Here are the 8 homework assignments for catherine yronwode's Hoodoo Rootwork Correspondence Course, along with links to a Homework FAQ that answers Frequently Asked Questions about the homework.
(LESSON 6)
Homework assignments will be given 8 times during
the course, at weeks 6, 13, 19, 26, 32, 39, 45, and
52. There will be no final exam and no quizzes, just
the homework. There will be no grade given on the
homework, but if you want to get a spiffy
certificate from me at the end of the course, you
gotta turn in all your homework. There is no
deadline for turning it in; you have been assigned a
student ID number which is valid as long as i live.
No problem if you don't ever turn it in -- just no
spiffy certificate for you, that's all.
I want you to ask someone in your family --
preferably someone older than you -- for a saying,
recipe, custom, belief, magical technique, or
traditional remedy. If you are your family's oldest
keeper of such information, then just write down one
thing for me.
Copy the format below, fill in the blanks, and
send it to:
HOMEWORK #1 (Student ID#)
c/o Lucky Mojo Curio Co.
6632 Covey Road
Forestville, CA 95436
1. What is This Belief, Trick, or Recipe Used For?
(e.g. Love, Money, Protection, Cursing, etc.): _____
2. Describe the Belief, Trick, or Recipe in Full:______
3. Relation to You of the Person Who Taught You This
(e.g Great-Aunt, Father-In-Law): ______________
4. Their Birth Year:___________________________
5. Where They Were Born:_____________________
6. Their National/Ethnic/Racial Background(s):_____
7. Your Name and Student ID#: ______________________
Because this course is about African American
hoodoo, i know that some of you will already be
asking, "But, cat, i am not Black, so what good
would it do to for me to tell about how my German
Great-Grandpa kept off stable-witches? That's not
hoodoo!" (See, i knew some of you were asking that!)
Well, although the bedrock basis of hoodoo is
African, the practice of conjure draws on the
traditions of other cultures, acquired through
social contact, book-learning, and intermarriage.
(Read more about this at my Hoodoo History web page:
http://www.luckymojo.com/hoodoohistory.html.)
So in the first place, what your Norwegian Step-Mom
told you may well be part of hoodoo -- and in the
second place, i'm a folklorist, and that means i
really want to know EVERYTHING ABOUT EVERYBODY.
(Just kidding.)
The reason i ask for the nationality, race, or
ethnic background(s) of your relative is not to
pigeon-hole you or your family, but so that i can
use that data to increase my own understanding of
the many kinds of folk magic that are practiced in
America. And notice i ask for your relative's
background(s) plural, so please don't just say
"White" or "Black" or "Asian." If there's more,
please tell me more, like "African/Cherokee/Irish"
or "English/Scottish" or "Chinese/Lithuanian-Jewish"
-- as best you know.
Finally, don't worry if what you collect is "common"
-- like hanging a horseshoe over the door. What seems
common to you may not be known to me.
(LESSON THIRTEEN)
Remember Homework Assignment #1, back in Lesson 6?
That time i asked you to write out and send me a
custom, belief, trick, or recipe that you found in
your own family. This time i want a belief, trick,
or custom similar to what you got from a family
member -- but from a person of another race or
ethnicity than your own.
Copy the format below, fill in the blanks, and
send it to:
HOMEWORK #2 (Student ID#)
c/o Lucky Mojo Curio Co.
6632 Covey Road
Forestville, CA 95436
1. What is This Belief, Trick, or Recipe Used For?
(e.g. Love, Money, Protection, Cursing, etc.): _______
2. Describe the Belief, Trick, or Recipe in Full:________
3. How did you meet this person?: ___________________
4. Their Birth Year:______________________________
5. Where They Were Born:________________________
6. Their National/Ethnic/Racial Background(s):________
7. Your Name and Student ID#: ____________________
The reason i ask for the nationality, race, or
ethnic background(s) of your informant is not to
pigeon-hole them, but so that i can use that data to
increase my own understanding of the many kinds of
folk magic that are practiced in America. And notice
i ask for your informant's background(s) plural, so
please don't just say "White" or "Black" or "Asian."
If there's more, please tell me more, like
"African/Cherokee/Irish" or "English/Scottish" or
"Chinese/Lithuanian-Jewish" -- as best you know.
Don't worry if what you collect is "common" -- like
hanging a horseshoe over the door. What seems common
to you may not be known to me.
Now, here's where it gets a little complicated for
some folks -- but please bear with me: Because this
course is about African American hoodoo, i am
requesting that my non-Black students gather their
Homework #2 from a person of African American
descent. (Black students can ask anyone of any
background different than theirs.) If you are a
White, Asian, Native, or Polynesian student, the
only reason it would be not possible for a you to
gather Homework #2 from a Black person is if you
lived in Northern Europe, Asia, or Polynesia and
didn't have internet access. Barring that, you can
surely get to know someone of African American
ethnicity.
The reason i make this request is that i have
noticed that many people who take the class come
from White backgrounds, and a certain percentage of
those people sincerely want to learn about conjure,
but they don't know any Black people well enough to
talk to them. Well, think about it: Here i am, a
Jewish woman, teaching this course, and i sure as
heck did not learn what i know by staying on "my
side of the street," so to speak.
As i said in Homework Assignment #1, "The practice
of conjure draws on the traditions of other
cultures, acquired through social contact,
book-learning, and intermarriage" -- and now it is
time for you to make that "social contact." You
cannot learn conjure without entering, to at least
some extent, into Black culture.
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT #3
(LESSON NINETEEN)
Copy the format, fill in the blanks, and send homework to: HOMEWORK #3 (Student ID#) c/o Lucky Mojo Curio Co. 6632 Covey Road Forestville, CA 95436 1. How were you introduced to the practice of magic? 2. Do any other people in your family practice magic or have natural gifts? 3. How old were you when you first began practicing? 4. Briefly describe the very first spell or trick you worked. 5. Do you work on behalf of clients or only to help yourself? 6. Your Name and Student ID#: ______________________
(LESSON TWENTY-SIX)
Go to a graveyard and buy some dirt. Put it in a small Ziplock bag. Copy the format, fill in the blanks with the information requested, and send homework to: Homework #4 (Student ID#), c/o Lucky Mojo Curio Co., 6632 Covey Road, Forestville, CA 95436 USA. 1. The name and location of the cemetery: ______ 2. How and/or why you chose that grave: ______ 3. How you collected the dirt: ______ 4. How you paid for it: ______ 5. Your Name and Student ID#: ______
(LESSON THIRTY-TWO)
Write out and dress a name-paper or petition. On a separate piece of paper describe the spell in you would use this sort of name-paper or petition. Send it to: Homework #5 (Student ID#), c/o Lucky Mojo Curio Co., 6632 Covey Road, Forestville, CA 95436 USA.
