Juju - Friday, Apr. 11

Good juju, bad juju. I've heard it. I've said it. But what is it? I had to look it up.

According to Wikipedia:

"Juju or Ju-Ju is a word of either West African or French origin used previously by Europeans to describe traditional West African religions. Today it refers specifically to objects, such as amulets, and spells used superstitiously as part of witchcraft in West Africa.

The term juju, and the practices associated with it, traveled to the Americas from West Africa with the influx of slaves and still survives in some areas, particularly among the various groups of Maroons, who have tended to preserve their African traditions. Contrary to common belief, voodoo ... is not related to juju, despite the linguistic and spiritual similarities. Juju has acquired some karmic attributes in more recent times. Good juju can stem from almost any good deed: saving a kitten, or returning a lost book. Bad juju can be spread just as easily. These ideas revolve around the luck and fortune portions of juju. The use of juju to describe an object usually involves small items worn or carried; these generally contain medicines produced by witch doctors."

Just a few days ago, I was reading comments on a blog by Rick Doyle of RickPauletteRVJournal. Rick was discussing all the pruning he's been doing in his yard with a chainsaw. While trimming branches from his tree out of his neighbor's yard (no chainsaw involved), he fell back onto a stack of 2x6s. Ouch. Then he talked about renting a chipper to feed the branches into. Paul Dahl of RSanityRVTravels commented on Rick's blog that chainsaws + ladders = bad juju then recommended Rick stay away from a woodchipper.

It was the bad juju comment that got me wondering where the phrase originated and what it meant. Now you know too.

Travel Bug out.