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Watch the literal Black Girl Magic of Hoodoo Women in Down in the Valley's latest episode (exclusive)
In an exclusive clip shared with PRIDE.com, audiences see how "a Hoodoo practitioner's healing hands can help folks through some of life's most difficult circumstances."
The latest episode of Down in the Valley is taking Black Girl Magic to a whole new level.
The docuseries hosted by by Nicco Annan is continuing its dive into the rich and complex culture of the Deep South in its fifth installment, "Hoodoo Women." The episode takes the audience on a journey of spiritual exploration by examining a historic tradition of Black American communities with deep African ties.
Created by enslaved African Americans in the southern United States, Hoodoo is a spiritual practice that incorporates traditional African rituals with Indigenous botanical knowledge and some Muslim teachings. The name comes from the Ewe language word "Hudu," meaning "spirit work," which involves several forms of divination such as astrology, aurgury, cartomancy, and cleromacy.
Down in the Valley's upcoming episode will showcase the women who practice the tradition in the present day, following devotees of the infamous Beale Street “Red Light” district as they use Hoodoo for their desires of healing, protection, and more.
In one exclusive clip shared with PRIDE.com, audiences see how "a Hoodoo practitioner's healing hands can help folks through some of life's most difficult circumstances by getting to the root of the suffering and conjuring those negative emotions up and out," as Annan narrates.
The scene shows one practitioner, Lisa Brown-Jones, hosting a "Ritual of Mourning" for a woman who tragically lost her son in a shooting. Brown-Jones explains that the purpose of the tradition is to "conjure tears" so that grief can leave the body.
"Sometimes, when you have such a tragic loss of a child, actually spirits die on the inside and become a zombie, because your heart breaks into millions of pieces. This cleansing allows her to release this burden," she says in the clip. "Traditionally in Hoodoo, we call this a 'wailing event,' and they must shed tears."
Watch the full clip from "Hoodoo Women" below. The newest episode of Down in the Valley releases exclusively to Starz Friday.
Ryan is a reporter at The Advocate, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She first became a published author at the age of 15 with her YA novel "Someone Else's Stars," and is now a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics. In her free time, Ryan likes watching New York Rangers hockey, listening to the Beach Boys, and practicing witchcraft.
Ryan is a reporter at The Advocate, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She first became a published author at the age of 15 with her YA novel "Someone Else's Stars," and is now a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics. In her free time, Ryan likes watching New York Rangers hockey, listening to the Beach Boys, and practicing witchcraft.
