Path: typhoon.sonic.net!not-for-mail Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick,alt.lucky.w,alt.magick.folk,alt.pagan.magick,alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic Followup-To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick,alt.pagan.magick Subject: How Did You Come to Hoodoo? X-NO-ARCHIVE: yes From: blackman99 Reply-To: spam@luckymojo.com User-Agent: nn/6.6.0 Lines: 70 Message-ID: Date: Sun, 04 Jan 2004 09:48:56 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 208.201.242.18 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sonic.net X-Trace: typhoon.sonic.net 1073209736 208.201.242.18 (Sun, 04 Jan 2004 01:48:56 PST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 04 Jan 2004 01:48:56 PST Xref: typhoon.sonic.net alt.magick.tyagi:43988 alt.magick:363606 alt.lucky.w:15971 alt.magick.folk:5201 alt.pagan.magick:39921 alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic:37421 Orig-To: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hrcourse # ...i am really interested in how others have come to hoodoo. folk magic and formulae spell goods had been badly reported to me from my previous sources, and my interest in everything magical drew me to hoodoo for its difference from my background (suburban, middle-class, Norwegian/English) and syncretic, eclectic style. over the years, working in the shop and with sri catyananda (catherine) have given me a basic understanding of hoodoo, and I've undertaken some solitary as well as ongoing mutual spellwork integrating hoodoo to very good result. # is this the major magical system they work with? no. I pick and choose what I like from what I'm studying at the time and do rites and spells alone or with those from whom I'm learning, and in forms compatible with those others that I may engage for this purpose. this has included New Agers, solitary witches and sorcerers, Wiccans (Gardnerians, primarily, CA/KY-line, but also some Alexandrians and Feri), Thelemites and Hermetic ceremonialists of many affiliations, an assortment of Neopagans inclusive of Discordians, and more recently, hoodoo conjures. my main interest is natural focus and mystical maturation in a global and inclusive style. # are they in other initiation based religions? I'm a member in good standing of the Order of the Temple of the East (Ordo Templi Orientis) as a personal discipline, am dedicated as a monk to an Indian goddess as I know Her (Kali), and a member of the Church of Euthanasia. # if so do they see a conflict between hoodoo beliefs and # religion? I haven't involved myself with religions that would prefer to constrain me. I see no conflicts between what I understand of hoodoo and a multi-varied religious involvement, having enjoyed watching Christians, Wiccans and other Neopagans, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, witches, mages, and numerous others finding value in studying and practicing hoodoo as they please in a manner which suits them and their ethics/rules/laws. I've known many who find personal limitations restrict them from all manner of involvements, but I don't detect this in hoodoo, no. # how many of you are "professional" hoodoos? I'm not, though I try to spread information and enjoy making it possible for people to practice religion and magic as we are called and guided by the divine. # where are you in the world? I live in the American Northwest forest bioregion, near to the Russian River Basin on a hill in Forestville, with a wonderful woman, a dog, 2 cats, several chickens, a small community of squirrels, robins (/thrushes), jays, rats, mice, spiders, ants, and the occasional raccoon, possum, screech owl, and skunk. we steward an amazing variety of roses, fruit trees, and an herb garden. and we tend to repel english ivy and blackberries from overrunning redwoods and brilliantly-shedding maples, some of whom have probably lived here longer than the rest of us. :> this is the first area I've lived other than in my place of birth in the South SF Bay, where I spend most of my life until I moved to Forestville in September of 1998. blackman99