Hoodoo Books: Free Rootwork Books, Recommended Reading and Supplies
Every rootworker learns from somewhere. The old workers learned at a grandmother’s elbow, from a root doctor down the road, or from a dog-eared copy of a grimoire bought by mail.
Today the teachers are scattered across old archives, university presses and a shelf of working books. Some are brilliant. Some are padding.
This is our shelf. The free sources first, because they are the bedrock. Then the histories that tell you where the work came from, the working books we actually rate, and the supplies worth keeping on the altar.
Some links below are Amazon links. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.
All free, all legal, all from public libraries and archives. If you read nothing else, read these.
Hoodoo Witch
What it isOur free library built from Harry Middleton Hyatt’s five volumes, the biggest record of hoodoo ever made. Hyatt recorded about 1,600 root doctors, conjure women and ordinary believers across the South, mostly between 1936 and 1940.
Why it mattersThe volumes are long out of print and cost a fortune. We go through them topic by topic, in the informants’ own words, with every item cited.
TipNew entries go up every week.
Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro
Newbell Niles Puckett, 1926
What it isA survey of more than 600 pages of Southern belief collected in the 1920s: conjure doctors, charms, hands, foot track work, omens, cures and the dead.
Why it mattersIt is the biggest collection made before Hyatt. Read it for the sheer range of what was being done.
TipUse the search box on the Internet Archive page. Try “conjure”, “hand” or “goopher”.
Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938
Library of Congress
What it isMore than 2,300 interviews with people who had been enslaved, recorded in the 1930s.
Why it mattersConjure doctors, roots, hands and tricks come up again and again, told first-hand by the people who lived it. It is the closest you will get to hearing the generation before Hyatt’s informants.
TipSearch the collection for “conjure”, “root doctor” or “hoodoo”.
The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses
The 1910 American edition
What it isA German grimoire of seals, Psalms and conjurations, printed in English in America from 1880.
Why it mattersIt became one of the most famous books in American conjure. Root doctors owned it and worked its seals and Psalms, and mail-order houses sold it across the South. Every serious rootworker should know what is in it.
Charles W. Chesnutt, 1899
What it isLinked stories told by Uncle Julius, a formerly enslaved man, about conjure on a North Carolina plantation.
Why it mattersFiction, but built on the conjure tales Chesnutt grew up with, by one of the first great Black American writers. It shows how conjure lived in people’s stories.
Hoodoo has no scripture and no church. Its history was kept in practice, in family memory and, later, in the notebooks of a few people who bothered to write it down. These are the books that tell that story properly.
Mojo Workin’: The Old African American Hoodoo System
Katrina Hazzard-Donald, 2013
What it isA history of hoodoo from its West and Central African roots, through slavery and the Great Migration, to the mail-order and drugstore trade of the twentieth century.
Why we rate itShe draws a hard line between the old system, worked inside Black communities, and the commercial hoodoo that came after it. Whether or not you agree with every word, it makes you think about where your own practice comes from.
“The one history book every student of hoodoo should own.”
Read it ifyou want the case for what real, old hoodoo was.
Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition
Yvonne P. Chireau, 2003
What it isHow conjure and Christianity lived side by side in Black life, from slavery to the twentieth century.
Why we rate itIt explains why a root doctor could read the Psalms over a hand and see no contradiction. If you work with the Bible in your rootwork, this is the background.
Read it ifyou work the Psalms, the saints or the Bible and want to know why it fits.
Zora Neale Hurston, 1935
What it isHurston went home to Florida to collect folk tales, then to New Orleans, where she studied under hoodoo doctors and went through their initiations.
Why we rate itThe hoodoo half is written from the inside, by a trained anthropologist who was also a Black Southern woman. Nobody else of her time could have got those doctors to talk the way they did to her.
Read it ifyou want to read what being taught by the old New Orleans doctors was like.
Conjure in African American Society
Jeffrey E. Anderson, 2005
What it isA scholarly history of conjure from Africa and slavery through to the twentieth century: who practised it, what they did and how it changed.
Why we rate itClear, careful and well sourced. It ties the practice to the lives of the people who needed it.
Read it ifyou want the academic history in one readable book.
Voodoo and Hoodoo: The Craft as Revealed by Traditional Practitioners
Jim Haskins, 1978
What it isSpells and practices gathered from working practitioners in the South, with the history behind them.
Why we rate itAn older book written before hoodoo became an online trend, so the material comes straight from the people doing the work.
Read it ifyou like old-school sources. Copies are now mostly secondhand.
Books written by people who do the work, for people who want to do it. These are the ones we would put in a new student’s hands.
Working Conjure: A Guide to Hoodoo Folk Magic
Hoodoo Sen Moise, 2018
What it isA practical guide to Southern conjure as a living practice: the ancestors and spirits, cleansing, protection, and the tricks and workings themselves.
Why we rate itIt teaches conjure as a relationship with the spirits, not a list of recipes. We have met him. He is the real thing.
“If we could only keep one working book, it would be this one.”
Read it ifyou want one working book to learn from.
Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic: A Materia Magica of African-American Conjure
Catherine Yronwode, 2002
What it isAn A to Z of the herbs, roots, minerals and curios of hoodoo, listed A to Z, with what each one is used for.
Why we rate itThe best book there is on herbs and roots and what to do with them. You will reach for it every time you build a hand or mix a powder.
“The book that lives on the altar, not the shelf.”
Read it ifyou ever wonder what a root is for.
Denise Alvarado, with Doktor Snake, 2011
What it isA big collection of spells, formulas and recipes from New Orleans Voodoo and Southern hoodoo: love, money, luck, protection, uncrossing and the harder work.
Why we rate itPractical and generous. It gives you the working, not just the theory.
Read it ifyou want a spellbook you will actually use.
The Voodoo Doll Spellbook: A Compendium of Ancient and Contemporary Spells and Rituals
Denise Alvarado, with Dorothy Morrison, 2014
What it isDoll work from start to finish: making the doll, linking it, and working it for love, healing, protection, control and revenge.
Why we rate itOne of the best books on doll work in print. Our Hoodoo for Hate course takes the baneful side further.
Read it ifyou work with dolls, or want to.
Sticks, Stones, Roots and Bones: Hoodoo, Mojo and Conjuring with Herbs
Stephanie Rose Bird, 2004
What it isHerbs, roots, minerals and animal curios, with how to make mojo bags, baths and washes from them.
Why we rate itA warm, well-rooted introduction from a Black practitioner and herbalist.
Read it ifyou are building your first mojo bags and baths.
365 Days of Hoodoo: Daily Rootwork, Mojo and Conjuration
Stephanie Rose Bird, 2018
What it isA working, a prayer or a piece of lore for every day of the year.
Why we rate itIt turns hoodoo into a daily practice rather than something you only do in a crisis.
Read it ifyou want to work a little every day.
Working the Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African American Healing
Michele Elizabeth Lee, 2017
What it isRoot medicine from the Southern tradition: the plants, the remedies and the healers who kept them.
Why we rate itThe healing side of rootwork is too often forgotten. This book keeps it alive.
Read it ifyou want the medicine as well as the magick.
Jambalaya: The Natural Woman’s Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals
Luisah Teish, 1985
What it isCharms, altars and rituals from a New Orleans-born priestess, mixing hoodoo, Voodoo and the Orisha tradition.
Why we rate itA classic that still reads fresh, especially on altars and the ancestors.
Read it ifyou want New Orleans in your practice.
Two authors we read everything by
Catherine Yronwode
Nobody has written or edited more working hoodoo books. Each one takes a single part of the work, from candles to container spells, and covers it in depth, with real workings from many practitioners.
- Paper in My Shoe
Catherine Yronwode
Name papers, petitions and prayer papers: how to write them and how to work them. - The Art of Hoodoo Candle Magic
Catherine Yronwode
Candle work in full: colours, dressing, setting lights and reading the burn. - The Art of Making Mojos
Catherine Yronwode and others
How to make, fix and feed mojo hands, tobies and trick bags. - Bottle Up and Go!
Catherine Yronwode and Lara Rivera
Bottles, jars, boxes and bags, and the spells worked in them. - Hoodoo Spiritual Baths
Aura Laforest and Catherine Yronwode
Baths, floor washes and spiritual waters for cleansing and drawing. - Deliverance!
Khi Armand, Catherine Yronwode and others
Uncrossing, healing and protection. - Cursing and Crossing
Miss Aida and Catherine Yronwode
The baneful side of the work, laid out plainly. - Hoodoo Return and Reconciliation Spells
Deacon Millett, Catherine Yronwode and others
Bringing a lover back and keeping them home. - Cash Box Conjure
Miss Phoenix LeFae and Catherine Yronwode
Luck, money and business work. - Hoodoo Shrines and Altars
Phoenix LeFae, Catherine Yronwode and others
Building and keeping altars and shrines. - Sneaky Tricks
Miss Michaele, Catherine Yronwode and others
Laying tricks and working where no one will notice. - Throwing the Bones
Catherine Yronwode
Reading the bones, shells and curios. - Genuine Black and White Magic of Marie Laveau
Catherine Yronwode and others
An early New Orleans hoodoo spell book, with its history. - The Black Folder
Catherine Yronwode and others
Working practitioners share their own methods, one essay each. - The Red Folder
Catherine Yronwode
A second collection of private lessons.
Dorothy Morrison
Dorothy Morrison writes witchcraft the way it should be written: practical, funny, direct and not afraid of the dark side.
- Utterly Wicked: Hexes, Curses, and Other Unsavory Notions
Dorothy Morrison
Her best known book. Hexes, curses and getting even, with no apologies. - Hoodoo and Conjure: New Orleans
Denise Alvarado, Dorothy Morrison and others
New Orleans hoodoo and conjure. - The Craft: A Witch’s Book of Shadows
Dorothy Morrison
A complete working course in witchcraft. - Everyday Magic
Dorothy Morrison
Quick spells for ordinary days, and the timing to work them. - Everyday Moon Magic
Dorothy Morrison
Working by the moon. - Everyday Sun Magic
Dorothy Morrison
Working by the sun. - Everyday Tarot Magic
Dorothy Morrison
Using the tarot cards in spellwork. - Enchantments of the Heart
Dorothy Morrison
Love work. - Bud, Blossom, and Leaf
Dorothy Morrison and H. Byron Ballard
Growing and working your own magical herbs. - A Victorian Grimoire
Patricia Telesco and Dorothy Morrison
Victorian charms and home magick. - In Praise of the Crone
Dorothy Morrison
The crone years as a time of power.
