How You Doin’?
Cyrée Jarelle Johnson
rootworker. diviner. clinical community herbalist. poet.
Book || Playing card Divination: An Ancestral Introduction
A Hoodoo-Centric Guide to Playing Card Cartomancy
Your Enemies Believe They Can Predict the Future by Cyrée Jarelle Johnson
Speculative Origins + Invitations into Playing Card Divination
Read on SubstackFrom Aunt Caroline Dye to Memphis Minnie, playing card divination is among the most enduring spiritual practices among Black Americans.
Yet there are few guides to learning the practice. Those that exist were written by those outside the tradition, contain information of poor quality and, most importantly, are not by playing card diviners.
Playing Card Divination: An Ancestral Introduction is a guide to the fifty-four cards through a Hoodoo lens. Written by a rootworker and diviner with twenty-five years of experience, the book is a practical, tactile starting place for those learning to read playing cards for themselves and others.
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners was a beautiful reintroduction to divination in Hoodoo for many Black Americans. It coincided with the growth of cultural interest in African Traditional Religions and African Diasporic Religions, from #HoodooTok and #BlackWitchtok, to recent books about Hoodoo and conjure that have been able to jump from communities of practice to mainstream success.
Playing card divination is a source of empowerment and protection in a world that doesn’t value Black life or Black spirits. Learning to read playing cards can offer connection to our ancestors, protection in an unjust world, clarity of mind, and a personal connection to Black religious lineages.
Playing Card Divination: An Ancestral Introduction seeks to deepen the understanding of card reading within Hoodoo for those new to the tradition, and to those looking to expand their skills as a diviner. With a mix of history, card meanings, and actionable tactics for telling the future, readers can expect to come away with a grasp of how to read the cards effectively.
Playing Card Divination: An Ancestral Introduction is a companion to those learning to read playing cards that makes information simple and accessible without sacrificing praxis and accuracy.
Nervines: Resource Your Intuition in These Dangerous Times—A 36 page full-color introduction to the world of nervine herbs through the lens of earth solidarity.
Read an Excerpt here: https://blackmedicineblackmagic.substack.com/p/resource-your-intuition-in-these
Made with elderberry, honey, horehound, cinnamon, and ginger, this syrup is shelf stable due to the helpful inclusion of elderflower tincture.
In this elegant tarot deck and guidebook, Tayannah Lee McQuillar brings the rich and complex heritage of the American Rootwork tradition to life in vivid detail. The Hoodoo Tarot showcases a divination system that is rooted in the African and Indigenous American experience and effortlessly intertwines it with the esoteric and botanical knowledge of Hoodoo. For each card in the Major and Minor Arcana, McQuillar offers a thorough analysis that draws from both Tarot and Hoodoo tradition. In addition, she imparts her knowledge of associated magical plants, relevant scriptural quotations, and spiritual recommendations based on the card’s meaning. With 78 full-color cards that portray legendary rootworkers along with essential Hoodoo archetypes and symbols, the full-color paintings by magical-realist artist Katelan Foisy offer an enchanting interpretation of classic Tarot imagery to complete this wonderful and educating set. Medium Discount title.
Made with mugwort, solomon seal oil, and frankincense oil, this balm may soothe achy muscles and joints.
Our dandelion root and leaf tincture.
2oZ • Handmade in New York
Dandelion supports the lymphatic system, a part of our immune system that keeps us in balance and helps our natural defenses against infection. It’s also supportive of healthy digestion through its relationship with bile, and it’s work to protect the liver.
Dandelion root
Dandelion leaf
⚘ HOW TO USE: Take 1.25 ml with included measuring dropper up to 3 times daily
A potentially aphrodisiac tincture brewed with uh, exciting damiana, chilled-out lemon balm, and ginger.
When we say 90s RnB we mean singers wearing leather in the desert, guys with platinum hair jumping from foot to foot.
Consider it an invitation to honesty when someone says “tell me what you want.”
New on the blog
Hoodoo heritage month
New to Hoodoo cartomancy and don’t know where to start? Here are the card meanings I suggest for all fifty-four playing cards as a professional card reader!
Intuitive strategies for surviving capitalism are the central focus of my work.
Most of the Hoodoo, cartomancy, tarot, intuition, and herbalism courses I’ve found are somehow completely divorced from the reality of the moment. Many readers are too.
My clients and students are people of integrity, they’re people who strive to live their highest values.
They also have one more thing in common, more often than not:
They’re burnt the fuck OUT!
Turns out most spiritual shops and spiritual spaces more generally are unwelcoming to queer and trans people. And that’s when they’re not openly hostile to us.
Jumpstart your intuitive ancestral practice with spiritual supplies and guidance from heritage practitioners. Includes a paperback copy of Playing Card Divination: An Ancestral Introduction and the How We Be Free deck, book, and dice set.