MJJG: MJ as Hoodoo Holybook, and other Hoodoo

[Smoke Teff]

I have been silent on the plist for some time, but am very happy to see
people are engaging with *Mumbo Jumbo*. I may try to catch up. Regardless,
I would be remiss if I did not share some of what brought me to that novel
in the first place.

I had the unique good luck of being taught by an amazing writer and
literary Hoodooman, Arthur Flowers. I think he might want me to emphasize *MJ
*as an example of and self-conscious reflection on Hoodoo's (often covert)
influence in American culture, plus its radical power to elevate
consciousness, maybe even save the species.

Arthur has several novels centrally about hoodoo, and he recently
published *The
Hoodoo Book of Flowers: The Great Black Book of Generations, *at once a
poetic and systematic exploration of his Hoodoo cosmogeny. He is not just a
spokesman for Hoodoo but an idiosyncratic prophet in his own right. I
highly recommend it.

He would occasionally teach a class on Hoodoo literature. Some titles I
recall (in addition to *MJ*) in case anyone's interested: *Corregidora
*and *The
Healing *by Gayl Jones, *Texaco *by Patrick Chamoiseau, *Mama Day *by
Gloria Naylor.