Sticks, Stones, Roots & Bones

This is a good beginning book. One of the things I really enjoyed about this book is that Stephanie Rose Bird is not trying to be your guru or the definitive voice of Hoodoo. The author is not trying to sell you products or keep you in the dark just enough to keep you on the fish hook. She give it to you how she practices with straight forward mojos, powders, and baths recipes with natural easy to find ingredients. A lot of books on the subject rely on common names only, which although culturally correct, obscure everyday herbs and roots that are widely available. Bird does not do that. She calls a rose a rose and wants to share information. Throughout, this book remains accessible.This book is most definitely a mish mash of Hoodoo with Yoruba, Orisha, and Ifa leanings but Hoodoo in actual practice, not just theory, is also a melange of cultures and spiritual practice. Still growing and ever changing. It's not surprising that this book reflects that. It also gives some basic cultural context on African spiritual thought around, which I find greatly lacking in many books about Hoodoo. I do wish there was a harder delineation between the different practices in this book so as not to confuse people about what comes from where.For a great historical well researched historical context for Hoodoo from actual sources look up the book "Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition". It's not a spell book but it's an absolute must for information about hoodoo before it was mass marketed.

I discovered this book from a hoodrat from Springs. I’m glad I have this book because it’s different. It teaches you to do things organically. As opposed to purchasing expensive and overpriced candles from Third party vendors. This, saving you money in the long run.

I loved this book its a beginners book on Hoodoo. I especially loved the part on Hoodoo child, it offered wonderful rituals for the pregnant woman while I am an advanced Hoodoo root worker, this book is a wonderful book to pass on to my 3 daughters. being a life long root worker and one who is a current student of Cat Yronwode. I found this book to be a wonderful addition to the Hoodoo experience. some people have complained the book was fluff, quite frankly if they read the book without prejudice they would certainly find things that work. now there are books with more in depth information like Robert Laremy and Cathrine Yronwode for the more advanced root worker. and 5000 spells by Judika Illes the mother of all spell books. to try to dismiss Stephanie book as fluff indicates prejudice by those who seek instant magic. if they knew anything about "real" magic its a tool to enhance and make the living experience that much more richer. this type of magic by Stephanie invite the reader to tap into their inner Hoodoo spirit and to enjoy the experience of intimate Hoodoo working. I know my daughter will enjoy this book as much as I have, it will surly spark their curiosity and creativity on a long held cultural tradition of Hoodoo practiced by our ancient ancestors and their descendants today. this book invites you to tap into latent cultural traditions.

An awesome buy!!!!!! I just love the author!!!! You're in for a treat

Book is very informative and entertaining!

Let me start off by saying that the reason I liked this book is because Bird does was a lot of authors refused to do, which was raised the bar. Most writers about Hoodoo had nothing to do with the African American community. They simply copied down formulas and recipes mostly based upon fiction and said it was Hoodoo. Most authors like Robert Pelton had no understanding of the culture that produced the tradition and as she stated, as result, these authors make the ridiculous claim that the tradition came from Europe. So, I like this book first and foremost because she tries to set the record straight but tying it back to its African roots. She has researched the subject in order to get enough understanding to make practical use of various myths that existed apparently in her household. What she has done, which a lot of people don't seem to understand is explain and define her own personal hoodoo.Oh yeah, by the way, hoodoo in African American speech is used to define a system, tradition and even one's personal spiritual practice. This is why the term is used as a noun, pronoun and adjective. So, to say that this is not hoodoo I think is incorrect, it is Bird's Hoodoo, which is what the book should have been called. Bird's Hoodoo, makes use of multicultural references and can be applied in various ways such as for weddings, blessings, funerals, etc.Now, what I didn't like about this book is that in its attempts to appeal to a broader reading public (typical of Llewellyn fluffy magickal books-can't you hear them singing Kumbaya). This book fails to define African American spirituality and religious thinking. The reason is because once this is defined, there are certain things that have to be excused because it would not be appealing to the multicultural audience. Simply put there are some things that African Americans will not agree with or accept no matter what the public's opinion is and Bird understands this.So as a substitute, this is why in my opinion the book lacks traditional hoodoo substance and is peppered with astrology and influences from other religion. For instance, the old practitioners that I have met in Detroit, Chicago and Northwest Florida (some of which were from Detroit) only looked to the sky to see when the moon was waxing or waning. They never dealt with astrology because the tradition as I heard someone explain it to me is a poor man practice. Astrology was considered a form of "high magick" mainly because only those that had money could buy the resources to use it. Another example is that hoodoo practitioners of old, never really used parchment paper, because it was too expensive, so they used brown paper bag, which resembled parchment paper (there's another reason for using this as well). Make sense?So, I give Bird credit for trying and would still recommend this book for those interested in more than just spellbooks, because it at least gives one something to think about. If you are looking for a book on real hoodoo that lists all of the details and all that. It hasn't been written and most likely never will because you can't properly explain an intuitive practice. That's like trying to explain how to get the Holy Ghost...yeah, WHAT? So, understand, those pages exist deep within the spirit, the akahsa memories or whatever you want to call it. Books are supposed to be guides but eventually one has to put the book down and learn from within.Hope this helps.

I love this book so far. I really wish I could dive more into it however, I have some shadow work to still deal with otherwise, I be all over everything inside. what stands out the most to me is do for work and you get results. Honor your ancestors; your herstory and their stories.