Haints Of Hoodoo: The Black Ghosts Of The Gullah Geechee
Haints Of Hoodoo: The Black Ghosts Of The Gullah Geechee
In the south, particularly on the coastal shores of Georgia and South Carolina, there are houses painted with an odd shade of blue. But the color is just as much for protection as it is for décor.
Source: The Washington Post / Getty
One eerie evening in St. Louis a young Black woman was driving home after a long double shift. While on the interstate the woman looked out of her peripheral to see a very tall man in a top hat dressed in a black 1800s style suit. His face had no visible features except a long beard that stretched down past his chest. The young woman turned her head to look at the shadowy man directly, but he was gone. She would spend the rest of her drive home shaken by the man’s ghostly presence. After a few minutes of convincing herself that her mind was playing tricks on her, the woman finally pulled into her neighborhood. Relieved that she had lost her ghostly stalker, the woman took one last peek down her street, and there he was.
MORE: The Antebellum Tale Of Black Slave Girl Molly And The Haunting Of Sorrel-Weed House
The mysterious man was back, but this time he wasn’t there to just observe. Terrified, the woman quickly pulled into her driveway, sprinting up the stairs to her front door. When she entered her home a sudden urge to vomit swept over her body. When she turned to close the door behind her there he was, standing at the bottom of the stairs staring into the woman’s soul. Scared out of her mind, the woman let out a frightened yelp before slamming the door and checking the locks. After her ghostly encounter, the woman engaged in every superstition known to man. She switched the porch light off and on seven times, sprinkled salt at her doorway, hung a blue stained glass wind chime from her porch, and prayed herself to sleep. But her haunting experience wasn’t over.
The man would later return in her dreams, pulling her into the darkness of his cloak, wrapping her up until she was awakened from her slumber after feeling suffocated. The next morning when the woman turned on the news she learned there was a fatal accident on the same highway where she first saw the shadowy man.
She was being haunted by a haint; a shape-shifting, witch-like evil spirit capable of stealing your energy, suffocating, or even drowning you.
Sadly, Black history has all the ingredients for fascinating ghost stories. Pain, trauma, mysteries, restless souls, and black folklore.
What are haints?
In the south, particularly on the coastal shores of Georgia and South Carolina, there are houses painted with an odd shade of blue. But the color is just as much for protection as it is for décor.
Haint blue is a collection of pale shades of blue-green that are traditionally used to paint porch ceilings in the southern United States to protect homes from ghosts and evil spirits. The folklore can be traced back to Hoodoo spiritual practices and the Gullah Geechee people.
The Gullah Geechee are the descendants of West and Central Africans who were enslaved and bought to the lower Atlantic states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia to work on the coastal rice, Sea Island cotton, and indigo plantations.
Their expertise in farming and agriculture made them invaluable to slave masters in the south. Their expertise also came in other forms. The Gullah Geechee have strong spiritual beliefs and developed the necessary skills to ward off evil spirits called haints or boo hags.
Also known as rootwork, conjuring, or Lowcountry voodoo, the spiritual practice of warding off evil spirits was the main way the Gullah people protected themselves and their families from these menacing ghosts. One of the most popular hoodoo practices is to carry a mojo or a small bag of herbs wrapped by a traditional root worker. Boo hags were spirits known for stealing a person’s skin, then wearing it to blend in among the living during the day. After it depletes the human of all its energy, the boo hag will shed its stolen skin and go hunting for another victim. At night the boo hag would get rid of its stolen skin after it depletes the human of all their energy.
Roger Pinckney, the author of “Got My Mojo Workin, A Voodoo Memoir,” tells History.comof a few important tactics used to ward off boo hags.
“Hags are only active at night. They have an obsessive-compulsive disorder that compels them to count. A strainer on a doorknob or a broom cross the doorway, rice or sesame seed (benne seed) thrown on the floor. The hag will stop and count, over and over ’till day-clean run em.’ Salt on the floor helps as it dehydrates the shed skin and makes it impossible for the boo hag to put it back on.”
The plat-eye is another form of a haint, only way more dangerous than a boo hag. Plat-eye haints are shape-shifting spirits that can take on any form to entice you into their clutches. Not only are they dangerous, but very hard to get rid of.
“Nothing much you can do about the plat-eye,” said Pinckney. “If you have committed some gross spiritual offense, all you can do is try to make it right. Some (people) carry whiskey. If a plat-eye gets after you, pour a little on the ground and run like hell. The plat-eye will likely stop to lick it up.”