(LESSON THIRTY-NINE)
Please identify, collect, dry, and properly label an herb, root, flower, leaves, bark, or seeds used in hoodoo. Do not send me commercial cut-and-sifted herbs or jarred kitchen spices. I want you to identify, collect, and prepare the herb yourself. The plant may be collected in the wild, grown in your garden, or, if all else fails, it can be a fresh herb from a grocery store that you "collected" and dried. You may use a field guide to wildflowers, garden plants, or herbs to identify it. The material must be DRIED and it must NOT be more than will fill a 3" x 5" Ziplock bag. Attach to the bag a piece of paper on which you have written: 1. The common name(s) by which you know the plant. 2. The plant's taxonomic (botanical Latin binomial) names. 3. A description, in your own words, of at least one way the prepared material can be used in hoodoo magical practice. Send it to: Homework #6 (Student ID#), c/o Lucky Mojo Curio Co., 6632 Covey Road, Forestville, CA 95436 USA.
(LESSON FORTY-FIVE)
Please prepare a small bottle of anointing or dressing oil. Follow the instructions in Lesson 15 and the herb suggestions in HHRM. The material you submit must be WELL PACKED in a BOX, not a padded envelope, and it must NOT be more than will fill a 1/2 oz. bottle. Place the bottle inside a sealed Ziplock bag and attach a piece of paper on which you have written: 1. The name you are giving this oil 2. How you got the formula: Is it an old recipe (if so, from where?), or a new one (if so, from what study resources?) 3. A description, in your own words, of at least one way this oil can be used in hoodoo magical practice 4. The name of at least one essential oil and one herb (both a common name and the botanical Latin binomial) in your recipe. You need not name all the ingredients, but i want to know that you are on the right track and have done your research. Address your package to: Homework #7 (Student ID#), c/o Lucky Mojo Curio Co., 6632 Covey Road, Forestville, CA 95436.
(LESSON FIFTY-TWO)
Please prepare a mojo bag. Follow the herb and root suggestions in HHRM and the outlines on how mojos are made on the HITAP "Mojo Hand," "Nation Sack," and "John the Conquer" pages at http://www.luckymojo.com/mojo.html http://www.luckymojo.com/nationsack.html http://www.luckymojo.com/johntheconqueror.html The bag must be WELL PACKED in a BOX, not a padded envelope. Please dress the mojo, but do NOT enclose any oil or perfume with it. Place the bag inside a sealed Ziplock bag and attach to the bag a piece of paper on which you have written: 1. The purpose of this mojo hand and, if you are a professional toby-maker, any "brand" name you have chosen to give it. 2. The name of the oil, Cologne, or alcohol with which this mojo was dressed 3. How you derived the recipe, naming your study resources 4. The names of at least three roots or herbs included (give both by their common names and botanical Latin binomials). You need not name all the ingredients, but i want to know that you are on the right track and have done your research. Address your package to: Homework #8 (Student ID#), c/o Lucky Mojo Curio Co., 6632 Covey Road, Forestville, CA 95436.
You have until my death to turn in your 8 pieces of homework and receive a certificate of completion in the course. As a member of the course, you are always welcome in the Yahoo group list; if you unsubscribe and later resubscribe, please give your full name and your Student ID # so we can approve you for membership again. For my own ease of work, i do prefer students to turn in ALL EIGHT assignments at one time in a small Priority Mail box, if possible. This is not a requirement, but it significantly cuts down on lost or misplaced homeworks. Thanks for studying with me -- and stay in touch!
Non-matriculating students -- those who do not intend to turn in homework or graduate from the class -- are no longer welcome, due to my time constraints, as i cannot allow them to displace active, matriculating students in the queue for replies to questions at the hrcourse Yahoo group. If you do not turn any homework within 24 months (two years) of signing up for the course, or have not graduated from the course by then, you will be considered a non-matriculating student and you will be placed on "INACTIVE" status. Your name will still appear on the student roster, and you may remain on, join, leave, or rejoin the hrcourse Yahoo group as you please. However, as a non- matriculating or "inactive" student, you will be put on "read-only" status at the Yahoo group. You will be able to read all yahoo messages, but you will not be able to post messages to the group until you have met some of the homework requirements. If you do not turn any homework within 60 months (five years, plus a grace period extending until the following January), you will be listed as a FAILED student. At any time they choose, "inactive" and "failed" students may turn in homework and this will place them back on the matriculation track as active students, with full rights of participation to post to as well as read the Yahoo group. "Inactive" and "failed" students may, at any time they choose, complete all 8 homework assignments and graduate. Graduates of the course may continue on as members of the Yahoo group indefinitely. "Inactive" and "failed" students will be fully able to read messages in the hrcourse Yahoo group, may participate as callers on the Lucky Mojo Hoodoo Rootwork Hour radio show during live broadcasts, and their names will continue to appear on the homework web page, but they will not be able to post at the Yahoo group again until they have turned in at least one homework for every year since they signed up. All it takes to become "active" again is turning in some homework -- and then you would be in "active" status for another year.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT HOMEWORK #1
I come from a completely non-magical, materialistic
family, so i can't turn in Homework #1. What can i
do instead for credit?
The homework asks for customs, beliefs, and practices of
your culture. ("I want you to ask someone in your family --
preferably someone older than you -- for a saying, recipe,
custom, belief, magical technique, or traditional remedy.")
Did your family have a Christmas tree? Was food, such as
cookies and milk, left out on Christmas Eve for Santa Claus?
Did you have Easter Egg hunts? When you lost a tooth, did
the Tooth Fairy come and take it away? Was finding a penny
good luck? Was stepping on a crack bad luck -- and if so,
for whom? Did you say or do anything special if you found a
cherry with two pits? At a wedding, did anyone jump a
broomstick, throw a bouquet (and if so, why and what did it
mean?), or save a piece of wedding cake? (and if so, for
what reason?) Did anyone nail a horseshoe over the door? Did
you break a wishbone after eating a turkey and make a wish
on it? When you saw the first star at night, did you say or
do anything? When you made a smug or possibly too-certain
comment about future pleasant events, did you knock on wood
or say "knock on wood"? Did anyone in your family have a way
of getting rid of warts that involved unusual words or
deeds? When someone sneezed, was anything formulaic said in
response to the sneeze? In your grandmother's church did
people speak in tongues? Were healing services performed?
How many more questions should i ask? Have i got you
thinking of something yet? If not, just let me know and i'll
run through another two dozen of the most common folk
beliefs and customs of people who think their families have
no folk beliefs, but who never pause to consider that there
are no Christmas trees in the Amazon and the Tooth Fairy
never visits Central Asia, and it's pretty odd, when you
think of it, to say "gesundheit" after someone sneezes if
your family is not of German decent.
