MONEY HOUSE BLESSING

Ritual Cleaning and the "Indian Spirit" in Hoodoo

An important part of African-American hoodoo tradition concerns itself

with the undoing of "tricks," jinxes, or "crossed conditions" -- and one of the
standard ways to do this is through ritual house cleaning, which may include
sweeping, floor washing, burning incense, sprinkling sachet powders, and
using spiritual air fresheners. From apotropaic cleaning has developed the
concept of "lucky" cleaning, and since the 1930s, the two types of cleaning
products, "uncrossing" and "luck drawing," have existed side by side.

"Money House Blessing" is a popular brand name for floor wash, air
freshener, hand soap, anointing oil, and sachet powder. It seems to combine
the characteristics of two other well-known brand names, "Peaceful Home"
and "Money Drawing." The idea is that with a steady income, peace will
reign in the home. This example of Money House Blessing Air Freshener is
from the E. Davis line, and like many of that company's spiritual cleaning
products, its label reveals several layers of conflated imagery from diverse
sources. In this case, the already conflated "Money House" name is given
the additional power of "Indian Fruit Oil," "Nine Indian Fruit[s]" and
"Indian Spirit."

The inclusion of Native American imagery is an old hoodoo tradition that

seems to date back to the early days of slavery, when Africans first met and
admired Indians for their independence and herb lore. Remnants of such
cross-cultural goodwill abound to this day. For instance, in New Orleans, a
famous black Mardi Gras Krewe dresses as Wild Tchiapatoulas Indians.
Likewise, the Sonny Boy Products line of religious supplies contains
several "Alleged Indian Grandma" and "Old Indian" brands.

The "Indian Fruit Oil" mentioned on the label is Indian by courtesy only, for
the fruits depicted are a lemon, a bunch of grapes, and some strawberries,
emerging from a cornucopia. The number nine in the "Nine Indian Fruit[s]
designation is a significator of spirituality and completion, a number
believed to evoke peace in the home.

Related to admiration of Native American herb-lore, but distinct from it, is

the concept of the Indian warrior as a "Spirit" or "Spirit Guide." This
imagery harkens back to the spiritualist movement of the 19th century, an
era during which trance mediums reported their conversations with deceased
Native Americans and hoodoo practitioners were actively incorporating
European influences into their syncretistic system. The most notable
example of this cross-cultural trend is the 175-year popularity of John
George Hohman's "Pow-Wows or The Long Lost Friend", which, despite
its spiritualist-sounding title, was a compilation of German-Catholic folk
magic marketed to the Protestant African-American community by Jewish
spiritual supply vendors.

E. Davis products are not unique in their use of the Indian Spirit image as a
brand logo or name; among the many Lama Temple hoodoo candles are
several that refer to an "Indian Spirit Guide" and are illustrated with an
image of a Sioux warrior. There is also an entire line of spiritual cleaning
products called Powerful Indian which is cross-marketed to the
Latin-American community under the name Indio Poderoso. The company
logo for this line is also a Sioux warrior in a feathered headdress.

For another E. Davis spiritual cleaning formula, see Double Fast Luck
Soap. The E. Davis line is carried by Aunt Agatha's Occult
Emporium and by Ancient Ways.

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