High John, Southern John, and Little John-Which John is Which?

I am often shocked that many hoodoos and witches out there still don't get these right! I know, the information is confusing, but these are 3 separate roots, with VERY different purposes. We should all know exactly what we're dealing, from a magickal, medical, and consumer standpoint. I am also listing pictures in the order described so now you will know which John is which.

High John or John the Conqueror-Ipomoea jalapa is this plant's scientific name. The MOST popular root in hoodoo and magick! Any working for success, luck, prosperity, manifestation, drawing, attraction, power, or gambling will call for this root. It can be added to any spell for extra power and can be identified by it's "liquid smoke" type scent and dark brown colour.
John's story-
John the Conqueror was an African prince who was sold as a slave in the Americas. Despite his enslavement, his spirit was never broken and he survived in folklore as a trickster figure, because of the tricks he played to evade his masters.
In one traditional John the Conqueror story, John falls in love with the Devil's daughter. The Devil sets John a number of impossible tasks: he must clear sixty acres of land in half a day, and then sow and reap the 60 acres with corn in the last half of the day. The Devil's daughter furnishes John with a magical axe and plow to use for these impossible tasks, but warns John that her father means to kill him even if he performs them. John and the Devil's daughter steal the Devil's own horses; the Devil pursues them, but they escape his clutches by shape-shifting.

He was NOT the white washed "King" you see below sold on candles, soaps, incenses and oils. These products are completely void of history nor do they contain any actual High John root. They are a mockery of High John's name, history and culture and a mockery of those of use who work hard to provide authentic conjure items.

In "High John De Conquer", Zora Neale Hurston reports that:
like King Arthur of England, he has served his people. And, like King Arthur, he is not dead. He waits to return when his people shall call him again. . . High John de Conquer went back to Africa, but he left his power here, and placed his American dwelling in the root of a certain plant. Only possess that root, and he can be summoned at any time.

Now onto Southern John, Dixie John, Low John, Beth Root, or Birth Root. These are the names of the root of the common Trillium Grandiflorum which is a native woodland plant here in Michigan. It is considered an endangered species and is illegal to harvest. I have several plants from my mother and each year I harvest 2-4 from my own patch to use the roots. They are becoming very difficult to find due to their endangerment and they are often mislabeled in botanicas which are selling galangal roots instead of true southern john's. Southern john's can be identified by their hairs (rootlets) and segmented body.

These spring-flowering members of the lily family have long been used medicinally, and among Euro-American herbalists, low john is sold medicinally under the name birth root or beth root and used as an aid in childbirth and with menstrual cramps.

This root is also used for luck, love, sex, and family. Carry a whole root for luck. To draw love, make a tea from it and drink it nightly while burning incense mixed with the root “hairs" the fibrous rootlets extending from the larger body of the root. For marriage, carry Southern John in a red bag with violet leaves, lodestone, and iron filings, dressed with attraction oil.

For a better sex life, tie low john in a muslin or cheesecloth bag and launder it with your bed clothes, underwear or lingerie. To break up an affair troubling your marriage, mix the root with the hair or nail parings of you and your spouse and burn them to ashes. Use the ashes to mark the corners and center of your bedroom and bed, praying the 91st Psalm for the intruder to go away.


Little John, Courtcase root, Chewing John, or galangal. This is Alpina galanga, and it is a member of the ginger family. It is most often confused with Low John, Dixie John, Beth root, or Southern John. Galangal Root is used for its Psychic ability, luck, money, courage, strength, protection, sex magick and for avoiding legal problems.

Worn or carried, it protects and draws good luck. Place it in a leather mojo bag with silver, to draw money. Galangal is burned to break spells and curses. It is also carried or sprinkled around the home to promote lust. Worn as a talisman, galangal aids psychic development and guards the wearer's health.

In Western Europe in the Middle Ages, the root was considered an aphrodisiac and is used in perfumes in India. In Hoodoo, it is often combined with grains of Paradise to make protective wash. You can also make this magick herb into an incense by combining it 2:1 with white sandalwood.

