It ain't ralph tho.

To start, Ignore any typos, I am working off of very little sleep. :D Anywho, it’s been a nice lil minute since I found the time to write— you’ll have to forgive me as I was in the stu’, working on projects for the masses, and also this meme.

Which brings me to today’s topic of soapbox dialogue.

What I like to call “The Hustle Man’s Guide to Spiritual Materialism”.

This post was inspired by an interesting trend we (yesm, you and I, because I knooooow you see it *Yung Joc voice*) have noticed in recent years, which is this curious admixture of religious titles across practices woven into a screen name, think “ManboBokorHoodooTataDibiaObeahman priest of Mami Wata, Nganga, Low Country Conjure, Shango Baptist at your service”, but the only thing being taught is some hodge-podge amalgam of neo-spiritual, pinterest inspired, hoodoo-presenting (yes, presenting, more on that later lmao), superiority complex laden, i-got-whatcha-want-i-got-whatcha-need magic.

Or,

Alternatively, those who ran to “legitimize” themselves as priests in one tradition from abroad their domicile, only to use that title to retroactively suggest their hoodoo or conjure products are more ‘authentic’ than others. Despite, almost never mentioning anything about the practice they found themselves a priest of. But that title comes in handy for the uninitiated, no? Excuse the pun.

Or,

Those that collected initiations like a PokémonGo leaderboard so that they can INSURE they rank higher than you across the board and feel that oh so sweet air of authority in every discussion there is to be had about any spiritual concept.

Before we really get into it, I want to discuss what I mean by Spiritual Materialism, but first, disclaimer:

I know there are a great many people who are tasked with serving ‘many lands’ so to speak, in their spiritual journey, and sometimes, with that comes a multitude of different ceremonial obligations, initiations, et al, due to the admixture of our lineages, and who walks with them. Some folks got a score to settle with a whole lotta spirits, both of blood and of the divine. This post, however, is not about the folks just doing their job(s). It’s about the folks who need the titles to feel important, gain a loyal (cult) following, and sell spiritually void artifacts— not those who need them to literally fulfill their destiny.

Anywho, Spiritual materialism a term popularized by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist teacher, in his book "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, is the concept of using spiritual practices, beliefs, or experiences to serve ego-driven desires rather than genuine spiritual growth. It often involves using spirituality as a means to gain power, status, validation, or personal satisfaction, rather than engaging in authentic self-transformation or service to others.

I think there is something to be said about all three of those instances and I believe there is room for a bit of empathy for those who were genuinely seeking ‘truth’ and walked many fruitless paths to arrive where they are, but there is also room for a lil’ jokey jokes for those who did it for thinly-veiled motives.

I talk about this theme with some frequency amongst my friends when it comes to the topic of Hoodoo. So we’re gonna focus on how that looks in this context. We all have seen folks run to various other lands/practices to get a couple rites done, and come back suited and booted, utilizing that new ritual name to its absolute limits as the credibility hitchpost towards their goal of being regarded as Hoodoo savants and merchants of Hoodoo in Gucci flip-flops. As if it’s something to hang a proverbial hat of authority on in that realm. A Tata, Amengansie, Bokor, or Iya does not an instant Hoodoo Conjure Doctor make. You could obtain ‘expertise’ before or after attaining the designation, absolutely. But said designation, and I mean this with utmost respect, makes them a priest of that particular tradition only. The ritual and magical knowledge birthed in that tradition, is relevant to that tradition. There may be a piece of a distant cross-over of concepts but the point stands. Especially, when people seldom talk about the very rich regional expressions of Hoodoo, and how mind-meltingly complex the system can be if you devote time to truly understanding it and all its faces. Heck, me and Emanuel from Bless the Roads just did a nearly 4 hour-long live on the topic a week ago, covering JUST the History. For free. And we plan on doing it again, because the good folks deserve to know!

Secondly, in this new frontier of the intersection between the quest for religious atavism, social media and ‘influencing’ the sale of physical goods, we can see the face of Hoodoo look a lot like Orishas, Lwas, beads, ritual names, conveniently obscure phrases, with the odd video about how to make a ‘honey jar’, $3000 how to burn a candle course, a Hoodoo get-together (usually the only Hoodoo present is in the name of the function which reminds me of that Katt Williams scene “Just cause you call him Darren doesn’t mean he belong to Darren” lmao), or a name paper tutorial sitting neatly behind those beautiful things. But it often just comes off as a ‘covering all bases’ tactic to keep the dollars in-house, so to speak. I’ll also wager, that those product placements serve to subtly suggest if you ain’t got it, then you aint got it. Thus the title of this post, lol.

Again, one can practice both, or many, but there is a specific picture of an archetype I’m trying to paint for you here, see the memes I painstakingly made for this article lmao.

