Overview: Pagan Portals – Hoodoo is an introduction to the magical art, detailing what Hoodoo is and how to work with it as well as offering recipes and other ideas.

The book details the author’s personal experiences with Hoodoo, deities, beliefs and the magical practices along with information on various Hoodoo crafts - bottle spells, foot track magic, crossroads magic, powders, spiritual washes and much more.

Verdict: From the off, we are informed that Hoodoo in the form that we know it can be traced back to the early 19th Century, and possibly earlier. Hoodoo is the American name for African American folk magic.

Indeed, many religions sprang from the African traditions, such as Yoruba, Santeria, Vodoun and Candomblé. Hoodoo came out of those beliefs and is the magical practice, not an actual religion. It is definitely not Voodoo, as it is commonly called by mistake. Voodoo, or Vodou, is a Haitian African religion, while Vodoun is West African.

Hoodoo, as we recognize it, was established during the times of slavery in America using the native plants and items available to the people at the time and probably taking a little knowledge from the Native Americans too, with definitely some European folk magic thrown in to the mix as well. I do believe a good amount of the Hoodoo magical practices were brought by slaves; they didn’t arrive as slaves with no beliefs or practices at all.

A lot of the slaves at the time were forced to follow the Catholic religion. What they did was to incorporate the saints, deities and rituals into their own religion. Santeria is a good example of this, although they also included the darker side of magic such as curses and hexes as well.

Furthermore, if you take a look into the blues music from the times of slavery you will find a huge amount of references to Hoodoo in the lyrics.

Ergo, Hoodoo is a practice of magic which is based on surviving and the need for things such as healing using herbs, plants, roots, stones, minerals and the like, combined with chants, rituals and handmade items. It is based around a main framework of intents– love, success, luck, happiness, health and wealth. It is also a form of magic that works with one’s own personal power.

So, and as I’m sure you could tell by now, Pagan Portals: Hoodoo Folk Magic is a rather practical, yet highly informative and dutifully impassioned guide into all this, and one that at the same time manages to dispel some of the hidden mystery surrounding this very Southern practice.

Not an overly long read, which is always a blessing to me, it still manages to cover all the basics in a way that lovingly manages to feel like it is way more of a comprehensive guide than it actually is (which is a good thing), and thus every one who reads it should instantly begin to feel better equipped to explore this practice further.

And it bears repeating that even in its short form, this is the ultimate Kitchen/Hedge/Garden Witchery where the use of everyday items is a plus and the flexibility of substitution is particularly appealing.

And in a quirk of how these things usually pan out, this book on Hoodoo Folk Magic is written by a British author, who herself delves into this very American folk magic in a relatable, and genuinely appealing way for all magical practitioners living in the UK.

About the Author - Rachel Patterson is High Priestess of the Kitchen Witch Coven, Team Leadership member of the Kitchen Witch School of Natural Witchcraft, Green/Kitchen Witch with an added dash of hedgewitch and folk magic. She lives in Portsmouth, UK.

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