Paper Petitions: A Hoodoo Practice Spiritual Meaning

Hoodoo is an ancient craft with tradition connections to black magick and voodoo.

One of the most famous vehicles of hoodoo is writing spells on paper and then using the spell work to manifest a desired action. The act of writing the spell on the paper and then exposing the writing to a natural element is most commonly referred to as “writing petitions”. 

Originally, petitions were written on cloth or brown paper bags. These kinds of paper and cloth were what were easily accessible to the slaves and lower income witch doctors that practiced the ancient rite. As time went on, it was realized that paper has its own energy and the use of the paper can also affect the spell. We’ll get more into that, but first, let’s go over what a petition is. 

A petition, as stated, is a spell. It is very simple in nature, usually using just a few words, people’s names, or a symbol. The words or symbol is then repeated and placed in a specific order. For example, if your desire is to break two people up, you will write a person’s name one way on the paper maybe 6 times.

Then you will turn the paper a 90 degree turn and write the other person’s name. When you do this then you may consider burying the paper, representing the death of their relationship. You could also consider placing the paper in the freezer as a way to cool down the relationship. 

Petitions generally need to be a balanced piece of paper, that is, a paper with sides that are equal. The balance is what helps direct the energy. You can cut the square out of any kind of paper too. For example, money, which is actually printed on linen, can be used to attract more money.

So can the envelopes of financial documents. Cutting out a piece of a marriage certificate can be used for spell work on a spouse and is often used during divorces. Love letters can be cut up and used for revenge. This kind of magic requires a purpose and the stronger the emotional connection to the person or the situation, usually, the stronger the results. 

The kind of ink can also be important when creating a petition. Color, type of ink, and even blood, can be used in the creation of the petition as a way to place more energy into the spell work. Common colors – red for love or anger, green for money, blue for healing, black for binding or breaking someone up – can all be added to the petition.

It is also helpful to use different colors for different words. It should also be added that neatness is important as it is said that the spirits read the paper and you want them to be clear in your intent in order to create the desired result. 

The goal of petitions is to create a change in something or someone. Sometimes petitions are looked down upon as they are considered black magick. The purpose of a petition can be to change the will of someone such as causing someone to fall in or out of love with someone else. Because of the nature of the magic, one must be very careful as there are often repercussions to this kind of work.