A Christmas tree is an ancient pagan religious custom, a
marker of ancient religious belief, embedded or entombed in
a Christian context. It is what one might call a remnant
custom or, more properly, evidence of syncretic
Norse-Christian religious practice in your family. Compare
it with the anthropology of African religious survivals in
contemporary Christian belief among those of Afro-Caribbean
descent, such as practitioners of Voodoo or Santeria -- the
mechanism by which the Norse Yule tree is conflated with
Bible accounts of the birth of Jesus is exactly the same
mechanism as that which conflates Saint Barbara with the
Yoruba god Chango.
The wedding cake belief ties in to a strong current of
British-Germanic folk magic surrounding weddings that
invests them with magical importance. There are two classes
of wedding party attendants who save a piece of wedding
cake, the married couple and single young women. The latter
sleep with the wedding cake under their pillow "to dream of
the future husband." This is a form of magical dream
incubation (see the course lesson on Dreams for more on
dream incubation). The couple preserves the wedding cake,
either by drying it or, in modern times, by freezing it. In
most families, they will eat the reserved piece of cake on
the one-year anniversary of their marriage either for "good
luck" in the marriage or to magically re-incubate the same
height of joy they had on their wedding day. Obviously. the
belief that eating or sleeping upon a piece of
event-consecrated bakery goods will produce a supernatural
result is a magical belief.
I have heard this tale of woe before, but have yet to find a
family with no magico-religious customs, no folk recipes for
healing minor ailments, or no culture-based holiday practices.
All the elders in my family are deceased, and i am
the oldest, so there is no one i can interview.
What can i do about this?
Rely on your memory and simply report on
something you recall being told in the past.
I was adopted and don't know who my family is. How
can i turn in Homework #1?
Give me a response from your adoptive family,
and explain what their ethnic / racial background
is, if it differs greatly from yours.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT HOMEWORK #2
I don't know any African American people and there are none where i live. How can i do homework #2? I often find it strange that i am here teaching this class, being Jewish-born, and i know full well that i never would have learned about this stuff if not for African American friends and teachers -- and so i use my God-given talent as a writer to pass along this knowledge to others, to preserve it and popularize it as a matter of spiritual interest to all. My original intent was to reflect the lore i had collected back into the Black community, as a way of repaying the debt i owed -- but, being who i am, i am also eager to open up dialogue among and between people of all ethnicities, and so i decided to teach this class to all, as it was taught to me. My students now include many White folks and even a few Asian folks. But ... if these students cannot do Homework #2 because they cannot make face-to-face friendly contact with a Black person and thus come begging for an email helper, i have to ask, "WHY?" Why are you unable to meet and befriend a Black person? Fully 1/10th of the citizens of the United States identify themselves as African American according to the US census. You are studying a form of folk magic that owes its very existence to the African American community. Can you not find it in your heart to reach out and befriend ONE African American person face-to-face for the purpose of discussing family traditions and folklore? Not even ONE? Think about it. Think long and deep about it. I think about it myself, every time i hear a request such as yours, and this is what i think: Why would someone want to learn to practice magic in the manner of African Americans and yet call NOT ONE OF THEM a friend? That having been said, of course, i do understand that some people, by virtue of where they live or due to their personal physical limitations, will not be able to do more than correspond by email. If, for instance, you live in Europe or Asia, or are physically disabled in such a way that you cannot leave your home -- you may post to the Yahoo group elist and request that someone contact you to help you do Homework #2. Several of my Black students have graciously expressed a willingness to communicate by email with White students, so that they can complete the course. Just post a message in the hrcourse Yahoo group, asking for someone to contact you. But if you make such a request, please understand that you must state your VERY GOOD REASON for requiring this kind of assistance and you must also make it clear that you are not just going in to get information, but, hopefully, to make a friend. Also, be aware that if you have no Black friends, there is a bit more to doing Homework # 2 than finding a willing interview subject. You will also need to learn enough about African American culture to understand the role that conjure places in society. I would recommend to you that you supplement your reading in the course book and in my other books (HHRM and HITAP) with some grounding in African American social culture, in order to place the material in context, since it seems to have been off your map so far. A good academic book on the subject is "Conjure in African American Society" by Jeffrey Anderson, who is one of the course students, by the way. We sell copies of his book at the Lucky Mojo shop, and you can check that out at http://www.luckymojo.com/mojocatbooks.html#folklore Next, to experience some of the social background to conjure on your own terms, without the intermediary of an academic text, please view a few documentaries on post Civil War and early to mid 20th century Black culture for some understanding of the era during which Southern rural hoodoo began to be documented, and simultaneously became increasingly urbanized due to the Great Northern Migration. Use google to check out folks like Paschal Beverly Randolph, Marcus Garvey, Madame C. J. Walker, Father Divine, Father Hurley, et al. Then, to focus in on conjure itself, check out the large selection of early to mid 20th century blues songs that mention hoodoo at http://www.luckymojo.com/blues.html There is a bibliography for the course at http://www.southern-spirits.com -- along with many 19th and 20th century narratives and early interviews that mention hoodoo and its role in Black culture. Read "Spiritual Merchants" by Carolyn Morrow Long. It is available at amazon. Read "The Spirit of Blackhawk" by Jason Berry. It too is available at amazon. Look at the photos of Saint Martin's Spiritual Church that were taken by Gordon Parks (the director of the movie "Shaft!"), A partial selection is here, along with a brief text introduction: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsahtml/fachap07.html The full set of Saint Martin's Spiritual Church photos that Gordon Parks took for the FSA will be found somewhat scattered among this larger collection of images made by Gordon Parks at the following Library of Congress URLs: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF346-013216-A-A:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013303-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013315-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013327-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013339-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013350-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013362-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013372-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013382-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013394-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013406-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013418-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013430-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013442-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013454-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013466-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013478-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013490-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013502-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013514-C:collection=fsa