Lucky Mojo Curio Co. Newsletter

June 1st, 2016

In This Issue
Free Spell: For Clarity & Open Roads
Featured Herb: Mint Leaf
Hoodoo Rootwork Monthly Course Grading Party
Letter from the Editor: Voices of Hoodoo Heritage
Lucky Mojo Hoodoo Rootwork Hour Schedule
Publisher:
Editor:
Production:
Rowan Rivers

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For Clarity & Open Roads

When you NEED TO KNOW with certainty and assurance -- bring clarity and insight to the situation!

Mint Leaves
Read all about how 
 are used to break spells, hexes, and jinxes, or to undo enemy tricks and bad-luck root work that may have been placed upon you or your loved ones. 

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where more than 11,000 friendly hoodoo practitioners, helpful Lucky Mojo Staff Members, HRCC graduates, and professional members of the Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers share their spell-casting success stories, answer new user questions, and pass along traditional conjure craft and family rootwork techniques.
Featured Article
Visit the LMC Radio Network

The LMC Radio Network
is a community radio alliance of metaphysical, spiritual, inspirational, and political-justice broadcasters spanning a wide range of topics. At the present time, the LMC Radio Network has SIX weekly shows in the line-up, with more on the way:

SUNDAY
The Lucky Mojo Hoodoo Rootwork Hour with catherine yronwode and ConjureMan Ali.

Featuring panel discussions on traditional African American hoodoo spell-casting  with members of AIRR, plus free readings and magical rootwork advice for our call-in clients -- this is the longest-running conjure show on the planet!

3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Pacific / 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM Eastern


MONDAY
Candelo's Corner with Candelo Kimbisa.

This is the meeting place for all esoteric traditions.
Candelo brings his insight as a Palero and eclectic spiritualist to
his interviews with peers in Afro-Caribbean lineages as
well as representatives of numerous other spiritualities and religions.

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM Pacific / 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM Eastern


TUESDAY
The Crystal Silence League Hour with Rev. Jon Saint Germain.

Spiritual guidance on the practical use of crystals and crystal balls in the development of mental concentration and mind power, silent influence over others, divination, scrying of the future, telepathic contact with people, and with spirits.

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Pacific / 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM Eastern


ALSO TUESDAY
In The Streets with Beverley Smith.

Front page reports on the ongoing struggle for racial, social, and  gender justice in America and the world, brought to you straight from  the heart by an empowered and impassioned activist-priestess of ruthless  compassion and insight.

6:00 PM - 7:00 PM Pacific / 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM Eastern


WEDNESDAY
Khi Armand.

Broadcasting the voices of the land and the deceased, your host -- aided by scholars, spiritworkers, and environmentalists -- weaves together history, ethnography, and subjective experience to explore the unique promises and challenges of our time.

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM Pacific / 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM Eastern


THURSDAY
The Now You Know Show with Professor Charles Porterfield.

From deep in the heart of Texas comes your weekly schooling in  down-home conjure, laced with country wit and Biblical wisdom. The old Professor is a natural man with a silver tongue who knows his roots and  delivers the lucky numbers!

6:00 PM - 7:30 PM Pacific / 9:00 PM - 10:30 PM Eastern


SATURDAY
Liquid Libations
with Andrea Weston.

Where poetry, short stories, and the spoken word come alive through the POWER OF WORDS! 2nd Wednesday is Youth Poetry Night and 3rd Wednesday is Erotic Poetry!! Call in and read your work!

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM Pacific / 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM Eastern
 
Crystal Silence League
To place a prayer request or pray for others in need, visit:
The Crystal Silence League Online Prayer Requests Page 

Crystal Silence League
To subscribe to the monthly CSL email newsletter, filled with ideas for spiritual spell-work and personal development, check out:
Crystal Silence League
For news on the League, go to Facebook and "like" the CSL page:
The Crystal Silence League on Facebook
 
Hoodoo Rootwork Correspondence Course Homework Party
FRIDAY,  
June 10th, 2016  
 

More than 2,000 people have enrolled in
cat yronwode's
Hoodoo Rootwork Correspondence Course
-- and to graduate, they must turn in
8 pieces of homework. Every month we hold a work-party at which we look over incoming homework. All are welcome, whether students or not! We meet at 5:00 PM at the shop, and PIZZA IS FREE. See how hoodooers do their thing!  

June's Homework
Party is Friday the 10th. 

July's Homework Party
is Friday the 8th.

August's Homework Party is Friday the 5th.
 
