[Ads-l] mojo, jomo (1923)

Thu Oct 4 17:13:10 UTC 2018

Autocorrect changed “wumba” to “rumba” below. BB

> On 4 Oct 2018, at 10:10, Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> The link is behind a paywall; I hope the article doesn’t discuss the possibility of “moko” or “mojuba” as an origin.
> 
> The English OLD says that “mojo” is probably of African derivation, giving Gullah “moco" as a comparison.
> 
> Stephen Goranson (http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2010-July/100787.html <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2010-July/100787.html>) gives a citation of Kongo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kongo_language <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kongo_language>) as the origin.
> 
> 1. Dictionary and Grammar of the Kongo Language: English-Kongo dictionary
> Baptist missionary society
> 1887
> https://tinyurl.com/ydcoeqek <https://tinyurl.com/ydcoeqek>
> 
> ——
> p. 11: arm, n. (body), koko, (pl. moko)
> p. 101: hand, n. koko, 9 [(pl. moko) arm].
> p. 240: Witch doctor. During sickness a doctor is called in … he is called nganga (2) a moko; to consult him, tesa o moko.
> p. 371: nganga a moko, witch-doctor.
> ——
> 
> 2. Appendix to the Dictionary and Grammar of the Kongo language, as spoken at San Salvador, the ancient capital of the old Kongo empire, West Africa
> William Holman Bentley
> 1895
> https://archive.org/details/dictionarygramma00bentuoft/page/930 <https://archive.org/details/dictionarygramma00bentuoft/page/930>
> ——
> p. 867: Manga, 4, n. (Bako.), the fetish moko, see p. 504.
> p. 885: Ngyambika (2) a moko (9), n., the laying on of hands
> p. 931: When a married couple have lost several children by death, the witch doctor (nganga a mono or manga) will frequently recommend that they be brought under the spell of rumba (kota o wumba).
> ——
> 
> Perhaps related as well:
> 
> "A Witch's Craft Volume 1: Dictionary for a Witch's Grimoire” by Viktorija Briggs (https://tinyurl.com/ybfwkmwn <https://tinyurl.com/ybfwkmwn>) claims the West African word “mojuba” is the origin. Here are three recent citations with mojuba and mojubando.
> 
> 1. The Trickster's Tongue (partial citation with unclear context). One citation is from Trinidad.
> https://tinyurl.com/yak9lsr8 <https://tinyurl.com/yak9lsr8>
> Mark De Brito
> 
> 2. "The Blood that Runs in the Veins": Experience and Performance in Cuban-American Santería Seashell Divination
> Michael Atwood Mason
> https://tinyurl.com/y977xt8v <https://tinyurl.com/y977xt8v>
> 
> ——
> … he being to chant in Lucumí. The mojuba, as performed by José, resembles the example provided…
> ——
> 
> Lucumí is the liturgical language of Santería derived from Yoruba (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucum%C3%AD_language <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucum%C3%AD_language>).
> 
> 
> 3. The Secrets of Afro-Cuban Divination: How to Cast the Diloggún, the Oracle
> Ócha'ni Lele
> https://tinyurl.com/yb2fnpno <https://tinyurl.com/yb2fnpno>
> 
> ——
> … the ritual of mojubando begins….
> 
> Mojuiba Olófin. Mojuba Olorún. Mojuba Olodumare. Mojuba Olójoni.
> ——
> 
> Benjamin Barrett
> Formerly of Seattle
> 
>> On 4 Oct 2018, at 08:27, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM <mailto:bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM>> wrote:
>> 
>> We've previously discussed "mojo" ('magical charm') and its reversed form
>> "jomo." OED3 has "mojo" from 1926 and mentions "jomo" in the etymology --
>> Stephen Goranson found an example of the latter from 1925:
>> 
>> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2010-July/100787.html <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2010-July/100787.html>
>> 
>> As I mention in my Wall St. Journal column this week (https://bit.ly/mojobz),
>> both forms can be antedated to 1923, thanks to Newspapers.com. The cite for
>> "jomo" is slightly earlier, though as we discussed before, "mojo" is likely
>> the original form.
>> 
>> ---
>> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24238460/jomo/
>> Anniston (Alabama) Star, Jan. 27, 1923, p. 1, col. 2
>> "Jo-mo," shouted Lucille Drakes, negro woman, as the rent man approached
>> her cabin.
>> "Jo-mo, jo-mo," she repeated, rubbing a bundle of herbs reposing on her
>> bounteous bosom.
>> But the rent man paid no heed. He didn't even hesitate.
>> Forward -- like the light brigade -- he advanced and demanded his rent.
>> Lucile continued to should "jo-mo, jo-mo," and to massage the herbs under
>> her dress; but the man didn't hypnotize -- for he even threatened to put
>> her out in the street if she didn't pay.
>> So Lucille paid -- and had "Dr." Matthew Taylor, negro voodoo specialist
>> arrested because of the failure of his prescription to relieve her of the
>> pain of paying rent. [...]
>> First Lucille testified, telling how she paid the "doctor" $8 for a bundle
>> of "jo-mo herbs" -- positively guaranteed to hypnotize the rent man and
>> make him forget to ask payment. All you need to do is to place the herbs
>> beneath your dress, wait 'till the rent man approaches, then rub the herbs
>> and shout "jo-mo" three times.
>> ---
>> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24187727/mojo_bag/
>> St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 24, 1923, p. 28, col. 5
>> William Gassway, 49 years old, a negro, was freed today when Circuit Judge
>> Grimm held that he had not committed grand larceny when he sold to John
>> Rogers, another negro, a Mojo bag for $85 on July 26.
>> The Mojo bag was guaranteed to be a charm strong enough to soften the heart
>> of John's wife, Amelia, who had fled to Wisconsin after renouncing her
>> husband. John took it to Wisconsin and said, "Amelia, come back home."
>> Despite the Mojo bag, Amelia shouted "No!" John testified today. The Judge
>> sustained a demurrer by counsel for Gassway, who contended that he had been
>> wrongfully charged. Selling Rogers a bag with a lump of coal in it was a
>> business transaction of questionable nature possibly, but not grand
>> larceny, it was held.
>> ---
> 

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