KEEPING THE MOJO HID

Mojos made for an individual are usually carried on the person, always out of sight. They are very rarely worn on a string around the neck, fairly commonly pinned inside a woman's brassiere, and much more commonly pinned to the clothes below the waist or caried in a pants pocket. Those who make conjure bags to carry as love spells sometimes specify that the mojo be worn next to the skin. Mojos intended to purify or protect a location are generally placed near the door, hidden in such a way that they cannot be seen by strangers.



Keeping the mojo from being seen is important because if another person touches it, the luck may be lost. This is sometimes called "killing the hand." The proscription against touching is far stronger in the case of the woman's nation sack than it is in any other kind of mojo.

A song lyric that describes the mojo touching taboo occurs in "Take Your Hands Off My Mojo," recorded in New York on February 17, 1932 by Leola B. Wilson and Wesley Wilson (a husband and wife duo also known as Coot Grant and Kid Wesley Wilson, Kid and Coot, and, singly, as Leola B. Pettigraw and Socks Wilson). This hokum blues number was a follow-up to the couple's double-entendre dance-hit "Get Off With Me," which explains the reference in the first line. It is sung in alternating line form, with a spoken introduction. (Thanks to Frank Sandoval for the recording date and to Bob Dunn for the picture.):

TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF MY MOJO
by Leola B. "Coot" Grant and "Kid" Welsey Wilson

Spoken:
(F) Ah, play that thing! Did you get off?
(M) Come here, honey; I got something to tell you.
(F) Whaddaya want? Don't do THAT! Don't DO that!
As long as you KNOW me, don't you put your hand on my mojo!
(M) Why, honey?

Sung:
(F) Now, the Depression has made me do a lot of things
That i never done befo'
That's why I went to a fortune teller
And got me this lucky mojo
(M) Honey, I done seen your mojo
That thing ain't nothin' but a joke
(F) But if you keep your hands off a' my mojo,
I'm one woman will never be broke

Just keep your hands off a' my mojo, you can't cut off my luck
Now, keep your hands off a' my mojo, if you ain't got a buck
Time's is hard as hard can be
I don't want no broken man messin' 'round with me
Keep your hands off a' my mojo, you ain't got no time for me

(M) Now, me put my hands on your mojo,
Honey, what harm would that do?
(F) Now, it ain't no tellin', red hot Papa,
Mama may start lovin' you
(M) Heh, if...if you EVER start to lovin' me
Baby, won't that be just fine?
(F) But who's got time to love a man
Ain't got one thin dime?
(M) Yeah, but looky here -- I can give you lots of lovin'
'Cause you know I'm a lovin' cat
(F) But times' so doggone hard now, Baby
A woman can't live off a' that

It's time to love, it's time to pray
It's time to moan and shout
It's a time a woman's got other things
That she wants to think about

Now, keep your hands off a' my mojo, 'cause it sure is lucky to me
Now, keep your hands off a' my mojo, I wish i had two or three
I wear my mojo above my knee
To keep you from tryin to hoodoo me
So keep your hands off a' my mojo, if you ain't got no stuff for me


The concealment of the mojo hand is what has led to confusion about the meaning of the word. Many acoustic rural blues songs of the 1920s-30s refer to mojos, among them a dozen that carry a floating verse about "keeping a mojo hid." Here is a sample of such a lyric, from "Scarey Day Blues" by the Georgia-born musician Blind Willie McTell. The reference in the third line to "Georgia Bill" is explained by the fact that Willie Samuel McTell recorded for several competing labels under an assortment of pseudomyms including Georgia Bill, Hot Shot Willie, Blind Sammie, and Barrelhouse Sammy. "Scarey Day Blues" was a "Georgia Bill" recording, cut in Atlanta in October, 1931 for the Okeh label.

SCAREY DAY BLUES
by Blind Willie McTell

My good gal got a mojo, she's tryin' to keep it hid
My gal got a mojo, she's tryin' to keep it hid
But Georgia Bill got something to find that mojo with
I said she got that mojo and she won't let me see
She got that mojo and she won't let me see
And every time i start to love her she's tried to put that jinx on me

Well, she shakes like the Central and she wobbles like the L & N
She shakes like the Central and she wobbles like the L & N
Well, she's a hot-shot mama and i'm scared to tell her where i been

Said my baby got something, she won't tell her daddy what it is
Said my baby got something, she won't tell her daddy what it is
But when i crawls into my bed, i just can't keep my black stuff still

Since the least conspicuous way for a woman to wear a hidden mojo is hanging from a string under her skirt -- or, as Coot Grant put it, above her knee -- a male blues singer is making a double entendre when he declares he's going to find that mojo. It's a sexual joke, but the mojo itself is not sexual.