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There were many concoctions, potions, and spells used in Voodoo and Hoodoo (a countryside version of Voodoo without the spiritualism). Here are a few of the most historically significant. Warning: You should not attempt to mix, prepare or use any of these creations for yourself or others. They are revealed here solely as historical information. Don't try this at home! Certainly one of the most desired potions was the "cure-all." As the name suggests, it could solve any problem. One recipe for a cure-all potion was to mix Jamestown weed (jimpson weed) with sulphur and honey. This traditionally was placed in a glass which had to be first rubbed against a black cat who had one, and presumably only one, white foot. Then the stuff was sipped. This was the potion, by the way, which got Dr. Yah Yah into trouble. The most important concoction in New Orleans Voodoo was gris-gris, which supposedly brought either good or bad luck. There was a special gris-gris procedure which was claimed to produce a happy marriage. In this procedure a ribbon was tied around the hands of two Voodoo dolls. Then a small sand pile or mound was made, which should also have had nine candles placed on it. Champagne was then dripped over the mound. Then, mixing Catholicism with Voodoo in typical New Orleans fashion, the name of Saint Joseph was spoken and he was asked to help the marriage in question. An interesting finale to this ceremony was the payment for the marriage blessing to the Voodoo spirits. To compensate the spirits, a dish of macaroni and parsley had to be brought to a tree at Congo Square, located behind the Vieux Carre -- a small price to pay, indeed, for a happy marriage. As elsewhere, bill collectors were not popular in Old New Orleans. If you were especially annoyed by the frequent return of a collector or an unsolicited salesperson in Old New Orleans, all you had to do was toss some salt behind him as he left your property. Supposedly he would not come back. Faithfulness in relationships appears to have been a problem in the 19th century Vieux Carre, as it is in modern times. Should you want to maintain the loyal devotion of a girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, wife or lover, all you had to do was write the name of the object of your affection on a slip of paper and place the note in the chimney of your house. Prayer and reflection upon the note was required, however, and this was to be performed three times a day. Could this have been a form of remote viewing or remote suggestion? Everyone wants good luck, and in Old New Orleans a simple way to get it was merely to eat cabbage on January 1st. It was believed the cabbage had magical charms that would get the new year off to a good start. If you had the need to render a woman insane, there was a rather complex procedure said to achieve this. You should put nutmeg on the victim's left shoe, and it was to be done over and over again. However, this repetitive act could be performed only at the stroke of midnight, and only on every other night, until the woman went crazy. Another way to drive someone crazy (and presumably the victim here could be either male or female) was to write the victim's name backwards on an egg. No ordinary egg would do -- it had to be an egg from a black hen. Then it was required that the egg be tossed over the roof of the intended victim. As an alternative, the egg could be buried near the victim's front door. There were some simple ways, it was believed, to acquire wealth, catch a criminal, and free yourself from annoying neighbors. If you wanted to get easy money, it was believed that burning onion peels would do the trick. A murderer would be magically forced to confess to his evil deed if the murder victim's body was placed face down in his grave. If you wanted to be freed from the bothersome habits of a pesky next-door neighbor, all you had to do was toss a dead black chicken over his house. Pet cats and dogs would often stay from home, and folklore provided the good citizen with a solution for keeping Kitty and Spot. To keep your cat from its nightly wanderings about town, all you had to do was show the cat its face in a mirror. To keep the dog at home, there was another procedure. Some hairs from the dog's tail had to be pulled out and placed near the front door of your home. That was all that was needed to keep the dog from wandering -- or so it was believed. One of the great dangers of Voodoo were the sudden, unforeseen spells that could be placed upon you by people with malicious intentions. Surely, if you lived in Old New Orleans, you needed some preemptive protection. Fortunately, there was a solution. To protect yourself from the evil spells of Voodoo, it was necessary to acquire some of the bristles from a pig, but only from one that had been cooked at a Voodoo ritual. Then, using string, you had to tie the bristles into a bundle and carry them on you at all times. There were many more such magical undertakings and charms, but these give the flavor of how Voodoo had crept into Louisiana folkways, even beyond New Orleans, resulting in many superstitions as well.
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