Hoodoo Psychics Logo

HOODOO PSYCHICS

Who Ya Gonna Call for Hoodoo? 

Call
1-888-4-HOODOO 

Hoodoo Psychics is the only Live Psychic Reading Line operated by the ethical and authentic conjure doctors and spiritual root workers of AIRR, the Association of Independent Readers
and Rootworkers!

You can connect with a live hoodoo rootworker for $3.99 per minute through the 
web site
or by calling
1-888-4-HOODOO.

For updates and more information, go to the Hoodoo Psychics 
Facebook Page,
then "like" the page and say hello, so that Hoodoo Psychics updates will appear in your Facebook newsfeed.  

We Sell WHOLESALE!

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Reseller!


Want to sell Lucky Mojo products at your brick-and-mortar shop or internet store?

Read More about our Reseller Programs.

Next Stop, More Books 
A Brief Time Off, Then Back to the Pixel-Mines

Well, that was quick! Nagasiva, Grey Townsend, and i barely had time to get four books and eight flyers ready for the Hoodoo Heritage Festival when the word came down that two of our earlier books, "Paper in My Shoe" and "Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic" were almost sold out. This welcome news -- we love that the books are so popular -- was unexpected, because "Paper" had been in print only one year, and most books take two to three years to sell through their first print run, and "HHRM" had been through a very large print run for its 7th edition, with more than 20,000 copies in print. But, of course, when folks want the books, we go back to press, ASAP.

The thing is, both books are in need of revision -- "Paper" is getting more illustrations and text (in the same page count!) and HHRM is getting a slight overhaul of its illustrations, which have degraded over the years because the original files were lost in the wilds of Canada by a now-defunct printer (long, sad story, cue the violins).

"Paper" is at press now -- there may be a slight interruption in availability, but it will be very brief. "HHRM" may have a bit of a lag between the end of the 7th and the beginning of the 8th edition. Be patient, we're working on it.


REMINDER NUMBER TWO, if you are an HRCC Student, please go to the UPDATED Lucky Mojo Forum. With your log-in, you will see a new "secret" portion of the forum where you can ask questions about the 52 lessons and the 8 homework assignments and view "Your African American Video of the Day." If you log in and do NOT see the "secret student forum," please contact our Tech Expert, nagasiva yronwode via facebook or email, and he will set you up.

 
 Letter from the Editor:
Voices From the
Hoodoo Heritage Festival

Westside Chapel at Missionary Independent Spiritual Church

Like a model train engine on a miniature track, the ninth annual Hoodoo Heritage Festival sponsored by the Missionary Independent Spiritual Church and Ms Robin Presents has come and gone! Over the weekend the attendees were blessed with delicious home-cooked food, phenomenal hands-on workshops, the swag bag of the year, and some of the most talented card, palm, tea, bone, and bible readers on either side of the Mississippi. 

I know, I know -- you saw the line-up, you've been reading the newsletters, you've got a pretty good idea of what the festival was like. But, like a gumbo, each annual festival is composed of a medley of unique components and flavors which contribute individually to create the overarching experience. In order to get a better taste of what made this year's festival so unique, I spoke to some attendees and presenters who were gracious enough to share their experiences with me. 
 

Michele Jackson and Candelo Kimbisa share a laugh.

"I was at the very first Heritage Festival which was in Alameda," says Chas Bogan, founder of Modern Conjure and co-proprietor of The Mystic Dream. "There are people who I only see at the Hoodoo Heritage Festival each year and that's one of the reasons I love going."

Grey Townsend, Production Manager at The Sacred Well, agrees. "For me the first year was all about diving into the experience and figuring out, 'What am I doing here? What's going on?' You know, just kind of getting the feel for everything after a week of Apprenticeship and not knowing a lot of people. And over the years as I've gotten to know more people in the community it's been more of a homecoming. It's the one time of year I can see these people in this context. And I really appreciate that."

And each year brings the addition of new faces in the crowd, new traditions represented, and new voices in the conversation. "I first attended in 2014. Although I had been practicing conjure for many years, I only came to this community after the death of my friend Eddie. That's what the catalyst was because I knew he loved it there," shares Beverley Smith, host of the popular LMC Radio Network show, "In the Streets with Beverley Smith." "They were doing a memorial for him and Mama E invited me. And I went up, and I met everybody, and the people were just so beautiful. And I just felt so comfortable that I went back last year, and then this year they asked me to speak."
 

Continental breakfast at the Festival.

