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6. Gris-Gris An essential element of Marie's magic was gris-gris. Gris-gris (pronounced "gree-gree") comes from the French word gris which means grey, hence a combination of black (negative) and white (positive) magic. In New Orleans, positive charms were called "juju," and negative were called "mojo" -- terms which emanated from African tribal beliefs. Gris-gris was the most powerful of all charms and also the most expensive, and it could be used for good or ill. Gris-gris was a potion of herbs and natural or decaying matter, from the mundane to the bizarre, sometimes including powdered brick, ochre, cayenne pepper, fingernail clippings, human hair, and animal skin (usually reptilian) -- all tossed into a small leather bag. Thankfully, this mixture was not ingested, but was worn around the neck from a string, or left near the intended object of the charm. It supposedly brought either good or bad luck, depending on what you believed in. The real power of the gris-gris lay in the psychology of the object of the charm. The power of suggestion, more than anything else, was the real power behind the gris-gris. It was essentially a non-ingested, magical placebo. Gris-gris lives on today in popular culture. Even nowadays in the New Orleans area, it is not uncommon to hear the expression "to put gris-gris on it," meaning to perform some task so astonishingly well it seems as if magic is being used. Or the expression can be used with a negative meaning, as if a hex were placed on a particular action. Next: Congo Square
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