11/21/2025
Reciprocity is Our Culture
By: Root Doctor Kye
In many African-descended spiritual traditions (Hoodoo, Conjure, Rootwork, and countless African-American, spiritual practices born on Southern soil) reciprocity is not a suggestion; it is a cultural law. Long before money became the standard exchange, our people survived through mutual care and energy exchange. A healer might fix a broken ankle in exchange for a plate of food. A rootworker might bless a home and receive eggs or vegetables from the garden. Community wasn’t built on transactions; it was built on balance.
That history still lives inside our work today.
This message is not for everybody, but it is important for those who seek help from spiritual workers to understand: when a practitioner gives you a large body of work for free, honor them. Even if they don’t ask. Even if they say, “don’t worry about it.” Reciprocity is embedded in the culture because the exchange of energy keeps the worker safe, keeps the work balanced, and keeps the tradition alive.
I have personally cleansed entire homes in cities I don’t even live in (driving two hours, using my own supplies, my own time, my own energy) and received nothing in return but a thank you. And for me, in certain moments, that thank you was enough. I’m blessed regardless. I’m not complaining and this is not about me as an individual.
It’s about the pattern I’m seeing:
A lot of people just don’t know how the culture works anymore.
Spiritual workers are not wealthy. Many are regular people balancing families, jobs, bills, and life, while still showing up for community at a level most people will never see. Most practitioners cannot travel, cleanse, pray, prepare, or pour into others endlessly without feeling the strain physically, spiritually, or financially.
So if you ever meet a practitioner willing to help you for free,
feed them.
Tip them.
Bring a meal, offer gas money, replace the candle they used, something.
Reciprocity doesn’t have to be grand. It just has to be present.
Because kindness, in our traditions, is not meant to be taken.
It is meant to be returned, even when it is not required.
That’s how the culture works.
That’s how the elders taught it.
And that’s how we keep these traditions alive with integrity.