This was Beverley's first year presenting, after first attending only two years ago. "When I first got up there I didn't know what I was walking into. I had been practicing conjure on various levels in the privacy of my own home for years, but I went there, I went to the Hoodoo Heritage Festival in 2014 strictly and foremost because they were doing a memorial for my friend who had died. When I went up there, I had an opportunity to speak to Miss cat, and Professor Porterfield, and Michele Jackson, who is an incredible bone reader for AIRR. She's amazing," Beverley proclaims. Michele received her first bone reading ever from Chas Bogan several years back. "And it was at her workshop in 2014 that I realized that I am not a tarot reader. I've never been good at reading the cards. But her workshop made it crystal clear for me, when she sat there, and she threw the bones, and I sat there and I read them before she even explained how a reading worked, and that's when I realized, wow, this is where my talent lies." 
 
A sense of empowerment is something that many people who've attended the festival have described feeling. "There's a focus on building each other up that I don't particularly find in many other communities," says Chas. "At the Hoodoo Heritage Festival I mean it really is front and center, even the way this last one ended with the business card exchange. There's a lot of focus on 'here's what you can do to be successful'".
 

Chas Bogan leans in as Michele Jackson throws the bones.
 
Beverley voices something similar, "I had to go back in 2015 because, honestly, because of the people I'd met and the friendships I'd forged. And I knew that I wasn't going to be able to see them again until the festival next year."
 
As I'm listening to the responses I'm struck by how everyone seems to orbit around the idea of community as a gravitational force. 
 
"It's always really nice to be able to sit across the table from people who you have known for years through things like social media and actually be able to have a conversation with them. Sometimes you tend to fanboy a little bit with some people. It's like, 'Hey, I know you by reputation and now you know who I am, too.' It lets you know we're a bunch of people dedicated to doing the same kind of work together. And to me that's one of the best parts of coming to the festival. You get a chance to meet and share ideas with people who you don't normally interact with," Grey says, smiling. 
 

Jezebel swag from the 2016 festival.
 
"I'm on the same page as Grey," nods Chas. "The sense of community has deepened over the years. That's sort of the main thing for me, although the swag is always great."
 
"Best swag in the business," Grey chimes. 
 
Grey should know, he has designed the covers for ten books published or distributed by Lucky Mojo, including the four that were in the "swag bags" at this year's festival. Those books were North Asian Magic by David Borji Shi, Crystal Magic by Jon Saint Germain, The Sporting Life by Professor Charles Porterfield, and a conjure classic, Legends of Incense, Herb, and Oil Magic by Lewis de Claremont, restored, revised, and edited by cat yronwode
 

Cover designer Grey Townsend holding the 2016 MISC, YIPPIE, and Lucky Mojo books.
 
I ask Beverley if there was one of the books she was particularly excited about. "Hands down, the Sporting Life," she answers readily. "I am devouring that one. Without a doubt."
 
"The Sporting Life" is the third book penned by Professor Charles Porterfield, unforgettable host of LMC Radio Network's sensational "The Now You Know Show." The Professor also presented at this year's festival in what was one of the more "adult-themed" workshops to occur over the weekend. 
 
"I want people who come all the way to Northern California to get something that I can say, 'Okay, now this isn't in the book,'" the Professor confides. He is a charismatic and affable man with encyclopedic knowledge and captures the voice of old-time radio. "I began that class by saying, 'I'm going to go through this list and, if at the end of it, if any of this applies to you, raise your hand. If you have ever been a sex worker, a stripper, or a cam girl, or gambled for money not in a casino, or run a club, or run a bar, or run a dance hall, or sold illegal drugs, or bought illegal drugs, or been in a motorcycle gang, or been an actor, or been an actress, or been an actress in adult films, or are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transexual, raise your hand." Out of 100 plus people in attendance all but six raised their hands. "'Okay,' I said to everyone with their hand up, 'You are or have been involved in the Sporting Life. This is for you. This is not a separate issue from you. You are involved."
 

Gabrielle Swain and Christy Porterfield get domestic. 

While presenting could easily be the highlight for many people, Professor Porterfield had something else to smile about this year. "To have my mother up there presenting was actually fascinating for me. I was thrilled," he boasts. He is referring to Gabrielle Swain, a practitioner of down home Southern conjure who has sat on the Board for the National Quilt Museum of the Americas and who also happens to be his mother. "I think no matter how old we get there's always some child part of us that goes, 'Oh, my mommy's here!'"  

