“THE HOODOO YOU KNEW”: AN AFROCENTRIC (RE)LOCATION OF CONJURE AND HOODOO COSMOLOGY

This study contributes to the ongoing discourse on African spirituality and its contemporary relevance to African peoples in the Diaspora by exploring Hoodoo through an Afrocentric lens. By adopting this perspective, the researcher aims to normalize Hoodoo as a living spiritual system and shed light on the influence of Eurocentric scholarship in shaping perceptions of Hoodoo and African Diasporic historiographies. Moving beyond the sensationalism of 19th and 20th-century literature and folklorist analyses, this project critically examines the terminology applied to Hoodoo, such as syncretism and creolization, and situates Hoodoo as an extension of African traditional religions and magico-spiritual traditions. This work employs an Afrocentric framework to explore themes of space, place, healing, and resistance within the Hoodoo tradition, thereby enriching the discourse surrounding Afrocentric Hoodoo cosmology. The project critiques the location of theologians within the field, aiming to recover and return Hoodoo to its Afrocentric roots. Additionally, it addresses the long-overlooked spatial analysis of Hoodoo, challenging the one-dimensional orientation commonly attributed to the tradition. The researcher expands the discourse on Hoodoo by aligning it with African traditional religions and magico-spiritual systems (ATR-MSs). By engaging with the African worldview, the study embraces the fluidity of time and place, offering a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of Hoodoo. Through this approach, the project seeks to deepen the appreciation and understanding of Hoodoo's role in the spiritual lives of African peoples in the Diaspora.