Divinity Atlas

Sacred Correspondences
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A Flannel Bag Coded by Color, Fed Like a Living Thing

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A Flannel Bag Coded by Color, Fed Like a Living Thing

A mojo hand is built inside a flannel bag whose color is chosen to match its purpose, red for love work, green for money, among a broader folk color coding system, and packed with roots, High John the Conqueror root being a well known example, herbs, minerals such as lodestone, and curios matched to the specific working, then tied shut with a set number of knots.

Who makes it, and who may touch it after

A rootworker constructs a mojo hand, either for a client or for their own use, a craft passed down through apprenticeship and oral tradition rather than any formal ordination. Widespread practitioner custom holds that a mojo hand must be fed periodically, whiskey or a dressing oil applied to keep it working, and that it should not be touched by anyone other than its owner or seen by outsiders, handling by another person is commonly said to weaken or kill its power, a genuine and consistently reported handling rule rather than an occasional preference.

Retirement

When a working concludes or the bag wears out, disposal follows the logic of the original working, buried, burned, or left at a crossroads depending on what the mojo hand was made to do, rather than one universal method applying to every bag regardless of its purpose.

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