Etymology From a West African language, probably originally from French joujou.
1
A fetish or charm believed by West Africans to have magical or supernatural powers.
Pendants round the neck, bangles round the wrists or ankles, potatoes or nutmegs in the pocket are as old or older than civilisation, carrying the same prophylactic magic as any juju in an African witchdoctor's armamentarium.1976 March 27, F. Dudley Hart, “History of the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis”, in British Medical Journal, volume 1, number 6012, →DOI, →JSTOR, page 763:
2
The magical or supernatural power of such a charm.
They are believed to be "Ju-Ju" or were-leopards, and in this guise to roam through the forest in bands, bent on evil and destruction.1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 168:
She shivered and a whole host of dark memories clustered round her. Above all, she remembered that first time in the Houmfor where her black nurse had once taken her as a child. 'It do yuh no harm, Missy. Dis powerful good juju. Care fe yuh res 'f yo life.'1954, Ian Fleming, “Allumeuse”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 108:
2 more examples
The party had nominal hosts, all famous, but the real hostess, as everyone knew, was La Doll, who had more connections and access and juju than all of those people combined.2010, Jennifer Egan, “Selling the General”, in A Visit from the Goon Squad:
The blues juju—or jou-jou—relies upon the enjoyment of desires that cannot be satisfied.2018, Mark Fisher, “it doesn't matter if we all die: the cure's unholy trinity”, in Darren Ambrose, editor, K-punk: the collected and unpublished writings of Mark Fisher (2004–2016), London: Repeater Books, →ISBN:
3
Informal The (usually negative) karmic consequences of an action or behavior.
‘I knew a guy once who smoked jujus,’ she said. ‘Three highballs and three sticks of tea and it took a pipe wrench to get him off the chandelier.’1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin, published 2010, page 75: