INSPIRATION & TEACHING HOODOO
Every time I start a new cohort, I am reminded of why I embarked on this journey of teaching Hoodoo. There is something about teaching the basics of something that always feels enduring, and is the thing you tend to return to, no matter how far and deep you go into a practice. But more than that, I am driven by the desire to create a safe space for people to learn and grow together, a space where they feel welcomed and valued.
I have said this in posts in the past, but I have taken other people’s Hoodoo and Rootwork courses. Many I found informative, meaning they were full of good information about the practice and its techniques. One such course, in particular, equips you with a year’s worth of invaluable information. But none of them I took from others spent time teaching how to form yourself into a rootworker, let alone a professional one. Even less focused on how a person’s identity and origin story is a tremendous point of power. What I termed social location (to borrow a fancy term from academia). I had not taken a course anywhere that weaved technique and information with how to form a new identity and also how where we are from can significantly aid in shaping who we become as workers. I didn’t find that, so I decided to make it myself.
This brings me back to a bible study I did many years ago on the Book of Revelation from the Bible. In seminary, I thought that book was so crazy that I took courses and did independent studies to gain a deeper understanding. I quickly saw that Revelation had a lot to teach us and speak to in our current day and age. But the crowds I tended to traffic with were liberal Christians who tend to have a great distaste for the Bible. I remember the first class too (almost thirty years ago now)! People came tense and a little defensive. I copied an article from my favorite New Testament professor, who said that scripture is the Word of God when God’s people gather and study it. And by learning, I meant arguing, debating, and even sometimes rejecting it.
Long story short, those groups of bible study participants had a lot of religious trauma. They wanted to know if I was picking the craziest book of the Bible to bludgeon them more or if I was creating a safe space where nothing was out of bounds. Once they saw that I meant it when I said it was the latter, I couldn’t stop them! They grew together to see how those words were relevant for them, in their lives, with all of what was happening in the world then.
I am deeply passionate about Hoodoo. I teach it because I see too many strands and threads out there that need to be pulled together. I want people to have that safe space to learn and grow together. I am driven by the desire to keep the fires of the tradition burning so that I might someday pass it down to my posterity.
This is my vision, and it inspires everything I do as a Hoodoo teacher. I would love to have you join us on Monday so you can experience this yourself!
The link to the course is here: https://www.theblackthorneschool.com/courses/working-the-roots/. See you in class!
