Many superstitions also related to the practice of Hoodoo developed within the Voodoo tradition in Louisiana. While these superstitions are not central to the Voodoo faith, their appearance is partly a result of Voodoo tradition in New Orleans and have since influenced it significantly.
* If you lay a broom across the doorway at night, a witch can't come in and hurt you.
* Having a woman visit you the first thing on Monday mornings is bad luck for the rest of the week.
* Don't borrow or lend salt because that is bad luck.
* If you sweep trash out of the house after dark you will sweep away your luck.
* Don't shake a tablecloth outside after dark or someone in your family will die.
* To stop a Voodoo spell being placed upon you, acquire some bristles from a pig cooked at a Voodoo ritual, tie the bristles into a bundle and carry them on you at all times.
* If a woman sprinkles some salt from her house to yours, it will give you bad luck until you clean the salt away and put pepper over your door sill.
* If a woman wants her husband to stay away from other woman, she can do so by putting a little of her blood in his coffee, and he will never quit her.
* If a woman's husband dies and you don't want her to marry again, cut all of her husband's shoes all in little pieces, just as soon as he is dead, and she will never marry again.
* You can give someone a headache by taking and turning their picture upside down.
* You can harm a person in whatever way you want to by getting a lock of his hair and burning some and throwing the rest away.
* You can make a farmer's well go dry by putting some soda in the well for one week, each day; then drawing a bucket of water out and throwing it in the river to make the well go dry.
In Voodoo spells, the "cure-all" was very popular among followers. The cure-all was a Voodoo spell that could solve all problems. There were different recipes in voodoo spells for cure-all; one recipe was to mix jimson weed with sulphur and honey. The mixture was placed in a glass, which was rubbed against a black cat, and then the mixture was slowly sipped.
The Voodoo doll is a form of gris-gris, and an example of sympathetic magic. Contrary to popular belief, Voodoo dolls are usually used to bless instead of curse. The purpose of sticking pins in the doll is not to cause pain in the person the doll is associated with, but rather to pin a picture of a person or a name to the doll, which traditionally represents a spirit. The gris-gris is then performed from one of four categories: love; power and domination; luck and finance; and uncrossing.
Books You Might Enjoy:
Michael Jordan - Dictionary Of Gods And Goddesses
Nevrom Ydal - Preparing The Ritual Area And Yourself
Phil Hine - Devotions And Demonesses
Kathryn Paulsen - Witches Potions And Spells
Anonymous - Healing Gemstones And Crystals