MOJO

'Mojo' (pronounced or ) is a term commonly encountered in the African-American folk belief called hoodoo. A mojo is a type of magic charm, often of red flannel cloth and tied with a drawstring, containing botanical, zoological, and/or mineral curios, petition papers, and the like. It is typically worn under clothing.

Contents

Terminology and manner of use

The many types of mojo hands

References in popular music

References in entertainment

See also

External links

Terminology and manner of use

The word mojo traces its origins to Africa and entered the English language during the era of slavery in the USA. It has been widely known from the 19th century and early 20th century to the present. Other regional names for mojo bags, or for specific types of mojos, include 'gree-gree' (a Bantu word typically spelled 'gris-gris' by people in Louisiana because of the state's Francophone origins), 'mojo hand', 'conjure bag,' 'conjure hand,' 'toby,' 'jomo,' and 'nation sack.' In Haiti, the usual name for this sort of charm bag among those of African descent is a 'wanga,' 'oanga,' or 'wanger.'
Mojo hands are carried for their supernatural powers, such as protecting from evil or crossed conditions, drawing love, or bringing good luck or success in gambling and other money matters. A mojo bag can also be prepared for use in more nefarious spell-craft, such as to render a man impotent by ''tying his nature.'' The mojo bag usually contains a mix of herbs, powders, personal concerns such as a hair or fingernail clippings, sometimes a coin or dice, a lodestone, a petition paper or prayer, and other objects thought to promote supernatural action or protection. The tying of the bag is an important part of its making, as this keeps within it the spirit whose aid is being sought. Once thus fixed and prepared, the mojo is ''fed'' to keep it working, generally with a liquid, such as a perfume, an anointing oil, or in some cases a drop of urine.
References to mojos, nation sacks, and tobies are common in 20th century rural and urban blues songs by musicians such as Blind Willie McTell, Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, the Memphis Jug Band, Muddy Waters, and Lightnin' Hopkins. Some of the earlier blues tunes were covered by white rock & roll bands in the 1960s and beatboxers in the 2000s. The tunes thus reached audiences unfamiliar with the folk beliefs referred to in the lyrics of the songs.
Popular songs such as "I Got My Mojo Workin" by Muddy Waters use the reference of mojo to male virility, libido, or the penis itself. Waters refers directly to John the Conqueror root which is believed to have magical sexual powers. The root is a possible item in a mojo bag and in dried form is believed to resemble the testicles of a dark-skinned man. Likewise, Jim Morrison of The Doors named himself "Mr. Mojo Risin" — an anagram of "Jim Morrison" — in the song "L.A. Woman." This usage of the word was spoofed by Mike Myers in the 1999 film '', in which the title character has his mojo stolen, and loses his sexual confidence and prowess.
Some other slang meanings of mojo in common use include: charisma, ''karma'', and cocaine (as in "Gimme that mojo!").
On June 30, 2007 an article written by Sheryl Gay Stolberg appeared in the New York Times, that quoted Calvin C. Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University in Texas, when he supposedly stated: “When John Cornyn defects from the president, you know the president’s mojo is completely gone.” In this case Mojo means the political capital George W. Bush bragged about gaining after winning the 2004 election, which is becoming bankrupt by Republican defections from their president.
Despite these variant usages, the word mojo continues to be widely used to mean what it always has meant in the African-American community -- namely, a conjure hand.

The many types of mojo hands

Mojos are made for all sorts of purposes, many of them documented in blues music:

★ In "Spider's Nest Blues" by Hattie Hart and the Memphis Jug Band, Hart wants to go to New Orleans to get her toby (mojo) "fixed" because she is "having so much trouble" -- the mojo is protective and its power is wearing off, as witnessed by the "bad luck" she is having.

★ In "Mojo Hand" by Lightnin' Hopkins, the singer complains about a woman who is "always raising sand" (causing arguments and fights) and he wants to get a mojo hand so that the women will "come under [his] command" -- in other words, he wants to rule, control, and dominate a woman instead of being the target of her bickering...or at least influence her to be more subdued.

★ In "Louisiana Hoo Doo Blues" by Ma Rainey, the mojo is protective of an established love relationship and the singer is going to Lousiana to get a mojo hand because she's "gotta stop these women from taking my man."

★ In "Little Queen of Spades" by Robert Johnson, the woman has a mojo and uses it to gamble at cards and win, and the mojo explains her otherwise inexplicable winning streak: "everybody says she's got a mojo, 'cause she's been using that stuff".

★ In "Hoodoo Hoodoo" by Sonny Boy Williamson I, the mojo is used to break up a love triangle: "I'm goin' down into Louisiana and buy me another mojo hand, all because I got to break up my baby from lovin' this other man."

★ In "Mojo Boogie" by J. B. Lenoir, the narrator is given a jack (mojo) by his aunt but doesn't know how to use it: "I got one jack, sure is crazy / My aunt forgot to teach me, just how to operate it / I went to a night club, I was squeezing it tight / I believe that's the cause of them people's start to fight ." The mojo in this case causes people to quarrel.

★ In "Hoodoo Lady Blues" by Arthur Crudup, the mojo is again protective of a relationship by causing a break-up with an outside lover. The narrator asks, "please give me a hoodoo hand; I wanna hoodoo this woman of mine, I believe she's got another man." As with Lightnin' Hopkins, what bothers the man is not sexual, rather it is the woman's argumentativeness: "Now, she squabbles all night long, she won't let me sleep / Lord, I wonder what in the world this woman done done to me."

