rootwork
Southern spiritual practice
Rootwork is a system of folk magic and spiritual practice rooted in African American traditions, particularly in the Southern United States.
Practitioners use herbs, roots, and ritual objects to heal, protect, or harm—working with spiritual forces to influence outcomes.
The term overlaps with hoodoo and conjure: She went to a rootworker to break the curse.
Unlike Voodoo, rootwork emphasizes practical magic over organized religion.
Summon by supernatural means
- mojoMystical personal power
- hoodooFolk magic tradition
- voodooFolk magic, often Caribbean
- jujuMagical West African charm
hex · spell · charm · curse · crossing · uncrossing · hotfoot · sweetening
Curative treatment or fix
- cureTreatment that heals
- healingRestoration of health
- purificationRemoval of contaminants
- uncrossingSeparating what overlapped
cleansing · restoration · wellness · herbalism · treatment · prescriptions · baths · protection
Those from whom one descends
- spiritsLiquor or apparitions
- crossroadsMeeting of routes
- graveyardPlot for interring the dead
- petitionsFormal requests for action
offerings · candles · oils · powders · baths · washes · psalms · scripture
conjure
Summon by supernatural means
juju · hex · spell · charm · curse · crossing · uncrossing · hotfoot · sweetening · binding
remedy
Curative treatment or fix
- cureTreatment that heals
- healingRestoration of health
- purificationRemoval of contaminants
uncrossing · cleansing · restoration · wellness · herbalism · treatment · prescriptions · baths · protection · warding
ancestors
Those from whom one descends
- spiritsLiquor or apparitions
- crossroadsMeeting of routes
- graveyardPlot for interring the dead
petitions · offerings · candles · oils · powders · baths · washes · psalms · scripture · saints
heritage
Inherited cultural legacy
- traditionCustom passed through generations
- lineageDescent from progenitors
- eldersSenior community members
folkways · Southern · Gullah · passed · down · cultural · legacy · wisdom · knowledge · practitioners
herbs
Plants for seasoning
- curiosRare collectible objects
- lodestoneNaturally magnetic mineral
- angelicaAromatic plant, often candied
bloodroot · galangal · sarsaparilla · sassafras · mandrake · ginseng · asafoetida · vandal
- witchcraftwitch, spell, spellwork, witches, spells
- folk magicspell, spells, hex, hexes, curse
- Louisiana Folklorevoodoo, hoodoo, traiteur, Evangeline, voodoo queen
- magical practiceswitchcraft, sorcery, folk magic, ceremonial magic, hoodoo
- African diasporaSanteria, Vodou, orisha, orishas, ancestor veneration
- Gullah GeecheeGullah, St. Helena Island, Hilton Head, Beaufort, sweetgrass
rootworksecular humanism
Nonreligious ethical philosophy
atheism · Wicca · druidry · Shinto · ceremonial magic
rootworkmaterialism
Prioritizing goods over spirit
rationalism · empiricism · scientific method · evidence-based medicine · evidence-based practice
root, roots, rooted, rooting, rootless, rootlet, uproot, uprooted, uprooting