Hoodoo
Hoodoo Prayers
Affirmative prayer is used by practitioners of African American hoodoo, usually in conjunction with its opposite, which is called a prayer of removal. In this folk magic application of the technique, the prayer of removal may be said during a waning moon or at sunset or at ebb tide (“As the sun goes down, this disease is removed from my body”) and the affirmative prayer may be said during a waxing moon, at dawn, or at high tide (“As the sun rises, this day brings me perfect health”).
The explanation for this application of affirmative prayer is that God has ordained laws of natural inflow and outflow, and that by linking one’s prayer to a natural condition that prevails at the time, the prayer is given the added power of God’s planned natural event.