ABM

[ABM]

Just call me ABM. I am a black man that cant stand new agers. They steal everyones culture. And these white people take our ATR faiths and call them "black magic". I mean, i saw a youtube vid of a bunch of white Christians calling the Vodoun and the Haitian revolution "satanic". How is overthrowing a slave system evil in anyway? If a culture is interesting to them they hijack it. If its too African in nature its branded "black magic/evil/satanic/ect." They even got most of us afraid of our own traditional faiths.


But i support NAFPS from keeping these white new agers from hijacking their culture. Just because their mainstream white cultures are not exciting to them doesn't mean they can taint other people's cultures.

Julian B is nice too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a0z5h-psp8

[Kevin]

That's some info that probably most people are simply not aware of, I wasn't, thanks for posting this

[educatedindian]

There are some threads in here about Nuagers claiming to be Vodoun (Voudou? Voodoo? I've seen it spelled many ways.) healers before. Plus a fraud named Credo Mutwa claiming to teach Zulu tradition. Also some downright dangerous Nuage cults who specifically target Blacks like the Nuwaubians and Washitaw and Binay.

But I don't think we've ever had anyone here with any real background in these traditions. Glad you're here.

[Defend the Sacred]

Alafia, ABM. I am an aleyo (sp?), but I have friends in the religion: Priestesses in Boston,  New York and San Francisco. In the eighties I attended some Bembes and Missas, and during a time when I needed guidance was read Odi Osa Ile Elese Orisa Yale.

I have great respect for the religion, and though things did not pan out for me to make Ocha (the egungun decided I needed to focus on my own roots, not run from them)  I will always honor those Priestesses and Orisha who helped me through a tough time in my life by welcoming me into their homes. It's not my birth culture, but I consider us allies and cousins. I am also on the lookout for those who would exploit the religion or misrepresent themselves as having authority, information, powers or initiations they do not have.

Welcome, and glad to have you here :-)

[Laurel]

Hi ABM,

I currently live in SW Louisiana.  What are your thoughts on folk magic/hoodoo (not the Vodoun religion) performed by practitioners who don't have any relation to its origins?
For instance, I can pick up pre-made Hot Foot Powder in the Wicca shop down the road.  And how valid this sort of thing?

http://www.luckymojo.com/mojocourse.html

I mean, I don't have any idea what Ms. Yronwode's blood connection to rootwork is.  Does this matter for the purposes of "folk magic" as opposed to religion?  She seems to be getting all her stuff from Hyatt, and I wonder if that really has anything to do with original hoodoo/rootwork.

Sorry if I'm dragging the thread off topic. 

As far as religion goes, there is/was a shop in Memphis run by a couple of white anthropology students who said they were Santeria and kept an altar in their store.  I don't know what credentials they claimed, but they too sell/sold a little bit of everything from postcards of Hindu deities to black cat bones to Tarot decks.  Neo-Pagans who are afraid of the neighborhood their store is in but want "a pink candle to cast a love spell with" dig'em (sigh):

http://local.yahoo.com/details?id=15066482&sortreviews=1&from=1#reviews

I'm very interested in your thoughts on this sort of thing.

Laurel

[ABM]

Laurel, this was on that page.

COST OF TUITION

The cost of the Hoodoo Rootwork Correspondence Course is $2.00 per lesson, payable in advance as a one-time fee of $104.00. You will receive a 432 page hardcover book, bound in reddish-brown and black cloth and stamped with gold on the cover. This book contains all 52 lessons and a lesson plan. The book is personally inscribed to you by name, with your permanent Student ID#, and is signed and dated by me.

There is a shipping and handling charge of 12% ($12.48) on the book, making a total of $116.48 for USA orders.

Foreign orders must pay extra shipping charges, which vary by country.

California orders will be charged California sales tax.

Hoodoo as a folk magic is not as structured as a system such as Vodoun or Ifa. Its a combination of different beliefs with an African backbone.

But i feel these people are just trying to cash in on the tradition. Its obvious. Rootworking is knowing how to work with actual roots. Ordering ingredients off the internet and yahoo lesson plans does not make one a rootworker. Any thrill seeking, newager can order High John Roots off a website. But thats not the same as having the actual knowledge handed down through your family. Going out, picking the plants (knowing the proper ones), and drying them yourself. I find it sad that instead of being born into a tradition people can walk into some white owned store and go "I need some luck, i know ill buy some of this mojo oil." I bet people without anatomical knowledge buy those bones with "black cat bones" on the label without questioning if they are really cat bones...  They could be chicken bones and some people would still buy them.

And i really doubt those store owners where initiated into Santeria. Probably just got some of their own products like candles and statues and put it up in the store to look more legit.

Its like New Orleans tourist traps. Selling voodoo dolls and other false things people associate with African traditions thanks to Hollywood.

[ABM]

[I am also on the lookout for those who would exploit the religion or misrepresent themselves as having authority, information, powers or initiations they do not have.

Welcome, and glad to have you here :-)

Thats great to hear Kathryn. I want to stop not only people that give false initiations, but also the people that continuously demonize traditional African paths. When i read about this site i read it was for Native Americans protecting their traditions, so i came to give my support. It makes me happy to see you all are more than willing to support protecting other traditions from newagers.

  <--- i inserted a smiley here, but its not displaying on my comp. does it work for you?

[Defend the Sacred]

No, the smilies and other emoticons seem to have gone all wonky.

I think there are a lot of similarities in how outsiders steal from Native paths and how they try to buy their way into Ifa (and related traditions). Often it's the same people trying to steal from both... those horrorshows of bad vibes who turn up wearing elekes they bought at a botanica, and a Hindu amulet, and a "medicine bag" with dreamcatcher earrings, topped off with a bunch of Wiccan bling. Eeek. Came across someone online the other day who claimed to be some kind of traditional in a First Nations sense, but also claimed to be a Wiccan High Priestess, and had named herself, I kid you not, "Yemaya Olokun". Yeah, good luck with that... ;-)

[ABM]

Wait. So you actually met a person that claimed to be not only a First Nation, Hindu, Wiccan but they also claimed to be Yemaya?

...

I just laughed so hard, but at the same time this is sad.