Connextions elieve t or

Believing that you have the power to change your life is the first step. There are millions of practices, such as religion and even alcoholics anonymous, that reinforce believing in a power greater than yourself. Some choose to call that power God or Buddha, and some would say that sitting in a large room full of people, is a power greater than themselves. Have you heard the term, “there is strength in numbers?” Strength… power… energy – it all comes down to a ‘connection.’ A connecting of the energy that you either put into your belief, sometimes called ‘faith,’ or a connection of energy in a crowded room of people who are gathering for a single purpose. That energy can be very intense, or rather ‘strong.’

traditional folk magic called hoodoo. The goal of hoodoo is to improve one’s quality of life by working with the natural world to assist in such areas as money, love, health, employment, personal power, and success. Use of herbs and minerals, as well as contact with ancestors or other spirits of the dead is an important practice within the conjure tradition, and the recitation of scriptural incantations is also considered magically effective in hoodoo. Due to hoodoo's great emphasis on each individual's own power within themselves, its basic principles are generally felt to be easily adapted, based on one's desires, inclinations and goals.

We recently sat down with Khi Armand in his Brooklyn apartment, to discuss his beliefs and how he uses his positive energy to help others. Khi, a recent Masters graduate with a degree in Performance Studies from NYU, practices a

I am an OUT activist, originally from Queens, interested in travel and indigenous rights. Most recently, I spent about a month in Mexico, studying arts and activism, and have spent time in South Dakota on Pine Ridge

36

www.connextionsmagazine.com

Who is Khi Armand?

ot

Reservation, researching American Indian two-spirit roles, which has formed a huge part of my foundation in research. I am scheduled to be at an academic conference in Brazil this coming January, and I just received a religious studies scholarship to be in Nashville this August from the HRC. How did your involvement in hoodoo begin? I’d practiced European witchcraft and led Wiccan ceremonies for many years, and I discovered hoodoo through the Lucky Mojo Curio Company’s extensive web presence and began practicing it on my own. While I was studying the Unnamed Path, a shamanic tradition for Men-Who-Love-Men, with founder, Eddy Gutierrez, he encouraged me to make my practice public. I have a shamanic calling on my life and there are things I can’t run away from, certain duties I have to fulfill, and certain people I have to make myself available to, as they come into my life.