Voodoo name conjure
One of the good people on my social networks was saying she was dissatisfied with her middle name…and I thought: “Then change it!” There’s such power in names. Just think of the mega brands of our age: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google and so on. They’ve captured the imagination of the world, and have got enormously wealthy in the process.
But when it comes to your own personal name, changing it can change your whole life. It’s a powerful act of voodoo conjure.
And you don’t even have to legally change it. You might take a magical name like the old voodoo conjure doctors and bluesmen of the American South used to do. You’re known by this new name, but you still keep your birth name for business and legal purposes (like most of the bluesmen did).
In his book, “The African Presence in Caribbean Literature,” Edward Kamau Braithwaite explains that:
“The word ‘nommo’ (or name) is held to contain secret power. People feel a name is so important that a change in his name could transform a person’s life.”
Faith in the secret power of the name is nowhere more evident than in voodoo conjure. It’s the reason why voodoo doctors adopt animal names such as Dr. Fox, Dr. Crow and Dr. Snake (like the indigenous shaman, they assume the name of the bird or beast from which they draw their power).
For the voodoo doctor, taking on a new name was a way of shaping personal destiny. It was the same for blues musicians like Muddy Waters, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Ma Rainey, and Howlin’ Wolf (and it’s also true today with rappers and hip-hop artists).
They took on their names as an act of magical transformation.
You can do the same. If you decide to take it all the way and change your name legally, you’ll find it’s not hard to do, neither is it expensive.