http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF34-013526-E:collection=fsa Go to a video rental store and, at a rate that is feasible to you, rent and view at least 20 African American movies. Not the big name ones in which a noble Black person played by Morgan Freeman or Whoopie Goldberg helps a White person get in touch with his or her feelings, but flicks with all-Black casts -- an assortment of romantic date movies, thrillers, 1970s blaxploitation, comedy, and drama. If you like modern films and your video store does not have a wide selection of African American films, then watch every movie Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Danny Glover ever made, including the really, really bad ones. Try these: * "Barbershop" -- A sweet drama that points out the historical role played by small neighborhood barber shops in Black culture. * "Brother to Brother" -- African-American gay life in Harlem. Great flashback scenes of the Harlem Renaissance and Zora Neale Hurston. * "The Color Purple" -- All-star African-American cast. The cinematography, costumes, and historic detail is breathtaking; filmed in North Carolina. * "Daughters of the Dust" -- about the Gullah culture of the South Carolina and Georgia Sea Islands. * "Eve's Bayou" -- a social drama about family secrets, set in Louisiana in the 1960s, and starring Samuel L. Jackson; memorable for its magical scenes. * "Harlem Nights" -- Eddie Murphy and Redd Foxx in a comedic drama about the numbers racket in Harlem; watch for Foxx giving an old-time conjure spell. * "Holiday Heart" -- Ving Rhames as a flaming queen in a film about being gay and Christian. * "Soul Food" -- all-star African-American cast shows the trials and tribulations of a large family in conflict. * "When the Levees Broke" -- This documentary by famed director Spike Lee may be painful to watch, but is absolutely essential for America to see. But while you're at it, be sure to catch a few of the old-time "All-Negro Cast" classic fIlms from the 1930s and 1940s, including * social dramas such as "Spirit of Youth" starring the prizefighter Joe Louis and Mantan Moreland, or "Broken Strings" with Clarence Muse; * religious dramas like "Go Down, Death" and "The Blood of Jesus" by Spencer Williams, Jr.; * the comedies of "Moms" Mabley and Mantan Moreland, such as "Boarding House Blues," "Up in the Air," and "Lucky Ghost"; * westerns like "Two-Gun Man From Harlem" and "The Bronze Buckaroo" with the Black singing cowboy Herb Jeffrey (aka Herb Jeffries); * the musical dramas "Green Pastures" with Rex Ingram and "Cabin in the Sky," with Ethel Waters, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, and Rex Ingram; * jazz films like "Beware!" and "Look-Out, Sister!" with Louis Jordan; If these older black and white films cannot be rented, you can find most of them for sale at http://www.luckymojo.com/mojocatdvds.html#africanamerican at very reasonable prices. Many of these films will touch on religion and/or magic. Take note of any references you see. Basically, consider that to best understand hoodoo from an outsider's point of view, you will need to approach it either by immersion in the Black community or, if that is not possible for you, then by giving yourself the perspective of the equivalent of at least an undergraduate college course in 19th, 20th, and 21st century African American social and material culture to set the scene. [Thanks to Lee Canipe and Jennifer Line for film suggestions.] I am White, and in doing Homework #2, i have a Nigerian friend whom I want to interview. Is this acceptable? Africans do have wonderfully interesting beliefs, and i am sincerely grateful that you have taken the time to get them, but i hope you do understand that they are not valid for Homework #2. Why not? This is a course about magical practices that are part of African American culture, a culture that has been shaped by contact with Native American folkways and the folkways of other immigrant cultures (mostly European and Asian). In other words, this homework is not about skin colour, but about culture, and that is why i require you to learn a custom, belief, remedy, spell, or trick from a person who is African American, not a recent immigrant from Nigeria. There may be some similarities between the customs of a person born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria and someone born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, but there are also major differences -- and no matter what the similarities are, we are not studying the folk magic of Nigeria here, but rather the folk magic of the Black American South. There are personal exceptions made to this rule -- i accepted homework from an African student living in Africa (that is, not an African American student) whose "other culture" study involved a different tribal / language group in Africa, mostly because this was such a novelty to me that it won my heart, and it was obvious that the student would be unable to contact an African American student, due to language issues-- but for the most part, the deal is this: For Homework #2, if you are *not* a Black American, you must interview a Black American, and if you *are* a Black American, you can interview anyone born and raised in the USA *other* than a Black American. I am White, and in doing Homework #2, i have a Jamaican friend whom I want to interview. Is this acceptable? Black people from Caribbean, Central American, and South American nations do have interesting beliefs, and i am sincerely grateful that you have taken the time to get them, but i hope you do understand that they are not valid for Homework #2. Why not? This is a course about magical practices that are part of African American culture, a culture that has been shaped by contact with Native American folkways and the folkways of other immigrant cultures (mostly European and Asian). In other words, this homework is not about skin colour, but about culture, and that is why i require you to learn a custom, belief, remedy, spell, or trick from a person who is African American, not a Black person from Jamaica, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Barbados, Trinidad, or any other Caribbean, Central American, or South American nation. I am Black, and in doing Homework #2, i have a Danish friend whom I want to interview. Is this acceptable? How about my friend from Nigeria -- he's not a Black American, but an African immigrant living in America -- can i interview him? Hoodoo is a melange of African core practices ornamented with practices incorporated from other cultures, so in order to familiarize my African American students with the beliefs found in the other cultures that have contributed to the development of hoodoo, i require that they work with a member of another race in the United States (e.g. European American, Asian American, Native American) -- and not with a native of another country (e.g, not a native of Denmark, India, Nigeria, or such). Again, the deal is this: For Homework #2, if you are *not* a Black American, you must interview a Black American, and if you *are* a Black American, you can interview anyone born and raised in the USA *other* than a Black American.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT HOMEWORK #3
No questions have been asked about this homework assignment yet. No reply is needed yet.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT HOMEWORK #4
I am scared / embarrassed to go to a graveyard. Can i substitute something else for this homework? Short answer: No.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT HOMEWORK #5
No questions have been asked about this homework assignment yet. No reply is needed yet.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT HOMEWORK #6
