Recollections of Hoodoo, Voodoo and other tales of American Slave Folklore as told by the slaves themselves.

"The way we tell it, hoodoo started way back there before everything. Six days of magic spells and mighty words and the world with its elements above and below was made."
Hurston. 1935. Mules and Men.

In hoodoo, "All hold that the Bible is the great conjure book in the world." The Bible, however, is not just a source of spells but is itself a conjuring talisman.
Hoodoo, also known as conjure, and its practioners as conjurers or rootworkers, is a type of folk magic developed by African American Slaves.

It is not a religion as it has no hierarchy or clergy and is tied inextricably within Christianity with the bible as its main source of spells and magic.

Its practitioners are usually found within the Christian community and their Hoodoo knowledge is passed down orally from generation to generation.

Voodoo is a religion.

Hoodoo is a system of magic and spells.

They are different, yet can be complementary.

Taken from the hundreds of slave interviews carried out by the Federal Writers Project.