1st M: INVOCATION
I am Flowers of the Delta Clan Flowers and the Line of O Killens, I am
Hoodoo, I am Griot, I am a Man of Power. I am Mganga Maua. I am
MythMaker. The High Hoodoo of Memphis, a Hoodoo Lord of the Delta
We have gathered here this evening in the name oof grace, and when
mi people gather together like this in peace and love and harmony,
then that place, that gathering place, this splace, is holyground, in
the name of the conqueror let this work be done - welcome to rdocs
travelling medicine show, whatever ails you I will cure it for sure,
at the traveling show, if I cant cure you I will ease your troubled
mind, welcome all you good people to the holyground
2nd M: THE CONDITION OUR CONDITION IS IN
It is I, Rickydoc Trickmaster, come calling on the tribal healers,
the Spiritual Masters of the Hoodoo Way, to provide spiritual
and strategic guidance during the oncoming winter of the soul.
The only thing certain in the Age of Trump is that Blackfolk
will suffer. Accordingly, this Divinatory Presentation is a griotic
Call to Battle. Asking what are the responsibilities of our tribal
healers in times such as these. Just what is Good Game in the
Age of Trump and how do we get it on.
1st let us establish some common ground
some grounding principles
GP1 - we are fucked, seriously fucked, maga caught us unawares,
who knew they were gon come down this hard on blackfolk
GP2 - that the Spiritual Masters of the Hoodoo
Way are contemporary tribal healers / griots
and that in times of tribal crises it is incumbent
upon the Travelers of the Hoodoo Way to provide
tribal guidance, spiritual and strategic advice
GP3: that these are the trying times, witness maga rising & the
2nd reconstruction, project 2025 & the erasure of blackness
black progress and white resentment is a matched set.
But who expected the sheer malevolence of the assault on Black America
those federal workers, lotta blackfolk, immigrants folk of color &
gutting federal services will hurt everybody except the Oligarchs, who don’t
need Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, public schools, clean water, etc
Under the guise of this assault on DEI, they been erasing blackness
and in some cases have criminalized it, o these is trying times as
they systematically take control of the compellent government
arms, Justice, the FBI, Defense, police forces, J6 militias, etc et
allowing them to intimidate & harass & disappear folk at will
Musk is even worse, sowing the seeds for a Surveillance
State, aka Police State, cicla 1984, that by feeding critical mass
data into maliciously programmed AIs will attempt to control
your every thought word deed, , this is rule the world villany
Every era needs a name that defines it, im calling it the briar
patch wars, mi humble attempt to establish a viable strategic
posture for the Age of Trump. Why the Briar Patch - if you
have to ask you probably don’t need to know - basically signifying
about the subversive nature of the conflict we find ourselves in.
Whatever we do to Finesse the Hammer that is coming our way we gon
have to be slick with it, playas, fighting tomorrows battles today, employing
new strategic instruments to replace resources being systematically
dismantled, battle has come to us, Blackpeople, got to get your game on
3rd M: GOALS and OBJECTIVES
listen o ye firstborn, to the geas of the trickmaster and
i will give you a mission greater than your adversity. i
will give you a destiny, i will give you power.
SURVIVING POLITICAL CHAOS
The only thing certain is that the coming years will be chaotic
and the unwary will be swept away. You cannot ignore these Winds
of Change and hope it gets better, it will not, rocks are dancing
This phase of life & struggle will require agency, point and purpose
Get your Game on, Black people.
COUNTERING INCREASED SUFFERING
Both Domestically and Globally the Age of Trump
will be one of Great Suffering. A Calloused and even
Performative Inhumanity seems to be its default mode
If Hoodoo Service requires that we do whatever we
can do to ameliorate the Human Condition, this gon
be the Busy Season, all those folk fired, thats suffering
those folk being hunted down and deported, suffering
All those government services the Muskrats eviscerating
Thats more folk hungry, uninsured, uneducated, more
bacteria in the food, more chemicals in the water
Its the weak and unsophisticated who will suffer and it will be incumbent
upon the Spirit Doctors of the Hoodoo Way to alleviate that suffering,
Awaken the Sleeper. Protect the Weak. Guide the Strong.
