rootwork
Rootwork is a term from African American folk spiritual tradition referring to hoodoo — a system of folk magic and spiritual practice rooted in African, European, and Native American traditions, primarily practised in the American South.
Definitions
Rootwork is a term from African American folk spiritual tradition referring to hoodoo — a system of folk magic and spiritual practice rooted in African, European, and Native American traditions, primarily practised in the American South. Rootwork involves the use of roots, herbs, minerals, and other natural materials to create charms, remedies, and magical workings for purposes ranging from healing and protection to love, luck, and harm. The term is used respectfully within tradition communities and academically by researchers of African American religious and folk culture.
Her grandmother had practised rootwork her whole life, keeping bundles of roots and herbs in a cabinet in the back room.
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(US, dialect) hoodoo.
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Semantically related
- rootworker79%
(US, dialect) A practitioner of rootwork, or hoodoo.
- hoodoo59%
(uncountable) A set of spiritual practices and traditions created and concealed from slave-owners by enslaved Africans in North America, based on traditional African beliefs.
- rootch56%
(US, informal, especially, Pennsylvania) To root or rummage around (in search of something).
- rooted53%
Having roots, or a certain type of roots.