Occuld Religion UrBan Voopoo ‘A BEGINNER'S GUIDE To AFRO-CARIBBEAN MAGIC This book fl a Longstan terature of Voodoo, Iti not rsonal acount by two chniques spells and Display wall of California Botanica showing the seitirs of eigoeseybliom inberent tx Voodon S. Jason Black isa professional artist and weiter and a fe practitioner of Mage ad Tantra. He has worked 38 pro student and ional psyehie iy famous author of wie dane Among these ae Cows Yor With Emerge “Meditation, ret of Western Tantr, The Tre of Lies, and Taboo: The Bevtacy of El, 0595 PUBLICATIONS Back cover photo by Richard Wards Cover Art by 8. ason Black aa ISBN 1-56184-059-9 obrarse NEW FALCON US. Price $14.95 « nehy ’s soydorsu49, -B yozig uoser ’S cS ws tht = =z =< eS oo Y o oo 4 Hane woo}eg MON Sasve Pan he) 018) FS Beginner’s Guide to caribbean Magic Len Faso fereso tier a4 bristopher S. Hyatt, Ph.D.URBAN VOODOOOther Titles From New Falcon Publications Undoing Yourself With Berga Mebtaion The Treo Lies ‘Beto Wester Tanta ‘By Crstopher yat, PAD. Rebels ond Do Talted by CS Hyatt with Wiliams. Burroughs, a ace Wi The Devt iy Jason Slack and Chrisp. Hyatt, PhD. Sufism sam and gan Payless Buon and forgo Pcology By Marvin Spiegelman PRD, own ge Hs hy fe er Dt Promising The New pti By Robert Anton Wilson ight Lectures on Voge ine Fram he Eur By Alster Crowley Ingo Popiory The Gane Be By Tiothy Leary, PRD. 2m Wath Zon Mass 1y Camden Henares ‘The Complete olen Dm Sytem of Magic biden Bon Tapes Ser ond ny lec Regrdie. cn Siar od oe Vtocky iy Chars Gena Mee The eng A of hrapy ‘By Amy Mindell Ph The Myer Revel By Andrew Scheider Soul age: Undersning Your fury By Raterine Tore PRD. Btu Duly Th tof Transcnder ‘By Laorenge Cain ‘Astrlgyond Consciousness iy Ro esky Anal to get yout free catalog of ll of our titles, writ to: New Falcon Publications (Catalog Dept.) 1739 East Broadway Road, Suite 1-277 Tempe, Arizona 89282 U.S.A, URBAN VOODOO by S. Jason Black and Christopher S. Hyatt, Ph.D. 1995 NEW FALCON PUBLICATIONS TEMPE, ARIZONA, US.A.Copyright© 1995 BMT. Photographs © 1995 Richard Wardell All rights reserved. No patt of this book, in part or in whole, ‘may be reproduced, transmitted, or utilized, in any form or by any means, électronic or mechanical, includin; photocopying, recording, or by any information storage ani retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher except for brief quotations in eitical articles, International Standard Book Number: 1-56184-059-9 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 94-68556 First Edition 1995 Drawings and Cover Artby S. Jason Black Photographs by Richard Wardell. Edited by Steven Lang and Nancy Wasserman ‘The paper used in this publication meets the minimum require- ments of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials 739.48-1984 Address all inquiries to: NEW FALCON PUBLICATIONS 1739 East Broadway Road Suite 1-277 Tempe, AZ 85282 US.A. (o) 1605 East Charleston Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89104 US.A. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: ‘A special thanks to Robert Williams for his help withthe photo- ‘graphs inthis book; and to Stoven Lang and Naney Wasserman forediting. ‘And finally, we owe a debt of gratitude to “Cici" » native Brazilian who, as child wos an iiite in Macuma. With her help, we were ablo to obtain information, both verbal and printed, aot available inthe United States or in English. pullooneasodind £3949 J0} pu Jofoa Aaaaa ur ajgeyreae are SoypuT> pasn soumngiod puss Pa J sPaspunuy a 50 TABLE OF CONTENTS Inside a Botanica Preface. The Purpose of This Book Introduction. Hoodoo War 1. Initiation | 2, White Zombie 3. The Gods Are Angry Effendi 4. Tell My Horse—Go Back to Missouri 5. Dead Men Work inthe Fields of Hollywood. 6. Spirits That Findeth Hidéen Treasure 7. Voodoo in the Waiting Room 8. Christianity, Voodoo & Dionysus. 9. Spirits, Magical Theory & Psychic Repression 10. Divination Techniques 1. The Lords ofthe Crossroads 12, Some Other Members ofthe Family 13. Cocaine, Zombies & Caulérons of Blood. 14. Spells. 1. Initiation & Self-Initation 23 B 15 33 41 45 49 37 9 7 7 a7 4s 187 167 7 183,vuoned © 30} ‘q194 ano Buunseous osaiwes Vv HHH HEE aChinese gods in African magic— 3 us a e ae range of allar figures in Ali PREFACE ‘THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK Inthe past few year, the numberof volumes on Afto-Caribbean magic has grown immensely. At one time the only books available either had been around for years (such as William Seabeook’s The Magic Island, originally published in 1929 and Maya Deren's Dinine Horsemen published in 1983), or were, published under the guise of ethnological studies (lke. The Serpent and the Rainbow by Wade Davis). An important excep tion was the excellent Santeria by Migene Gonzalez-Wippler. With the explosion of interest and practice, in Voodoo however, there books have proliferated. Many are, for the most part, fepettions of “scholarly studies”, but with one