10/30/2025
Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
Hoodoo Spirit Bloody Bones
Bloody Bones is part of an African American series of spirits that teaches a lesson about talking too much, or "snitchin" and, "cashing checks our butts can't cash." These stories go by titles such as "The Talking Mule," "The Talking Bones," or "The Talking Turtle." The initial story as it relates to Bloody Bones was a talking skull in a boneyard.
Bloody Bones and a man named High Walker are connected as rivals but are now the same in a sense, because Bloody Bones is the one who got High Walker decapitated. However, before this happened, High Walker had special gifts. His gifts allowed him to command boneyard bones to move on command. He would go through a specific boneyard and command all the bones and skulls to move and talk. Bloody Bones sold his soul and body to the devil to get his gifts, as lore speaks. He told the devil he never wanted to do right and only wrong; as a result, he died and dried up doing just so.
In Hoodoo, there is a lot of lore about meeting the devil to obtain special gifts. For example, to become a witch, to become talented, a way to obtain a "night bone" (Hoodoo term for black cat bone), to have fame, etc. Even the late great Zora Neale Hurston stated having to do a ritual at the crossroads to meet the devil in order to study under a two-head. She said her experiences felt dark and cold.
(Hence, why I could never compare the devil at the crossroads in Hoodoo to Esu; the lore in Hoodoo of the spirit of the Devil at the crossroads speaks nothing of the nature of Esu.)
One day when High Walker went to his boneyard, Bloody Bones' skull was there. Bloody Bones did not speak when High Walker commanded. Later, Bloody Bones told High Walker, "It was my mouth that got me here, and it will be yours to bring you here too." High Walker went and told some white people that there was a talking skull. He said he'd show them, and if the skull didn't talk, they could take his head. Well, when High Walker took them to the skull, the skull didn't talk. So High Walker's head was taken.
After High Walker's head was taken, Bloody Bones and the entire boneyard rose and shook themselves and told the white man the same thing. "It's my mouth that got me here; it will be yours that brings you here," they said. "We got High Walker, and we are all Bloody Bones now."
According to Hoodoo lore, Bloody Bones lures people to their demise, and their bones join Bloody Bones, and Bloody Bones will use anyone or any spirit to lure you there. Bloody Bones is often associated with Raw Head, which makes one wonder if was it Bloody Bones that lured Raw Head to his demise and they became one.
(Study the lore.)