"I like how Gabrielle Swain talked about name papers in a way that took it beyond the paper," Chas remarks. "One of the tricks was writing something along the seam of a pillowcase. Turning a pillowcase inside out and writing something in gel pen. Nobody would look there."

Grey, agreeing with Chas, adds, "She showed one of her amazing art quilts and said that there are words written on the outside of the quilt, but there are also words and things written on the inside and sewn to the fabric inside the quilt that nobody will ever see. And that makes this an incredible magical object." 


A beautiful quilt shared by Gabrielle Swain as part of her workshop on domestic arts, textiles, and hoodoo.
 
Incredible could be used to describe many of the offerings at this year's festival. "Voices of Hyatt Part Two" was, in a word, awesome," declares Grey. 
This year's Saturday Opening Ceremony was a ritual performance by Charles Porterfield, Ambrozine Legare, and Kast Excelsior which brought to life some of the voices of the people interviewed by Harry Hyatt in the early 20th century. The ceremonial performance was, quite literally, Spirit-led. 

"She had it all down," explains Professor Porterfield. "But then something happened which sometimes happens in our line of business ... which was that on her way to California from New York, she had a series of dreams where she felt personally contacted by the spirit of Harry Hyatt, who told her, 'I would like these parts included,' which was not at all what she had prepared. And arriving in California, she was quite shocked, as were we all, to find material that she had now been led by Spirit to discuss already written, laid out, typeset, and printed by miss cat." 

 "I've had dreams with those same actors saying those same words at least twice since then," Chas admits. 
 

Kast Excelsior, Ambrozine LeGare, and Charles Porterfield from Voices of Hyatt II.

But there were many favourites at the festival. "This year," the Professor muses, "one of the things that I was excited to add to my repertoire was Ms Robin's presentation on sacred charms and talismans. She is a wonderful rootworker, and, it should be noted, one of the co-producers of the Hoodoo Heritage Festival. I always, always enjoy watching her stand up there and do her thing, she's one of the best workers I know."

 "Probably the most unique thing about this year's Hoodoo Heritage Festival was David Shi and his oboo and his book North Asian Magic," he continues. "I mean, that was, wow. It was so different, and so unique, and yet so similar to hoodoo here in America," the Professor applauds. "He set up an oboo (also called an ovoo) which is now a permanent part of the Lucky Mojo, and we got to circumnavigate it, and we got to do offerings to it, while he drummed and he did Tuva throat singing during that, and it was wonderful, fantastic."
 

David Shi and the oboo.

David Shi introducing North Asian folk magic to the festival may seem like an unintuitive inclusion, but it's actually very close to the heart of the church's mission: to add another cultural dimension each year to the program, reflective of its mission to welcome all deities to its altars.

The festival, like conjure, is a melange, and Professor Porterfield makes this point well: "
Hoodoo is a melange, okay? Hoodoo for me is best exemplified by that deep Southern Louisiana favorite: gumbo. And not just because it comes from the bayous, no no. I mean because gumbo without a doubt possesses an African root. You couldn't have gumbo without its African components. That is seen in the okra, that is seen in the rice, that is seen in how it is made. However, you could not legitimately say, 'This gumbo does not have a European component.' Certainly, it has a European, specifically French, component. And that is seen in the wine, that is seen in how the roux base is made. Except that gumbo doesn't taste right without gumbo file, which is sassafras, which comes to gumbo through Native American influence. And you see that in the peppers, you see that in the file, you see that in the use of local animals. So gumbo is without a doubt something that is African, something that is European, something that is Native American. It is a melange. And that is hoodoo." 
 
At the same time, Hoodoo's deep African-American roots are being honoured, and nowhere perhaps was that addressed more directly than in the Social Justice panel led by Beverley Smith, which reinforced how, as practitioners of a craft which comes from marginalized communities of colour, we have a responsibility to acknowledge and lift up those exact communities from which Hoodoo came. 

"I said, 'For the purposes of this panel, we're going to assume that discrimination and institutionalized racism exists," Beverley explains. "I wanted people to remember that the root of hoodoo comes from people trying to deal with their oppression. I've decided that for my part I will be inclusive. I do not care who comes to the tradition as long as you understand that you are in my house, because this is the tradition of my ancestors. And you're welcome, you're welcome to come in, you're welcome to the tools, you're welcome to the magic, but show some respect. If the only thing you do is acknowledge where the tradition comes from, that's better than most people. We need to honour our ancestors. We need to honour where this comes from. I would hope that students of this tradition who want to go a step beyond acknowledgment would do some rootwork for social justice. Light a candle for those people who have been fucked by the system."
 

