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You are here: Home / Language / Where Did the Word “Mojo” Come From and What Does it Mean to Have Your “Mojo” Working?

Where Did the Word “Mojo” Come From and What Does it Mean to Have Your “Mojo” Working?

February 6, 2020 by Karen Hill

Mojo is a word from the black Creole culture of the coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia and probably arrived in some form with the slaves from Africa.

The word means “magic,” and although it’s had minor sub-cultural use as a jazz reference to drugs and sex, a mojo is a good luck charm enhanced through voodoo with the ability to cast a positive spell.

If you’ve got your mojo working, then everything’s going your way.

A mojo is often made of red flannel cloth and tied with a drawstring, containing botanical, zoological, and mineral curios, petition papers, and is usually worn under clothing.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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