Healing and Witnessing Self and Lineage through Music and Hoodoo

With all of this artistic inspiration and scholarly grounding in mind, I have gone about deepening my understanding of possible answers to my research questions through my own ritual and musical explorations. This autoethnographic approach has bridged the personal and the cultural, giving valuable insights into the ways these themes of Hoodoo, healing, and music manifest at these different levels. Adams et al. (2015) explain that this iterative and circular movement between the personal and the cultural deepen the meaning that we’re able to glean both spheres. By exploring and feeling into my own practice, I’ve learned more about what it looks like for me to embody the principles of Hoodoo and to step into the role of a musician-healer. It has also helped me to understand more deeply why this role is so intuitive within the tradition, as I’ve experienced how intertwined these seemingly separate spheres are in my own life. This autoethnographic approach has allowed me to put myself and my work within this conversation to witness the manifestations of these larger phenomena at a smaller scale, illuminating experiences and details that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. My intention for my four-song EP was for it to be healing for me first and foremost as I tapped into the abundant love my ancestors have for me. My hope was that this healing effect would ripple out as others encounter my work and form their own relationship with the ideas I explore.