important {difference —on occasion some of the anthropologists and ‘sociologists admit to having been raised inthe tation, and fctively defend it rather than teat i simply as a “primitive” "A. number of small “spelbooks” have been published in English, but the bu of this kind of material is avallable only in Spanish or Portuguese. Urhan Voodoo is indeed about the practice of magie and spells, but more importantly iti writen for the person born outside the Voodoo tradition which is stil ‘often closed fo outsiders but interested in the practice. Ii also Focused onthe frequently erie experiences ofthe authors, who, like the reader, came in contat with Voodoo from outside ‘While reference is made to history, this is emphatically history, buts kandhook of practice and a record of personal B7 Urban Voodoo ‘experience Its not the intention of the authors to “clean ap” the practices to avoid offending the Judeo-Christian ethos this Book deals very frankly with psychic and psychological phenomena that some reader will find disturbing or simply wil hot believe. We assure you, however, that our experiences are hot unigue, and the history af both ethnology and psychic research i filled ih similar accounts Ta the book we refer tothe “Voodoo religions." We use this term to cover a variety of things that are inextricably intertwined Fauiun, the Voodoo of Haiti: Macumba, one ofthe names for the Voodoo of Brazil and Santeria or Licumt, with ts rots i Cuba, In theory these areal separate systems, but in reality this is simply not s0. Some mention will also be made of Palo Mayonib, the black neeromancy that ha its oot inthe Congo. ‘We would like to emphasize from the stat that this material should in ao way'be considered simply “etn” It isan emily New World form of magic originating in the Caribbean colonies, The emphasis ofthis book is on magic, and not religion or any system of social control or moralizing, While most white ‘Americans think of Voodoo as black, in fac the vast majority of| practitioners are Latin, or of mixed blood. There are an estimated five millon practitioners in the United States, and at least a hundred millon in the Western hemisphere, These are probably conservative guesses ‘We decided 10 write this book for wo reasons: first to ‘descr the remarkable experiences and benefits we both gained fom this most ancient and “pure” stain of magic, and also to encourage involvement by “outsiders” in what may prove to be the religion ofthe fuure S. Jason Black (Christopher S. Hyatt, PRD. Note to the Readet: Shortly before this book went to press, & Santeria Church in Florida fook thei ease to the Supreme Court Of the United States and won the right to the undisturbed reli- ious sacrifice of animal. ‘Be warmed that police and Christian groups are expocted to challenge this at every opportunity—lgally oF no INTRODUCTION HOODOO WAR S.davon Back. [About a year ago I was leaving the Grand Central Market in| downtown Los Angeles, It was a rainy afternoon, and I was eatrying about zillion tags of groceries, so the moment I was outside {huddled against the wall away from the siect as best I ‘ould, The Grand Cental Market isan enormous enclosed space that covers a ity block and is more o less the equivalent of & “farmers market” The fresh vegctables and baked goods ate incredibly cheap so I made a habit of visiting it about once a ‘month t stock up my freezer For the last twemty years or so, this paticular section of downtown has become’ increasingly oceupied by shops and ‘markets owned by, ot aimed a, the enormous Latin immigrant population ofthe aca. These include not only Mexican residents, but an ever-increasing presence fom Centeal and South America and fom Cuba. If you hit the area on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, you get the distinet feeling oF boing in some Brazilian marketplace. ‘AL any rate, here am I, huddled against the wall by the comer, trying to stay dry. Having my hands fll, and with nothing beter to do, [turn and look atthe display window of the drug store 1 was ieaning against, My eyes stray across cold remedies, ‘mouthwash, tampons, Voodoo dolls, ‘Voodoo das? haul myself and my zucchini ito the stor, Is16 Urban Voodoo ‘The place that { walked into is called the Million Dollar Pharmacy, and is on the comer of Broadway and Third. 