I want to clarify some things as it relates to the practice of Hoodoo and Conjure work. What makes this work? How do you see manifestation within your work? It is simple, what makes this work is spirit. By spirit, I mean the spirits of the herbs and the spirits of your ancestors. Anytime you are doing spiritual work, like lighting a candle, using a floor wash, a powder, an oil, etc, what makes it work are the spirits of the herbs and the spirits that you may be working with and also your energy with setting intentions, you make it work because you are a spiritual being yourself.
We personally only work with the spirits of the herbs and the spirits of our ancestors. Each herb carries a spirit, as they are living things as well, and it is a spirit for different conditions, which is where you may hear the term, condition oils. Most of the work is simple and some think that they are not doing enough, because of the simplicity. I do feel once you have a relationship established with your ancestors, you see your results stronger, quicker, and more powerful.
Ancestors are those in our bloodline who have transitioned from this life into the spiritual realm. It is the belief that our ancestors guide and protect us in this physical realm. The ancestors are a part of you. I have also seen concerns with people who embark into this practice with what they are considering, "paranormal activity" meaning maybe seeing spirit, hearing, feeling them. This is normal as this is what you are doing each time you do work- you are conjuring.
The importance with this is that you never want to conjure something that you can not banish. For novice, I would start with your ancestors before working with any other deities such as loas, etc. which you get into an entirely different practice, because Hoodoo does not work with the same. Make sure if you are embarking into petitioning any other type of deities that you do so with caution and make sure that you properly research.