Win or Lose don’t matter. Get those Daily Blessings on.
THROWING SAND IN THE GEARS
It behoove us to hinder the establishment and function of the Authoritarian
State howsomever we can, Trump’s vulnerabilities so far have been overreach
and incompetence, we got to call him out and peel off believers hurt by his actions
Cant be so afraid of Trump that we effect anticipatory compliance, got to
delay cripple and hinder the Authoritarian State every chance we get
There are many bags of sand available if your Game is strong enuf
UPHOLDING THE RULE OF LAW
the only thing standing between us and a police state now
is the rule of law and maga hammering at it very day
its not gon hold but we got to call on it every chance we get:
the rule of law, the rule of law, this is not the rule of law
POSITIONING & EMPOWERMENT
The point of a constantly calibrated strategic posture
is positioning yourself on the game board, every
move designed to achieve command positioning
Plan is to Finesse this Hammer to come out stronger on the
other end, premise being since the old model blackfolk don’t
Work no more, we have to use this Hammer to forge a new
kinda people, a new kinda Way, an African American Way.
Hard as the Struggle to Come will be it is in times of great social
stress that new folk are forged, new ways, we gon have to rebuild
from scratch anyway, might as well rebuild to our liking, playa
4th M: STRATEGIC POSTURES &
IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES
Cast your vision, young hoodoo, as far as you can see, determine the
challenges the tribe will face, prepare the tribal soul to meet them
ON STRATEGIC ANALYSIS & INSTRUMENTATION
STRATEGY: a plan for achieving objectives and holding them.
Trickeration. It is through strategy that the weak become the strong,
EMPOWERMENT STRATEGIES should be designed to shape
our generations into the people we most want them to be,
I been telling folk for decades Reparations is not a strategy,
reparations just train us to be better beggars. Protest is not a
strategy, Protest mean you’ve already lost that round
Get your Game on, Playa. Aint you
tired of being a beggar people, I am
THE HOODOO POSTURE STRATEGIC
A free floating stance in constant calibration with evolving
circumstance, constantly finessing, maintaining the hoodoo
posture strategic (stratpo) as command positioning, dominating the
dance and confounding your enemies with the impossible, cloaked
in ritual masks that reveal everything / nothing, a good strategic
posture is built on silence and misdirection, roaring lions dont kill
no game, and papa joe fisher say a straight path soon overtaken
Maintaining a low profile gives you more room to play, overt bids
for power raise resistances / hackles / countermoves, I need you to
restrain your tendency to wolf, Blackpeople, expose power only
when you must and never let anybody know what all you capable
of, always be stronger than you appear, be still, be dangerous, be
capable of deadly harm,
I say we consider the security and prosperity of our generations
the prime directive, I say we calm, cool and collected, forever
vigilant, deploying a multifaceted strategic posture, some moves
bold and strong, some hidden in the shadows, others waiting
silently in the wings, grandmasters of the longgame,
IDENTIFYING & GENERATINNG STRATEGIC INSTRUMENTS
Cant be no playa if you aint got no instruments
What strategic instruments need generating
depend on your goals and objectives
as an artist my primary instruments are mi Works and mi
ideological / cultural orchestrations - mi Works the seeds of
future realities, mi Orchestrations preparation of the ground
and like Baba D Walker I need a distribution
system for mi Appeal - vehicles like this one
ON ORGANIZING & MOBILIZATION
I am a child of the 60s and the black arts movement
far as im concerned its always gon be aluta continua,
organizing is what I do, but the babajohn trained his
legions to organize the organizers, which is why im
talking to you, the spiritual masters of the hoodoo way
so what does mobilization entail in the age of trump
well one thing it require innovation, fighting
tomorrows battles today, and its gon have to be
police state subversive,
I will reserve judgment on joining a protest movement
till I see how far they take it, don’t want to end up
in Libya, Rwanda or el Salvador, I got courage but I
aint stupid, roaring lions don’t bag no game and papa
joe fisher say a straight line soon overtaken, what
organizing and mobilizing we do gon have to be done
from the briar patch, playa, gon have to be slick wit it
a whole new kinda slick, policestate slick
be careful w/your words on social media, slick
be careful of what you do, if you are an effective
force you can be assured they coming for you
the one thing we cannot be is a buncha fundamentalists caught
up in the past, the way it used to be, the fundamentalists I guess
gon always be fundamentalist but the cutting edge got work to do
COMMUNITY, COALITIONS & THE COLLECTIVE
ON COMMUNITY
As the Tribal Healers the health of the tribe is our
responsibility. In the tradition hoodoos are judged by
pastoral care of the community they identify with
From Family to Community to All Peoples
and / or the Great Mojo itself
Ima ask you to prioritize community, my
fellow travelers and keepers of the faith, in
the name of the trickmaster I ask this of you
Word by the Trickmaster: our communities must be transformed into
sacred spaces of communal grace, whenever we gather together let that
space be holyground, Demoja Demoja -- bring down that holyground,
see something need doing do it, playa, don’t
wait for no credit, playa, just do it. Doing
Individually what the Collective must.