The color ‘haint blue’
But According to Pinckney the most powerful defense of haints, boo hags, and plat-eyes is the color blue; haint blue from the indigo plant to be exact.
The Gullah Geechee were master farmers and their knowledge of cultivating indigo plants was far superior when compared to white plantation owners. The Geechee people were enslaved and forced to work the indigo fields which by the mid-18th century became one of America’s most valuable exports. The Geechee people were able to create a new color by mixing the dregs, or leftover remnants, in a pit with lime, milk, and other pigments until they formed a shade of robin’s egg blue paint that would become known as ‘haint blue.’
The Geechee believed that the color mimicked blue water and blue sky which tricked the spirits. Haints can not cross water or travel the skies, therefore painting a porch, window, or door ‘haint blue’ meant spirits couldn’t make their way into your home.
As Black Americans spread throughout the country after slavery, so did some of their traditions. Haint Blue has become so popular a color, it is now mixed by Sherwin-Williams, one of the most known paint companies in the world.
The next time you are in an old southern home and you see the color haint blue painted anywhere on the exterior, there is a good chance that spirits are lurking about. But have no fear because the blue is there to protect you.
SEE ALSO:
The Haunting Of Lake Lanier And The Black City Buried Underneath
The Ghost Of Willie Earle And The Haunting Of Pickens County Museum
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Woman in Black
— by majara__
Love asteroids in astrology ( You can use this in synastry )
Credits to : plutonicdesire.net
Aphrodite (1388) : Rules many similar domains as Venus: sex, love, beauty, romance, connection, friendships, femininity, beauty, home, art, assets.
Aura (1488) : i can totally feel you, you delve under my skin and i don’t know why.. i ask that question everyday but still can’t understand, but in your presence i’m complete.
Angel (11911) : you’re my light. I will always help you, because i can’t do otherwise. I’ll always be there for you. It’s not an obligation, it’s my own intention and wish.
Akashi (5881) : i remember you. You did something back then that i cannot forget. do you feel that too?
Alma (390) : your soul is united with mine, no matter what we do here on earth, it’s just a lesson, our connection is deep and sacred from above. Asteroid of the soul. If Alma touches a personal planet it signifies someone who sees their other half in you, wanting to know you on a deeper level, into your soul.
Amor (1221) : Expresses a loving kindnesss that is given without judgment or expectation of return.
Agapenor (5023) : i love you just for who you are, you don’t need to change, it doesn’t matter. We share that bond that will last forever even if we part..
Ceres- (1) : Asteroid of nurture and care. It also shows unconditional love, parenting-like love.
Companion (8490) : They want to be around you 24/7
Cupido (763) : Radiates love, the look of love, infatuated with you, struck by cupid’s arrow.
Child (4580) : Asteroid of the inner child. Pure, untouched, unfiltered, raw, and innocent love.
DNA (55555): something very similar, i know who you are, we are alike. You cannot do anything to make me question that.
Destinn (6583) : it’s like we’re meant to be together. We part, we go our own ways, but somehow destiny always puts us on the one road again. Feeling a strong connection to you, fate or destiny like.
Devine (3561): there is a bond between us – something of a higher purpose or something. It’s not describable in earthly themes, anyway.
Eureka (Greek) (5261) : i finally found you! You’re the answer to my prayers!
Eros(433) : Asteroid of erotic feelings, indication of sexual attraction at first sight of touching your rising.
Hypnos (Greek) (14827): something mysterious between you two, a mystical and psychic link which as i believe, also does not begin in this lifetime, but way longer time ago.
Hehe(harmony) (200002): is the name of Suzhou Hehe Culture Foundation. “Hehe” is a traditional Chinese symbol representing good marriage and loving family. It symbolizes the goodwill of ordinary people to live peacefully and healthy.”
Juno (3) : Asteroid of marriage, seeing the other person as their spouse, their closest lover. A spouse as in staying with the person through thick and thin.
Knight (29391) : Will defend you and won’t betray you, shows complete, submissive loyalty.
Karma (3811) : there’s a meaning for this relationship, rooted in the past, but it could just show the natural understanding of that, that it feels karmic, but not necessarily shows anything particular, like other asteroids would indicate. Destined to meet due to karmic dues in a past-life, unfinished business.
Loving (432971) : Kinda self explanatory. Great for synastry and composite charts.
Lust (4386) : Similar to Eros, but a stronger “want” for you. A great sexual awakening.
