THE PSALMS

Another European magickal tradition adopted into Hoodoo was the use of the Biblical Psalms as spells or conjurations in their own right. This was largely (but not entirely) thanks to the publication of a text called Secrets of the Psalms: A Fragment of the Practical Kabala by Godfrey Selig. Selig’s book described the Kabalistic philosophy that the Psalms (especially those attributed to King David) contain hidden “seed syllables” that will produce magickal affects if pronounced aloud.

The Book of Psalms consists of 150 psalms, each of which constitutes a religious song, though one or two are atypically long and may constitute a set of related chants. When the Bible was divided into chapters, each Psalm was assigned its own chapter.

The use of Psalms in Hoodoo magick is much like the conjurations of the Solomonic tradition. The magickal effect produced by the scripture is directly related to the subject-matter of the passage. For instance, if one wants to bring fortune to his home, one might recite Psalm 61 which says:

Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Thy tabernacle forever, I will trust in the covert of Thy wings.

If one has need to travel by night, one might invoke protection via Psalm 121 which says:

I will look up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

For headaches or backaches, one can recite Psalm 3 (traditionally used in exorcism) which contains the line:

Thou, o Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter of my head.

In this manner, the Psalms have numerous uses- such as release from prison, business success, safe childbirth, success in court, defeat of enemies, general protection from evil and more.

I cannot stress enough how important psalm magick is to Voodoo Hoodoo practice. Do not gloss over this section! Note that this book comes with the entire Book of Psalms as a separate ebook on the companion CD for your reference so you can look up the specific psalm for yourself. That is how important the psalms are in Hoodoo…you can’t be a true conjuror if you don’t incorporate the saints and the psalms in your practice!

Here is a partial list of some of the psalms and their special purposes:

64 - Accidents, To avoid ...

64 - Enemies, Protection from ...

29 - Demons, To exorcise ... (Verse 1).

7 - Hex, - To break ... (Verse 1-10).

94 - Justice, for ... to triumph.

65 - Luck - For ... in all of one's affairs.

111 - Love, - To attract ... (Verse 4).

119 - Money, - To attract ... (Verse 17-24).

129 - Oppression - Escape from...

30 - Sickness, - Recovery from ... (Verse 11-12).

29 - Storm, for protection from ... (Verse 3-4).

132    -    Worldly    Goods,    -    To    acquire    ...    (Verse    12-18).