Students get 20% off everything at Black Magic Witch, our own supply store. Already enrolled? Ask us for your student code.
If you shop on Amazon, these are the ten hoodoo basics Amazon shoppers buy most, and the ones we would buy there too. For each one: what it is, how it is worked, and what Hyatt’s informants said about it.
1.Chime candles, 40 in 10 colours
What it isSmall 4-inch tapers, made for altars and quick spells. Each burns in about two hours.
How it’s workedThe everyday workhorse of candle magick. Pick the colour for the work, write the name, dress it, and let it burn in one sitting.
From the old workers“Yo’ writes his name on dem candle an’ burn dem three candle.”
(Hyatt 2787 · Memphis, Tenn. · informant 948)
A small iron pot with a handle, built to take heat.
How it’s workedFor burning name papers, herbs, powders and the ashes of a finished working, safely, on the altar.
From the old workers“You burn that down till it’s a ashes.”
(Hyatt 2637 · New Orleans, La. · informant 831)
A citrus and spice cologne first sold in 1808, and a barbershop favourite for a century after.
How it’s workedThe spiritual cologne of the South: for cleansing, washes, feeding a hand, and as an offering to spirit. Informants poured it into love and court workings.
From the old workers“git some oil of clover, oil of verbena, Florida Watah”
(Hyatt 10665 · New Orleans, La. · informant 1560)
A crystalline resin from the camphor tree, sold for medicine and to keep moths away.
How it’s workedBurned, dissolved or carried for cleansing and clearing, and used to feed protection hands.
From the old workers“will keep de evil spirits off yuh”
(Hyatt 1485 · Florence, S. Car. · informant 1295)
Tree resin burned as incense in churches for two thousand years.
How it’s workedBurned on charcoal for blessing, for drawing, and for smoking yourself before the day’s work.
From the old workers“you smoke yourself over good before the sun rise”
(Hyatt 2650 · New Orleans, La. · informant 822)
A condition oil, blended for one purpose, in the tradition of the old drugstore and mail-order hoodoo oils.
How it’s workedDress candles, money, name papers, your hands and your mojo hand with it. Informants scrubbed their shops with drawing oil, from the back to the front.
From the old workers“It will draw customers.”
(Hyatt 2421 · New Orleans, La. · informant 785)
Tall church candles made to burn for days, like the novena lights in a Catholic church.
How it’s workedFor long workings, nine-day work and keeping a light burning for a saint, a spirit or the dead.
From the old workers“burn three until yo’ have burn nine”
(Hyatt 2776 · Memphis, Tenn. · informant 1556)
Salt blackened with charcoal or ash.
How it’s workedSalt has always been the first protection. Black salt is laid at doors and windows to keep enemies out, and down behind someone you want gone.
From the old workers“sprinkle lot’a salt on de flo’”
(Hyatt 501 · St. Petersburg, Fla. · informant 1021)
A condition oil for success, victory and getting ahead.
How it’s workedDress a candle or a petition with it before an interview, an exam or any time you need to come out on top. The old workers bought their oils by name, then worked them with a wish.
From the old workers“make her wish over it”
(Hyatt 1845 · New Orleans, La. · informant 787)
10.Fiery Wall of Protection oil
What it isA hot protection oil, one of the best known hoodoo formulas.
How it’s workedFor protecting yourself and your home: dress candles and doorframes, and add it to a protection hand. Before the bottled oils, workers burned dragon’s blood and frankincense for the same reason.
From the old workers“wus supposed tuh keep away evil spirits an’ de law”
(Hyatt 1241 · Memphis, Tenn. · informant 1527)
Also worth having
- High John the Conqueror root: the king of roots, for power, luck and mastery. One Memphis informant chewed a piece before asking for a job.
“Yo’ take a little piece an’ chew it an’ yo’ go tuh him.”
(Hyatt 2331 · Memphis, Tenn. · informant 951) - Bluing squares: laundry bluing, used in floor washes and baths to keep the law and trouble from the door.
“and they never come across the door”
(Hyatt 2559 · New Orleans, La. · informant 877)
Who isn’t on this list
Yes, there are authors we don’t recommend. Some copy, some invent, and some sell a watered-down version of the work. We won’t name them here.
If you’re one of our students, ask us. We’ll spill the tea.
Learn the work
Hoodoo Witch Certification Course
Books tell you what was done. The course teaches you how to do it, from the history and the spirits to candles, dolls, mojo bags and the baneful work most courses won’t touch.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Quotes from Harry Middleton Hyatt, Hoodoo – Conjuration – Witchcraft – Rootwork, 5 vols., 1970-1978; numbers are Hyatt’s own item numbers.