roots and herbs
catherine yronwode
Having plagued alt.folklore.herbs with questions about the magical uses
of rare and endangered species of orchids (thanks again, Henriette, for
all the information!), i think i should explain to all that i am
presently on a quest to gather information about the African-American
hoodoo tradition of using plants for "conjure."
The problem is, most older sources carefully refrain from stating the
botanical name of the plants used in "mojo" work, refering to them only
by their locally popular names. Even Meyer's well-known annual
"Herbalist" catalogues of the 1950s, while naming and offering Hoodoo
plants for sale under the heading "Botanical Curios," does not list them
by their taxonomic names. There is a lot of data in print about the
European-American traditions of magical plant usage, but so far, the
only book i can find on Hoodoo plant use is "Voodoo and Hoodoo" (1973)
by Jim Haskins -- and his botanical knowledge is sub-sub-par, to put it
kindly.
Furthermore, the matter is complicated by that fact that over the years,
substitutions of one plant for another have been made and in the case of
some Hoodoo formulae, artificial fragrances have replaced the original
plant materials.
To give an example of this latter trend, take the matter of "Court Case
Oil" -- which is worn as a perfume when going to court, to bring good
luck: i have an old bottle labelled "Papa Jim's Court Case Root in Oil"
and it contains what smells to me like oil of bergamot, mixed with
finely chopped grey leaves (not roots, despite the name, and possibly
Potentilla sp.) -- but i also have a modern bottle of "Sonny Boy's Court
Case Oil" which is nothing more than cheap cologne, with no plant
material in it at all.
Similarly the old formula for "Van Van Oil" -- widely used to purify
homes, to "uncross" those who have been jinxed or to "get rid of evil
conditions" -- was once said to contain lemon verbena, lemon grass,
lemon oil, and/or other citrus scents; but by the 1970s Haskins
described it as "lemon juice in wood alcohol," and today it is just
cheap toilet water -- and not even citrus-scented toilet water at that.
In order to research this subject, i need to locate as much data as i
can about the most common plants used in Hoodoo spell-making. Among them
are:
Adam and Eve Root (Orchis/Dactylorhiza sp.)
Lucky Hand Root (Orchis/Dactylorhiza sp.)
High John the Conqueror Root (Ipomoea jalapa)
European John the Conqueror Root (Convolvulus scammonium???)
Low John to Chew Root (Alpina galangal)
Five Finger Grass (Potentilla sp. or Panax sp., depending on the author)
Tonka Bean
Wishing Bean ("a black, wrinkled, peanut-like legume in its shell")
Devil's Shoe String
Wonder of the World Root
Any pointers to web sites with pictures of these plants, or any further
botanical information about them would be greatly appreciated.
In addition i am actively seeking to buy hoodoo and religious supply
catalogues of the 1920s-1950s advertising roots, herbs, and other
"curios." Some of the companies selling herbs and roots for magical
purposes during this time period were:
Clover Horn Company, Baltimore, Maryland
Hussey Distribution, Atlanta, Goergia
Famous Products Co., Chicago, Illinois
King Novelty Co., Chicago, Illinois
Lama Temple, Chicago, Illinois
Sonny Boy Products, Miami, Florida
Standard O & B Co., Chicago, Illinois
Tyrad Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Valmor Products Co., Chicago, Illinois
This is by no means an exhaustive list of such companies.
I am also buying unused labels and product containers (filled or empty)
from these companies.
If you collect such old herbal or "curio" items and wish to share
information or swap duplicates, please let me know. If you have anything
to sell, please send descriptions, conditions, and price quotes by
e-mail.
Thanks.
catherine yronwode -------------------- mailto:yron...@sonic.net
news:alt.lucky.w -- discussion of folkloric amulets and talismans
LUCKY W Amulet Archive: http://www.sonic.net/yronwode/LuckyW.html
Fred Pribac
catherine yronwode wrote:
> Having plagued alt.folklore.herbs with questions about the magical uses
> of rare and endangered species of orchids (thanks again, Henriette, for
> all the information!), i think i should explain to all that i am
> presently on a quest to gather information about the African-American
> hoodoo tradition of using plants for "conjure." ...
Admirable! Do you have a spell that would make them less endangered?
curious,
fred
catherine yronwode
Alas, no, i have no spells to decrease human population and
overdevelopment. I am a cataloguer of information (and a gardener), not
a colelctor of wild plants, but according to Henriette, the "Adam and
Eve root" orchids are not amenable to cultivation or even
transplantation. Other roots and herbs used in Hoodoo spells are common
plants, however, or easily grown in semi-wild conditions. One reason i
want to learn the botanical names for these plants is to see if indeed
the material sold in Hoodoo shops is responsibly collected from the wild
or not. This is a matter of great concern to those of us who wish to use
nature's bounty without harming the sources of life.