How should i dry the herbs to send you? You can use any of the common methods -- hanging them upside down to air-dry, drying them over a heater or wrm stove area, using a food dehydrator, or plaing them in an oven at very low heat. They must be crumbly-dry and not mouldy when i open the packet or i will return them to you.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT HOMEWORK #7
Can i send you an oil i made with symbolism or herbal ingredients derived from my research into Wiccan / Pagan / Norse / Hindu / Santeria / Voodoo / Muslim / Zoroastrian / Palo / Taoism / Confucianism / New Age religion or from my preferred non-hoodoo magical tradition such as Ceremonial Magick, Chaos Magick, or Lemurian Sorcery? Can i use as my research sources books on any of the above religions or traditions? No. The oil must be made in the tradition of hoodoo, and any attempt to send an oil based in another tradition or using symbolism derived from other traditions will be returned. The reason for this is that the oil is meant as a test by which i can determine your understanding of hoodoo, not your understanding of non-hoodoo religious or magical traditions. Is it OK if we add ingredients that we consider related to the purpose of the oil? For instance, I added small pieces of quartz to a Vision type oil. I have always associated quartz crystal with psychic abilities -- it seems to me almost like a lens to better understand the reality. So, would it be acceptable to add pieces of quartz to a Vision oil for Homework #7? No. Semi-precious stones and crystal gems are not used in traditional hoodoo oils, so i would reject such an oil and send it back. Please understand that i am not here to teach you how to follow your own intuitive path, not here to teach you crystal magic, and not here to teach you gem stone magic. I am here to teach you traditional Southern old-school rootwork. In order to get the certificate of completion, you have to show me that you know traditional hoodoo conjure practices.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT HOMEWORK #8
Can i turn in a used, discarded, or partially disassembled mojo bag that i made for another purpose but am finished with now? No, you cannot. The mojo hand that is made for Homework #8 must be made new. I will not accept mojo bags from which personal concerns, herbs, roots, minerals, or sewn-on charms have been removed. I will not accept worn-out, used, dirty, or tattered mojo bags from your past. Actually, it's kind of insulting to send me a used, discarded mojo bag. Please think of this assignment as a project that will please and impress me -- not some old junk that you are sending to me rather than throw it away. Can i have my mojo bag back after you look at it for the homework assignment? No, i keep all items turned in by students. They will not be returned. To complete this homework, do we actually have to sew the actual mojo bag ourselves or can we purchase the bag from an outside source? For my personal practices I usually hand sew my own bags out of felt, but if I have to make it out of chamois, I'd rather purchase the bag from Lucky Mojo. You can use an old tobacco sack, a boughten flannel bag, a tied square of flannel, or a chamois bag. You can sew it, tie it, or wrap it shut. You can make a mojo in an egg, too, or in a folded packet of paper, or in a tanned goat or deer scrotum. Red cotton flannel is by far the most traditional material used, however. I personally think that felt is not appropriate and i definitely reject it. There is no historical record of anyone ever using felt to make a mojo hand (e.g. in scholarly and anecdotal folklore books by the likes of Newbell Niles Puckett, Zora Neale Hurston, F. Roy Johnson, Harry Middleton Hyatt, or the Federal Writers Project who give accounts of pre-World War Two hoodoo); i have seen and bought both finished bags and the "makings" for bags in dozens of conjure shops but i never seen felt sold in the form of bags in conjure shops from the 1960s through the 2000s; and i do not sell felt in my shop either. I mean, there's no "rule" against using felt, but it is not part of the tradition, the way that red flannel or "shammy" is, and since i am teaching the tradition, i send all the felt bags back to be re-made. It's like asking, "Could you make chocolate chip cookies by taking out the chocolate chips and substituting beef jerky bits instead?" Sure, you could. But how many people would recognize them as chocolate chip cookies? :-) By the way, i don't accept sheer polyester, acetate, or nylon organza gift bag mojos, either. See these pages for some guidance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flannel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamois_leather http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organza I was reading the page on creating mojo bags, and crystals were listed as a possible addition. However in the FAQ for homework assignment #7 about creating dressing and anointing oils, you say "Semi-precious stones and crystal gems are not used in hoodoo oils, so i would reject such an oil and send it back." What crystals are considered "traditional" that might be found in a mojo bag? This is a great question and shows us the evolution of hoodoo. First of all, while a number of minerals are found in oils -- Lodestone, Sulphur, Pyrite, and coin filings among them -- no crystals are traditional in oils. The only crystals and stones i ever saw in a mojo prior to 1970 were small quartz crystal points, Native American arrowheads (chert-flint, usually) and Patrick County Fairy Crosses (staurolite crystals). Fairy Crosses don't only come from Patrick County, Virginia, but that is the name by which they are often known; they can be found in North Carolina, Georgia, and other adjacent states. Zora Neale Hurston mentioned the Patrick County Fairy Crosses in an article she wrote for the WPA on conjure shops, circa 1940. She noted that the shop owner where she found these was White, and i can say that i used to see these crystals for sale in many small Jewish-owned conjure shops in the South during the 1960s and 1970s. Everyone loved and valued them. http://csm.jmu.edu/minerals/Staurolite.jpg http://www.freestateofpatrick.com/IM002815.jpg http://www.webmineral.com/specimens/picshow.php?id=1445 What has changed recently is that the whole 1980s-90s "crystal magic" enthusiasm of the New Age movement has entered hoodoo, as it has other traditions. Cross-culturalisms and interest in exoticisms drive a lot of magical experimentation, so this is, of course, completely to be expected. However, as for the HRCC homework, i am sincerely trying to teach TRADITIONAL OLD-SCHOOL workings, the way i was taught. I am somewhat of an innovator myself, but i am not here to teach my innovations -- my mission, given to me by Spirit -- is to teach what i was taught. I am not here to pass along today's new wrinkles and innovations. I am here to instruct the young in the work of my own elders who have passed -- the folks of my parents' and grandparents' generations, from whom i learned. So ... if you have any Patrick County Fairy Crosses or li'l quartz crystal points, or an old arrowhead that your granddaddy dug up out of the corn field while he was plowing, bring 'em on! Should my mojo bag be tied or should it be left open so that you can look inside?? Depending on the kind of mojo you make, it MUST be tied, wrapped, or sewn so that i can see that you know how to tie, wrap or sew it. An untied, unwrapped, or unsewn mojo is not finished, and cannot be accepted for homework credit. It will be returned to you to be finished.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT HOMEWORK DEADLINES
