JUJU

Juju is a conjurer, millennial medium, and host of “A Little Juju Podcast”, based in her hometown of Baltimore, MD. She believes deeply in the power of ancestors and spirit, and that they are the key to our collective freedom.

BUMMAH: Please give a brief introduction of yourself. 

JUJU: Hi, I'm Juju. I am a spiritual worker, I'm a conjurer, I'm a black witch. I am a radical ass black woman trying to figure it out haha!

BUMMAH: Where are you originally from?

JUJU: I'm from Baltimore, Maryland, born and raised.

BUMMAH: What was your journey to Chicago?

JUJU: So when I turned 18, I went to Spelman College in Atlanta. And then after Spelman, I taught at a school in DC. So from Atlanta I went to DC for a year, and I was a college counselor. Then I applied for grad school in Chicago. And so that's what brought me to Chicago. Then I dropped out of grad school a year and a half in the program, and I haven't left Chicago.

BUMMAH: How do you describe your work?

JUJU: My work is very black centered. I would describe it as very spiritual. I would describe it as ancestral. I think a lot about elders. I think a lot about the people who aren't here anymore and what I can learn from them, what I can take from them. So I think my work sort of reflects different lessons that I've gotten from my ancestors and our collective ancestors on how to live a better life. How all of us can live a better life.

BUMMAH: I've been watching your journey on social media as you share your experiences tuning in to your ancestors and hoodoo. When did you begin exploring that and what led you to it?

JUJU: I've always been interested in ancestral work, and I've always been interested in religion and spirituality generally. So I've always been engaged in some type of spiritual practice. But I think maybe three years ago, I don't know, I just knew there was something else. And I started following different people on Facebook who were talking about the things I was interested in-like our dead people, ancestors, spirituality and hoodoo, and I was very intrigued. One of the elders who was talking about this messaged me and was like, "You know you got a gift? You know you need to be doing this right?" Like, "I want to help you, I want to train you." And that's sort of how it kind of started.

BUMMAH: And you had been communicating with this person for some time?

JUJU: Not really. I mean for a little bit, but I started to get into it myself. I had built my own altar, but I didn't have any elders teaching me. I didn't know what I was doing necessarily, I just knew that I felt like I needed to build an altar three years ago. And I did, and the first time I went, I felt an overwhelming sensation of something that I never felt before. I was like, "Oh this is my shit." That's when I started following people on Facebook, and then people were reaching out to me. Then I don't know, it just happened. After that it just took off, and I just started. Like I don't know. Doors started opening once I started doing different things.

BUMMAH: How did you decide that you actually wanted to start the A Little Juju podcast, and then also start practicing as a medium?

JUJU: So my ancestors have been telling me that I need to be talking about my experiences publicly for a while. They were communicating with me like, "You need to put yourself out there. You need to be bringing people back to these indigenous traditions. You need to be vulnerable about what you're doing, because other people out there feel like you right now, and they don't know where to go or look." So that's kind of how the podcast happened. I was forced into it. It was like I have to do it.

This is something that I have to offer, and I know that a lot of people feel alone in this process. A lot of black folks have been shamed because of their gifts. A lot of black folks have been called evil, and our indigenous practices have been demonized, and a lot of black folks have been harmed by abrahamic tradition. I just felt like it was a moment for me to be vulnerable to bring together some kind of community so that we can all talk about these things we're experiencing, and also this other deeper connection that we want. So that's kind of what led me to the podcast. My ancestors were like, "You ain't the only one going through this, so you need to talk about what you're experiencing." 

After that my gifts started developing over time, and I don't know. It was like I didn't want to give readings, I don't want to be a medium, I didn't want to experience talking to dead people, but it is what it is haha! So my Spirits were like "You need to be giving readings to people as well, and share your gift. We didn't give it to you for you to keep it to yourself." I started giving readings. That's it.

BUMMAH: You've been very vocal on social media, sharing many steps as you've been learning. Has that always been something that's very natural for you?

JUJU: Yes, it is. When social media first came out, I was the one just on Twitter saying wild stuff, on Facebook talking about my life and business. But it's gotten me to the place that I am now, because I'm talking about things that people experience or think about. It's not like I'm saying anything super shocking always, but yeah. I've always been vulnerable, I'm a cancer. I'm not afraid to share who I am.

BUMMAH: Have you been able to use social media to really connect with folks and create community? 

