on these practices. Haskins summarizes the origins of both practices in West African religions and does a good job of tracing their development in time. He discusses the influences of Roman Catholicism on voodoo as well as on some hoodoo practices. There is a large section of the book with recipes for spells that hoodoo practitioners have used for good or evil. The principle of like influences like looms large in hoodoo magic. Thus two sticks put together and pulled apart may represent separation. It is an interesting read.

There should have been more discussion of varieties of root doctor in the South--their practices are not uniform from region to region, although there are some similarities. Haskins also gives short change to the alleged precognitive powers of hoodoo practitioners, a power that looms large in some accounts of root doctors in the South. However, I recommend this book as a good introduction to voodoo and hoodoo, especially in the American context.



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