Highlighting Ancestral Veneration and Hoodoo: A Q&A with Nyasha Williams About Saturday Magic

The thing we don’t talk about when we talk about children’s literature, and the thing that maybe I like best about it as a grown adult, is the fact that because we live in such a great era of books for kids right now, we, the adults, are often learning right alongside our children. Hoodoo, the set of religious beliefs and practices that center on ancestor veneration, justice, and a botanical practice of healing and harm known as rootwork, was first introduced to me in the middle grade novel Root Magic by Eden Royce. Since that book I’ve seen other titles for older readers cover the topic, and it’s been long overdue. What haven’t I seen, though? Books for younger kids covering the same topic.

Enter Nyasha Williams. She’s been in the children’s literature game for quite a while, and now she has Saturday Magic: A Hoodoo Story coming out on June 11th with art by Sawyer Cloud. Here’s the description of the title:

“An ode to the family, friendship, and the beautiful tradition of Hoodoo practice, this book celebrates the magic and symbolism to be found in every day, written by bestselling author Nyasha Williams.

Dayo practices Hoodoo with her family. One Saturday, she wakes from an interesting dream about a yellow bird. What could it mean? She knows that it’s up to her to figure it out. Over the course of the day, as Dayo and her family move through their daily rituals (mantras and affirmations included), the message sent from her Ancestors through her dream reveals itself. This celebration of spirituality (and heritage) highlights the rich history of Hoodoo and the beauty we can find in everyday magic.”

Did I mention it has a star in SLJ? Not too shabby, eh?

You know me, though. I just gotta know more. Particularly when it has to do with subjects too rarely covered in picture books before now:

---

Betsy Bird: Nyasha! Thank you so much for joining us today! So tell me a little bit about your own experience with Hoodoo. What helped you decide to put it into a picture book?

Nyasha Williams: As a transracial adoptee, my upbringing wasn’t steeped in the rich traditions of Hoodoo. In my late twenties, I delved deeper into Ancestral Veneration, a path that naturally led me to practice Hoodoo or rootworking.  My Mother-in-love, Kenda Bell, grew up culturally practicing without formally knowing or understanding any of it as Hoodoo. She introduced me to consciously working with Hoodoo’s inherent knowledge and wisdom, with it being both coded and cultural: a coming home to African [American] spirit ways.     

I heard the call to create projects around daily Ancestral connection, which is how both the Ancestor Money I designed and Dayo’s world through Saturday Magic were born. We wanted to create something that allowed the community to see themselves in the everyday lifestyle of Dayo and her community, particularly highlighting Ancestral Veneration and Hoodoo for those who may not have been introduced to it as Hoodoo.

BB: That leads nicely into my next question, actually. What are some of the misconceptions surrounding Hoodoo? And what are its origins?

Nyasha: Hoodoo is also known as African American folk magic, a tradition whose roots can be traced back to West African spiritual traditions brought to America by our Ancestors, enslaved Africans. Hoodoo acts as a mirror, window, and door into what weighed on our Ancestors’ hearts and the conflicts they dealt with, big and small.

In undergrad, my university required all students to take a religion course. I chose Science, Magic, & Religion. For my final assignment in the class, I wrote about Hoodoo and Voodoo and their differences, which, looking back, is a common misconception about Hoodoo.

There are many. To name a few: thinking that Hoodoo and Voodoo are the same, it being labeled as being superstition, evil, or of the devil, and that it is an open practice. Colonization, media and Hollywood have worked hard to sensationalize and incite fear around African American spiritual and healing cultures and traditions. Such propaganda, layered with racism has even caused Black community members to move in judgment and unease of their Ancestral birthright.

What I have come to understand about hoodoo is that it is, at its core, a belief and practice that understands cycles of life and death and is centered in spirit. It pulls from the elements and nature towards healing, Ancestral reverence, protection and exacting justice that would otherwise be denied. Hoodoo was born in survival and protection and merged into the Church by the community to continue practicing unknown to the enslaver, hidden in plain sight.  The conjurer and rootworker is the mediator between the physical and spiritual realms and knows how to influence and commune with each of them.

BB: And along those lines there are all kinds of important rituals scattered throughout the book. Knowing kids, the one that will probably get a lot of attention will be the burning of the money. How did you decide which rituals to include and which to leave out?