You said in the course that there is no real homework deadline and that we have until you die to turn in our homework -- so why is there a deadline now? There is no deadline for turning in the homework; that remains open until my death. However, there are deadlines for turning in homework if you wish to participate in the hrcourse Yahoo group as an active student or matriculating student -- that is, one who is seeking to graduate. All students will be able to post messages in the hrcourse Yahoo group for two years without turning in homework, but after that time, they must either turn in homework or make way for newly arrived students to post -- so unless they turn in homework, they will be placed on non-matriculating, "inactive," and "read-only" status in the hrcourse group. If, after five full years, plus a grace period extending to the next January, they have still turned in NO homework at all, they will be listed as "failed" students. Their Yahoo group posting status remains read-only. INACTIVE and FAILED students can become ACTIVE or GRADUATE at any time they choose, simplby turning in homework. Why must i turn in some homework within two years in order to retain my ability to post to the hrcourse Yahoo group? It's a matter of "labour for labour," or a fair exchange of time. One student who turned in his homework told me that it cost him $20.00 worth of materials. Let's say that it also took 10 hours worth of his time to prepare the homework, and let's say that he might otherwise have been compensated for that time at the rate of $10.00 per hour. (A lowish figure, but fair to all, averaging out the wealthy with those who work for minimum wages.) If your costs were about like his, your total labour and materials investment in the fulfilling of the 8 homeworks would thus be $120.00. Meanwhile, i spend at least 10 hours per week replying to questions in the hrcourse Yahoo group. At the same $10.00 per hour rate for my time in labour, that means that i donate $100.00 worth of my labour per week to the students. About half the students who take the class are participating in the Yahoo group at any given time. With, say, 400 or so students in the group, each student gets a pro-rated $13.00 worth of my labour per year. At the end of two years, by which time i expect each student to have turned in just 2 pieces of homework or to go "inactive" on the Yahoo group, they will have had a pro-rated $26.00 worth of my labour. By the end of 10 years, when i expect them to have turned in all 8 pieces of homework or to go "inactive" on the hrcourse Yahoo group, each student will have had the pro-rated personal benefit of $130.00 worth of my labour, neatly offsetting the $120.00 in time and labour they might have spent on doing and turning in their homework, including materials and labour. When they graduate, they will then get the benefit of $13.00 worth of my pro-rated labour FREE per year ... as long as i live. (Given my family's lifespans, they might get up to 30 years' worth of posts, or a cumulative $390.00 value each, over the remainder of my life.) "Labour for Labour" was the simple economic theory of Josiah Warren, and he has always been my guiding star in the world of commerce. Look him up if you are unfamiliar with him. Why do students who signed up in January of their year have more time to turn in homework than students who signed up in December? Students who fail to turn in two pieces of homework by the end of their second January after signing up for the Correspondence Course will be considered non-matriculating students and will be able to READ the Yahoo group postings but will not be able to post. If they turn in their homework, their ability to post will be restored and they will be able to graduate. The determination of inactivity is done on a yearly basis, and by invoice date, not by receipt of book. Those who sign up in any given January will therefore have 11 more months in which to complete two pieces of homework than will students who sign up in any given December, but regardless of the month of enrollment, each student is given more than one year to turn in their first two homework assignments, which is quite generous, considering that the course is only 52 weeks long and is designed to be fully completed -- with all eight assignments submitted -- within one year. We also give all students three consecutive warnings of the due-date for cut-offs in the hrcourse Yahoo group, and list all potentially affected student ID #s in each warning post. Our reason for doing the student-pruning only once a year instead of daily, weekly, or monthly is tha we try to limit our paperwork, management time, and overall workload by spending one day per month on homework and one day per year on list management. If i change my mind after a few years of being on "inactive" or non-matriculating status, or after i have completely "failed" to turn in homework, how can i regain my ability to post to the Yahoo group or to graduate? To resume an interrupted matriculation: Students # 1 - 304 (2003) must turn in at least 2 assignments by January 1, 2005 OR 3 assignments by January 1, 2006 OR 4 assignments by January 1, 2007 OR 5 assignments by January 1, 2008 OR 6 assignments by January 1, 2009 OR 7 assignments by January 1, 2010 OR 8 assignments by January 1, 2011 or thereafter Students # 305 - 430 (2004) must turn in at least 2 assignments by January 1, 2006 OR 3 assignments by January 1, 2007 OR 4 assignments by January 1, 2008 OR 5 assignments by January 1, 2009 OR 6 assignments by January 1, 2010 OR 7 assignments by January 1, 2011 OR 8 assignments by January 1, 2012 or thereafter Students # 431 - 689 (2005) must turn in at least 2 assignments by January 1, 2007 OR 3 assignments by January 1, 2008 OR 4 assignments by January 1, 2009 OR 5 assignments by January 1, 2010 OR 6 assignments by January 1, 2011 OR 7 assignments by January 1, 2012 OR 8 assignments by January 1, 2013 or thereafter Students # 690 - 943 (2006) must turn in at least 2 assignments by January 1, 2008 OR 3 assignments by January 1, 2009 OR 4 assignments by January 1, 2010 OR 5 assignments by January 1, 2011 OR 6 assignments by January 1, 2012 OR 7 assignments by January 1, 2013 OR 8 assignments by January 1, 2014 or thereafter Students # 944 - 1240 (2007) must turn in at least 2 assignments by January 1, 2009 OR 3 assignments by January 1, 2010 OR 4 assignments by January 1, 2011 OR 5 assignments by January 1, 2012 OR 6 assignments by January 1, 2013 OR 7 assignments by January 1, 2014 OR 8 assignments by January 1, 2015 or thereafter Students # 1241 - 1474 (2008) must turn in at least 2 assignments by January 1, 2010 OR 3 assignments by January 1, 2011 OR 4 assignments by January 1, 2012 OR 5 assignments by January 1, 2013 OR 6 assignments by January 1, 2014 OR 7 assignments by January 1, 2015 OR 8 assignments by January 1, 2016 or thereafter Students # 1475 - 1553 (2009) must turn in at least 2 assignments by January 1, 2011 OR 3 assignments by January 1, 2012 OR 4 assignments by January 1, 2013 OR 5 assignments by January 1, 2014 OR 6 assignments by January 1, 2015 OR 7 assignments by January 1, 2016 OR 8 assignments by January 1, 2017 or thereafter Students # 1554 - 16xx (2010) must turn in at least 2 assignments by January 1, 2012 OR 3 assignments by January 1, 2013 OR 4 assignments by January 1, 2014 OR 5 assignments by January 1, 2015 OR 6 assignments by January 1, 2016 OR 7 assignments by January 1, 2017 OR 8 assignments by January 1, 2018 or thereafter Students # 16xx - 16xx (2011) must turn in at least 2 assignments by January 1, 2013 OR 3 assignments by January 1, 2014 OR 4 assignments by January 1, 2015 OR 5 assignments by January 1, 2016 OR 6 assignments by January 1, 2017 OR 7 assignments by January 1, 2018 OR 8 assignments by January 1, 2019 or thereafter All it takes to become "active" again is turning in some homework. If you turn in the minimum amounts listed above, you would once again be in "active" status and could post to the Yahoo group. If you turned in all eight assignments, you would graduate, which includes permanent full membership in the Yahoo group.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT
NON-MATRICULATING STUDENTS
(GOING "INACTIVE" OR "FAILING")
