Hoodoo as Religion: Reframing an African American Tradition Beyond Magic

In Black Magic: Religion and the African-American Conjuring Tradition (2003),Yvonne Chireau analyzes Hoodoo as an amalgamation of what people remembered from their West and West-Central African homeland, some European Christian and folk traditions, and Indigenous American knowledge of the local land. Here I demonstrate that the label of "magic" is less significant for Hoodoo than the effort to redefine it as a religion. This shift is driven by several factors. First, classifying Hoodoo as a religion offers protection from the racially charged negativity often linked to "magic." Second, practitioners are moving away from the commercially exploited aspects frequently associated with magic, instead prioritizing the re-centering of religious Africana theological elements, particularly ancestor veneration. Finally, redefining "religion" allows Hoodoo to stand apart from Christianity, establishing itself as an ethno-religion, a distinct cultural and spiritual way of life. This reorientation is in conversation with efforts of other magic-using communities, including contemporary Paganisms