Nyasha: Being both a transracial adoptee and coming into my Black identity late in life has been an internal literary pilgrimage playing a major role in my writing. Being an adoptee, I had some confusion about where to begin and who to talk to. After months of communing with elders and other practitioners and researching, waves of these practices began to ripple into my life. I started doing small things—setting aside a portion of a cooked meal, an extra glass of water, creating an altar. Learning from my biological, adoptive, and in-loves -Ancestral favorites to make, cook, and bake in honor of them. I began taking regular spiritual baths and learning ways to cleanse my home, making spiritual hygiene a regular practice. Little by little, it felt like a door was opening, like I had permission to communicate with my dead, to honor them, and be with them. Best of all, coming to understand that the door between them and I is not a sealed one, that relationships don’t have to end in leaving the earth, and that other kinships are born through Ancestors never met before.

At this point there are so many rituals that have become daily practice. My Mother-in-love and I sat down and created a list of rituals that are part of our everyday lives and picked ones we felt would flow in the text throughout Dayo’s day. For example, the story takes place on Saturday. Saturdays are often a cleaning ritual day in many households while blasting gospel or soulful numbers. We have always envisioned the book as a series and have many other rituals on that original list we see being a part of Dayo’s world.

BB: In terms of backmatter, I didn’t see a description of Hoodoo mentioned at the end for those who don’t practice. For kids who have more questions, what would be the best way of finding out more?

Nyasha: With Hoodoo being closed practice, some aspects of this book will be an – if you know, then you know, which I think can give any piece of work its charm. Some easter eggs are only going to be understood by those in the community. 

My Mother-in-love says elders, and I say books; – a blend would be a great way of finding out and learning more. There aren’t a ton of books about the topic for littles currently, which is why Saturday Magic exists. We speak that it will be a stepping stone for others waiting to be born.

We both say consult your Ancestors. Learning about your genealogy, and family tree as far back as you are able and about the Indigenous practices and traditions of those homelands. For non-melanated folks, look into who your ancestors were before you were given the label of white.

BB: There is a recipe for Grandma Rose’s watermelon and orange salad at the end. Is this a recipe from your own family or just one that you particularly like?

Nyasha: My mother-in-love and I downloaded the recipe from the Ancestors while in the creation of the book. We asked for their input while imagining the meal with Grandma Rose.

When we looked up the magic and metaphysical properties of each ingredient in the salad, it felt very aligned with the story:

Watermelon: Luck, abundance, prosperity, emotional rejuvenation, and love.

Cucumber: Healing, youth, and beauty. 

Oranges: Luck, positive vibes and expect good things.

Red onion: Sustenance, layers of truth, and preservation.

Lime:  Renewal, growth, and abundance.

Honey: Abundance, healing, and immortality

Cinnamon: Prosperity, protection, and luck. 

Mint: Purification, healing, and cleansing.

In the book, we bring up two Orishas (deities from the African traditional religion Yoruba) and the salad is a perfect blend of offerings preferred by Yemaya and Oshun. 

BB: Let’s talk about the art a little. Were you aware of Sawyer Cloud’s art before seeing it in this book? What do you think of the final product?

Nyasha: I was familiar with Sawyer Cloud’s art before Saturday Magic.  Sawyer and I first collaborated on my children’s book, Keep Dreaming, Black Child, which came out in December 2023. My mother-in-love and I decided upon Sawyer together, and we love her work. It is rich, bright, and whimsical – it carries soul. 

BB: Finally, what else are you working on? What comes out next

Nyasha: I have two books coming out this year. Kenda and I co-authored Saturday Magic coming out in about a month, and Where is Koketso?, a seek-and-find book I authored, coming out in October. I have never seen any diverse seek-and-find books like Where’s Waldo, and I imagined something to change that.  Regular event-wise: I have Self-Care, a picture book club for adults that I head once a month at Petals & Pages in Denver. Quarterly, I have a seasonal event at Second Star to the Right honoring the season shift and an online workshop space, I host with Sidney McCall for BIPOC creatives called Decolonizing Dreams. I have a plethora of writing projects in the works and am working to build my own Press.

I have upcoming events for families and events for adults for the launch of Saturday Magic.

Saturday Magic Launch: Come make Grandma Rose’s Watermelon Salad (June 27, 2024)  [Families]

Saturday Magic Storytime at Boulder Bookstore (July 06, 2024) [Adult-Focused but Anyone]

Saturday Magic Storytime at Tattered Cover (July 14, 2024) [Child-Focused]

Saturday Magic Ancestral Connect (July 12, 2024) [Adult Centered]

Saturday Magic: Cowrie Shell Mirror Making Workshop (July 27, 2024) [Anyone]

---

Big thanks to Nyasha for answering my questions today. As I mentioned Saturday Magic: A Hoodoo Story coming out on June 11th, so be sure to go and look for it soon!

Filed under: Interviews