1 suppose that itis indeed a pharmacy, and it i certainly @ Grugstore inthe ordinary sense, but mostly iis something quite diferent. Fully a third to a half of the store is taken up by what is politely referred to inthe yellow pages as “religious goods "In other words, what was a pharmacy on the ouside, was, on the inside, a Botanicaa supply shop forthe practice of Voodoo and Brera There were racks of bagged dried herbs, candles in various recherché forms and tiny litle talismans made from stamped metal, some of which I recognized, many of which I did not ‘Tere were floor washes and bath soaps to atiact money oF to destroy evil influence, good cigars for ritual use, racks of booklets in Spanish and Portuguese containing spells and incan- {ations and endearing lite statues of Eleggua (more on him Inter) for home or office ‘Onte other side ofthe room were many seemingly orthodox items. There were crucifixes of various sizes in the baroque Catholic syle, one of two rosaries and a glass case containing beautiful litle statues oF various saints. T already knew my subject, however, so I wasn't fooled by this show of Christian Piety. The saints were all the “masks” ofthe various daemons of ‘Affo-Caribbean magic, used as talismans and allarpeces by practitioners who don't went the local priest or members of | {heir family to know what they ace realy into ‘Below these were some striking items tht [had never seen before. They were pyramid-shaped objects of east Lucite containing careflly arranged culie and talsmanic objet that agave effect of sculptures suspended in colored air. These were ‘obviously hand made and, upon study, I realized that they were talismans, each made for 2 specific purpose, such as money attraction” These seemed to be magical items, intended to be thought af as paperweights by the uninitiated. In mach the same vein, there were Chinese Buddhas with similar magi symbols ‘ast nto thear—another mas T walked out without buying anything tha ime. While was startled to have discovered that litle wonderland in such an accidental way, especially after passing it a hundred times Urban Voodoo ” before [wasn't all chat surprised. Traveling beoween downtown and Hollywood—where I was living atthe time-1 could count around ten botanicas just on Sunset Boulevard as it Ted through the Boyle Heights district and Silverlake into Hollywood proper. In Los Angeles, as in cites like New York and Miami, businesses catering to Santeria and the various other Voodoo religions outnumber not only “occult” shops, but Christian book “Stores about ive one The werd thing about this stat, excep for sociologist and “oul experts," almost no one outside the religions themselves even know they exist. This includes people who live cheek by jw with these shops, and individuals, such as big ety journal Isis, who should know beter. ‘Example: A couple of years ago, I was watching the local evening news end the local anchonmaa appeared witha great big inverted pentagram bluescreened bebind him. "Oh boy!” 1 thought, “Hote comes some fon.” There followed a report of ‘what the newsman and the police both referred to a8 “Satanic ‘ituls™ being performed in the San Pedro area (a district near Los Angeles harbor with a large Hispanic population). The evidence for this included a rater sizable numberof slaughtered thickens and maybe a geat or two in a dumpster. was shocked. Not because of the alleged sacrifice of things people eat for June, but because they and the candles discovered along with them were obviously the remains of a Santeria celebration. Any ‘magic tat was involved was probably white as the driven snow. Yet, both our beloved Los Angeles Police Department and the professional journalists, both of whom should know beter, never| Used any word bur Satanism throughout the report. This in feference toa religion that I would guess conservatively o be half million steong in Los Angeles county and with a much richer history. My outrage at this demonstration of bigoted Christian ‘ignorance was certainly in the minority, if not unique. Most of | the W.AS.P. population certainly didn't question the identif- cation of tis “outrage” (give me break) as Satanism. In the Christian population, even in Los Angeles, the christening (Gorry) of anything non-Christian as Satanism isa given. To a large extent ths is also true among people with no particular religious afliation or interest. Only afew people of European1s Urban Voodoo extraction are even awate of Santeria and its kin, much less Sympatico it as Tam. Tet me make myself eles. I have absolutely nothing against Satanism. I made it clear in a previous book (Pacts With the Devil, New Falcon Publications, Tempe, AZ: 1993 also co- fauored with Dr. Hyat) that itis a perfectly valid system of selfdevelopment and liberation along with the other forms of Goetie occutistn handed down from our European ancestors. T dam offended by the cowardly and emotionally enppling form of “"Neo-Paganism” that today claims tobe witcheral ‘What horrfies me isthe use ofthe term aa weapon against a religious tradition who's rots were old when the myth of Mases ‘vas just being formulated “There are comparatively few books in English on the Voodoo phenomenon from the pot of view ofthe practitioner and most have been in print in one form or another for many years—the excellent and encyclopedic works of Migene Gonsalez-Wippler land Maya Deren, for example, Almost without exception, these books, including Ms. Wippler's, tend to whitewash certain aspects of the Voodoo magicians relationship to the world fround him and atempt to make it palatable nd acceptable to ‘Chnstian