Hoodoo Dictionary: The Old Words of Rootwork and Conjure
Hoodoo has its own language. Root doctors and their clients talked about hands and tricks, about being fixed and crossed, about feeding a lamp and setting a light. These words come straight from Hyatt’s informants, recorded in the South between 1936 and 1940.
Each word below is explained in plain English, then shown in use by someone who lived it, with the town and informant number so you can find it in Hyatt yourself.
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B
Black cat bone
A bone taken from a black cat boiled alive at night, believed to make its owner invisible and lucky. Read the full entry →
“Ah’ve heard of people havin’ black cat bones an’ they could walk in banks – jest like walkin’ in dis house heah an’ yo’ couldn’t see ’em.”
(Hyatt 259 · Brunswick, Ga. · informant 1175)
C
Chamber lye
Urine, usually from the chamber pot. Used to bind, to call a person, to feed a hand and to wash a house. Read the full entry →
“Oh, yes, dey take dat chamber lye and stop it up and call yo’ name.”
(Hyatt 39 · Charleston, S. Car. · informant 520)
Conjure (cunjure)
Both the work and the act: to conjure someone is to put work on them. A conjure man or woman is the worker. Read the full entry →
“If you have a bad dream , this shows that someone is trying to cunjure you .”
(Hyatt 567 · Wilmington, N. Car. · informant 205)
Crossed
Under a curse or run of bad luck put on you by someone else. A cross can be laid on a person or a house. Read the full entry →
“She tole ‘im, she says, “You’re crossed with bad luck, you can’t have no good luck.””
(Hyatt 342 · Snow Hill, Md. · informant 93)
D
Devil’s shoestring
A long, stringy root carried, chewed or buried for luck, work and protection. Read the full entry →
“Then there’s a root dey calls de shoestring – devil’s shoestring .”
(Hyatt 2254 · Brunswick, Ga. · informant 1203)
F
Feed
To keep a hand, lamp or spirit alive by giving it whiskey, perfume, oil or other liquid on a schedule. Read the full entry →
“At certain hours when yo’ have no customers, git behin’ yore curtain, an’ feed dat lamp.”
(Hyatt 806 · Savannah, Ga. · informant 1261)
Fix, fixed
To put work on someone or something, for good or harm. A fixed person has been worked on. Read the full entry →
“That was fixed to run us out of there.”
(Hyatt 565 · Charleston, S. Car. · informant 498)
Foot track
The print a person leaves in dirt. Taken up, it holds the person; poisoned, it hurts them through the feet. Read the full entry →
“Well, they say you take the foot tracks and they can trick you with ’em.”
(Hyatt 792 · New Orleans, La. · informant 826a)
Fork of the road
The crossroads, where deals are made, tricks are left and power is sought. Read the full entry →
“say ev’ry Sunday mornin’ you go to de fork of de road an’ you curse God an’ you dance an’ den you prays.”
(Hyatt 332 · Charleston, S. Car. · informant 500)
G
Goofer dust
Graveyard dirt, often mixed with other powders, used in harmful work. The word is used loosely for many killing dusts. Read the full entry →
“goofer – dis stuff a graveyard dirt , red peppah an’ black peppah.”
(Hyatt 665 · Little Rock, Ark. · informant 897)
H
Hag, riding
A witch who leaves her skin at night and rides a sleeper until they wake choking and unable to move. Read the full entry →
“See, de hag jump on yo’ an’ will ride yo’ an’ can’t rest.”
(Hyatt 10421 · Florence, S. Car. · informant 1306)
Hand, mojo, toby
A small cloth bag of roots, minerals and personal concerns, carried for one purpose and kept alive by feeding. Toby is the New Orleans word. Read the full entry →
“They call that mojo an’ dat fo’ yore luck in gamblin’ an’ co’se yo’ feed it Jockey Club perfume.”
(Hyatt 2101 · Memphis, Tenn. · informant 1529a)
Hoodoo doctor
A professional worker. Also called a root doctor, root worker, conjure doctor or two-headed doctor. Read the full entry →
“Dey call me hoodoo – sure dey do, ’cause de little chillun – ah’m goin’ long de street, “Mama, har de hoodoo doctor, har de hoodoo doctor .”
(Hyatt 12 · Mobile, Ala. · informant 655)
Hot foot powder
A powder laid in someone’s path to make them leave and keep moving. Read the full entry →
“some kin’ of powder dey calls hotfoot powder.”
(Hyatt 2013 · Mobile, Ala. · informant 698)
J
Jack
A hanging hand or pendulum that swings or turns to answer questions. Read the full entry →
“Jack will swing back and forwards to you.”
(Hyatt 584 · Richmond, Va. · informant 431)
L
Lodestone
A naturally magnetic stone, carried and fed to draw money, luck and love. Read the full entry →
“Yo’ git a piece of lodestone an’ keep near yo ‘ a bottle of hearts cologne .”
(Hyatt 264 · St. Petersburg, Fla. · informant 1042)
N
Nation sack
A Memphis word for a woman’s hand, worn at the waist to hold money and lucky things. Touching it was forbidden. Read the full entry →
“yo’ kin tote ’em in yore nation sack an’ dat brings luck to yo’.”
(Hyatt 2161 · Memphis, Tenn. · informant 954)
Nature
A man’s sexual potency. Workers could take it away, tie it to one woman, or give it back. Read the full entry →
“an’ dat ‘ 11 take his nature from ‘im”
(Hyatt 3128 · Brunswick, Ga. · informant 1188)
R
Root worker, root doctor
A person who works with roots and herbs, for cures and for conjure. Read the full entry →
“his wife was goin’ leave him so he jes’ went on to a root worker.”
(Hyatt 621 · Wilmington, N. Car. · informant 315)
S
Set a light
To burn a candle or lamp for a purpose, often on a saint or a name. Read the full entry →
“All yo’ do is set de light.”
(Hyatt 2757 · New Orleans, La. · informant 1587)
T
Trick
Any object or material laid down or hidden to work on someone. To trick a person is to work on them. Read the full entry →
“if a man or woman wants tuh trick yo’ in any way, why he’d take dat an’ put dat inside of dere, dat linin’ [insole] .”
(Hyatt 5164 · Wilson, N. Car. · informant 1509)
Two-headed
Having second sight; a worker who knows both this world and the spirit side. Read the full entry →
“Well, this old lady is kinda two-head , a two-headed woman.”
(Hyatt 2764 · New Orleans, La. · informant 820)
U
Uncrossing
Taking a cross off: baths, washes and reversals that lift the work. Read the full entry →
“Well, yo’ bathe yo’self, dat keeps de cross off yo’ – keep it from ’im.”
(Hyatt 6696 · New Orleans, La. · informant 857)
W
War water
A drugstore water used to start trouble and in harmful bottles. Read the full entry →
“dey got water they call war water , and you get oil they call moving oil .”
(Hyatt 2142 · New Orleans, La. · informant 822)
Learn the work
Hoodoo Witch Certification Course
Knowing the words is the start. The course teaches the work behind every one of them.
Quotes from Harry Middleton Hyatt, Hoodoo – Conjuration – Witchcraft – Rootwork, 5 vols., 1970-1978, kept exactly as recorded. Numbers are Hyatt’s own item numbers.