JUJU: Oh, absolutely. I have such a strong social media community, and always have. Always have. I used to be on Tumblr a lot, Twitter a lot, Facebook now, and the podcast. I get messages every single day from people who are like, "I don't know you, but I love you. You are amazing. You are changing my life. You are helping heal me." All these people are like my extended family in some type of way. So yes, amazing community.

BUMMAH: You center and prioritize black women, and black people. Why is that important to you and how does it affect your decisions around your work?

JUJU: Yes, I center black people in my work, and kind of super center black women just because I am a black woman. Just because in so many ways, we're not centered...Folks have tried to move us from out of the center, and I am bringing that back. So its influencing my work because a lot of what I'm talking about is indigenous African spiritual traditions. White folks have been profiting off of them for a long time. I think it's a movement right now happening, and people are being like, "Wait a minute, this is some black shit. How have y'all been trying to sell us back things that we created?" And I'm just like "Nah, y'all not bout to do that while I'm alive, while I have a voice, while I have a platform." I'm just being like, "So that's ours, that's ours, that's ours, and I want it back. Thank you!"

BUMMAH: Earlier this year, you shared that you quit your job at BYP100 to pursue your work fully. What was it like to quit your job?

JUJU: Scary as fuck! I had no idea what was going to happen, how I was going to pay my bills, what I was going to do, and if I was going to get another job in movement organizing. I had no idea. It was scary as hell. but I kept getting readings from like my elders, and I kept talking to my ancestors myself and they're just like, "We are waiting on you to leave this job. You talk about faith on the podcast, you talk about trusting your ancestors, all this stuff and you're not actually trusting." It was just like okay, let me trust. So I just quit my job, and it was scary as hell, but I started doing readings, and I'm making more than I did in my job haha!

BUMMAH: What has it taught you about trusting what you hear?

JUJU: That I have to trust, you know. I think so many things in this world tell us not to trust ourselves, tell us that you can't follow feeling, that's not a valid way to move about the world-from a place of your feelings. And it's just like, I don't have to believe that. My feelings have gotten me to a place where I can't imagine, as far as I am now,  and it's only going to continue to grow. So it's just kind of taught me everything's not going to be laid out. There's going to be mystery. Mystery is okay. It's okay to step into something and not be quite sure how it's going to look, but roll with it.

I also know that the universe generally is not working against me or anyone else. The world is not necessarily set up to fail me. Society maybe, people in society might, structures might. But the connection that I have with the universe, and the nature of my ancestors are not set up to fail me. So if I put my faith in that, I'm gonna be fine. And I've been fine since I've started doing that.

BUMMAH: Coming back to Chicago-you've been here 4 years now. Do you feel connected here? Why or why not?

JUJU: I don't know if I consider Chicago home. So that's one piece...But then I've grown so much being here. My ancestral work is grounded in this space, grounded in the person that I was here. Like I wasn't doing this anywhere else. I was doing it intentionally in Chicago, and I think that's meaningful. I've been able to build connections with spirits in this space. So in that way it is home, but I think it's just sort of the home that I created within myself moreso than the actual space of Chicago.

Because I find Chicago very difficult to navigate. I feel like it's too big for me, my neighborhood feels kind of disjointed from where black folks are. I'm in the north side of Chicago, and my neighborhood is fairly black, but it's currently being gentrified right now. The south side is super far, and I don't have a car so It's like you're getting on trains for like an hour and half, or getting an Uber. That's been difficult. Finding friends has been difficult for me. So like yes it's home, and no it's not in a way. I managed to build a home in this space that I don't always feel super comfortable in.

BUMMAH: Have you formed any particular routines, practices or habits living here?

JUJU: I think since I've embarked on a spiritual journey that's very structured, I have a lot of habits and rituals. My life is ritual. So like I'm waking up and I'm greeting my spirits. Then I'm doing my bodily things, like showering. I'm going to my Altar and praying, then I would go to my Orishas and I'm going to pray, and then I'm going to pray to my Ori. There are things that I do regularly, I have schedules. Like okay, it's ancestor day, so this is the day I'm going to do this. I know that I have to spiritually cleanse my apartment on this particular day. So yes, my life is ritual. That grounds me and I think that that helps me create home, too.

BUMMAH: In what space do you feel the most alive and free?

JUJU: I feel like I talk about spirits all the time. I know I sound wild, but like when I'm with my spirits! Like when I'm engaging in spiritual work, when I feel them talking to me, when I feel them moving throughout my body, when I feel them healing me. I feel those things very strongly so that's when I feel free-when they take over my body, like in possession. I feel free because it's not me, and like I can be like, "well this isn't me," but I'm still kind of present, but I'm not. I don't have control over my limbs or what I'm saying, but that's freedom to me. Like who can say that that's happening to them? Being able to leave this realm. And that happens in my home, in my space.