In African-American hoodoo practice, its pleasant gingery taste is part of its charm and, unlike High John and Low John, Chewing John is actually chewed and the juice swallowed. A typical spell prescribes its use in court case magic: Chew the root, swallow the juice and discretely spit the "cud" onto the courtroom floor before the judge walks in; he will decide the case in your favour. This root is almost always sold in slices, and can be identified by it's orange colour and ginger root-like form.


So now you know-use the right root for your workings and don't be fooled any longer;)

Why on earth would I work with a death deity?!

This question recently arose from a client who seemed a little shocked and concerned about working with The Baron. It brought up fears of death and change. But, sometimes these things are needed, and isn't "change" just the death of something we've already experienced and learned from? Baron Samedi is a god of many things, but his biggest attribute is healing in many senses of the word. To me, change is a healing all in itself. When we experience a change, we are forced to grow, to leave our old, wounded, small-minded selves behind and forced out of our snug, segregating cocoon. Our wings unfold, dry in the new sun, and we are healed from what stifled us. We have changed, are born again, and are liberated....healed.

I don't believe deities, or anything else for that matter, are inherently good or bad, they possess both light and dark just as we do as we are all just energy and chemicals. All Lwa are associated with "darker aspects" because vodou has been corrupted and deformed by current society and the media.

My clients biggest concern was what would happen to him if he petitioned a death deity...would he die?! While this seems dramatic, those who do not know could assimilate such an idea with a death deity. Petitioning a deity who is a god/ess of death is done for many reasons and most certainly it would NOT cause one to die, or there would be a lot of dead pagans around the world;) Shiva and Kali are both death deities and millions of Hindus pay numerous daily devotions to them- they do not die from it. Death is subjective and it's views and associations are dependent on the religion. It is a point in a cycle that is an ending and beginning all in one. When a deity of "death" is petitioned it is to bring an end to one thing and begin another, such as an end to bad luck and an opportunity to tempt the fates into bestowing luck upon you. THIS is a death, it is a change. The Baron is a deity of the crossroads, a point where you have the opportunity to choose any way you want to go; an ending to one road and a beginning of 3 others, therefore choosing a new road would be a "death" to the old pattern or habit and a new beginning within life.

We all reach critical points in our lives where we must symbolically leave an old path, letting it die, to persue new, fresh, vibrant (and scary) opportunities.
Don't let the fear of a death deity stop you from taking that leap into unknown territory and refreshingly cool waters that will renew and transform you.
After all, what's worse, to settle and be complacent or facing a little fear? Renew yourself, transform yourself, face your fears, and get to know something new...like The Baron;)

Voodoo Lily and Lords and Lady Lily

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"Hoodoo Moma" by Luisah Teish

Wooden stairs scrubbed with red brick
Holy water sprinkled on the floor
St. Michael slays that old demon
behind the front door.
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph" she cries,
"C'mon in here and sit down"
coffee is sipped from a demitasse cup
in my moma's part of town.
"Don't cross yo' legs at de table.
"Beware the cook dat don't eat.
"Mind ya' home training for company
"Don't dare sweep dat 'oman's feet!"
A frizzy is running outside
scratching up gri-gri. Rattlesnake skins
and mudbug fins 'round a blue plate of congris.
Back yonder in da burning barrel, there's
sulphur and rags aflame. Wrapped in red thread
up under it, nine times, she's writ somebody's name.
B'yond the fence, things a-growing: cow greens, milkweed, and
Devil's bread. Sunday mornin' she's stiff starched and
Catholic; altar night-white rag on her head.
Ask the woman where she's going, or dare to ask her
where she's been. You'll find blueing water
on ya doorstep, and ya breathin' dis-eased by the wind.
Being as how I'm her daughter, I dared to ask her one time
"Moma, you know about Hoodoo?"
"Child, ya must be outta ya mind.
Who don't hear death rattle, Or know howta talk wid a frog?
Common sense is what de Lawd give ya. There's prophecy in the
bark of a dog."