If i don't intend to become a professional rootworker or conjure doctor and i don't want or need the certificate of completion, why do you insist that i do the homework or you will kick me out of the Yahoo group? Doing the homework does not mean that i or anyone expects you to become a professional root worker. It just lets me know that you took the lessons seriously, tried out the instructions, and understood the message. Also, i do not "kick out" anyone -- i will just turn them "inactive" in such a way that they can read all the messages but they can no longer post to the list. My main reason for doing this is that there are folks in the Yahoo group who want to answer questions for others, but they have never done their homework for me. Their replies may be interesting, but without having seen that homework from them, i have no way of knowing if they know what they are talking about -- and neither do those on the list who read their replies. So i cut them off from the discussions until they demonstrate their knowledge. How do i know when my deadline is to turn in homework or go "inactive" on the hrcourse Yahoo group or "fail" the course? These are the deadlines: ========================================= 2003 CLASS Student ID# 0001 through 0304 Students # 0001 - 0304 (2003) must turn in at least 2 assignments by January 1, 2005 OR 3 assignments by January 1, 2006 OR 4 assignments by January 1, 2007 OR 5 assignments by January 1, 2008 OR 6 assignments by January 1, 2009 OR 7 assignments by January 1, 2010 OR 8 assignments by January 1, 2011 or thereafter Note: * Students who enrolled in 2003 and have turned in all 8 pieces of homework are listed as GRADUATED. * Students who enrolled in 2003, whether they turned in no homework or any number of pieces less than the full 8 assignments, are no longer listed ACTIVE or INACTIVE. They are listed as FAILED. * Students who have FAILED can still turn in homework and GRADUATE, of course. ========================================= 2004 CLASS Student ID# 0305 through 0430 To be listed as ACTIVE and able to post at our Yahoo group: Students # 305 - 430 (2004) must turn in at least 2 assignments by January 1, 2006 OR 3 assignments by January 1, 2007 OR 4 assignments by January 1, 2008 OR 5 assignments by January 1, 2009 OR 6 assignments by January 1, 2010 OR 7 assignments by January 1, 2011 OR 8 assignments by January 1, 2012 or thereafter Note: * Students who enrolled in 2004 and have turned in all 8 homework assignments are listed as GRADUATED. * Students who enrolled in 2004 and have turned in any amount of homework LESS than 8 pieces are listed as either ACTIVE or INACTIVE according to the chart above. * Students who enrolled in 2004 and who have turned in NO homework by January 1, 2010 (five years plus the customary grace period), are listed as FAILED. * Students who are ACTIVE or INACTIVE or FAILED can still turn in homework and GRADUATE, of course. ========================================= 2005 CLASS Student ID# 0431 through 0689 To be listed as ACTIVE and able to post at our Yahoo group: Students # 431 - 689 (2005) must turn in at least 2 assignments by January 1, 2007 OR 3 assignments by January 1, 2008 OR 4 assignments by January 1, 2009 OR 5 assignments by January 1, 2010 OR 6 assignments by January 1, 2011 OR 7 assignments by January 1, 2012 OR 8 assignments by January 1, 2013 or thereafter Note: * Students who enrolled in 2005 and have turned in all 8 homework assignments are listed as GRADUATED. * Students who enrolled in 2005 and have turned in any amount of homework LESS than 8 pieces are listed as either ACTIVE or INACTIVE according to the chart above. * Students who enrolled in 2005 and who have turned in NO homework by January 1, 2011 (five years plus the customary grace period), are listed as FAILED. * Students who are ACTIVE or INACTIVE or FAILED can still turn in homework and GRADUATE, of course. ========================================= 2006 CLASS Student ID# 0690 through 0943 To be listed as ACTIVE and able to post at our Yahoo group: Students # 690 - 943 (2006) must turn in at least 2 assignments by January 1, 2008 OR 3 assignments by January 1, 2009 OR 4 assignments by January 1, 2010 OR 5 assignments by January 1, 2011 OR 6 assignments by January 1, 2012 OR 7 assignments by January 1, 2013 OR 8 assignments by January 1, 2014 or thereafter Note: * Students who enrolled in 2006 and have turned in all 8 homework assignments are listed as GRADUATED. * Students who enrolled in 2006 and have turned in any amount of homework LESS than 8 pieces are listed as either ACTIVE or INACTIVE according to the chart above. * Students who enrolled in 2006 and who have turned in NO homework by January 1, 2012 (five years plus the customary grace period), will be listed as FAILED. * Students who are ACTIVE or INACTIVE or FAILED can still turn in homework and GRADUATE, of course. ========================================= 2007 CLASS Student ID# 0944 through 1240 To be listed as ACTIVE and able to post at our Yahoo group: Students # 944 - 1240 (2007) must turn in at least 2 assignments by January 1, 2009 OR 3 assignments by January 1, 2010 OR 4 assignments by January 1, 2011 OR 5 assignments by January 1, 2012 OR 6 assignments by January 1, 2013 OR 7 assignments by January 1, 2014 OR 8 assignments by January 1, 2015 or thereafter Note: * Students who enrolled in 2007 and have turned in all 8 homework assignments are listed as GRADUATED. * Students who enrolled in 2007 and have turned in any amount of homework LESS than 8 pieces are listed as either ACTIVE or INACTIVE according to the chart above. * Students who enrolled in 2007 and who have turned in NO homework by January 1, 2013 (five years plus the customary grace period), will be listed as FAILED. * Students who are ACTIVE or INACTIVE or FAILED can still turn in homework and GRADUATE, of course. ========================================= 2008 CLASS Student ID# 1241 through 1474 To be listed as ACTIVE and able to post at our Yahoo group: Students # 1241 - 147 (2008) must turn in at least 2 assignments by January 1, 2010 OR 3 assignments by January 1, 2011 OR 4 assignments by January 1, 2012 OR 5 assignments by January 1, 2013 OR 6 assignments by January 1, 2014 OR 7 assignments by January 1, 2015 OR 8 assignments by January 1, 2016 or thereafter Note: * Students who enrolled in 2008 and have turned in all 8 homework assignments are listed as GRADUATED. * Students who enrolled in 2008 and have turned in any amount of homework LESS than 8 pieces are listed as either ACTIVE or INACTIVE according to the chart above. * Students who enrolled in 2008 and who have turned in NO homework by January 1, 2014 (five years plus the customary grace period), will be listed as FAILED. * Students who are ACTIVE or INACTIVE or FAILED can still turn in homework and GRADUATE, of course. ========================================= 2009 CLASS Student ID# 1475 through 1553 To be listed as ACTIVE and able to post at our Yahoo group: Students # 1475 - 1553 (2009) must turn in at least 2 assignments by January 1, 2011 OR 3 assignments by January 1, 2012 OR 4 assignments by January 1, 2013 OR 5 assignments by January 1, 2014 OR 6 assignments by January 1, 2015 OR 7 assignments by January 1, 2016 OR 8 assignments by January 1, 2017 or thereafter Note: * Students who enrolled in 2009 and have turned in all 8 homework assignments are listed as GRADUATED. * Students who enrolled in 2009 and have turned in any amount of homework LESS than 8 pieces are listed as either ACTIVE or INACTIVE according to the chart above. * Students who enrolled in 2009 and who have turned in NO homework by January 1, 2015 (five years plus the customary grace period), will be listed as FAILED. * Students who are ACTIVE or INACTIVE or FAILED can still turn in homework and GRADUATE, of course. ========================================= 2010 CLASS Student ID# 1554 through 16xx To be listed as ACTIVE and able to post at our Yahoo group: Students # 1554 - 16xx (2010) must turn in at least 2 assignments by January 1, 2012 OR 3 assignments by January 1, 2013 OR 4 assignments by January 1, 2014 OR 5 assignments by January 1, 2015 OR 6 assignments by January 1, 