Magic Remains
An ancient voice within our blood beckons, come to life!
It speaks of freedom to create and banish blight and strife.
When hope and law and prayers fail to thwart the haters harm,
It's magic that will set it right with candle, smoke, and charms.
When the money bird has left our nest and lack assumes its throne,
The door of magic opens wide when first we read the bones.
Roots and conjure, spirits and flame, the magic wears so many names.
From old world to new world to worlds far beyond,
Freedom from tyranny remains as our bond.
By crossroads and candle and cauldron and flame,
The spirit of magic shall always remain!
THE PRACTICE OF MAGIC and the use of divination to inform it are central and respected traditions in all ancient civilizations worldwide, and archaeological research will show that. This suggests that these practices have been important to hundreds of cultures over thousands of years of time and are more than mere superstitions or belief systems. They are a core component of the human experience at its very foundations. That alone should suggest to contemporary humanity that they are valid, helpful (even crucial), and sacred considerations based on the distilled wisdom of countless generations of experience. Yet their value and impact have also inspired a less-approving response in later generations, but specifically in religious and governance bodies who declared and executed what could be viewed as a war on magic! Proscribed as heresy and often scourged under the banner of witchcraft, it seems that magic was an enemy to convention, compliance, and conversion, and these tyrannical forces mounted severe attacks on its workers that lasted for hundreds of years. Yet, regardless of the looming threat of horrific sanctions, exiles, and the mass death sentences of the so-called “holy” inquisitions; magic has not gone away . . . nor will it. With that being said, our challenge is, as my dear friend the respected author Raven Grimassi would say, “to ride on the momentum of the past” through the needs, inspiration, and discernment of the present into a future that is healthier, happier, and more whole with the aid of magic.
It seems that the mysterious ways of magic will migrate, morph, erupt, and expand as it is needed and/or summoned and its worth is higher than the severity of the sanctions imposed against it. In fact, it seems that this mystical force and the art of shaping its outcome are most apparent and important at times of lack, need, and oppression. Further, its inherent worth grows muscle and volcanic velocity when freedom, justice, and equity are most challenged and restricted. Its inherent worth to the enduring human spirit is in its ability to grant power to the powerless, hope to the hopeless, and prosperity to the impoverished, while decreasing lack and increasing well-being. At the highest levels, the worker of magic may aim at the larger picture of reducing the presence and power of outrageous inequity. When magic blooms and its assistance is sought, the need for the magic maker or, in the parlance of this book, the root-worker or conjurer is greater than ever. The resources in Old Style Conjure, in my view, have arrived to empower the new seeker of sound magical practices and the seasoned worker alike with lore and practices that carry the power of the past to the need of the present.
It is a literary crossroads where old-style Conjure meets new-style life and magic continues to reach those who need it, the worker who works it. But for this gift to have the blessings of integrity as it is given, the story of Conjure's arrival in North America and the legacy of the African people who laid its foundations with their traditions and, yes, their lives must be acknowledged and honored. This is a core aspect of the ways of traditional, cultural, and folkloric magic, and Starr makes this clear in this book.
The worth of the conjuring tradition has many wonderful implications. On one hand, the recipes and practices Starr provides really work. I should know: I have applied works I've learned from Starr and their effectiveness was irrefutable. But, there's a deeper, more sacred virtue in how she delivers the traditional wisdoms of the practice. You see, while the work is addressing practical needs, it is also increasing the power of the worker (or their client) to achieve the ultimate expression of free will: choice over the shape of their destiny. Magic as a gift from the Creator, then applied by the worker, is an act of empowered choice to become a self-created being with the conscious power to choose one's destiny, a sacred core component imbued in humanity by God.
Magic, in my view, is the clearest expression of the biblical concept that we were made in God's image. Magic involves an interactive relationship with the creator force through the agency of prayer, incantation, ritual, gathered magical force, and the list of forms of magical practice goes on. So, what does magic, specifically “folk magic” and the variant known as Conjure, look like in the multifaceted subcultures of the United States? Well, Starr Casas has invited all of us into what she terms “the culture of Conjure,” which includes a collective of lore, practices, and prayers passed on to her through family tradition, mentoring by elders, and an astute observation of practitioners, as she was honed and tested during the early phases of her life. But where does the body of this conjure tradition fit into the magical landscape of our country?
The United States is a hotbed of diverse folk magical traditions from many countries and cultures that made their way to its soil through colonization, migration, and the African slave trade of the 1700s and 1800s, to name some of the largest sources. But these influences were hardly the root of magic in the Americas, as that was already thousands of years deep in the soil of this land and flourishing, cultivated by the many indigenous tribes at least until colonialization aggressively sought their land, killed their people, and progressively eradicated many native peoples and their magical wisdom forever.
We will never know the sacred, powerful, and much-needed magical knowledge that was lost. Still, some of teachings and practices are preserved in the body of conjure practices, as freed African slaves and Native Americans encountered one another and shared their treasured wisdoms in the petri dish of oppression. Later in its journey through the Emancipation and Reconstruction period, the body of Conjure grew fatter with practices, as it encountered poor, marginalized, or oppressed ethnic communities in rural and urban areas alike. Here in the so-called “New World,” many of the migrated practices remained intact or were able to grow and adapt as they were influenced by the changing economic, social, and government environment and came in contact with other oppressed or marginalized groups, magic workers, and healers. If one were to identify the single event in North American history that infused it with a mass of magical information from another place, it would be the African slave trade. There are many factors that supported the preservation and continuation of Conjure (and other magical traditions), and one of the most effective was its ability to change its shape without altering its soul.
