The Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook

A formally trained anthropologist and practicing clinical psychologist, Alvarado (Exu, Divine Trickster and Master Magician) shares her lifelong experience as a student and practitioner of New Orleans-style voodoo in this sweeping book as she seeks to provide a clearheaded look into one of America's most misunderstood magical traditions. The first few chapters describe how the historical intermingling of French culture with the cultures of African slaves and Native American tribes, plus a healthy dose of enforced Catholicism, created the cultural soup in New Orleans that culminated in what Alvarado calls "voodoo hoodoo." Further chapters illuminate the beliefs and practices surrounding the complex cosmology of gods, saints, and spirit forces; coherently outline the difference between the religion of voodoo and the magical practices of hoodoo; and explain the use of gris-gris, spells, charms, and totems. The remaining chapters are an extensive compilation of spells, workings, and rituals.