Lyubimets (10761) : means “darling” in Russian. Look up this one in synastries with people, who are dear to you.
Psyche (16) : Unconscious attraction to the other person, feeling like you’ve known them from somewhere.
Pholus (5145) : Asteroid of changing events, life changing, a relationship that changed them, the turning point.
Priapus (h22) : Physical attraction, wanting to be physical.
Reiki (5239) : your presence alone is able to heal my wounds, you helped me in the past, you continue doing it now..
Spirit (37452) : you raise me up. i can do pretty much anything when you’re around. I believe in myself more, and that’s why i like you. For what you make me feel when we’re together.
Svyaztie (37556) : “tie” in English and “Svyaz” in Russian mean “Connection”
Valentine- (447) : Asteroid of pure love. Valentine is the kind of sacrificial love in which the lover will throw himself in front of the bus to protect his beloved.
Union (1585) : Marriage, wanting to marry, wanting a connection.
Good astrology asteroids pair :
Psyche (16) + Eros (433)
Isis (42) + Osiris (1923)
Eva (164) + Adam (6461)
Hera (103) + Zeus (5731)
Queen (5457) + King (2305)
Ask (4894) + Embla (4895)
Tristan (1966) + Isolda (211)
Akhenaten (326290) + Echnaton (4415)
Pluto + (399) Persephone / Persephone (26)
Saturn + Rhea (577)
Uranus + Gaea (1184)
Neptune + Salacia (120347)
Bad asteroids pair ( this could be abusive and challenging) :
Adams (1996) + Lilith (1181)
Epimetheus (1810) + Pandora (55)
Hephaistos (2212) +Venus/Aphrodite (1388)
Ixion (28978) + Nephlele (431)
Jason (6063) + Medea (212)
Narcissus (37117) + Echo (60)
Nessus (7066) + Dejanira (157)
Philomela (196) + Thereus (32532)
Thereus (32532) + Ariadne (43)
ohh
“I’m Black, y’all!”
Scorpio Fashion Pt.2
John Frederick Lewis (English, 1804-1876) The Harem, 1876 Birmingham Museums Trust Slavery gave rise to the figure of the Odalisque, that is the beautiful, white slave girl, a figure of quintessential beauty. Learn more; “Why White People are Called Caucasian.” - Professor Nell Painter of Princeton University
a reminder for nonasian people
you know… with this rise in interest in east asian culture and “aesthetics” over the past couple of years also comes with a rise in asian cultural appropriation… so for every nonasian out there who would consider themselves a fan of cutesy asian things or stuff like kpop or anime, you guys have an obligation to people of the culture you’re enjoying to be informed and educated about their struggles. it’s not right to love and consume cultures that’s not your own while ignoring the people who are part of them. read up on appropriation, the fetishisation and infantilisation of east asian women and desexualisation of asian men, whitewashing in media, xenophobia, the erasure of our achievements and the model minority myth. you owe it to us east asians to be educated on topics that concern us if you’re going to continue to consume media and content we make.
EDIT: if you’re nonasian please reblog this so that other nonasians can see it!!
A Working Bibliography of Books On Rootwork/Conjure/Hoodoo That Are Actually Authored by Black Folk
“Wherever there are Africans, or people of African descent, there is magic.”- Faith Mitchell
My calling to rootwork is ancestral. However, I unfortunately I have yet to encounter elders in my life to apprentice under on this plane of existence. Coming up, I didn’t know other people who identified themselves as rootworkers/hoodoos/conjurers etc. Being a scholar (among other identities), my entry point into hoodoo began with books, archives, and scholarly journals. As a result, I was able to garner a wealth of information as to what hoodoo is and isn’t, which recipes (old school hoodoos don’t cast ‘spells’) to use for what, to be able to engage in an intangible mentorship with the elders that came before me. All of these things have informed how I move through the world and grow stronger in my practice.
As a result of a White spiritual hijacking of African Traditional Religions and Africana Magico-Spiritual practices (i.e. hoodoo), the vast majority of the information about hoodoo on and offline has been authored by white people, so much so that they have become the face of hoodoo (similar to white women and yoga).
For those of us who are looking to grow and learn from other Black practitioners, here is a working list of books. This list consists solely of non-fiction texts, however, there is a lot to learn from novels as well, perhaps I’ll create a part two some other time.
Please hit me up if I am missing anything or if you have a personal connection with these texts, I’d love to be in conversation.
