As I began reading Bomani’s book I had two quotes come to mind, to situate her work in the history of occultism: “Thou shalt be the first of all witches known …teach the art of poisoning…those who are great lords of all.” (Aradia, Charles G. Leland) and “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the sentiment of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” (Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, Marx). Her book is “a war manifesto, equipped with spiritual weapons” (xix), explicitly and directly coming out of the hundreds of years of colonialism and racism in the USA and the present-day circumstances of ICE raids and White Christian nationalism. She sees Hoodoo as both “a source of personal strength and a weapon for social change” (4).
Although there is a hard polemical edge to much of this book, it is by no means only a lecture. Bomani provides a great deal of practical tips, reference material, spells and workings, as well as appendices with psalms, ingredient lists, and other very useful and practical material. By structuring the book around a series of notable historical figures, ‘saints’, connected to particular issues in both personal and social life, she constantly ties in the broader historical situation of BIPOC people with personal support and larger social struggles. Each chapter has personal stories, short biographies of people connected to the theme, several recipes for spells (usually inspired by and dedicated to one of these people), historical discussion and inspiration connected with the theme of the chapter, and testimonials about the use of hoodoo to address various issues. Each chapter ties in herbal knowledge as well.
I’ll briefly summarize the chapters in order:
- Hiding in Plain Sight is foundation work, explaining syncretization of Afrikan* deities with Catholic saints, the process of canonizing Hoodoo saints to work with, and giving a sacred symbol and dice divination technique.
- Sandy Jenkins - Salvation Magic introduces a lesser-known saint and a story about High John Conqueror Root, including a nuanced appreciation of Frederick Douglas and the interlocking of White privilege and sexism in his life, and principally focuses on freeing oneself from destructive circumstances, particularly connected to racism.
- John Horse Seminole Wildman – Mental Fortitude draws inspiration from a Maroon hero of the First Seminole War in Florida, one of numerous alliances between formerly enslaved people and Indigenous folk she discusses – in Appendix B, she tells the story of Black Hawk and the alliance between Indigenous and Black spirits in New Orleans.
- Queen Julia Brown – Protection from Overwork, dealing with self-care in healing work.
- St. Jean Malo – Claiming Reparations on building solidarity to hold and grow resources in the BIPOC communities, identifying with the Maroons and the lasting economic impact of slavery, and with systematic racism.
- Exu and His Holy Harlot Pomba Gira – Healing Black Love dedicated to the god of the crossroads and boundaries and His partner, Pomba Gira, the patron saint of women, sex workers, trans people, erotic power and danger. I was very impressed with a couple of the stories and workings in here – talking about Marsha P. Johnson and having her be the inspiration of a protection working to confuse enemies of gender non-conformity, Paschal Randolph for a sex magic rite.
- Joseph and the Dirty South Headstand – Protection calling St. Joseph and Obatala, protector of handicapped people, embodying wisdom and purity, particularly when house-hunting or moving, dealing with sundown towns and unfriendly environments, and in household protection spells.
- La Madama’s Bridge Over Slave Waters – Financial Success and Nationalism calling up the spirit of all enslaved women and their descendants, dealing with racist capitalism and generational trauma, briefly discussing the 1921 Tulsa race riot and destruction of the ‘Black Wall Street’, with spells for financial success.
- St. Expedite – Hurry Up and Be Prepared by calling the spirit of urgency and energy, fast luck. Black Herman the Magic Man – Protecting Your Activism introducing the Black nationalist occultist who popularized Hoodoo as nationalist practice in the 1920s, with workings responding to book banning and teaching activism.
- Mother Catherine Seals – Protecting Our BIPOC Women in healing from domestic violence, calling the spirit of a staunch defender of women and children, including horrifying stories of racist health care negligence including the horrors of the start of gynecology.
- Zora Neale Hurston – Learning to Honor Our Past with a brief biography of Hurston, an eminent voice in Afrikan American folklore, workings for decolonization, arguing from biology (Afrikan DNA) that Hoodoo is the natural religion for BIPOC people and is thereby a racially closed practice, and talking about the failings of the Black Christian churches (as well as one story of sexual exploitation by a Voodoo priest).
- Mama Healer Henrietta Lacks – BIPOC Healthcare briefly retelling how Henrietta Lacks’ cancer cells that were taken without her knowledge and permission have formed the foundation of a huge number of medical advances while the woman was not treated or even named or acknowledged for many years. Discusses the long tradition of racialized rape. Introduces the South American influence of Ekeko and Pachamama.
In her conclusion she talks about racism as not merely an American problem but as a global malignancy and one of her goals in writing the book as “calling forth a council of modern-day spiritual disruptors” (pg 303).
I can’t effectively retell a book of 420 pages, just speak of a few points in each chapter that struck me – get it and read it, particularly if you are a member of a racialized minority. She tells the stories of real people in trouble, generally dealing with racism, and then gives the scripts for rituals to help fix the situation the story talks about. There is a great deal of useful information in here and it is wonderful to have learned about more BIPOC heroes and numerous practical tips and techniques.
~review by Samuel Wagar
Author: Mawiyah Kai El-Jamah Bomani
Llewellyn Worldwide, 2025
419 pg. Paperback £19 / $35 Can / $25 US
*Editor's note: the use of the letter "k" is deliberate. Using the "c" came about during the European colonization.
