Description
Why You Should Take this Course
The ability to adapt and resist oppression is the core impulse of this spiritual practice. This is perhaps the most important reason to practice rootwork; namely, because you need a flexible and highly-adaptable tradition that provides useful, time-tested tools to navigate life’s travails and challenges with greater ease.
By the end of this class, you will have a firm grasp on what Hoodoo is, as well as how to apply it meaningfully to your existing practice.
As other teachers in the Blackthorne School have said, Hoodoo is probably not your only spiritual modality. We are all grown folk and able to discern how to incorporate Hoodoo into what we already do. That said, the class discussion forums are just the place for us to discuss and work out collectively where this may not be so clear, which sets us apart from other more individualistic Western traditions. Here in our Facebook forums, we can draw upon this community to find our way.
If you are ready to learn about a great American folk practice that can give you tools to weather the conditions of life, I warmly invite you to join me!
What You Will Learn
Week One: Introduction & The Black Man, Part Two
My personal story of how and why I went deeper with Hoodoo and how it fits with other practices
An overview of the sixteen weeks’ lessons
Presentation of the Black Man Road Opening Ritual
The primary purpose of the first week will be to introduce the class and its content. I will also discuss another segment of my own spiritual journey as regards Hoodoo and discuss how, for me, it is the “crossroads” practice that links all my disparate practices together, so students taking the class can begin to consider this for themselves (especially if they are considering rootwork as a profession).
The week’s lesson will end with the Road Opening Ritual to once again call the Black Man into your life to guide and empower much of what will be done in this class. It will be important for students to refer back to the lesson in “Working the Roots” to refamiliarize themselves with the Black Man if they have not been diligent with working with him.
Week 2: Attaining Your Spirit-Ally
Discussion and analysis of the Spirit-Ally ritual, the resources I drew from, and the effect this Ally will have on your rootwork
How to “carry” your Spirit-Ally/Familiar, hoodoo-style, and some deeper discussion of the theology behind mojos as “descendants” of nkisi
Lesson Two goes straight away into the first significant spirit-conjuration of this course, of attaining one’s Spirit-Ally or Familiar. This lesson comes early in the course because this spirit will be important in the workings of subsequent lessons. I will discuss some of the history behind this spirit, why I chose it over others, and how different ways the worker can interact with their Familiar for themselves and others.
Week 3: Advanced Divination and Solomonic Magic (Hoodoo-Style)
Brief overview of Solomonic Magic as its own tradition
Overview of how, why and in what way Solomonic Magic was incorporated into Hoodoo by practitioners
Why did rootworkers focus on “material” seals and not the evocational side?
Historical and traditional uses of Solomonic Magic in hoodoo
Performance of a seal consecration by video
Advanced divination: playing cards and Dr. Aaron’s method
Playing card workings and video recording example
Advanced divination: the spirit board and pendulum
Video of board creation for the Saturnine spirits used to conjure the Spirit-Ally
Explanation of using the spirit board to get answers, and why I prefer this method over others
Video of board reading to procure the name of my Saturnian Spirit-Ally
Week three continues spirit-work through advanced divination practices that will be used to deepen your connection to you Spirit-Ally. I will show how to create such a board using simple household items. Lastly, I will demonstrate how to use the board itself to attain the name of your conjured Spirit-Ally. Naming something gives you power over it, and in the case of hoodoo, makes it easier for you to direct the energies of the spirit in workings.
Week 4: Psychic & Spiritual Development
How the Spirit-Ally can help you connect to your Higher Self through theurgy
The importance of a discipline of purification and self-transformation
The benefits of said practice to you as a rootworker
Introduction of the “Prayer of the Familiar” and simple offering as a daily theurgic practice
How you can build your own devotional/meditative practice with this ritual, to reflect your path
Facebook class group focused discussion on this topic
Is an altar necessary?
The traveling altar (incense, lighter, mojo and yourself!)
This week focuses on a seldom-discussed topic when classes such as this are taught. Self-care and personal spiritual development are critical to your practice, growing personal power and ability to help others. This lesson gives you the basics from which to build your own developmental practice to sustain you through this work and life’s challenges. This is also a week where the online Facebook group discussion will be paramount to fully benefiting from the tools of this week.
Week 5: Wrathful Water Workings (Offensive and Defensive Bathing Techniques)
Wrathful?: how this week turns many traditional occult ideas on their head
The insights of Hoodoo for how water can be used, positive and negative
The fundamentals of offensive aquatic deployment
The War Bath
The Toilet Curse
The Spirit-Ally Water Stress Test
The Spirit-Ally Water Curse
In week five we are considering largely unorthodox uses of water that are offensive, sneaky and hard for other workers to spot (without doing a divination reading). This is a traditionalist spin on insights hoodoo has given me in my practice, especially working with War Water. You will learn some of Dr. Aaron’s secret tools to empower these workings, as well as begin to see how the Spirit-Ally can be used in your workings with water.
Week 6: House Cleansing & Protection
Why protecting your house is just as, if not more important than personal protection
The domestic focal points
Doors and windows
Toilets, sinks, bathrooms
The bed/bedroom
Dr. Aaron’s House Cleansing Ritual
Railroad Spikes, “Nailing Down” your home, and the Black Man House Rite
Week six focuses on our home space, how to care for its vulnerable areas spiritually and why this is so important. A spiritually-clean house is necessary for your rootwork to succeed without complications, but this also requires a disciplined cleaning practice. All of this is discussed, in addition to how to place spiritual defenses around and inside your home, with the assistance of the Black Man.
Week 7: Healing and Health Workings
Healing, taken deeper with your Spirit-Ally
Spirit-Ally Peace Water ritual
Too Blue Candles: a simple healing of the mind
Dr. Aaron’s Healing Tools
Spirit-Ally Empowerment Ritual (to assist with workings)
Green Alcohol Bath
Health Tonic
Week seven takes us back to the tools of physical and emotional healing, which we began exploring in the introductory class. Here we are connecting our healing practices with the Spirit-Ally, and also learning how to call on that spirit specifically to assist us in workings. I included in this week some of my own tried and true remedies for sickness and to maintain my physical health.
Week 8: Moving Candle Spells
The philosophy of moving candles magic, versus stationary candle workings
Example and video of positive candle working
Example and video of negative candle working
Enhancements to moving candle workings
Crab shell
Setting helper lights
Herbs and oils
Using your Ally Mojo to increase power
Week eight returns us to candle magic, but to study the concepts of moving candles and how they build pressure on life conditions. Students will view examples of these workings, and also ways in which a worker can strengthen their candle work as they do it. The notion of “fire and forget” candle magic will be debunked as ineffective for a hoodoo practice, and Dr. Aaron will discuss some of the corrective actions he takes when a candle working shows signs of difficulty.
After registering for the course, the week before the start date we will add you to a private Facebook group along with the other students in this course. We’ve found this is a great way to share your journey in this course together.
Course Prerequisites
We ask that you have taken Rev. Doctor Aaron’s first course on rootwork prior to enrolling. If you are already an intermediate rootworker, he will consider your eligibility on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us at support@theblackthorneschool.com if you have questions about eligibility.
In addition, you will need a Facebook account to be added to the private Facebook group if you wish to participate, however, the course can also be taken as an independent study if desired.
Instructor Bio
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What Former Students Have Said About Rev. Doc’s Teaching
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