JuJu

When my oldest daughter was 4 I was expecting our second child.Her astute pediatric physician suggested I get a large doll near baby size so when the new baby came she could have her own and join me in caring for the baby.This seemed a wonderful idea.Money though was beyond tight so I had to look around to find the suitable doll.I found one at a thrift shop,cleaned her good and presented it with great flourish.I never really liked that doll although Jennifer loved her to the extent that she cared for dolls at all.She ws more into action.Any way she decided to name the doll"JuJu" which seemed a rather strange name but her call.
JuJu never actually served her intended purpose, but she did make an impact.She was never where she should be.Even if I placed her on the bed,she would be in the living room on a chair.It began to bother me so I put her way up in the closet and Jennifer soon forgot about her.
About three months later when we were racing about with no sleep having a newborn there,Jennifer came rushing in saying "MaMa, MaMa .someone burned JUJU" wailing .I followed her into the back yard and there was JuJu with a mangled sooty arm and leg lying on the ground,beside the swing set.No one ever admitted knowing what happened but I was at last able to get the doll thrown away.

Some years later, I learned about the practice of Root Work and of JuJu as common practice among the poor blacks and whites in the South.It became an important aspect to be acknowledged in our Crisis Intervention and Emergency Psychiatric Services at Grady Hospital the major trauma and indigent care tertiary care hospital for a six county region in Atlanta.
I will tell you more about some of those ideas or belief systems later but for now,,,JuJu the name of the doll...where did the name come from?We knew no one with that name nor of the meaning.The actions of the doll could not be explained.Was she a conduit or a fetish of some sort in her previous home?
JuJu is defined as: an object used as a fetish,charm or amulet supernatural power ascribed to such an object probably of west african origin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juju
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JuJu and Root Work or Root Doctors are related and have to do with spells or hexes being placed on one or achieving protection or cures for such a happening.
JuJu may be "good" or "bad.The link to wikipedia gives an overview.I will tell more later about how it may play out with the people.Saying only the root doctor or the vodo priestess are sometimes called the conjurer.Generally speaking, there are three types of work that a conjure doctor will perform on behalf of a client: setting lights (burning candles), making up a mojo bag , and laying tricks (performing spell-work). Some workers do only one or two of these things, others do all three.

Of those people who do spell-work on behalf of clients, some will only perform certain types of jobs, while others will be able to handle almost any situation.Finding the right root doctor is not easy.Fees vary considerably as well.