Beverley Smith on the Social Justice Panel
with Angela Horner and Miss Michaele.
 
"I really like the point that you were making about this concept of spiritual hospitality," I respond to Beverley. "You know, it's all fine and well if this other spiritual tradition opens up it's doors for you, that's great, go in, but part of being a good guest in another spiritual tradition is honouring and acknowledging, number one, bottom line, that this is not your house. This is a space and a tradition that you are moving into and that you need to be respectful of. And if you are eating there, you need to know who brought the food to the table, what it took for them to bring the food to the table, who tried to stop them from bringing the food to the table. But even more than that, if you are at your friend's house and you see the police knocking on their door and harassing them, you don't just stand back and eat the food out of their cabinet, you step up and you help those people."

Hoodoo has a heritage as a folk practice of the people. And that heritage has remained strong in the philosophy and execution of the Hoodoo Heritage Festival, Professor Porterfield explains. "Pound for pound, weight for weight, I would have to say that the Hoodoo Heritage Festival is the most economically accessible event of it's kind. And to me that is important for one very, very serious reason. Hoodoo is a folk magic of every day, regular, common people."
 

Selecting herbs during Madame Pamita's Tea and Tisanes:
Making Magical Potions and Infusions workshop.

And the community has truly flourished because of it. "So much of the experience is realizing we have a lot to learn from each other," insists Grey. "Being able to share information with people who are doing the same kind of work in an intimate, across-the-table-from-you kind of situation can be really useful and can help to refine the work that's being presented. With Madame Pamita doing her teas and tisanes, we're all grabbing our little herbs and putting our little tea bags together, and it's kind of interesting to watch and see what kinds of things other people are putting in their teas and going, 'What did you put in yours? Why did you choose that?' So you're learning not only from the person doing the presentation but the people around you. And that's powerful." 
 


Concentrated AIRR!

Papa Newt, Deacon Millett, Miss cat, Madame Pamita, Mama E., Candelo Kimbisa, Kast Excelsior, and Professor Porterfield.


Sundays: June 5, 12, 19, & 26 at 3pm - 4:30pm PT
 
THE LUCKY MOJO HOODOO ROOTWORK HOUR RADIO SHOW! 
  
The Lucky Mojo Hoodoo Rootwork Hour, brought to you every week by catherine yronwode of LuckyMojo.com and ConjureMan Ali of ConjureManAli.com, is a live call-in show, where we will read your fortune on the air and prescribe down-home, old-school conjure and rootwork remedies!
  
Special Guest Readers and Rootworkers from AIRR, the Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers, will be featured:

*June 5: (To Be Announced)
*June 12: (To Be Announced)
*June 19: (To Be Announced)
*June 26: (To Be Announced)

Show Time:
 
      * 3:00 PM Sunday, Pacific Time
      * 4:00 PM Sunday, Mountain Time
      * 5:00 PM Sunday, Central Time 
      * 6:00 PM Sunday, Eastern Time

Listen Live via the Web and get into the Live Chat Room at The Lucky Mojo Hoodoo Rootwork Hour on BlogTalkRadio!
 
To get a FREE reading and rootwork advice, you must pre-register at the Lucky Mojo Forum, then call in by telephone during that week's LIVE broadcast and press '1' to request to be on the air. 
 
Call-In Number for pre-registered applicants or to listen to the show by phone: 1-818-394-8535. Press '1' to indicate that you'd like to be on the air and receive free readings and rootwork advice!
Thank you, one and all who attended this year's Hoodoo Heritage Festival. It was wonderful to see you. Now that the dust has settled, remember that all four of the swag-bag freebie books that were included in the price of tickets have joined the ranks of our other titles and can be purchased through Lucky Mojo, Amazon, Papa Newt, Madama Pamita, or other fine distributors and retailers. There are now TWENTY books in our multi-publisher consortium. See them all -- and check out our bargain "Baker's Dozen" offer at http://luckymojo.com/luckymojopublishing.html

And, finally, CLIP YOUR COUPON and CLAIM YOUR DISCOUNT. We do this for you every month, so be sure to take advantage of the offer.

Cordially,
 
 
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Save 20% on your next order of Lucky Mojo Curio Co. Clarity Spiritual Supplies, including Bath Crystals, Incense Powders, Sachet Powders, and Oil. Enter the following promotional code when checking out:

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