High John the Conquerer

High John the Conquerer Roots

High John the Conquerer is an important part of my conjure practice. It isn't uncommon to find roots used in hoodoo to great effect, but few have quite the same sort of reverence and mojo backing them up.

Zora Neale Hurston writes a little about High John the Conquerer, saying

High John de Conquer came to be a man, and a mighty man at that. But he was not a natural man in the beginning. First off, he was a whisper, a will to hope, a wish to find something worthy of laughter and song. Then the whisper put on flesh.

She goes on to paint a picture of a sort of trickster messiah, who came to African slaves with songs of a new world, since they'd left their old songs behind in Africa (using the term "songs" to clearly mean something other than music, but more like "attunement with the magic of a land").

Ol' John Bear

Ol' John Bear and my Crossroads Keys

There are strong connections between roots and spirits in hoodoo. Though many herbs are revered for their strong mojo and the benefits derived from them, roots are often accorded a different sort of place entirely. It's not uncommon for a root doctor to speak to the herbs he works with, interacting with them as though they were their very own people, in some way (albeit somewhat simple-minded and focused ones).

Zora Neale Hurston talks about the legend of High John the Conquerer, a trickster figure in Southern African-American slave-lore named after the root (or for whom the root is named). In it, he promised to always come and lend aid when folks held that particular root.

Now, some conjurers will find a particular affinity with a given root, most often a High John the Conquerer root. This affinity usually develops into something of a working relationship: the root lends aid in conjure workings, adding it's own contributions of mojo to the trick, while the conjurer feeds and names the root, as is done with a toby.