“Voodoo Hoodoo” is the unique variety of Creole Voodoo found in New Orleans. The Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook is a rich compendium of more than 300 authentic Voodoo and Hoodoo recipes, rituals, and spells for love, justice, gambling luck, prosperity, health, and success. Cultural psychologist and root worker Denise Alvarado, who grew up in New Orleans, draws from a lifetime of recipes and spells learned from family, friends, and local practitioners. She traces the history of the African-based folk magic brought by slaves to New Orleans, and shows how it evolved over time to include influences from Native American spirituality, Catholicism, and Pentecostalism. She shares her research into folklore collections and 19th- and 20th- century formularies along with her own magical arts. The Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook includes more than 100 spells for Banishing, Binding, Fertility, Luck, Protection, Money, and more. Alvarado introduces readers to the Pantheon of Voodoo Spirits, the Seven African Powers, important Loas, Prayers, Novenas, and Psalms, and much, much more, including:Oils and Potions: Attraction Love Oil, Dream Potion, Gambler’s Luck Oil, Blessing OilHoodoo Powders and Gris Gris: Algier’s Fast Luck Powder, Controlling Powder, Money Drawing PowderTalismans and Candle MagicCurses and Hexes

Discover Divination with Diloggún, one of the oldest known spiritual practice in the world. This book details the rich history of coconut and cowrie shell divination and introduces readers to its powerful technique that allows them to connect to the wisdom of ancestors, spirits, and deities. It invites readers to follow its origins with the West African Yoruba people to lands as far away as Brazil, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. Learn about the divination systems, the meaning behind the sixteen cowrie shell combinations, the powerful messages of the Orishas and the great mystical divination techniques of these sacred magical tools. Inside you’ll find: Where West African cowrie-shell divinations are found What Diloggun divination is The Obi divination And more! The history, hands-on instructions, and theories outlined in this book will teach you how to use the shells to answer your questions and ultimately achieve your true destiny if you so desire.

The Pin Is Mightier Than the Sword “Denise Alvarado is a true hoodoo mamba home girl who burned hi-octane conjure in New Orleans where she grew up, and on visits to relatives in the Mississippi bayous, where she was formally introduced to the Voodoo/hoodoo path. Called by the spirits and taught conjuration by family members, she was working the goofer from five years old. That’s some serious heat. Denise is no pretender. She’s for real. She fixes the formulas, raises the spirits, calculates the mathematics, and works wonders at the old dirt track crossroads.” -Doktor Snake, author of Doktor Snake’s Voodoo Spellbook When it comes to Voodoo, few things are more iconic than the Voodoo doll. Known also as conjure dolls, doll babies, dollies, baby dolls, poppets, fetich, fetish, and effigies, they are servants of fast-acting, long-lasting magic. If you are seeking a new job or new friends, need to find your one true love or keep your lover at home, wish to be rid of your enemies or protect yourself from thievery, in these pages you will find the doll and the spell to do just that and more. Drawing not only on New Orleans Voodoo and hoodoo traditions, Alvarado also presents doll spellwork from ancient Greece, Egypt, Malaysia, Japan, Africa, and the European grimoires of old magic. You’ll learn how to make, use, and properly dispose of your Voodoo doll. Be warned: this is some of the most effective magic that exists so be ready to reap what you are about to sow, or in this case, sew!

Creole Voodoo, a unique blend of African, Haitian, Native American, Catholic, spiritualist, and European folk magic traditions, welcomes the uninitiated. Inside are complete instructions for creating altars for each of the Seven African Powers, including how to petition the orishas, as well as some practical spells. This guide is written for people who are not initiated into any specific Voodoo tradition, but would like to benefit from knowing and practicing age-old authentic Voodoo rituals. The author, born and raised in the Voodoo rich culture of New Orleans, has written this book from the perspective of Creole Voodoo, for which there are no formal initiation rites. This is the revised edition, and contains twice the information as the first edition. Plus, there is an extra chapter on Working Magick with the Seven African Powers and an additional 12 spells and rituals. This book is richly illustrated by the author, who is well-known for her unique conjure art style, and whose art has been celebrated in several books and on National Geographic's Taboo.

This collection introduces readers to the history and practice of the Vodou religion, and corrects many misconceptions. The book focuses specifically on the role Vodou plays in Haiti, where it has its strongest following, examining its influence on spiritual beliefs, cultural practices, national identity, popular culture, writing and art.

