Customer Reviews

Voodoo and Hoodoo: The Craft as Revealed by Traditional Practitioners

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mr. Haskins grabs you from the "get-go" and delves into a good amount of history in hoodoo's origins but falls short of actually being useful from a practitioners point of view. He hints at various persons techniques and recipes but actually makes more than a few errors in his facts in dealing with various herbs. One dealing with Low John *vs* High John, for example ,could actually be dangerous to the reader. :-( "Recipes" used as examples were somewhat vague and from my point of view I would have liked the completed versions better . But then I don't beleive Mr. Haskins planned on this being a "source" but rather a charming narrative of the world of hoodoo & Voudun. In that sense it seems to fit the bill.

Jim Haskins' book is a great introduction to the study and potential practice of voodoo/hoodoo, which should be the essential building block of any library on the subject.

The book is divided into two parts: the first section deals with the original West African belief systems as practiced at the time of the slave trade (and more or less until today in some areas), the transition to the Americas, and how interaction with whites and other immigrant peoples affected these religions. The roles of the priests of the old religions, the magic workers/conjurers and herbalists are all examined. Haskins has a good grasp of the various contexts in which the white and black religions interacted, between Catholic and Protestant, French vs English or Portuguese, large vs small plantation environments, etc. This is the stronger of the two sections.

The second part is likely the reason most people buy this book, i.e. the actual spells with ingredients and instructions to follow to bring money, justice, luck, or love into (or out of) your life. A chapter each is devoted to bringing ill to others, good to yourself and others, the courts & law, and finally love. Some of these can be done by the reader/individual, others would require an intermediary to 'successfully' complete. Reading the spells, taking up over half the book, is interesting and amusing, and brought to mind nothing to much as Phil Hine's books on (Western and G.D.-based) Chaos Magic, the point being that if you believe it, put enough energy and intensity into it, ANYTHING can be a tool for magic and caused change. My guess is that if you need this kind of instruction manual in the first place, you have no business attempting this kind of work. But no doubt every reader will make up his/her own mind.

The book reads well, and is an excellent primer. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the origins and practice of voodoo.

I risk angering Baron Samedi, but really not a great book. More of a folk history than an informative book. I'd channel Marie Laveau before paying out for this one.

I read this in 1997, when I found it in a public library. By then it was long out-of-print and hadn't been checked out in years. It was the subject of a Geraldo Rivera special, after some towns tried to ban it from the school libraries. They thought it would corrupt the kids.

Voodoo & Hoodoo is not a bad book. Haskins treated his work the way any serious journalist would, interviewing practitioners, historians, and other people with knowledge of the topic. But he didn't go far enough. I felt there was more he could've done. I was also looking to find if there were Native American influences in Hoodoo. I also wanted to know why it was more prevalent in the South than in the North.

Thanks to the internet, I found there are actually hundreds of Afro-American cults in the US, Caribbean, and Latin America. They include Voodoo, Santeria, Palo Mayombe, and several African religions in Brazil. Mixing African animism with Christian practices is very common throughout the Americas. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) Voodoo fell out of favor in Haiti after the Duvalier regime. Whenever I asked Haitians if they were into Voodoo, they dismissed it as "garbage" that was good only for "scaring children into behaving."

I know a woman who is part of a Santeria group, and she makes pottery used as altar pieces for their services. When I asked her if they have "prayer books", I found that Santeria, like other Afro-American cults, has no sacred texts or organized doctrine.

Perhaps that's why Haskins couldn't find more information for his book?

I like this book, it was easy to understand and I think Jim Haskins did a good job with the formatting. I have to agree with the reviewer that says that it's a good book, but not very helpful (as concerning the 'recipes'). It seems that Mr. Haskins was trying to give a history of voodoo and also a bit of a 'modern' (late 70's) look at voodoo and how it has evolved over time. To me, I try to read all I can on Voodoo, and I have found some good, bad, and really bad books on it. So far I have to say all in all this is a good book, I found it informative on a historical level and also on a 'folk-lore-ish' level as well. Now the recipes are great to read about but don't go into detail. I would've liked for the recipes to have been explained in more detail, but like the reviewer before me said, this book wasn't meant to be a 'How-to guide'. I wish Mr. Haskins would write a book going into details about the recipes. Individual practioners would benefit from having a book like that. Unfortunately, even the author suspected that the folks he interviewed for the recipes weren't giving him all the information, and rightly so, this is how they made money, so why would they give away all their secrets, people wouldn't need their services anymore. So all in all it's a good book, I really enjoyed it and I learned a lot.

Here's some of the chapters:

The roots in Africa

Culture Clash and Accomdation in the New World

Voodoo and Hoodoo Today

To do ill

To do Good

In matters of Law

In matters of Love

Voodoo and Hoodoo in perspective.

Happy reading!

This book is well written and surveys the religious practices of Hoodoo and Voodoo in the United States.

Haskins utilizes personal accounts and historical data to make this one of the few factual books on the topic.

This book is a staple for any ATR practicioner's library, especially those living in the south.

Recommended without reservation.

This book described everything and explained things pretty well. I think it's a good book for people who want to learn the basics.

If you want to learn more about Voodoo this is the book to get. This book has a very old school feel. Would highly recommend to all.

Why do people treat Voodoo like it is a craft? It isn't Wicca or Witchcraft; where one buys a book and can be practicing in 1 week. Voodoo is a religion like the Jewish or Catholic faiths. No one can read a book on Catholics or Jews and think that they are now converted! These conversion can take years. Voodoo books go wrong by trying to outline Voodoo like Wicca. Voodoo can take decades to understand before your ready to practice. I have been raised around Voodoo from a young age and even I am still trying to get to a point where I have everything down pack and can safely call on Loas and perform spell work. Treating Voodoo like an occult craft is very dangerous. Voodoo deals alor with sprits and possesions-and toying around with Voodoo is a sure fire way to mafe very bad things happen in your life, if you do not have the proper knowledge and preperations.

this book not only contains a history of voodoo but it also contains rituals you can perform yourself to work on friend or foe