The Psalms in Hoodoo

For most of Hyatt’s informants, the Bible was the most powerful book in the house, and the Psalms were the part they worked.

They were read on a schedule, at set hours, for a set number of days, and often written out and carried.

Psalms named by Hyatt’s informants

• Psalm 23: written on light paper and tied up with five-finger grass in a clean cloth, worn next to the skin, so no one can harm you with tricks (Hyatt 1262). Also read while a frog is thrown over the shoulder in a cure (Hyatt 1283 · Waycross, Ga. · informant 1166).
• Psalm 35: read for nine nights with the Bible under your head, to drive away the hag (Hyatt 480 · Savannah, Ga. · informant 539). Read for nine mornings, “that God’s will will be done to the person who did yo’ this way” (Hyatt 568 · St. Petersburg, Fla. · informant 1006).
• Psalm 37: read when afraid of someone doing you harm, with the Bible left open, its head turned east, for three to nine days (Hyatt 1119 · Memphis, Tenn. · informant 928). Also read with hands raised: “The Lord deliver me from mine enemies” (Hyatt 1474 · Vicksburg, Miss. · informant 750).
• Psalms 21 and 32: read over water with a little sugar in it, then drunk for nine days (Hyatt 640 · Memphis, Tenn. · informant 938).
• Psalm 30: three times before sunrise and three before sunset, for spiritual work and wisdom (Hyatt 1427 · Brunswick, Ga. · informant 1206).
• Psalm 72: recited after burying a symbol before trial, to set all lawsuits aside (Hyatt 829 · Memphis, Tenn. · informant 973).
• Psalm 91: morning, noon and bedtime: “I don’t care what they put on or how they fix it” (Hyatt 1426).
• Psalms 23, 37 and 108: named together as the Psalms that silence a travelling spirit (Hyatt 34).

How they were read

• In counts of three, seven and nine: nine nights, nine mornings, three times a day.
• At sunrise and sunset, or at noon.
• With the Bible left open, or under the pillow.
• Written out and carried as a hand.
• Read over water, which is then drunk or bathed in.

Where it came from

Hyatt notes that books like Secrets of the Psalms and the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses were being sold by mail and used by workers in his day (Hyatt Vol. 1, introduction; Hyatt 829).

But most of what his informants said came from older people in their own families, not from books.

How it’s worked today

• The same Psalms carry the same jobs. Psalm 23 and Psalm 91 are for protection, 35 and 37 for enemies, and 109 for justice and revenge.
• They are read over candles, petitions, baths and oils, written on paper for mojo bags, and prayed in the same counts of three, seven and nine.

Learn the work

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Source: Harry Middleton Hyatt, Hoodoo – Conjuration – Witchcraft – Rootwork, 5 vols., 1970-1978. Numbers refer to Hyatt’s own item numbers; the town and informant number follow. Written by Hoodoo Witch in our own words, with short quotations for reference.