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A Beginner's Guide to Lowcountry Voodoo: Tales, Spells and Boo Hags (excerpt) The Lowcountry is a sultry, seductive place known for plough mud and palmettos, graceful snowy egrets and huge herons, old fishing trawlers and extraordinarily expensive yachts, remote sea islands filled with tiny beach cottages and four-story mansions, low-lying marsh and miles of wetlands, fantastic sunsets and mosquitoes as big as your thumbnail, fascinating legends and peculiar folklore…and voodoo. No book on Lowcountry voodoo, in my opinion, would be complete without stories that emerge from this magic place, stories about creepy boo hags, witch doctors, haints, and evil plateyes. These are some of my favorite tales, which I learned while growing up in the Lowcountry and while writing this book. These include: The Boo Hag Bride and Boo Hags 101 Hound of Goshen and About Plateyes Why You Shouldn’t Mess with Voodoo and The Big, Bad Bugaloo Haints in the Keyhole House and Beware of Haints Dr. Buzzard, the Most Famous Root Doctor and Why Root Doctors Wear Shades Doctor to the Dead and Do You Believe? The Apothecary’s Folly and About Apothecaries and Mermaid or Hoax? Kingdom of Oyontunji: Voodoo Village
Discover the difference between Lowcountry voodoo or hoodoo and “hardcore” voodoo that is practiced in places like Haiti and New Orleans. Is this a religion or black magic or something else entirely? Learn who the Gullah are, what they believe in, and how they have shaped Lowcountry history and folklore. Find out how to cast special spells, perform voodoo rituals, and much more.
Author’s Note: I grew up listening to my great aunts tell stories about hoodoo, but they called it lowcountry voodoo and took it quite seriously. Whenever I got to asking too many questions, I was told, “Hush, child. You’ll stir up the evil spirits.” I never put much stock in any of that stuff until I began researching this book. The more I learned, the more reverent I became. I want to be clear that the purpose of this book is not to poke fun at the subject matter nor take it too seriously for I am not an expert on the subject. That is why the book is subtitled: A Beginner’s Guide to Tales, Spells and Boo Hags. This book is exactly what it says it is. It is meant for anyone who wants to learn more about how lowcountry voodoo or hoodoo came to exist, if it is still practiced, and some remarkable tales about witch doctors, spells, bugaloos, boo hags, haints, plateyes, and more. If you decide to attempt any of the spells or charms or rituals discussed herein, be advised that you are doing so at your own risk!
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