Yours in solidarity,
Fred Pribac
catherine yronwode wrote:
> Alas, no, i have no spells to decrease human population and
> overdevelopment. I am a cataloguer of information (and a gardener), not
> a colelctor of wild plants, but according to Henriette, the "Adam and
> Eve root" orchids are not amenable to cultivation or even
> transplantation. Other roots and herbs used in Hoodoo spells are common
> plants, however, or easily grown in semi-wild conditions. One reason i
> want to learn the botanical names for these plants is to see if indeed
> the material sold in Hoodoo shops is responsibly collected from the wild
> or not. This is a matter of great concern to those of us who wish to use
> nature's bounty without harming the sources of life.
You should visit australia - we have more itty-bitty varieties of
wild orchids than you can poke a stick at (not to mention other herbs
and plants). Presumably our indiginous nations knew/know all about their
various properties and affinities, but as near as I can tell our present
'non-indigenous' witches don't really have a clue about them - when
pressed for information, they guess!
ciao,
fred
phoenix_arabeth
The most definitive thing I have seen on herbs as used by the African
diaspora religions in the Americas is this book:
The Science and Romance of Selected Herbs
Used in Medicine and Religious Ceremony
by
Anthony K. Andoh
director
The North Scale Institute
Education & Research Group
San Francisco, CA 94116
©1986
ISBN 0-916299-01-5
Lib of Congress # 86-61735
I hope it is still in print. Seemingly self published, probably is.
No street address, POB, or phone listed.
Very extensive, 324 pp., the glossaries, appendixes and indexes alone a
worth getting it for. plant names in several languages Incredible book!
Illustrated, with range of occurance, properties, lore, etc., etc.
Mr. Andoh was born & trained in Ghana, helped develop 1st Botanical
Garden @ University of Science & Tech at Kumasi, Ghana. Also trained 4
years in horticulture @ Royal Botanical Gardens, UK, then worked in
Zambia and S. Africa before coming to US. Owner of Anthony Andoh
Landscape & Nursery in SF and North Scale Institute "whose goal is to
preserve and use the knowledge and wisdom of ancient cultures in the
fiewlds of ethno-botany and traditional medicine."
This is NOT an ad. Only a lot of honor and respect. Thank you Mr.
Andoh!!!
Phoenix
PS: just tried Information in SF and got # for North Scale Institute
which is 415.759.5683. Only got a machine, but it referred to ordering
of products, books, and catalog. So there it is!
Allison Turner
In article <4ng3pm$q...@ultra.sonic.net>, phoenix_arabeth
<pho...@zapcom.net> wrote:
> The most definitive thing I have seen on herbs as used by the African
> diaspora religions in the Americas is this book:
>
> The Science and Romance of Selected Herbs
> Used in Medicine and Religious Ceremony
> by
> Anthony K. Andoh
> director
> The North Scale Institute
> Education & Research Group
> San Francisco, CA 94116
>
> ©1986
> ISBN 0-916299-01-5
> Lib of Congress # 86-61735
>
> I hope it is still in print.
Last I heard (several years ago), it was out of print. I have one copy
(which I'm not willing to part with) but if you can't find your own copy
I'd be happy to look through it for any particular species or whatever and
photocopy a few pages for you.
> PS: just tried Information in SF and got # for North Scale Institute
> which is 415.759.5683. Only got a machine, but it referred to ordering
> of products, books, and catalog. So there it is!
Try this first. If you have no luck, e-mail me and I'll see if I can
track down a new publisher or whatever.
-Allison Turner (tur...@sover.net)
joyce a coker,252A4
> The Science and Romance of Selected Herbs
> Used in Medicine and Religious Ceremony
> by
> Anthony K. Andoh
> director
> The North Scale Institute
> Education & Research Group
> San Francisco, CA 94116
I bought this at a lecture by the author last year in New Jersey. I have
also seen it listed in Amazon Books online catalog (http://www.amazon.com),
though they only showed the hardcover edition (mine is softcover).
He has a chapter dedicated to herbs used in Orisha worship.
I would suggest contacting the Institute.
SHADOWDEMON
In article <31992D...@vortex.shm.monash.edu.au>,
I guess it would've helped if the English hadn't killed every native on
Tasmania when they colonised it...
Daniel Goodman
In article <4o2vtl$h...@tribune.concentric.net>,
SHADOWDEMON <Shdd...@cris.com> wrote:
>>You should visit australia - we have more itty-bitty varieties of
>>wild orchids than you can poke a stick at (not to mention other herbs
>>and plants). Presumably our indiginous nations knew/know all about their
>>various properties and affinities, but as near as I can tell our present
>>'non-indigenous' witches don't really have a clue about them - when
>>pressed for information, they guess!
>>
>>ciao,
>>fred
>
>
>I guess it would've helped if the English hadn't killed every native on
>Tasmania when they colonised it...
>
they don't have any recognition from the state and national governments.
And definitely not any money....
Dates when something ended can be tricky. There's a book titled The
Great Chain of Being -- very good scholarship, but it ends with what's
alleged to be the demise of that idea. But there are still many people
who believe in the Great Chain of Being: they include secular (or
nominally Christian or Jewish) Americans who mix it up with Darwinian
evolution, and Jewish mystics.
And it's been claimed that the accepted date when the last person to
speak Cornish died doesn't take account of several people who lived
longer, but were too low in the English class system to matter.
Dan Goodman