society. ‘Dr, Tlyatt an ave no such tention. To begin with, we both know firsthand the futility of attempting to appease a fascist religious philosophy whose stated purpose forthe last millennium has been the elimination ofall Dither religions of the world. Over the course of time, this ‘campaign of destrction has been expanded to inelude scholars, homosexuals, women, children, artists, and anyone displaying any talent in the aea of human psychic functioning. This leaves ‘narrow spectrum of humanity--staight waite males of no {alent and smal intelligence who ate acceptable in the eyes of| ae there is any question of what type I smn eefrting to just, tum on the 700 Club or one ofits cloves and there they are. “That vision of ultta-conservative loveliness, Pat Buchanan, has said that we are in the midst of a “eultural civil war.” We ogee, ‘Westem culture in general, and the United States in particular, ace in situation that has struck Umberto Eeco as euriously Urban Voodoo 1 similar to the Middle Ages. By this T mean that there are carrently two or more distinct cultures, cultures with different goals, lifestyles, and roigions that ate incapable of coexisting ‘without violence Please understand, I am not referring to some “racial problem.” I'am refering to the attack by what is known as the Christian Right” on the civil rights—if not the very exisence— of certain groups of people who will no longer submit to psychological disfigurement. "What has this to-do with Voodoo? Simply this: ofall the techniques of sef-empowerment in history, there is practically cnly one that has survived the Inguisitoral onslaught and remained essentially intact and in harmony with it preistoric rots: Voodo. Ripped by war and the slave trae from its ancient shores, it eveloped as a form of occult guerilla warfate aginst religio nilitary plague that spread across the planet. What we refer to as the “Voodoo religions"—Haitian Voodoo, Santeria, and Macumba-—ae now collectively oe of the largest religions in the word ‘And yet, inthis country at Jest, slmost noone hus heard of it In fact, on a recent episode of “The Melaughlin Group” there was a commentary on the perennial troubles in Hait In a brief prologue they gave some statistics onthe island nation. Among, other tings it was referred © as simply 80% Catholic This ridiculous lapse on a national news programm (on which the lovely Pat Buchanan used To appear) was obviously du to Cristian bigotry, pure and simple. Whoever had prepared the Statistical segment couldn't bring themselves to call Voodeo 8 religion on television. tis due both to this form of censorship and its own commit ment to seereey that Voodoo remains invisible tothe population at large (in America at any rate), We are talking about a secret society of sorcerers, with traditions old enough and numbers large enough to challenge the Judeo-Christian tyranny. This makes many of the segments of the "New Age" movement—whether we talk about followers of Crowley or so-called “Wiscans”—look irelevart, something that the next several decades may ultimately prove ther to be. ‘They are, taken together, only a few thousands strong. Large20 Urban Voodoo enough to be noticed and persecuted, but not large enough to Fight back. Nor, from my owa extensive experience of these movemenis, are any ofthese people even remotely intrested in the pratioe of magi, only in the practice of seldeceptin, ‘Onthe ober hand, as I write this, sn Afo-Caribbean religious croup in Flora has brought thei ight tothe religious sacrifice ff animals before the Supreme Court ofthe United States~and ‘won. It should be noted, as an ase, that at no time dd the Jews have to appeal to the Supreme Court for permission to have @ rabbi cut the throat ofa chicken of cow and offer the blood to ‘Tehovab. This, for thse of you who don't know, is how kosher meats are made, So everytime you bite into a Hebrew National hotdog, you are partaking in part ofa blood sacrifice. What an ‘outrage! Cal the police! Since the Christian Right bas declared war, this book is intended, in pat at lest, 383 tol of guerilla wafae ‘Where the Judeo-Christian religions and mast ofthe New Age ‘movemeat tell you to repress your emotions and desies and to (pretend to) think “happy thoughts", we say, along with the ancient Voodoo gods, that desire is Honorable, that anger may ‘wel be justified, that the will to power is nothing f be ashamed of This book partly tells the story of my involvement in the traditions of Voodoo and how it eae about There are stories to be told about “elgious experiences” and “psychic phenomena”, but each ofthese has, as ulimate objective, "getting things one.” “This book wil not tll you that Ist i “unspiriual” or that a money spell i “low magic" Nor will we ell you that curses are forbidden and will "rebound on the sender." All ofthis is ubbish promoted by failures who ase the toppings of “spirituality” asa op for their own inferiority; thus to them, lack of sucess, ina