Southern Bramble: a Podcast of Crooked Ways Season 6, Episode 3: Professor Porterfield Is Putting Live Things In You
Feb 17, 2026
Professor Charles Porterfield, a Texas conjure doctor and root worker with decades of practice, teaching, and writing. He talks about hoodoo’s medicinal roots and the idea of live things placed in bodies. He explains goofer dust, rattlesnake grease, animating ingredients, conjuration ethics, and why some practitioners draw firm boundaries. Practical old‑school vs modern shortcuts are discussed.
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Conjuration vs. Commodity Hoodoo
- Porterfield distinguishes material ingredients from conjuration and warns modern hoodoo often skips genuine conjuring.
- He argues conjuration (agreements/oaths with spirits) makes materia work better and is not buyable in a jar.
Conjure The Spirit, Not Just The Herb
- Try animism: call and make agreements with plant and animal spirits instead of treating herbs as inert ingredients.
- Offer incense, offerings, or small vows to enlist those spirits in your working for stronger, more engaged results.
Hoodoo As Syncretic, Practical Tradition
- Hoodoo functions pragmatically: it takes whatever works from other traditions and integrates it.
- Porterfield compares hoodoo to jazz and gumbo as a syncretic, adaptive practice.
