"To Catch a Spirit...” Hauntings, A Theory & Practice of Hoodoo with Phoebe Hildegard Finch & Yona Glickman

"To catch a spirit, or to protect your spirit against catching, or to release your caught spirit – this is the complete theory and practice of hoodoo." -Harry Middleton Hyatt: Hoodoo, Conjuration, Witchcraft & Rootwork

Within Hoodoo, Southern Conjure, and other practices we interact and bond with many spirits, and just like in our daily lives some of these entities and interactions can be unwanted or troublesome. The skilled conjurer can intervene in several ways when hauntings occur with the living. 

This class delves into a variety of tools, workings, and tricks that have been handed down through the tradition of hoodoo. These include protective amulets, ritual cleansings, and more complex approaches such as banishing, compelling or even befriending haunting spirits.

Participants will learn traditional knowledge about a variety of adversarial spirits including:

• The infamous Boo Hags, who slip out of their skins to torment the living
• Haints, whose foreboding presence causes obstruction, bad luck and disease
• The notorious Witches, which in the Hoodoo context refers to malefic magical workers who enslave and chain souls to do their bidding.

In addition to our focus on cultural and historical context we provide several case studies from our experience with clients as public conjure workers.

About the Presenters:

Phoebe Hildegard Finch is a traditionally trained conjurer, card reader, and writer.  Originally brought to earth after a series of baleful magical experiments, she currently resides in Denton, Texas as the live-in apprentice of Professor Charles Porterfield. A lifelong herbalist, her work with plants is the loamy heart of her craft, anchoring the arcane in the physical.

Yona Glickman is a conjureman, cartomancer and teacher of Hoodoo & rootwork. Born in a family deeply rooted in spirituality and folk magic allowed him to nurture his natural “gift” & relationship with the spirit realm. Itis the diversity in his mentorship as well as his personal life experiences that gives him a well-rounded and practical perspective to his spiritual workings. As an approachable,“every day man” he prides himself on using the old time tradition of Hoodoo to find solutions for modern day problems. He is highly skilled and well-versed in candle rituals, biblical magic, herbs, curios and creating handcrafted spiritual products. As One ofthe legacy students of Professor Charles Porterfield, promoting strength in others and keeping the tradition alive is his mission.

THIS CLASS IS ONLINE ONLY! If you are unable to make the live  streaming of this class, don't worry - the recording will be available for you. The class link will be emailed to you in your registration confirmation. The class recording link will be emailed to you within 3-5 business days of the conclusion of the Festival.

By purchasing access to this event you agree to the following Non Disclosure:

This Agreement is between The Salem Witchcraft & Folklore Festival (also know as Salem Witch Fest)(“OWNER”); and the Purchaser (“RECIPIENT”). WHEREAS, OWNER has developed through substantial effort, research, time, and expense certain inventions, design concepts, methodologies, technical know-how, copyrightable material and trade secrets directed and related to this class.  (“INFORMATION”); WHEREAS, OWNER desires to disclose the INFORMATION on a confidential basis to RECIPIENT.  The OWNER wishes to maintain the confidentiality of the INFORMATION and the protection of OWNER'S intellectual property rights. NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the   mutual promises, covenants, and conditions contained herein, the sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, the parties agree as follows: I. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION A. OWNER agrees to disclose INFORMATION to RECIPIENT for the purposes of an online class. B. RECIPIENT agrees to receive such INFORMATION and to refrain from copying, disclosing, using, selling, or offering for sale any and all of said INFORMATION. RECIPIENT agrees to keep confidential and refrain from disclosing any and all of the INFORMATION, and to take all necessary and reasonable steps to prevent unauthorized disclosure or use of any and all of the INFORMATION.  Failure to uphold this NDA may result in legal action.