A practical guide to understanding and using Mexican healing traditions in everyday life Arranging ofrendas. Brewing pericón into a healing tea. Releasing traumas through baños and limpias. Herbalist and curandera Atava Garcia Swiecicki spent decades gathering this traditional knowledge of curanderismo, Mexican folk healing, which had been marginalized as Chicanx and Latinx Americans assimilated to US culture. She teaches how to follow the path of the curandera, as she herself learned from apprenticing with Mexican curanderas, studying herbal texts, and listening to her ancestors. In this book readers will learn the Indigenous, African, and European roots of curanderismo. Atava also shares her personal journey as a healer and those of thirteen other inspirational curanderas serving their communities. She offers readers the tools to begin their own healing--for themselves, for their relationship with the earth, and for the people. The Curanderx Toolkit includes more than 25 profiles of native and adopted plants of Baja and Alta California and teaches you to grow, know, and love them. This book will help anyone who has lost connection with their ancestors begin to incorporate the herbal wisdom and holistic wellness of curanderismo into their lives. Take the power of ancient medicine into your own hands by learning simple herbal remedies and practicing rituals for kinship with the more-than-human world.

From Christian Science and the Jehovah's Witnesses to Soka Gakkai, Wicca, and Falun Gong, the last century and a half has seen an unprecedented growth of new religious movements, sects, and alternative spiritualities. New Religionsoffers an authoritative and lavishly illustrated guide to more than two hundred of these wildly varied groups and movements. The volume is organized according to an entirely new method of classification, which associates movements, sects, and spiritualities with the religious traditions from which they arose. Rastafarianism, for example, is shown to have its roots in Christianity, while Bahai is an offshoot of Islam. Included are both long-established groups like the Seventh-Day Adventists and the Hutterites and more recent movements like Santeria, the Unification Church, and ISKCON (the "Hare Krishnas"). In addition to Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Indian Religions, and the Religions of East Asia, sections are devoted to movements and groups inspired by Indigenous and Pagan Traditions, and by Western Esoteric and New Age Traditions. Particularly fascinating is the discussion of the religious offspring of Modern Western Culture, including Scientology, UFO-based groups (such as the Raelians), and even the worship of celebrities like Elvis and Princess Diana. Each entry clearly and concisely explains the history, beliefs and practices, and status in the world today of the movement or group in question. Special entries highlight broad topics such as New Religions in China as well as intriguing subjects such as Cargo Cults, Martial Arts, Astrology, and Feng Shui. Written by specialists,New Religionsis a fascinating and colorful guide to the bewildering array of religious and spiritual options available to the modern seeker.

Secrets of Voodoo traces the development of this complex religion (in Haiti and the Americas) from its sources in the brilliant civilizations of ancient Africa. This book presents a straightforward account of the gods or loas and their function, the symbols and signs, rituals, the ceremonial calendar of Voodoo, and the procedures for performing magical rites are given. "Voodoo," derived from words meaning "introspection" and "mystery," is a system of belief about the formation of the world and human destiny with clear correspondences in other world religions. Rigaud makes these connections and discloses the esoteric meaning underlying Voodoo's outward manifestations, which are often misinterpreted. Translated from the French by Robert B. Cross. Drawings and photographs by Odette Mennesson-Rigaud. Milo Rigaud was born in Port au Prince, Haiti, in 1903, where he spent the greater part of his life studying the Voodoo tradition. In Haiti he studied law, and in France ethnology, psychology, and theology. The involvement of Voodoo in the political struggle of Haitian blacks for independence was one of his main concerns.

Carried to the Americas by slaves, the 8,000-year-old philosophy of Ifa originated with the Yoruba peoples of West Africa. Ifa's enduring message of strength and inner peace, one that offers a way to harmonize our spiritual and worldly aims, is enjoying a resurgence of popularity in the West. Written by an avid student and accomplished practitioner, The Way of the Orisa provides an exhilarating introduction to the orisa, the powerful messenger spirits who act as our personal guardians. Through fables, rituals, prayers and simple guidelines, Philip Neimark shows how we can further our personal and professional goals by cultivating the loving support of orisa energy. Joyous, wise and eminently practical, The Way of the Orisa brings a vibrant ancient tradition to contemporary life.