Sidenote: I saw a video of someone giving a lady elekes in a barbershop in Atlanta. Y’all…he put them on the FLOOR (correction, barber mat) then tossed them on her forehead in unison. Nary an Orisha pot to be seen or heard from in that entire video. And as many folks found the video funny, all I could feel was sadness; for the lady, for her folks and for the Orisha. Because they were all made a mockery of in that instance and I’m sure that woman was hoping for real guidance in her spiritual path. Alas, no, something she likely thought was special, is circulating the internet in a flurry of anger and jokes— all for a few dollars the man gained from a scam.

Thirdly, we also see folks use priestly titles as a ‘gotcha’ moment when trying to assert themselves in other non-related traditions or traditions they don’t practice. That plainly obvious need to be at the top of the spiritual food chain. Them the kind that be quick to issue threats, so be careful round’ them parts.

If Priest A is speaking on practice-A, why then does Priest B from Practice-B interject on religious secrets/rituals/comings and goings in practice-A posing as an equivalent religious authority when Priest B has made it known they have no involvement is said system? Because they won’t let you live without acknowledging an irrelevant-to-the-practice-in-question title that holds absolutely no water in that system. An ego-bruiser, sure, for those who need it to uphold theirs. And I know this talking point is a touchy one, because folks paid good money to lord their spiritual enlightenment over the folks back home, but it has to be said. Part of respecting all the ATR/ADTRs is knowing when to defer to the folks who actually practice that tradition. Everyone is deserving of the same amount of respect they give others.

With Hoodoo’s huge resurgence in terms of popularity and interest, previously Orisha-centric accounts became Hoodoo school houses, almost like…magic? Again, excuse the pun. I’m on a roll. And while we know a lot of it was for the earning potential, I and many of my friends have all agreed that there were a few who skipped over Hoodoo thinking it didn’t have the pomp and circumstance of its contemporaries only to find out that it does. Then the fear of missing out, or also possibly a sense of shame set in over not knowing and the pivot into a Hoodoo-boots-down-the-house rebrand that followed was biblical. However, that priestly identifier is often used as a trigger word to subconsciously suggest credibility in non-relevant practices or as a means to justify extortionate pricing.

Then, naturally, came the invention of Orisha-Hoodoo, yes, that is something that currently exists, for the low low price of, still, thousands of dollars to initiate, and while technically something adjacent to that began in the 80s/90s, it’s not brand new, however it is extremely modern by most ADTR standards. And to be completely fair, I know a lot of the original intention behind that was to create a organized meeting/religious space of acceptance and integration of various practices based on the fact that the lineages are mixed, and they wanted to find common ground without the very real hindrance that language barriers (Spanish, Kreyol, Yoruba, Igbo, Portuguese, Gullah, etc) and xenophobia posed to furthering religio-spiritual education. So they took one for the team and racked up a few high-status coronations abroad and came back and sold a 10 for 1 deal to the community. Nuance aside, I also think a lil part of it is that folks love to give the girls something new to buy. However, with empathy fully seated, the temptation of acquiring a quilted initiation for a fraction of the sum of its parts + English, is a deal too hard to pass up for folks truly trying to make sense of their spiritual identity from folks they can relate to culturally. So, I get it, I really do. It’s hard out here and it is only getting hazier for anyone truly new to the fold.

But seriously, High John the Konkah iddeses? Nzambi mojos? Kathak Ghungroo Hoodoo anklets? The possibilities are truly endless from what I’ve seen.

You’re going to hear a lot of folks say not to mix practices. And that goes double for priests of said practices, they are to remain their own thing entirely. Usually, they leave it at that but there is a reason, it’s not to cramp anyone’s style, or make your life difficult, it’s baseline, about respect, and broadline a sure fire way you’re not offending your OWN ancestors, let alone primordial entities. Because many of us know that due to force proximity during the Transatlantic Slave Trade, many of our ancestors had to just deal the hand they’d been dealt, for others, it was a beef never settled, even in death. For example, one of my friends is crowned in Lucumi, and a Yaya in Palo, and her Palo spirits don’t even want to hear DIALOGUE about Ocha in the room where they reside. They don’t recognize it. I know another who has strong Christian ancestors who ain’t trying to hear nothing about no conjuring. So imagine mixing those practices, ancestors and divinities be damned? Yea…

It’s a detriment to the beauty of each individual practice, and the politics that have always existed within those groups and traditions. It also is funny business to mix a bunch of titles like a grab bag game show host.

An initiation, title or status is not the only signifier to distinguish spiritual legitimacy. Especially not as a lateral authority in conversation about other practices. There are many spiritualists throughout the history of the diaspora who couldn’t even assert themselves as believers of any ATR, under extreme religious scrutiny, let alone proclaim themselves priests of 30 traditions, but were known for their spiritual work and religious contributions all the same. Their reputations for getting shit done did far more than a title could.

Y’all be blessed,

Lolu