High John The Conqueror is an African American folk hero of Hoodoo tradition, told in some versions as an enslaved African prince who used cunning and wit rather than force to outwit his enslavers and was never truly subdued in spirit. His name is carried by the John the Conqueror root, a real root used in Hoodoo conjure work for luck, protection, love and personal power, most extensively documented by Zora Neale Hurston's fieldwork and Harry Middleton Hyatt's multi volume interviews with practitioners across the American South.
Facts
Attestation
HistoricityLegendary: known from narrative tradition, not the historical record 1 A folk hero of oral tradition rather than a documented historical individual; his name is also carried by a real root used in Hoodoo conjure practice. Connections
Related To
Source Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring TraditionYvonne P. Chireau
Source Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-RootworkHarry Middleton Hyatt
Sources
1. Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition
Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork
Harry Middleton Hyatt, Alma Egan Hyatt Foundation, Hannibal, Missouri, 1970
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