MY GUIDE TO YOUR DIY MOJO BAG
Mojo or Gris-Gris Bags are little bundles of prayer and intention, often crafted for you by an elder who wants protection, prosperity for you.
Even the term ‘Root Worker’ in Hoodoo reminds us that healers have always turned to plants for magic and medicine.
You’ll see these charms from the Sahara to South Africa, Senegal to The Sudan and they crossed the Atlantic with us hidden in braids, sewn into hems, carried in memory, and reborn in new traditions when so much else was stripped away.
For a quick start to mojo bags, I use Love Potion Chai from Calabash Tea. It’s packed with herbs, spices, and roots—cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and more—already brimming with love, protection, and abundance to supercharge your work.
This herbal roadmap comes from my book, The Kitchen Witch Guide to 50 Healing Herbs.
CLICK FOR THE CHAI WE USE FOR GRIS GRIS BAG
Click to see my YOUTUBE short video:
Mojo, Memory + Magic: How Our Ancestors Packed Power in a Pouch
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE PDF
MOJO AROUND THE GLOBE
From the Sahara to the South African plains and across the Atlantic to the Americas, these little bundles of power have traveled and transformed, carrying our ancestors’ magic with them. Here’s a guide to what they’re called around the world:
- Bolsa de Protección – Puerto Rico (Espiritismo)
- Bolsitas de Protección – Mexico (Curanderismo)
- Charm Pouch – Wodaabe (Niger/Chad, Fulani people)
- Fundas – Dominican Republic (21 Divisiones, Vodou)
- Garde – Martinique, Guadeloupe, Trinidad & Tobago (French Caribbean, Shango Baptist)
- Gris-gris / Grigri – Mandé (West Africa), Senegal (Wolof), Louisiana (USA, Voodoo), Tuareg (Sahara Desert)
- Guard – Jamaica (Obeah)
- Himat – Egypt, Sudan (Nubian traditions)
- Hirz (Talisman Bag) – Morocco (Amazigh/Berber and Arab traditions)
- Isikhonkwane – South Africa (Zulu/Xhosa)
- Juju Bundle – Nigeria (Yoruba, West Africa)
- Kitab/Meketeb Scroll Bags – Ethiopia (Horn of Africa)
- Mojo Bag / Mojo Hand – Southern USA (Hoodoo, African American communities)
- Nkisi – Congo (Bakongo traditions, Central Africa)
- Obia Guards – Honduras, Belize (Garifuna communities)
- Obias – Suriname (Winti traditions)
- Patuá – Brazil (Candomblé, Umbanda)
- Prenda – Cuba (Palo Mayombe)
- Pwen – Haiti (Vodou)
- Tcherot – Tuareg (Sahara Desert)
- Toby / Toby Hand – Southern USA (Hoodoo)
- Vodun Bundles – Togo & Benin (Vodun heartland, West Africa)
- Wanga – Haiti (Vodou)
