Entry · catalog no. 7302
hoodoo
/ /ˈhuː.duː/ /HOO-doo
noun · US South · 1800s
✓ Verified
1.
African American folk magic: a homegrown system of conjure, roots, powders, and protective ritual, blending West and Central African spiritual practice with Christianity and Native American plant knowledge. Also called conjure or rootwork.
“Her grandmother knew hoodoo — which roots to carry, which to bury.”
Origin & Attribution
Born among enslaved African Americans in the South, drawn from fragmented West and Central African religions and adapted with Christian scripture and Native American herbcraft. Under slavery it was a practical technology of protection and power for people denied both. Zora Neale Hurston documented it firsthand in her essay "Hoodoo in America" (1931) and her book Mules and Men (1935).
1800s
Conjure practiced among the enslaved
1935
Zora Neale Hurston publishes Mules and Men
2000s
Revival and scholarship of Black folk magic
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
The South
US South · 1800s
Spoken by
Black Southerners; conjure workers and their communities
$HOODOOThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Rising156 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
55/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1870
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@nolakid
New Orleans, LA
@htxdri
Houston, TX
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
Zora Neale Hurston, Mules and Men — book · 1935
book
■
+ Cite a sourceHurston, "Hoodoo in America," Journal of American Folklore · 1931
journal
See also