New Book Explores 400 Years of Black Women’s Conjure Influence in America

Recent cultural works and scholarship are shining a spotlight on the complex and historically rich traditions of feminine spiritual practices and their broader societal implications. Ryan Coogler's 2025 film Sinners and Lindsey Stewart's book The Conjuring of America explore conjure, a spiritual practice rooted in the African diaspora that blends African, Christian, Islamic, and Indigenous influences, emphasizing its role in healing and protection amid ongoing struggles for Black rights. This resurgence parallels a global call for recognition of the Divine Feminine, an energetic force representing intuition, healing, and balance, which many see as essential to addressing contemporary crises like social injustice and environmental degradation. Historical revisions in early Christianity reveal that the Jesus Movement was initially egalitarian and mystical, with significant female leadership and spiritual teachings, later suppressed by institutionalized patriarchal church structures. Meanwhile, artistic expressions such as the Mithila paintings highlighting the Dasa Mahavidya—Ten Wisdom Goddesses of Tantra—illustrate the feminine as a powerful, multifaceted force encompassing creation and destruction, challenging traditional gendered narratives. Together, these perspectives underscore a growing cultural and spiritual reawakening to feminine power and its vital role in healing and transformation across societies.