Black cat bone

A black cat bone is a type of lucky charm used in the African American magical tradition of hoodoo. It is thought to ensure a variety of positive effects, such as invisibility, good luck, protection from malevolent magic, rebirth after death, and romantic success. [cite book | title = Conjure In African American Society | publisher = Louisiana State University Press | month = December | year = 2005 | last = Anderson | first = Jeffrey E. | isbn = 0807130923]

"...Got a black cat bone
got a mojo too,
I got John the Conqueror root,
I'm gonna mess with you...":—"Hootchie Cootchie Man," Muddy Waters"

The bone, anointed with Van Van oil, may be carried as a component of a mojo bag;cite web | url = http://www.luckymojo.com/blackcat.html | title= Black Cats | accessdate = 2008-07-04 | last = Yronwode | first = Catherine | work= Hoodoo in Theory and Practice] alternatively, without the coating of oil, it is held in the charm-user's mouth.cite book | title = Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro | publisher = Kessinger Publishing, LLC | month = January | year = 2003 | last = Newbell Niles PH. D. Puckett | isbn = 0766127788]

Origins

The black cat has been a symbol of both good and ill luck in near-worldwide folklore accounts. Magical traditions involving black cat "bones", specifically, have been found in German-Canadian practice as well as in hoodoo; these German-Canadian magic-makers were not previously in contact with hoodooists, suggesting a European origin to the charm.

The use of the black cat bone to ensure invisibility, specifically as an aid to would-be criminals, is comparable to the European Hand of Glory.cite book | title = Spiritual Merchants: Religion, Magic, and Commerce | publisher = The University of Tennessee Press | month = April | year = 2001 | last = Long | first = Carolyn Morrow | isbn = 1572331100]

Differences in method

After a black cat is caught, it is almost universally boiled alive in a pot of water at midnight, so that its bones may be more easily looked over by the hoodooist. One particular bone, special to each individual cat, contains all the magical efficacy alone. A variety of rituals and methods are used to determine which bone is the right one, and preparation before the cat's slaughter can vary according to tradition.

One method of obtaining a black cat bone, described in Zora Neale Hurston's "Mules and Men", involves a period of fasting before the actual catching of the animal. After the standard boiling of the cat's corpse, each bone is tasted by the hoodooist, who then selects the first bitter-tasting bone as the correct one. [cite book | title = Mules and Men | publisher = Harper Perennial | month = January | year = 1990 | last = Hurston | first = Zora Neale | isbn = 0060916486]

Another way to determine the magical bone, though it is otherwise similar in procedure, involves a mirror. The hoodooist passes each one of the cat's bones through his or her mouth, with the mirror set in front. When the reflection of the bone becomes dark, the hoodooist will know that it is the right one. A variation of this method is also practiced on the Sea Islands, where the one bone that doesn't reflect in the mirror is believed to be magical.

Catherine Yronwode, author of "Hoodoo In Theory and Practice," writes:

Some say that the special bone will be the top one left when the water boils away, others say it can only be found by placing each bone in turn beneath the tongue while an assistant stands by to notify the practitioner that he has become invisible, and still others swear that if all the bones are thrown into a stream that runs north (uncommon in most of North America), the desired bone will be one that floats on the water and heads south.

Sale of purported "black cat bones"

Contemporary hoodoo supply shops do sell items that are labeled "black cat bones," usually small bones taken from a chicken and dyed black.

References