★ In several songs -- notably "Scarey Day Blues," "Talkin' to Myself," and "Ticket Agent Blues" all by Blind Willie McTell -- a woman has "got a mojo and she's tryin' to keep it hid." The hidden mojo is a metaphor for her hidden genitals and the male singer says that he's "got something to find that mojo with." The bag or purse-like mojo symbolizes female genitalia, and in this very sexualized sense, mojos are more often associated with women than with men. Preston Foster's "I've got my mojo working but it just don't work on you" was not intended as a song for Muddy Waters, and the first recording of that song was by a ''woman'', Ann Cole.

References in popular music

★ "Mojo Box" by Southern Culture on the Skids

★ "Aunt Caroline Dyer Blues" by The Memphis Jug Band (''mojo'')

★ "Automatic Mojo" by the Meat Puppets (on Huevos (album))

★ "Bad Mojo Stomp" by the Mojomatics (on A Sweet Mama Gonna Hoodoo Me)

★ "Blues Passion" by Steve Miller Band ("mojo")

★ "CAUTION (Do Not Stop On Tracks)" by The Grateful Dead ("mojo hand")

★ "Come in from the Cold" by Joni Mitchell ("are you just checking out your mojo")

★ "Come On In My Kitchen" by Robert Johnson (''nation sack'')

★ "Come Together" by The Beatles ("mojo filter")

★ "Compton" by Beenie Man and Guerilla Black ("you loose your mojo")

★ "Egg Raid on Mojo" by Beastie Boys

★ "Got My Mojo Working" by Muddy Waters (''mojo'') (and the original "Got My Mo-Jo Working" by Ann Cole (''mo-jo''))

★ "Got No Mojo" by The Naked Brother's Band

★ "Haitian divorce" by Steely Dan (''Semi-mojo'')

★ "I Got My Mojo Working" by The Zombies (''I got my mojo working'')

★ "I'm a Mojo Man" by Lonesome Sundown (Cornelius Green) (''mojo'')

★ "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man" by Muddy Waters (''mojo'')

★ "I Put a Spell on You" by Nina Simone (live version)(''So I went to Alabama and I got me some mojo dust, and I put a spell on you'')

★ "Jomo Blues" by Waymon "Sloppy" Henry (''jomo'')

★ "Keep Your Hand Off Of My Mojo" by Coot Grant and Kid Sox Wesley Wilson (''mojo'')

★ "L.A. Woman" by The Doors (explained above)

★ "Leroy" by Wheatus (''mojo man'')

★ "Little Queen of Spades" by Robert Johnson (''mojo'')

★ "Look at all those idiots" by Simpsons (Montgomery Burns and Waylon Smithers) (''mojo'')

★ "Louisiana Blues" by Muddy Waters (''mojo hand'')

★ "Louisiana Hoo Doo Blues" by Gertrude Ma Rainey (''mojo hand'')

★ "Lowdown Mojo Blues" by Blind Lemon Jefferson (''mojo'')

★ "Mojo" by Peeping Tom ("gotta get my mojo runnin'")

★ "The Mojo" a.k.a. "Mojo Boogie" by J. B. Lenoir (''mojo'')

★ "Mojo and Princess" by The Enders 7

★ "Mojoe Blues" by Charlie Lincoln (Charlie Hicks) (''mojo'')

★ "Mojo Hand" by Lightnin' Hopkins (''mojo hand'')

★ "Mojo Hand Blues" by Ida Cox (''mojo hand'')

★ "Mojo Pin" by Jeff Buckley

★ "Mojo - That's My School" by The Kitty Chasers

★ "Number one spot" by Ludacris ("and I never lost my mojo")

★ "Powerless" by Nelly Furtado (''Broken teeth, broken jaw, broken mojo'')

★ "Pray for Mojo" by Mustard Plug (''mojo'')

★ "Ramble on Rose" by Grateful Dead ("just like mojo hand")

★ "Scary Day Blues" by Blind Willie McTell (''mojo'')

★ "Secret Mojo Blues" by Brownie McGhee (''mojo'')

★ "She broke my Mojo" by B.A. (Bat) Taylor (''She broke my Mojo'')

★ "She Drives Me Wild" by Michael Jackson (''mojo in her pocket'')

★ "Spider's Nest Blues" by Hattie Hart and The Memphis Jug Band (''toby'')

★ "Tell Me Woman Blues" by Texas Alexander (''mojo'')

★ "Thee Most Exalted Potentate Of Love" by The Cramps (''I got a mojo hand that fits like a glove'')

★ "Ticket Agent Blues" by Blind Willie McTell (''mojo'')

★ "Voodoo" by Michael Stanley Band (''I can hear your mojo screaming in my ear.'')

References in entertainment

In the English translation of the video game ''Chrono Cross'', Mojo is the name of a human-size sentient voodoo doll.
Another Video game called 'Earth worm jim' related a mojo with a little dancing elvis.
MOJO, is a cable channel that features programming geared towards men. Most of the programming revolves around sports, music and drinking alcohol.
MOJO is the name of the lead guitarist for the modern Rock band Curbside Life.
Mojo is the name of Sam Witwicky's dog in the Transformers movie.
Mojo-Jojo is the Mutant Monkey Experiment in the Popular, Powerpuff Girls Cartoon.
Mojo is apparently what powers Austin Powers' sex drive, in the "Austin Powers" movies.
Mojo is a hero unit in the Blizzard Entertainment RTS StarCraft.

See also

★ John the Conqueror, a root used in mojo bags

★ Rabbit's Foot, a zoological curio used in mojo bags

★ List of English words of African origin

External links

★ ''Hoodoo in Theory and Practice'' by cat yronwode: http://www.luckymojo.com/hoodoo.html

★ ''Blues Lyrics and Hoodoo'' by cat yronwode: http://luckymojo.com/blues.html

★ ''Since I met you Baby'' by : http://www.myspace.com/mojosound