COALITIONS & THE COLLECTIVE
Because we still a minority, coalition building
will be critical in the struggle to come, we must
make common cause with the affected cohorts and
welcome disaffected trumpers back into the fold
Any black leadership worth its keep understands
cant just save your own, got to save them all.
we are all in this together, all humanity, all tings
The optimal scenario is that we delay and hinder
implementation of the Surveillance / Police State, keep
Trump from making changes impossible to reverse
The fucked option is we lose the midterms, then
we talking generations of Police State struggle
that trump will try to rig it is inevitable
got to be serious about voting this time
got to vote like its 1984 (signifying)
LOCAL & STATE POWER NODES
Because we have been locked out of national
power and because its just Good Game we need
to rebuild from the bottom up - from school boards
to state houses, we got to rebuild like the right wing did
full service politics, in the name of the conqueror take
it all - step by step, inch by inch, slowly we turn
ROOTWORK & GOOD GAME
rootwork is digging deep deep to the roots of things, systemwork,
every thing every person, every system has a root by which it
can be worked, roots by which it can be handled, repurposed
good game entails incorporating the efforts
of your enemies and competitors into yours
outplaying fellow playas on the hoodoo
board of destiny in the great game
rootwar: by every sector of the culture, every
individual in it, each unto self an army
5th M: ON SPITIRUAL HEALTH, SUSTAINABILITY & SECURITY
ON SOULCARE
Both yours and your clients. The importance of good
ongoing Soulcare is critical in times like these, soulcare is
being conscious of your soul, being conscious of its needs,
everyday we are damaged and in need of healing, it behoove
you to cleanse the soul as often as you do the body
it is thru soulcare that one achieves sustainability in the
struggle, what does it mean to live a lifetime of struggle,
to achieve result that last long after youre gone,
one you got to be flexible in your understanding of what
Struggle is, conditions and you yourself evolve over a lifetime
likely you gon have to play the game, make compromises,
adopt various masks, be a counter elite without ever losing
site of fundamental reality – I’m the playa up in here
wo ever losing understanding of service, that what you do
for self does not last, its what you do for others that last
ON DEFENSIVE LIVING & THE LOW PROFILE
on evading the attentions of the powerful
This phase of Life will require Defensive Living & Surviving the Surveillance
/ Police State. How do we stay in the Briar Patch yet still be effective forces
Harden your Foundation work: family, finance, faith, these things,
when them chilly winds blow them foundations gotta hold.