One of my favorite poems by one of the most influential writers in my life, Luisah Teish.

The Infamous Graveyard Dirt

Graveyard dirt has become a misunderstood and commercial curio. "Graveyard dirt" purchased from large supply shops could be nothing more than dirt scooped up from outside their back door or an herbal mix. There is no authenticity when the earth has no story or experience behind it.

The true way a hoodoo uses graveyard dirt is becoming lost as well. It is now often mistakenly written about as an evil ingredient, made to bend the will of others, which is incorrect. Graveyard dirt is an enhancer, a powerful gris gris to invoke the true strength of our workings. The intent is up to the investor. Nothing is inherently evil or good on it's own.

Methods by which one pays for graveyard dirt vary from worker to worker. One must get in touch with the grave's spirit and make a respectful request and offering before permission is granted to collect the earth. There are numerous details; whose grave, the kind of death they died, where the grave is located with respect to the cemetery gates, the age of the person who died or if it is a family, mother, brother, etc. Whether you dig from the head, the heart, or the feet, and what type of offering is left. May it be coins, rum, whiskey, tobacco or a combination. I often leave small toys for children and baby's graves, as I have two babies of my own. I find the dirt from children and baby's graves to be the most sweet, and energetic, and therefore, helpful.

The type of grave the dirt is collected from holds tremendous power and meaning, graves of families, children, babies, police officers, veterans, reverends, judges and so on. Different graves hold different power and a particular variety of graveyard dirt should be used to compliment particular spells. what kind of spell your workin' depends what type of dirt you'll use.

Example-Graveyard dirt from a judge is for legal proceedings and justice. From a police officer for protection and to right wrongs. From a baby for spells of sweetness, healing, and platonic love, from a family grave for familial matters, from the grave of someone who's been murdered for ememy and revenge work.

My dirts are all from the cemetery I live next to and are respectfullyand traditionally collected and communication established to ensure a good working dirt for you and your magical endeavors.

Saint Cyprian of Anitoch-Patron Saint of Witches

Oh, how I live this Saint! A saint for witches, conjurers, magicians, and occultists? How paradoxical, how perfect!

Saint Cyprian of Antioch dwells in a shadowy, occult world of lore and legend, for he is said to have been a renowned Pagan conjurer, sorcerer, and magician who worked with and defended others from demons and the devil.

Desiring a relationship with a virtuous young Christian woman named Justina, he called up demons to attack her (not how I'd go about winning someone over, wtf?) but she repelled them by making the sign of the cross with her fingers. Seeing this, Cyprian too made the sign of the cross and was instantly converted to Christianity. He was baptized, became a deacon, then a priest, and finally a bishop -- while Justina, now his platonic friend, became the leader of a convent of nuns. Both Cyprian and Justina were persecuted by the Roman emperor Diocletian, who had them tortured in Damascus and finally beheaded in Nicomedia on the banks of the river Gallus. It always happens to the good ones...;)

The story does not end there. In his days as an occultist and sorcerer, Cyprian had written a powerful book of magic spells, which he failed to destroy upon his conversion, and which has appeared in many editions (and in various languages) for hundreds of years. Thus Saint Cyprian has the unusual reputation of being the Patron Saint of witches, conjurers, root doctors, magicians, sorcerers, occultists, demonologists, necromancers, spiritualists, and spiritual workers.

I have found St. Cyprian to be of immense help when dealing with spirits, seances, or any communication with the dead. He provides a sense of control and safety, with wisdom and experience. A good saint to get to know if you live in a dwelling plagued by spirits such as poltergeists, bothersome dwelling familiars, or any spiritual happenings.

This oil is lovingly made with oils and resins of myrrh and dragon's blood, two resins I find Mr. Cyprian appreciates;)