BUMMAH: Earlier you mentioned that you're considering moving. Tell me more about where and why.

JUJU: So I'm considering moving from Chicago to Baltimore, where I'm from. And not for long, just a year, maybe two years. Family is really important to me. Connection to family history is very important to me, as someone who's an ancestral worker. Like I have to talk to my elders. I have to know what they were doing. I have to know how they grew up. I have to know what the habits were, what the rituals were. Because I don't want to lose that. I do not want to lose that. So I want to go home to connect with my people, in my family that are still here. Some, like my grandparents, might soon be ancestors. So I need to get the information I need. I want to connect with my little cousins and babies that are being born. I just kind of want to be on the land that I was raised, and experience it as a different being.

In September 2019 Juju indeed moved Back home to Baltimore, and I was later able to follow up with her in her home.

BUMMAH: How does it feel to be home in Baltimore?

JUJU: It feels amazing to be home. I haven't lived in Baltimore for nine years. So it's felt really good. I feel like I'm like engaging with the city in a different way. I mean I obviously come to visit, but to live here, to be around my family more, my friends that I grew up with, and be nine years older...It's a completely new experience. So it feels good. I'm very happy and I feel grounded.

BUMMAH: Not only did you move back to Baltimore, but also you bought a house. What sparked that decision and how have you settled in to make it home?

JUJU: I've always wanted to buy a house. I don't think I anticipated it happening so quickly, but I just moved here and...actually financially it's what made more sense for me. It just kind of happened. I follow Spirit a lot as you know, so my Spirits were like, “It's time bitch.” So that's how that happened haha.

How have I made it home? That's so important to me. I just have a lot of colors, and art, and statues, and even shrines that I have around my home that help me to feel like this is where I want to be. Like I'm a cancer. I love my home. It's very important for it to feel good, and for me to feel safe. I also do my work out of my home when I do spirit work, so I have to feel like I can tap into Spirit very easily in a space, in my space. And so I've just sort of created [home], just through plants, and the art to make me feel like I can tap into Spirit here, I can feel intuitive here, I can feel grounded here, and safe.

BUMMAH: So your podcast turned a year old in the fall of 2019. What are your hopes for the podcast this next year?

JUJU: For my podcast in a very basic sense, I just want it to sound better. Like sonically. I want to have a better microphone and equipment for more clarity in my voice. I ofcourse want it to be able to reach more people. I want to continue to help facilitate conversations around healing, conversations around Blackness, and conversations around ancestry in the diaspora. I want those conversations to continue, and I want them to be rooted in spirit. I want for black people specifically to see the importance of having a spiritual groundedness regardless of religion. So I just want to keep talking. I want to keep talking about our spirits, our collective spirits, and what we can do, and how we can transform ourselves through spirit. I hope that my work just, you know, helps to continue to facilitate those conversations.

BUMMAH: And what about outside of the podcast?

JUJU: I want to write books. I want to have classes. I want more in-person interactions with folks who follow my work...And to just keep studying, keep listening, keep Spirit first in my life. This feels like a year of growth. It just feels like a lot of seeds that I planted in 2019, I hope to see some of the fruits of my labor. Yeah, just growth, expansion.

BUMMAH: When it comes to your city specifically, what impact would you like your work to have on the community?

JUJU: Hmm. That's a wonderful question and something that I've been thinking about. I mean I think Baltimore Maryland is a hard City. It's a hard city to live in. Like it's just one of those places where...I don't have any other words besides it's hard. And there's a lot of power and community here, but there's also a lot of bullshit, corruption, pain, and death. And I hope that my work can help my immediate community heal from some of the stuff that we have to witness and hear about consistently every day.

I mean, I love my city, but it's a lot. We are a people that need deep healing here. There are a lot of spirits around here also that died in very traumatic ways, that I think impacts how we show up in this community. So I just want to talk about that. I want to bring that to light. And then also have people understand that there is a source and a power...and I think people do, you know, through like God and church and things. But like that we can actually tap into that in an intentional way to be able to do healing work, to be able to actually minimize violence within our communities. To be able to feel capable, impossible. I think that spiritual work can do that, so I am hoping to facilitate spaces to have those conversations. And then also just doing the spiritual work that I can when I see it and when I notice it. Yeah, even if it's just creating little altars on the street for people that I know have been murdered around me, you know, things like that. So yeah, that's some ways I've been thinking about it.