Red bricks can be seen all over New Orleans, from the old brick streets to the brick graves in the Cities of the Dead. New Orleanians have found a variety of esoteric uses for them-- they are the preferred writing implement for marking 3 cross marks on the grave of our infamous Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau and they are used in pulverized form at the front door to keep away evil. It comes as no surprise that red bricks would also be used in the makeshift shrines seen around the city in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.
But where did this practice come from? One can only surmise; but, the fact of the matter is that red ochre clays have been used medicinally and ritualistically since the earliest of times. For example, medicinal use of red ochre clay is described in the Ebers Papyrus from Egypt, dating to about 1550 B.C. (Ferguson, 2006). And, ochre pigments were used by Cro-Magnon artists who painted prehistoric cave paintings in southern Europe between 32,000 and 10,000 years ago.
Residues of red ochre clays have been found in burial contexts all over the world from Paleolithic peoples in Europe to Late Holocene peoples of the Americas. Red ochre paint was used to imbue the newly departed with symbolic blood. For example, a human burial ground was found at Caplen Mound on Galveston Island, Texas which had a clam shell covered with a thin layer of red ochre. The shell was found within the grave and is assumed by archeologists to have functioned as the receptacle which held the paint used during body preparation rituals (Campbell, 1957).
Many suggest that the origin of the use of red brick dust can be traced to traditional African irosun powder. Irosun powder is red dust produced by termites from the barwood (Pterocarpus osun) and camwood (Baphia nitida) trees. Termites eat the outer white portion of the wood, leaving the heartwood to produce the reddish powder called osun. Irosun powder is used in Ifá for divining purposes; it is sprinkled on the divining tray by the diviner and figures of Ifá are marked on the tray in the powder (Bascom, 1991).
Red Brick Dust in New Orleans Voodoo
The use of red bricks has been mentioned in a number of writings. In the The Life and Works of Marie Laveau, for example, Raul Canizares (2001) talks about hex-proofing the home Orleans-style:
Orleanians since before the time of Marie Laveau swear by the power of red brick dust to ward off evil. Simply get an old red brick, hammer it to dust, and spread the dust around the front of your house, using a broom. Keep a pan of water that has been treated with a ball of Indigo bluing (anil) behind your front door, and draw crosses using cascarilla behind every door of the house. Add a couple of drops of urine from a child and use the mixture as a floor wash, this will complete making your home hex-proof. (Canizares, 2001, p. 23).
It should come as no surprise that Robert Tallant (1984) has something to say about red brick dust as well. He writes about it in his book Voodoo in New Orleans:
Zozo LaBrique, a well-known New Orleans street character, an apparently half-demented creature, who peddled buckets of brick dust. She was fixed, they say, by Marie Laveau because the latter wanted to rule the Voodoos alone. It has long been a custom among some New Orleans housewives to scrub their front steps with brick dust, a tradition having a definite connection with Voodoo—the washing away of an evil omen placed on the house by an enemy. It is true that now many people will tell you that they do this only for reasons of cleanliness; yet, that was its original meaning, and many stoops in the poorer section of the city have a well-scrubbed, whitish appearance, showing that brick dust has been used. Zozo LaBrique sold her dust for a nickel a bucket, and when she died a small fortune in those coins is said to have been found in her disreputable quarters. (Tallant, 1984, p. 47).
The use of red brick dust as first line of defense in the home is not the only way it is used in the context of New Orleans Voodoo. For example, Milo Rigaud (2001) in Secrets of Voodoo describes how vévés are traced on the ground using several different kinds of flour and assorted powders-- cornmeal, ashes, coffee grounds, brick dust, powdered bark and roots—while the vévé itself comprises the various symbols of the mysteries petitioned during Vodou ceremonies.
How to Use Red Brick Dust
To Conjure a Person
To conjure a person, fill a bottle with red brick dust, a piece of devil’s shoestring, 9 navy beans, and 9 rusty nails. Top off with white lightning (moonshine), shake well while uttering a few choice words, then throw in the sewer. This conjure is sure to make a person very sick.
To Swell a Man
To swell a man and keep him from bragging, take a red brick and dress nine black candles on which the target’s name has been etched with a rusty nail. Write the same name on a piece of paper with Dragon’s Blood ink and place it face down on the brick. Tie the paper securely to the brick with twine. Light one candle per day for nine days. After the last candle has burned, throw the brick along with the candle remains in the canal or the sewer. “Just like the brick soaks up the water, so that man will swell” (Hurston, 1935).
To Nullify Evil
To nullify an evil work, sprinkle some red brick dust on top of the crossed object.
Red Brick Floor Wash
Make a wash with red brick dust. Wash doors and windows to keep out enemies.
Red Brick Dust Candle Fix
Add a pinch of red brick dust to candles for protection.
Red Brick for Safe Travel
Keep a chunk of red brick in the trunk of your car for protection and safe travel.
Red Brick Dust Barrier for Protection
Use red brick dust in your windows and doorways to keep out enemies.
Shake the Devil Off Powder
Powder to prevent from being crossed: crush up red brick dust and dragon’s blood and sprinkle around the home. This can also be added to floor washes and used to dust candles and petition papers.
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* This article is excerpted from the book Red Brick Dust: A Traditional New Orleans Conjure Curio by Denise Alvarado, In press.
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