Conjuring the Calabash

Mawiyah Kai EL-Jamah Bomani is an award-winning writer, educator, and spirit woman. Mawiyah is an eighth-generation Witch, Egun Medium, and Priestess of OYA in the Yoruba system of spirituality. She is also editor in chief of the culture and Afrikan Traditional Spirituality e-zine, Oya N'Soro. Mawiyah is the host of FishHeadsinRedGravy, a podcast dedicated to celebrating marginalized people of the esoteric/occult world. Her writings have appeared in numerous magazines, including The Crab Orchard Review, Dark Eros, and Catch the Fire. She has written several plays, including Spring Chickens, which won her the Southern Black Theatre Festival's 2012-2013 Playwright of the Year Award. She is also the Critical Mass 8 Literary Award winner and a KAT Artist Residency recipient. Mawiyah currently lives, writes, and conducts Orisa rituals, spiritual consultations, workshops, house cleansings, and divinations in both northern and southern Louisiana. Visit her at www.MawiyahKaiELJamahBomani.com. ~

Contents

Foreword xv

Introduction 1

One: Crescent City Hoodoo 7

Two: Tools of the Trade 21

Three: Sexual Evolutions 43

Four: Love Me or Leave Me Alone 75

Five: Cold Hard Cash 101

Six: Goofer Dust in Your Eye 135

Seven: Mother Earth Sustains Me 159

Eight: Just for the Men 181

Nine: Goddess Bless the Child 199

Ten: Crossing Over 217

Eleven: Lagniappe 239

Conclusion 257

Acknowledgments 261

Bibliography 263