From 2006 to 2010 I worked with various NGOs in a region of Eastern Africa. We worked with communities from a number of different ethnic backgrounds including members of the Luo, Kikuyu, Luhya and Kissi people. One common element that seemed to cross tribal ethnicity among the various communities was the presence of African indigenous churches (also known as African Independent Churches of AICs) These churches utilized elements of local indigenous culture and aspects of Judeo-Christianity. I would find that as some local Christian churches were very vocal about rejecting African traditional religions, the African indigenous churches absorbed the teachings of Christianity alongside traditional African spiritual practices.
This combination of these two cultures is reminiscent of the cultural formation of African-American hoodoo. Hoodoo and conjure maintain the presence of African religious traditions and utilize aspects and aesthetics of Christianity. A rootworker might use candles, roots and oils while reading from the Psalms or reciting the Lord’s Prayer. An African indigenous church member may read from the Bible while drumming into a state of spiritual ecstasy. There are several common elements seen between these two cultures of both African Indigenous Churches and hoodoo that are observable when examined through the elements found in African traditional religions.
Some of the common elements include:
- Recognition of a creator deity: African Indigenous Churches recognize a supreme being as traditional hoodoo recognizes both a good and evil source of power. In The Blues Encyclopedia’s entry on ‘Hoodoo’ authors Edward Komara and Phoenix Savage-Wiseman write “Hoodoo adherents in slave holding areas dominated by the Protestant faith were forced to collapse their understanding of multiple spiritual forces into the dichotomous Protestant spiritual forces: Jesus or the Devil.”
- Recognition of ancestors: Conjurers in the hoodoo tradition utilize a number of artifacts to interact with the dead. Graveyard dust, goofer dust and coffin nails can all be used in working with the dead. Among African communities the bones, graves and personal belongings of the dead are kept in many homes as means of staying in contact with the dead out of respect, tradition and in some cases out of fear. Some hoodoo practitioners recognize spiritual healers who have gone before them and incorporate them into spiritual workings. Some of the African indigenous churches recognize the spirit of church founders and former members with pictures and symbolic objects kept on church and temple altars.
- The Use of Rituals and Magic: Adherents to many of the African indigenous churches utilize ritual practices including drumming, trance possession, sacrifice and divination. Variations of these same practices can be found among healers and spiritual workers in the hoodoo culture especially in its later formation into New Orleans Spiritual Churches. Healing rituals including laying on of hands and praying are also found among both cultures.
- The Use of Herbs: The use of roots and herbs is found quite prominently among both cultures. In the African indigenous churches herbs and roots can be seen on altars and in devotee’s personal shrines. Practitioners of hoodoo have historically used both the physical and metaphysical power of herbs and roots in their work.
- Amulets and Charms: Amulets in the form of photographs of spiritual leaders and various symbols are worn by members of some African indigenous churches. Many of these contain spiritual power that protects the owner from harm in the same manner that mojo hands, silver dimes and certain roots are carried by hoodooists.
There are a number of parallels between African indigenous churches and the hoodoo culture. They may provide for us an understanding of how hoodoo as a culture developed in the Southern U.S. combining aspects of indigenous African spirituality and newfound Protestant Christian beliefs and practices.
