Mojo bags in Hoodoo and New Orleans tradition

Source www.luckymojo.com

So what is a mojo? It is, in short, the staple amulet of African-American hoodoo practice, a flannel bag containing one or more magical items. The word is thought by some to be a corruption of the English word "magic" but it more likely is related to the West African word "mojuba," meaning a prayer of praise and homage. It is a "prayer in a bag" -- a spell you can carry.
Alternaive American names for the mojo bag include hand, mojo hand, conjure hand, lucky hand, conjure bag, trick bag, root bag, toby, jomo, and gris-gris bag. In the Memphis region, a special kind of mojo, worn only by women, is called a nation sack. A mojo used for divination, somehwat like a pendulum, is called a Jack, Jack bag, or Jack ball.

The word "gris-gris" looks French (and in French it would mean "grey-grey"), but it is simply a Frenchified spelling of the Central African word gree-gree (also sometimes seplled gri-gri). Gree-gree means "fetish" or "charm," thus a gris-gris or gree-gree bag is a charm bag. In the Caribbean, an almost-identical African-derived bag is called a wanga or oanga bag, from the African word wanga, which also means "charm" or "spell" -- but that word is uncommon in the USA.

The word "conjure" -- as in "conjure work" (casting spells) and "conjure woman" (a female herbalist-magician) -- is an old alternative to "hoodoo," thus a conjure hand is a hoodoo bag, one made by a conjure doctor or two-headed doctor. Likewise, the word trick derives from an African-American term for spell-casting -- "laying tricks" -- so a trick bag is a a bag that contains a spell. Similarly, "wanga" is a West African word meaning a spell, hence a wanga bag is a bag containing a spell.

The word "hand" in this context means a combination of ingredients. The term may derive from the use of finger and hand bones of the dead in mojo bags made for various purposes, from the use of a rare orchid root called Lucky Hand root as an ingredient in mojo bags for gamblers, or by an analogy between the mixed ingredients in the bag and the several cards that make up a "hand" in card games.

Although most "Southern Style" conjure bags are made of red flannel, some root doctors favour the colour-symbolism employed in hoodoo style candle-burning magic and thus use green flannel for a money mojo, white flannel for a baby-blessing mojo, red flannel for a love mojo, pale blue flannel for a peaceful home mojo, and so forth. Leather bags are also seen, but far less frequently than flannel; they are associated with West Indian obeah, another form of folk magic closely related to African-American hoodoo.

Mojos made for an individual are usually carried on the person, always out of sight. They are very rarely worn on a string around the neck, fairly commonly pinned inside a woman's brassiere, and much more commonly pinned to the clothes below the waist or caried in a pants pocket. Those who make conjure bags to carry as love spells sometimes specify that the mojo be worn next to the skin. Mojos intended to purify or protect a location are generally placed near the door, hidden in such a way that they cannot be seen by strangers.


Some mojo& gris gris examples that could be purchased on Lucky mojo site with the description

To remove a jinx, stop crossed conditions, or drive away evil:
A broken length of chain; a broken ring; a rat bone or toy plastic rat; a catseye shell; a miniature metal, bone, or plastic skull; a pinch of five finger grass; and a miniature dagger; fixed in a red flannel bag and dressed with Stop Evil Condition Oil, Jinx Removing Oil, or Uncrossing Oil.

For luck in gambling:
A Lucky Hand root, a pinch of five-finger grass, a miniature pair of dice, and a John the Conqueror root, fixed in a red flannel bag and anointed with red Fast Luck Oil or with the urine of your lover. An added dried bat heart and an alligator tooth or badger tooth is good here too, as are a rabbit foot or alligator foot.


"Root Doctors' Hand" for good luck:
Another combination sold during the 1930s by King Novelty is shown in the above advertisement. It contained Sampson's snake roots, devil's shoestring roots, a piece of brimstone (sulphur), and a magnetic lodestone in a red flannel bag. As a bonus, the buyer received a good luck ring bearing the image of a horseshoe and a four-leaf clover, plus a copy of the then-popular "Witch's Dream Book," one of a number of similar dream books used by players to predict lucky numbers when betting on illegal lottery games such as policy. The text reads in part: "A HAND made by an old-time Conjure Man contained the following: One piece of Sampson Snake Root and a piece of 'Devil's Shoe Strings.' This was wrapped in a piece of Black Cloth folded always toward the maker and sewed with White Thread and then incased in a Red Flannel Bag. The Conjure Man said that the whole should be thoroughly wet with Whiskey or Camphor [camphorated oil] at regular intervals and should always be carried with you. It was said that such a Bag brings things to you and the twine-like roots of "Devil's Shoe Strings" ties them close and the folding of the cover towards you brings you GOOD LUCK in Gambling..."


To draw money:
A silver "Mercury" dime, a pinch of sugar, a lodestone, and a John the Conqueror root wrapped up in a $2.00 bill, fixed in a green flannel bag with a metal money bag charm and dressed with Van Van Oil.

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