Finding the Sweet Spot Between Fast and Slow: On the History and Praxis of Hoodoo | Professor Charles Porterfield

This week we are coming in with a bonus episode featuring the infamous, educational, and hilarious Professor Charles Porterfield!  We chat about the history of hoodoo and conjure, with our discussion emphasizing the black origins of the practice and giving an effort to showcase the importance of the study of liberation politics and revolutionary history as an ethos foundation within this sorcerous craft. What makes Hoodoo a practice distinguishably different from African Traditional Religions? How does conjure function as a sorcerous technique aimed at liberating the oppressed? What is the difference between pure and clean? Why is Hoodoo explicitly North American, and, how did the political landscape of the United States influence the addition of Indigenous, Jewish, and other ethnic minority’s praxis in a tradition that finds its roots in Africa? All this and more on today’s episode of SaturnVox.

But wait, there’s more! Check out the Patreon exclusive episode to hear more of my conversation with the good professor, as we transition from history into praxis, leaning more into a discussion on various uses and techniques for doing both magic and divination with playing cards!

If you enjoy this episode and the witty way the Professor imparts his wisdom, I encourage you to check out the class he is teaching at the Salem Witchcraft and Folklore Festival. This conference is filled with a plethora of inspiring educators, many of whom have been on the podcast, and I can’t express enough how much my own magic has grown in both personal praxis and community building through the experiences I have had at festivals past. 

To find more on Professor Porterfield, you can check out his instagram @prof.porterfield, or head on over to his website, where you can purchase one of his many books or get yourself a divination reading. Also, don’t forget to check out his SWFF class, Lilith & Chava: A Jewish Examination of the "Mother of Witchcraft"!

Click Here to peek at the presenters of the Salem Witchcraft and Folklore Festival, occurring between August 3 and August 6th 2023.  

To find more on SaturnVox, check out their instagram and twitter @saturnvox, or, visit their website saturnvox.com, or, hop on to the Patreon at www.patreon.com/saturnvox where you can further support the show, listen to extended episode content, and join in on our community discord server. 

Original music for the podcast performed by Jules M. Dooley, traditional astrologer and sound artist. Follow his experiments with astrology + sound + ai visuals on IG: @glitches_in_the_night_sky

Fallen Angel graphic drawn by the  incandescent tattooer and illustrator @floodtower