Many of these mentioned texts can be found online for Free.99.
Also, sorry this is a long ass post.
My Personal Favorites:
1. Jambalaya: The Natural Woman’s Book of Personal Charms & Practical Rituals - Luisah Teish
2. Of Mules & Men- Zora Neale Hurston
3. Working the Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African American Healing
4. Mojo Workin: The Old African American Hoodoo System- Katrina Hazzard-Donald
5. Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition- Yvonne P. Chireau
6. Secret Doctors: Ethnomedicine of African Americans by Wonda L. Fontenot ( I think this one might be out of print but much of it can be found online via Google Books)
Honorable Mention: Tell My Horse- Zora Neale Hurston
Ok, so this is one of my absolute favorite texts though it doesnt discuss American hoodoo. It focuses on Haitian Voodoo and Jamaican Obeah. However, there is a lot that can be learned from this text and how African magico-spiritual practices are indeed “scientific” as opposed to mere superstition.
Additional texts that I haven’t gotten to reading yet or are simply not in my favorites (no shade, no tea):
7. Hoodoo Medicine: Gullah Herbal Remedies - Faith Mitchell
8. 365 Days of Hoodoo: Daily Rootwork, Mojo and Conjuration- Stephanie Rose Bird
9. Sticks, Stones, Roots & Bones: Hoodoo, Mojo and Conjuring with Herbs- Stephanie Rose Bird
10. A Healing Grove: African Tree Remedies and Rituals for Body and Spirit - Stephanie Rose Bird
11. African American Folk Healing- Stephanie Mitchem
12. Faith, Health, and Healing in African American Life (Religion, Health, and Healing) - Stephanie Mitchem ED.
13. God, Dr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man: A Saltwater Geechee Talks About Life on Sapelo Island, Georgia - Cornelia Walker Bailey
14. Rootwork: Using the Folk Magick of Black America for Love, Money and Success- Tayannah Lee McQuillar
15. Voodoo & Hoodoo: The Craft as Revealed by Traditional Practitioners- Jim Haskins
SOME BOOKS RECOMMENDATIONS THAT I THINK ARE GOOD
FOR BEGINNER AND NON-BEGINNER WITCH :
psychic witch by mat Auryn
Secret teaching of all ages encyclopedia of esoteric teaching
weave the liminal by Laura tempest zakroff
six ways by aidan wachter
the grek magical papyri in translation edited by dieter betz
the complete grimoire by lidia pradas
witchery by juliat diaz
spells for change by frankie castanea
celtic witchcraft by mabh savage
the althlone hiatory of witchcraft and magic in europe
the spell book for new witches by ambrosia hawthorn
kate freuler of blood and bones by mat Auryn
the kitchen witch's spell book by cerridwen greenleaf
love spells by anastasia greywolf
encyclopedia of magic herbs by scott Cunningham
guided tarot by stefanie caponi
the witch's journal by selene silverwind
the casting of spells by Christopher penczak
sacred essential oils edited by claire waite brown
the crystal bible by judy hall
the magical household by scott Cunningham
wicca in the kitchen by scott Cunningham
the house witch by arin Murphy-Hiscock
the heart witch's compendium by anna franklin
the heart witch's kitchen herbal by anna franklin
a spell book for the season
the complete illustrated book of herbs
italian folk magic by mary grace fahrun
the complete illustrated guide to palmistry by peter west
apractical step by step guide to herbs for the home and garden by Shirley reid
top 50 edible plants for pots by angie thomas
the mystical magical marvelous world of DREAMS by wilda b. tanner
the eclectic witch's book of shadows by deborah blake
plant witchery by Juliet diaz
the witch at thd forest's edge
subtle energy by keith miller
protection&reversal magick by jason miller
curses,hexes&crossing by S. connolly
modern witch by devin hunter
the complete book of incense,oils&brews by scott Cunningham
encyclopedia of 5000 spells by judika illes
the good witch's journal by selene silverwind
inner magic a guide to witchcraft
spell crafting by arin Murphy
the green witch by arin murphy
moon magic by diane ahlquist
protection magick by cassandra eason
the little big book by ileana abrev
herbal remedies by andrew chevallier
witchcraft for healing by patti wigington
complete book of correspondences by sandra kynes
poppet magick by silver davenwolf
earth medicine by kenneth meadows
earth power by scott Cunningham
a century of spells by draja mickaharic
positive magic by marion Weinstein
I'm a proud mommy :,D
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