Our Ancestors Called Upon The “HopeBringer.” We Can, Too.

 With so much folklore about High John, we’ll never know if he was real. In some folktales, he is a trickster outwitting his enslavers. 

One story even depicted High John as an enslaved Congolese prince who outsmarted the Devil. In this tale High John escaped back to Africa, leaving his powers for those still enslaved in the roots of the jalap plant that grew in the South. 

Whether he ever existed or not, High John planted seeds of hope for our enslaved ancestors. They called him the “hopebringer,” symbolizing their desire for freedom. 

Preserving the name“High John the Conqueror” affirms our ancestors' belief that we too will be victorious.

High John root is still popular in hoodoo plant medicine and rituals. Keeping High John in our ancestral spiritual practices and folklore proves that our ancestors were determined to keep hope alive, even in the most horrific times.

In today’s horrific times – with genocides rooted in ethnic cleansing, race and colorism, and white imperialism – hope is still desperately needed. And not “renewed hope” that the systems and governments that continue to fail us will get better. They won’t. 

HOPE that we never lose sight of the power of our righteous resistance. Hope that we will win. Hope that, whether as root or spirit, High John is with us on the front lines.