The Hoodoo Tradition Analysis

necessarily people who have died, or on the brink of death, apparitions have been seen of the living.

Many religious traditions and beliefs of the world contain different perspectives on the topic of death and afterlife. In the same way, ideas and dogmas are not only reflected directly in a funeral parlor and epitaphic practices, but

Divination is also a common feature among religions. This was defined in the book as, “work of priests or people who have been specially prepared for the task” (Hopfe and Woodward 23). This common feature does not go along with my religious beliefs once again. It makes me think about fortune tellers, which I have always wanted to go to.

For instance, the principles of Hoodoo are based almost solely on the betterment of one’s own life whereas the main goals of Voodoo are to improve one’s life but to also uphold withstanding connections within the realm of spirits and with other Voodooists (Haas, 2011). Not to mention in a sense of irony, it is Hoodoo culture that finds more use in voodoo dolls and doll magic to curse specific people or influence minds and hearts of individuals as opposed to Voodoo (Raven, n.d.). Furthermore, Voodooism is a mixture of monotheism and polytheism and requires official priests or priestesses to ordain rituals (Haas, 2011). Correspondingly, Voodoo is much akin to other religions in the sense that there are deviations of the practice; indeed, just as there are Protestants, Baptists, and Catholics when referring to the Christian faith, there are variants made in Voodoo, such as Haitian Voudon or Louisiana Voodoo (Voodoo, 2015). Hoodooism’s emphasis on individual power makes it a practice that is available to persons of any faith as it does not require a “formally designated minister” (Hoodoo (folk magic),

“Thus, it is striking to find that many victims of witchcraft accusations were poor beggar women who were said by their neighbors to have laid a curse not God 's, but the devil 's on a household in which something had gone wrong.”(Klaits, p. 87) Women who did not have a man to support them would go through the village and beg for food for themselves and their family. If they were denied, and something happened in the house, they begged at the neighbor would say that the beggar woman had placed a curse on the house. This could have been anything from the neighbor 's child becoming ill to even the cow not giving milk anymore. These accusations usually came after the beggar was refused charity and walked away mumbling something mean. They were usually then reported once something went wrong within the home they had looked for the charity at.

Sociology is the research and analysis of the human society; meaning sociologist examine why we behave the way we behave, what affects our behavior, and if ordinary things are more complex than they seem. When developing a sociological perspective it makes the “familiar strange” (Conley, 3). When someone is trying to think as a sociologist it is encouraged to question aspects in your life that you thought were normal, which conveniently can make you feel unsure about what lifestyle you are comfortable living in.  A sociological perspective is gained when you learn to think through a “sociological lense” that challenges your mind to new levels of thought (Godwin, Lecture). When in rhythm with your sociological mind you reflect on new personal

Michael Jordan’s, Nike, Adidas and Puma their shoe sales went up in the 1980’s. Amber J. Keyset started to design different shoes starting with Michael Jordans. When one pair was released more people grew into them either for the style or the history behind the pair. “Sneakerhead;a person who collects trade and/or admires sneakers as a form of a hobby, knowledgeability on sneakers”(Powell). Sneakerhead culture impacted the society with its new look and style by making them more desirable and increasing the shoe industry.

What if there was a famous team that had their name based off the skin you have, or what race you are? Even though the name Indians shows a sign of respect to native americans, Chief Wahoo is based off one tribe and this could be offensive to native americans from that tribe. Chief wahoo is disrespectful to the native americans by what the mascot is wearing and the color of the skin. Imagine if your team is called the Cleveland Whites with white skin and a cowboy hat, how would that make you feel?

something of a culture. Through generation to generation and the depictions shown in the movie,

The future is unclear to see because of the multiple interpretations to one event. Seeing events and only being able to describe a possible outcome is what the character Thomas Builds-the-Fire in Sherman Alexie's, "This Is What it means To Say Phoenix, Arizona," can do. The ability has been once praised in cultures around the world but is now looked down upon. Thomas has lost a lifestyle that he was never able to have because he follows his ability including his friendships he has created. For this reason, Thomas Builds-the-Fire is now an outcast to the town's society; however, he looks after his old friend Victor because of his loyalty to Victor's father, believes in his visions can help his community, and the chance of obtaining new visions.

I was very aware of sexual violence on college campuses so I was not really surprised by the information presented in The Hunting Ground. Before I moved to Cleveland, Ohio two years ago I live in North Carolina. I have friends that are students at UNC. I was a student at East Carolina University and lived on campus two years ago. Before move in day we were required to complete lessons online about campus safety, dorm safety, sex, and alcohol/ drugs. I lived in an all-girl hall, meaning there were no boys. We always instructed to never walk alone at night, make sure our phones were always working, not to leave our drinks unattended, and the dangers of certain frat house parties. I had many friends in sororities so I would hear stories. Sarah

In the story of how “A Rouge Sociologist Takes to the Streets”, Sudhir Venkatesh finds himself in the projects of Chicago documenting his first hand experiences of his journey on how he is introduced to the black culture. Sudhir, a first year college student in the University of Chicago, decides to take part in a research project about “how young blacks were affected by specific neighborhood factors”, although when he quickly realizes how ineffective these questionnaires are, he decides to take unconventional ways to retrieve his answers. Sudhir’s fascination with the housing projects in Chicago only grew the longer he stayed. Before long he had befriended a gang leader and accumulated more information then he had ever thought he would have been able to acquire.

Why is this so important to us today, have you ever wondered if this experience had never existed, would modern spiritualism have existed? Would we as mediums still be hiding behind closed doors, frightened to speak of the knowledge of life after death? This has allowed us the openness serving the two worlds

An example of this would be using hair clippings, bodily excretions, jewelry, and clothing by performing spells on these objects in order to cause harm to someone,” (Peoples and Bailey, p. 325). Sorcery is also heavily related to people’s social lives and tension between relationships can cause conflict, which then follows accusations of sorcery. “Members of most cultures believe that sorcerers do not strike randomly, but only harm those that they have hard feelings against,” (Peoples and Bailey, p.326). Much like sorcery, people in most cultures also believe that witchcraft is only performed in order to harm someone because of their hatred or anger towards them. There are many different cultures that believe in witchcraft and they vary in their characteristics of how witches cause harm (Peoples and Bailey, p. 326). For example, “the Navajo of the American Southwest associate witches with the worst imaginable sins. Witches commit incest, bestiality, and necrophilia and the Ibibio of Nigeria believe witches operate by removing the spiritual essence (soul) of their enemies and placing it in an animal,” (Peoples and Bailey, p. 326). There are two interpretations of why people think that their misfortunes are

Me: As I performed the posture test on myself I already knew that I would have proper posture. Due to the fact that when I was younger, I looked in the mirror and noticed that I had a slouchy posture. I had (Lordosis) and an anterior pelvic tilt, which made me look awful from a side point of view. I wanted to fix my posture and learned that I had weak abdominal muscles and tight hamstrings along with weak gluteus maximus muscles. As I learned how to fix my problem, I began doing exercises for those muscles for flexibility and strength gains. For my exercises in detail I began standing for a long period of time and would flex my gluteus maximus muscles and keep them tight for a period of time to strengthen them which would be for a few minutes. This fixed the slight curve in my lower back. The next step I performed was the same as with my gluteus maximus muscles but for my abs which helped keep a good posture naturally without thinking about my posture deviations and how to fix them. I could now begin to stand naturally with a good posture. The last step I did was stand against a wall with my back and neck flat against the wall and I would press my tongue against the top of my mouth to