2016 OR 7 assignments by January 1, 2017 OR 8 assignments by January 1, 2018 or thereafter Note: * Students who enrolled in 2010 and have turned in all 8 homework assignments are listed as GRADUATED. * Students who enrolled in 2010 and have turned in any amount of homework LESS than 8 pieces are listed as either ACTIVE or INACTIVE according to the chart above. * Students who enrolled in 2010 and who have turned in NO homework by January 1, 2016 (five years plus the customary grace period), will be listed as FAILED. * Students who are ACTIVE or INACTIVE or FAILED can still turn in homework and GRADUATE, of course. ========================================= 2011 CLASS Student ID# 16xx through 16xx To be listed as ACTIVE and able to post at our Yahoo group: Students # 16xx - 16xx (2011) must turn in at least 2 assignments by January 1, 2013 OR 3 assignments by January 1, 2014 OR 4 assignments by January 1, 2015 OR 5 assignments by January 1, 2016 OR 6 assignments by January 1, 2017 OR 7 assignments by January 1, 2018 OR 8 assignments by January 1, 2019 or thereafter Note: * Students who enrolled in 2011 and have turned in all 8 homework assignments are listed as GRADUATED. * Students who enrolled in 2011 and have turned in any amount of homework LESS than 8 pieces are listed as either ACTIVE or INACTIVE according to the chart above. * Students who enrolled in 2011 and who have turned in NO homework by January 1, 2017 (five years plus the customary grace period), will be listed as FAILED. * Students who are ACTIVE or INACTIVE or FAILED can still turn in homework and GRADUATE, of course. ========================================= All it takes to meet your deadlines is turning in the minimum listed above for your student ID# (course year) -- and then you would be in "active" status for another year. Why do you force students to go "inactive" on the hrcourse Yahoo group if they don't turn in enough homework and why do you "fail" students who turn in no homework at all? With 1600 students enrolled as of 2010, it's not in my own best interest to get personally hung up on those who drop out, lose interest, fade away, or change their minds. Distinguishing between those who intend to matriculate and those who do not, and placing the latter on "inactive" status with respect to the Yahoo group allows me to file them away where i don't have to wonder or worry about them ... and about my role with respect to them. (Did i displease them? Are they still interested? Was what i taught not easy enough to understand? Are they in trouble? Are they still alive?) I only have time to respond to about 5 - 10 questions per day -- sometimes only 1 or 2 per day if the question requires a lengthy reply. In order to give my new students the benefit of studying with me (and there are new students, at the rate of 250 per year, a little over half of whom sign up for the Yahoo group) i have to make myself available to them and to their questions -- even if old students know the answers. In some cases, old students reply so well that i don't need to add much, if anything -- but in order for me to let those old students have a voice as teaching assistants (and believe me, i value their help!), i need to know that they are graduates of the course and are qualified to speak as such. Y'all don't see the many replies to student queries that i return to the sender rather than post because the replies are "not hoodoo" (that is, they come from another cultural tradition and don't mention hoodoo at all, even for the sake of comparison), or because they are just flat-out wrong as hoodoo, according to how i was taught it and how i teach it. In most cases, those rejected replies come from students who have not completed the course. They may be using this venue for social chat, or may have taken the course, decided to pursue other interests in magic but still like the company here, or they may not yet understand the nature of this list and sincerely think that it is a free-for-all bulletin board for the posting of spell-craft from all traditions. I want to make it clear that i am NOT insisting that folks either graduate or leave -- but i must acknowledge that i have time to moderate and edit up to 30 posts pr day, of which only 5 - 10 will get extended replies -- and the only posts i can put through unmoderated for sure, most of the time, are from graduates. I need a simple, valid, verifiable criterion for retaining graduates in the active list and passing most of their comments unmoderated so that i can then devote my time to replying to the questions posed by new students, who otherwise do not get the advantage of having the teacher's full attention. I hate certificates and don't want one, but i also don't like the idea of going "inactive" on the hrcourse Yahoo group or being listed as a "failed" student -- so what can i do? Turn in your homework and be listed as a graduate. If you don't want a certificate, tell me so and i won't send you one. :-)
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Lucky Mojo Community Forum: an online message board for our occult spiritual shop customers
Lucky Mojo Hoodoo Rootwork Hour Radio Show: learn free magic spells via podcast download
Lucky Mojo Videos: see video tours of the Lucky Mojo shop and get a glimpse of the spirit train
Lucky Mojo Newsletter Archive: subscribe and receive discount coupons and free magick spells
Follow Us on Facebook: get company news and product updates as a Lucky Mojo Facebook FanONLINE SHOPPING
The Lucky Mojo Curio Co.: spiritual supplies for hoodoo, magick, witchcraft, and conjure
Herb Magic: complete line of Lucky Mojo Herbs, Minerals, and Zoological Curios, with sample spells
Mystic Tea Room Gift Shop: antique, vintage, and contemporary fortune telling tea cupsPERSONAL SITES
catherine yronwode: the eclectic and eccentric author of many of the above web pages
nagasiva yronwode: nigris (333), nocTifer, lorax666, boboroshi, Troll Towelhead, !
Liselotte Erlanger Glozer: illustrated articles on collectible vintage postcards
Jackie Payne: Shades of Blues: a San Francisco Bay Area blues singerADMINISTRATIVE
Lucky Mojo Site Map: the home page for the whole Lucky Mojo electron-pile
All the Pages: descriptive named links to about 1,000 top-level Lucky Mojo web pages
How to Contact Us: we welcome feedback and suggestions regarding maintenance of this site
Make a Donation: please send us a small Paypal donation to keep us in bandwidth and macs!OTHER SITES OF INTEREST
Arcane Archive: thousands of archived Usenet posts on religion, magic, spell-casting, mysticism, and spirituality
Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers: psychic reading, conjure, and hoodoo root doctor services
Candles and Curios: essays and articles on traditional African American conjure and folk magic, plus shopping
Crystal Silence League: a non-denominational site; post your prayers; pray for others; let others pray for you
Garden of Joy Blues: former 80 acre hippie commune near Birch Tree in the Missouri Ozarks
Gospel of Satan: the story of Jesus and the angels, from the perspective of the God of this World
Hoodoo Psychics: connect online or call 1-800-4-HOODOO for instant readings now from a member of AIRR
Missionary Independent Spiritual Church: spirit-led, inter-faith; prayer-light services; Smallest Church in the World
Mystic Tea Room: tea leaf reading, teacup divination, and a museum of antique fortune telling cups
Satan Service: an archive presenting the theory, practice, and history of Satanism and Satanists
Southern Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo, including ex-slave narratives & interviews
Tiger Tiger: prayer flags, singing bowls, beads, ritual religious statues, and altar tools from Thailand and Nepal
Spiritual Spells: lessons in folk magic and spell casting from an eclectic Wiccan perspective, plus shopping
Yronwode Home: personal pages of catherine yronwode and nagasiva yronwode, magical archivists
Yronwode Institution: the Yronwode Institution for the Preservation and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology
