Voodoo & Hoodoo: Their tradition and craft as revealed by actual practitioners

I like this book, it was easy to understand and I think Jim Haskins did a good job with the formatting. I have to agree with the reviewer that says that it's a good book, but not very helpful (as concerning the 'recipes'). It seems that Mr. Haskins was trying to give a history of voodoo and also a bit of a 'modern' (late 70's) look at voodoo and how it has evolved over time. To me, I try to read all I can on Voodoo, and I have found some good, bad, and really bad books on it. So far I have to say all in all this is a good book, I found it informative on a historical level and also on a 'folk-lore-ish' level as well. Now the recipes are great to read about but don't go into detail. I would've liked for the recipes to have been explained in more detail, but like the reviewer before me said, this book wasn't meant to be a 'How-to guide'. I wish Mr. Haskins would write a book going into details about the recipes. Individual practioners would benefit from having a book like that. Unfortunately, even the author suspected that the folks he interviewed for the recipes weren't giving him all the information, and rightly so, this is how they made money, so why would they give away all their secrets, people wouldn't need their services anymore. So all in all it's a good book, I really enjoyed it and I learned a lot. Here's some of the chapters: The roots in Africa Culture Clash and Accomdation in the New World Voodoo and Hoodoo Today To do ill To do Good In matters of Law In matters of Love Voodoo and Hoodoo in perspective. Happy reading!

Mr. Haskins does a great job of summarizing in brief the basic history of Vodou and it's journey from West African tribal society to the New World through the transportation of slaves. He also gives some contemporary accounts of voodoo and hoodoo as practiced in the USA and how it compares (more likely contrasts) with it's West African roots. It is incomplete in that he does not go into any great detail concerning the religious aspects of Vodou still practiced in the USA and concerns the bulk of the book with modern Hoodoo practices and conjures. Yet it is an informative and enjoyable read overall and I recommend it as long as the reader combines the information contained herein with more gleaned from other sources in order to better round out their understanding of this complex and vibrant tradition.

Jim Haskins' book is a great introduction to the study and potential practice of voodoo/hoodoo, which should be the essential building block of any library on the subject. The book is divided into two parts: the first section deals with the original West African belief systems as practiced at the time of the slave trade (and more or less until today in some areas), the transition to the Americas, and how interaction with whites and other immigrant peoples affected these religions. The roles of the priests of the old religions, the magic workers/conjurers and herbalists are all examined. Haskins has a good grasp of the various contexts in which the white and black religions interacted, between Catholic and Protestant, French vs English or Portuguese, large vs small plantation environments, etc. This is the stronger of the two sections. The second part is likely the reason most people buy this book, i.e. the actual spells with ingredients and instructions to follow to bring money, justice, luck, or love into (or out of) your life. A chapter each is devoted to bringing ill to others, good to yourself and others, the courts & law, and finally love. Some of these can be done by the reader/individual, others would require an intermediary to 'successfully' complete. Reading the spells, taking up over half the book, is interesting and amusing, and brought to mind nothing to much as Phil Hine's books on (Western and G.D.-based) Chaos Magic, the point being that if you believe it, put enough energy and intensity into it, ANYTHING can be a tool for magic and caused change. My guess is that if you need this kind of instruction manual in the first place, you have no business attempting this kind of work. But no doubt every reader will make up his/her own mind. The book reads well, and is an excellent primer. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the origins and practice of voodoo.

This book is well written and surveys the religious practices of Hoodoo and Voodoo in the United States.Haskins utilizes personal accounts and historical data to make this one of the few factual books on the topic.This book is a staple for any ATR practicioner's library, especially those living in the south.Recommended without reservation.

Mr. Haskins grabs you from the "get-go" and delves into a good amount of history in hoodoo's origins but falls short of actually being useful from a practitioners point of view. He hints at various persons techniques and recipes but actually makes more than a few errors in his facts in dealing with various herbs. One dealing with Low John *vs* High John, for example ,could actually be dangerous to the reader. :-( "Recipes" used as examples were somewhat vague and from my point of view I would have liked the completed versions better . But then I don't beleive Mr. Haskins planned on this being a "source" but rather a charming narrative of the world of hoodoo & Voudun. In that sense it seems to fit the bill.