Whatever vulnerabilities lurk in your strategic
edifice must be extracted with the quickness
ON SIGNIFYING & SHAPESHIFTING:
Signifying is the fine art of speaking in code, tongues,
saying way more than whats readily apparent so
messaging is calibrated according to who receiving it
calling mi efforts works from the briar patch is
me speaking in code, if you know you know
While Shapeshifting is being capable of being many things to many folk,
existing in multiple dimensions simultaneous, two headed folk, one foot
in the spiritworld, the other mythtmagical, with various masks available
depending on the needs of the moment, code switching
as necessary in the eternal question - who tricking who
ON DIGITAL LITERACY & THE ANCESTRAL EDIFICE
Wading thru the bullshit - knowing when folk online (or off) trying to play
you. When you go online you are not there to be liked, for social affirmation
while data lords monetize & control you, no, you are there for promotion
and orchestration, and you are acutely conscious that every post is a
brick in your ancestral edifice - what do you want the
generations to think feel& do when they think of you
FINESSING THE HAMMER: outplaying the
forces trying to play you, turning the trick
aint your bizness, say Sister Beetle, to know what all I
can do, just because I go low don’t mean I can’t go high,
just because I crawl in the dust don’t mean I cannot fly
6th M: ON TRICKERATION & THE LONGGAME
If you truly understand the Hoodoo Board of Destiny,
young conjure, everybody on the planet work for you
ON TRICKERATION, ON AGENCY & THE HAMMER
Trickeration is being alert to the forces trying
to play you and turning the trick back on them
so that instead of them playing you you playing
them and their efforts are now in service of yours
Asking that ageold question: who tricking who, this
will require the ongoing strategic hoodoo posture
and sense of significance at the crossroads
Anybody gon be trickbagging folk its us
Having Agency in the world is a basic operating principle
The ability to Effect your Will on the world and not be tossed
about by the Winds of Circumstance and the Whims of Others
Agency is not something you just have. Agency
you forge step by step, it is the result of Focus,
Purpose, Discipline, Vision, Service, and Such
You must have Agency in this World, you
must have Mojo, you must have Lifeforce
Only then can you git your Game on.
ON LONGAME & SHAPING GENERATIONS
We talking Longgame as taught by Babajohn Killlens,
the Great Griot Master of Brooklyn, which entail shaping
our generations into the people we want most to be
When Moving a People got to think in Generations or defeat
is certain, burnout inevitable. Took generations to put us in
this Trickbag. It will take generations to get out of it.
I am confident that we will prevail. I have become comfortable
with the glacial pace of social and cultural change.
In the Arena you just don’t win them all. You find yourself passionate
in the belief that any given campaign is a matter of life & death and
defeat feels like the end is near. But you get used to losing. You
learn to take your punches and position yourself for the comeback.
You win some you lose some, you keep on struggling.
ON IDEOLOGICAL ORCHESTRATION: ON
MYTHWORK, & CULTURAL NARRATIVES
It is the mythwork shapes cultures, we need a myth for a new millennium
a vison we can believe in, a new peoples, a brand new way
You want to move the people I would you be Ideological Orchestrators -
adepts in the manipulation of belief systems - capable of gathering folk around
the sacred fire and providing the visions wo which the people will perish
Attend thee to the Spiritual Health of Black America, Playa
Give them a Vision they can believe in. Something that gives
them Point and Purpose. Something that gives their Lives
Meaning and their struggles Grace.
it was zora neale conjured up the conqueror as a returning
culture hero who comes whenever blackfolk in need. The
hope bringer. The burden bearer, the jackpot winner, that’s
what zora neale said, ask her yourself if you don’t believe me
That how im positioning the Trickmaster, a returning
culture hero, you need me you call me I will come
I SEE THE HOODOO BOARD OF DESTINY
as the Playing Field. The Battleground upon which we are all
players and played. Good Game should be so comprehensive
it swallows all contenders and puts their efforts to work for
you. If you truly understand the Hoodoo Board of Destiny,
young conjure, everybody on the planet work for you.
7th M: DEMOJA: HOOODOO BLESSINGS
that is all, this spell is done
I hope you leave here this evening renewed and refreshed in the
struggle of life - and when you come to the Crossroads always
take the highroad, always strive to be Greater than you are
cause when my people gather together like this, in peace and love and harmony,
then that place, that gathering place, this place, is holyground
may your days be full of passion, may your lives be full of grace,
may your works serve many generations, may the ancestors
bless your every endeavor, may god’s blessings be on us all
I am Rickydoc Trickmaster, the High Hoodoo of
Memphis, you need me you call me I will come
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