Conjure as a folk magic practice does not use initiatory ceremonies like some of the other African-influenced or Diasporic traditions. Transmission of lore and practices to “students” or next generations of practitioners usually happens within families or, when necessary, through apprenticeship with hand-selected inheritors. Though Conjure is very African influenced, and its practice more prevalent in the African American community and under other names that may include rootwork and hoodoo, it is also found in white and other families, depending on the community demographics and the social and economic history of the family and individual worker. Additionally, its shape may change from the influence of local Native Americans where it grew and the type of Christian tradition it synchronized with, broadly Protestant or Catholic. The integration of these religious traditions is a part of both its beauty and its power to adapt, adopt, and grow in ways that ensure its survival and speak to the people who will seek the service of its practitioners. These traditions and their association with, and access to, the tribal spirits and divinities that interpenetrate and control all the powers of life, death, love, war, and health (to name a few forces) were held in such high respect, honoring their inherent worth, sacredness, and power, that they were neither destroyed nor forgotten. Rather, they “shape-shifted” the surface appearance of the practices.
By incorporating the names, images, icons, and sacred doctrine (the Holy Bible) of an enforced conversion to the Christian religion, while bridging and retaining the traditional paradigm and philosophy they had heretofore, the practitioner has been allowed a direct, personal, and accessible relationship with the divine creator, its helpful spirits, and their power. How could the African ancestors predict that nearly 150 years after the end of the slave trade, these syncretic traditions would not merely survive, but also grip the attention of many types of people, expanding their presence and power among diverse groups across the United States and beyond.
The traditions that grew out of this approach have continued to this day, migrating beyond the soil of the South where they were born and carrying their seeds through post-Emancipation and reformed America to this day where they are known as rootwork, hoodoo, Conjure, spirit-work, etc. Though this demonstrates the deep wisdom of the African people and the adaptability of the old ways to reshape in a different cultural setting, it was a way to maintain a beloved relationship with the sacred, while supporting survival through forced conversion and the severe and even deadly results of noncompliance. In the end, it gave rise to some of the most diverse, intact, and powerful magical practices in the world. Metaphysical lemonade from colonialist lemons!
All honor to the African ancestors of North America. May their suffering be healed and their spirits exalted to the highest blessings of heaven. Your work lives on. An example of this is the book, which you, the reader, hold in your hands now. Please understand that this document embodies and transmits more than the printed words contained therein. It is a magical horse carrying a spiritual power that is old, potent, and authentic. If its work speaks deeply to your soul, you might wonder what unseen hands introduced you to it and why. It is my hope that by the time you finish reading it, doing some of its works, contemplating its insight, and experiencing the power of the magic it taps, you will know that unseen (but felt) hands have always been guiding you towards the resources to attain spiritual sovereignty and receive all the blessings life has to offer. As Mama Starr says, “Can you hear them whispering?”
Old Style Conjure is simultaneously and at once:
A bridge mediating the living awareness of Conjure as a continued cultural practice.
A time capsule containing age-honored wisdom across generations of change.
A sacred vessel preserving something so special that neither war, forced migration, hanging ropes, or the horrors of the American slave trade could diminish it.
Yet there is another gem of invaluable worth in this document, and that is Starr—her voice and her spirit. This amazing woman and all she does are infused with the very essence of Conjure, and it flows out of her with the natural ease that, for me, is one of the hallmarks of a worker who comes from the soul of the work, and this can only happen by being of the living culture of this practice. Yes, by definition of its form, you are holding a book. Yet, I assure you, it's so much more! It is my pleasure to introduce you to the full face of this container of cherished heirlooms, priceless wisdoms, and more; it is a link into a practice that is thousands of years old with roots so deep that no horror in the human world could diminish its unconquerable spirit. That practice is known as American Southern Conjure. So, here we are at a conjure crossroads: where your presence, Starr's wisdom, my foreword, and your ancestors meet, with something to be revealed.
The subject of Old Style Conjure echoes from ancient powers, potent spirits, meaningful magic, and a legacy of wisdom preserved and transmitted through the unbreakable spirit of a people who truly knew its sacred value to the relationship between humanity, divinity, and living ancestry. Starr Casas invites us into a rare treat indeed. With open hands (or pages) the time-tested value, inherent wisdom, and practical applications of a cross-generational living magical tradition are offered. As such, the collective spirit of this book has a true lineage and, with it, a powerful story about its journey to and through America contained in the hearts, bodies, souls, and spirit of its first children, the African slaves who in my humble opinion are the ancestors and angels of American Southern Conjure. The forced journey of these African ancestors from their motherland and the torturous migration across thousands of miles of ocean, then the laborious toils on the plantations of the South, and the intense pressure of life through the cultural vice grip of the Civil War and walking through the life of a family tradition across hundreds of years of time are poured into the book that you hold in your hands. The best way to honor their journey is to build a better life with their wisdom and add yours so that the journey of Conjure continues on to those beyond you.
At the thinning time when shadows move apart.
Sadness fades and frees the haunted heart.
Four roads from everywhere to somewhere meet.
At a crossroads, where spirits and conjure greet;
Four roads from everywhere to somewhere meet,
Let us walk the magic road with practical feet,
The way is open . . .
—ORION FOX WOOD, Southern Appalachian conjure worker, faery seer and elder, traditional craft, author of The Candle and the Crossroads and The Flame in the Cauldron