This was my final project at the Bisonte in Florence. I decided to make a series of images based off of Zora Neale Hurston’s book Mules and Men.
A prominent black folklorist of the early 1900s, Zora Neale Hurston traveled through the Deep South of the United States to search out various “two-headed doctors” as they were called. These were powerful members of black communities who knew traditional methods of healing, keeping a husband true, getting rid of enemies, or calling justice for who was wronged. Ritual and magical means of doing good or causing harm for a price: in one word, Hoodoo.
Not only did Ms. Hurston study these individuals, but also sought out initiation and studied with each of them, learning their traditions and even taking patients. All of this she documented in her book. From her written recollections I created and printed these images.
I wanted to create images, not illustrations; pieces that could stand independently from the text. Out of 7 two-headed doctors I chose only two, based on the visual potential of their chapters. The prints are monotypes made with an ink removal technique.
In order:
1. “And The Snake Stayed With Her Always”
This particular one is an image of Marie Leveau, perhaps the most famous conjure woman and vodousaint in American history, based on the memories told to Zora by Luke Turner (one of the first Two-Headed Doctors she worked with).
2. “So Be It”
This is the second image of Marie Leveau based on Turner’s description, in which she lays a curse on her enemies. A portion of the curse is written behind her.
3. “He Will Be Forgotten”
This is an image of Turner himself performing a banishing spell for a patient. In the background you can see Zora herself pounding a beat into the ground with a stick, calling the man’s name who will be made to leave.
4. “Death Was At Hand”
This is an image of Zora Neale Hurston working with a different doctor performing the cat bone ritual, a very old and macabre ritual that involves boiling a black cat alive. Here is a small portion of the text that inspired this image:
“They both looked fearfully around the circle. They communicated some unearthly terror to me. Maybe I went off in a trance. Great beast-like creatures thundered up to the circle from all sides. Indescribable noises, sights, feelings. Death was at hand! Seemed unavoidable! I don’t know. Many times I have thought and felt, but I always have to say the same thing. I don’t know. I don’t know.”
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