Path: typhoon.sonic.net!not-for-mail Message-ID: <3D6BDB1B.13EF@luckymojo.com> From: catherine yronwode Reply-To: cat@luckymojo.com Organization: Lucky Mojo Curio Co. X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01-C-MACOS8 (Macintosh; I; PPC) MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.lucky.w,alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic,alt.occult.methods Subject: Re: Spell question References: <1eb3d2e4.0208270534.70e5fdd0@posting.google.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 79 Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 19:56:47 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.204.150.133 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sonic.net X-Trace: typhoon.sonic.net 1030478207 209.204.150.133 (Tue, 27 Aug 2002 12:56:47 PDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 12:56:47 PDT Xref: typhoon.sonic.net alt.lucky.w:12525 alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic:34709 alt.occult.methods:483 Alter Ego wrote: > > I noticed a lot of cross use of spells. By that I mean if someone > requests a love spell for example, and they practice a certain thing > (hoodoo for example) someone may give them a love spell that is say, > Wicca in origin, or some such thing, and tell them to replace > certain words (replace the names of dieties and spirits, etc.) The difference between spells from different traditions may run deeper than the mere matter of deity names. Wicca does not recognize foot track magic, for instance, and frowns upon junxing or crossing people. Hoodoo, on the other hand, does not involve the invokation of elementals / calling of the quarters or the building of a cone of power. Mal Occhio (the evil eye) is regional in scope and spells against it cannot be founf in those parts of the world where it is not recognized, such as China. But there is some common ground to be found across cultural lines as well -- especially around love spells and money spells -- and in those areas, i see people substituting deity names a lot. I have many clients and customers who are Hindu and who easily substitute their favoured deity names for the jewish God when reciting Psalms. I also deal with many Wiccans who shun the Psalms of David (which they erroneously label as "Christian") in their work, even with deity name substitutions. That's their loss, of course. Some folks are more cross-cultural than others. You can't make hard and fast rules about that -- it's an individual thing as much as a cultural one. > My question is, I practice hoodoo, and I use a Catholic format, so > mine are directed in the name of the Father, etc. or to Saints or > Mary and so on. So, if I see a spell that is from a different > origin, would it be ok to use it and replace the names to fit what I > do? You would be part of a long tradition of such syncretic workers! > Unfortunately, I do not live near anyone that I know of that > practices this, and have to limit what I learn from books, but this > is one subject that is not disscussed (that I've seen anyway). > An example is Ray Malbrough's book (Charms Spells and Formulas), > which seems to have a certain, "other" influence to the way the > spells and things are performed. The subject is discussed, but you have to look around for references. Ray Malbrough combines Wicca and hoodoo and he has recently been initiated as a Voodoo Houngan in Haiti, as reported in the newsgroup alt.religion.orisha. Papa Jim (of the late papa Jim's Botanica) used to have as his slogan, "Whatever Works!" and was always outfront about his cross-culturalism. This is nothing new. Among the old-time African-American hoodoo root workers in the U.S. South who were interviewed by Harry Hyatt in the 1930s, there were those who used European grimoires and Hebrew prayers. You can read a web page with more details about the synthesis between hoodoo and European folk magic of the Gemanic or "Pow Wows" type at this web page i wrote: http://www.luckymojo.com/powwows.html > If anyone can help, thanks! You're welcome. cat yronwode Lucky Mojo Curio Co. http://www.luckymojo.com/catalogue.html Send e-mail with your street address to catalogue@luckymojo.com and receive our free 32 page catalogue of hoodoo supplies and amulets