In Marie Laveau’s day, front porch conjure was a popular method of conjuring your meddlesome neighbor. When a worker wished to fix someone in a clandestine fashion, concealment of ritual objects under the front porch was the preferred method of deploying a working. Gris gris, bottle spells, black cats, and other items believed to possess the power to harm were often placed or buried under front porches. For example, when a file was placed under the front porch, “it will break peace forever—even make a man leave his wife” (“How to Conjure” 1899, 229). Similar accounts are documented of people finding strange substances on their front porches—crosses made of salt, black coffins with dolls in them, beef hearts wrapped in black crepe paper—and the message is clear: trouble is brewing!
In 1930, for example, an incident was reported by a couple in New Orleans known as Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Gautier. One morning the couple woke up to find a thoroughly moistened cross with a gris gris bag on top placed squarely in front of the door on their front porch. No one knew who put it there, though some of the neighbors swore they heard noises in the early hours of the morning on the day it was discovered. Though no one knew exactly what it was, Mr. and Mrs. Gautier thought twice before sweeping it away. In some ways, they were relieved it was just a cross of salt and not something more sinister. Hammond explains:
In 1930, for example, an incident was reported by a couple in New Orleans known as Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Gautier. One morning the couple woke up to find a thoroughly moistened cross with a gris gris bag on top placed squarely in front of the door on their front porch. No one knew who put it there, though some of the neighbors swore they heard noises in the early hours of the morning on the day it was discovered. Though no one knew exactly what it was, Mr. and Mrs. Gautier thought twice before sweeping it away. In some ways, they were relieved it was just a cross of salt and not something more sinister. Hammond explains:
A cross of salt does not mean death. A coffin with a name written upon it with a pencil dipped in vinegar would mean that, or an acorn stuffed with hair and bearing four holes in its sides; but a cross of salt means only trouble (Hammond 1930,12).
On another occasion, a “young white war widow” discovered a black wax “voodoo cross” on her doorstep. The cross had the woman’s name inscribed on it, with forty-three pins stuck deep into the wax. At the top of the cross was a string with nine knots in it. It’s hard to say why there were forty-three pins specifically; my first thought was it could be the target’s age, but as she is identified as young, that would seem to rule out that idea. Perhaps it is directed at her lover? Knotted strings are a common working in Hoodoo. The number nine is considered a powerful magick number, and with each knot tied a prayer or intention is spoken. Each knot is also typically anointed or fixed with some sort of condition oil, meaning the oil would have been consistent with the condition or purpose of the working. Sometimes, knots are fixed with a lover’s semen or vaginal juices in spells designed to dominate or control someone’s nature, which is Hoodoo-speak for keeping a lover faithful. The newspaper stated the cross “symbolized death or separation from friends,” while the police stated it was “an attempt to extort money.” Locals said it was likely designed to “turn the young attractive woman against a boyfriend” (McClean 1949). While it’s impossible to definitively interpret any remote working from another century, the fact that the cross was stuck with forty-three pins strikes me as overkill. It reflects an obsession of sorts, like when murderers continue to stab their victims over and over again long after they are dead. “That’s reserved for real mean ‘hoodooing.’ That’s when you’re so mad at somebody you want to pull out all the stops” (McClean 1949). It demonstrates a real anger and fills a complex psychological need to not just stop or control a person, but to inflict serious injury. It’s the sort of thing that drives crimes of passion, only with Voodoo, nobody is actually stabbing anyone.
Sometimes, objects found on doorsteps and front porches were not placed there for nefarious purposes. Rather, they were intentionally placed there as a means of bringing good luck or protection to the family residing in the home. The ritual object may be placed by the homeowner or family member, or it could be placed there by a conjure worker for hire.
Now, you may be thinking, good thing this sort of conjure is a thing of the past. But you would be wrong. People still engage in this kind of ritual behavior and will continue to do so as long as there are commercial spiritual enterprises and perceived competition between business owners. Just this year, for example, one business owner found a mess of fish and chicken feet dumped on their business’s doorstep. As symbols of abundance, prosperity, happiness, endurance, fertility, health, creativity, and more in life, leaving dead fish would symbolize the loss of all of the positive attributes of the fish. It can also signify great losses and disappointments to come.
Clearly this event was done as a warning by a rival business owner or someone else in the community who disapproves of the targeted business. That said, the items and the way they were left leave me to suspect it may or may not have been done by a conjure worker. The fish are laden with Christian symbology and chicken feet are typically a good thing to Voudous and Hoodoos. They are not what we would think of as a jinx. In fact, they are useful allies. Chickens are believed to be protectors and frizzly chickens are skilled in scratching up conjures in the yard. Chicken feet are used as good luck ju ju and are believed to ward off evil and negativity. In one sense it seems like someone who has access to fresh fish and raw chicken feet just decided to grab some random “scary-looking” raw animal parts and dump it, counting on the psychological impact it would have on the targeted business owner. Without knowledge of how things work, the person may have actually designed a jinx that is nullified by the presence of so many chicken feet.
Clearly this event was done as a warning by a rival business owner or someone else in the community who disapproves of the targeted business. That said, the items and the way they were left leave me to suspect it may or may not have been done by a conjure worker. The fish are laden with Christian symbology and chicken feet are typically a good thing to Voudous and Hoodoos. They are not what we would think of as a jinx. In fact, they are useful allies. Chickens are believed to be protectors and frizzly chickens are skilled in scratching up conjures in the yard. Chicken feet are used as good luck ju ju and are believed to ward off evil and negativity. In one sense it seems like someone who has access to fresh fish and raw chicken feet just decided to grab some random “scary-looking” raw animal parts and dump it, counting on the psychological impact it would have on the targeted business owner. Without knowledge of how things work, the person may have actually designed a jinx that is nullified by the presence of so many chicken feet.
While front porch conjure still occurs in contemporary society, new technologies present new challenges in successful deployment. In 2017, for example, there was the case of a spiritual attack in the tradition of front porch conjure on Hearthside Candles & Curios in Ralston, Nebraska. Shop owner Alex Fernandez arrived to work one day, only to see a pile of suspicious looking stuff—no doubt gris gris—on the front doormat of his shop. He proceeded to spend the afternoon reviewing his security footage and it showed a man dumping something from his bag in front of the door. Not only that, he recognized the perpetrator.
The event left Fernandez somewhat baffled. “We are a metaphysical shop, and this was kind of the metaphysical equivalent of leaving a dead fish on someone’s doorstep. It’s meant as a threat,” Fernandez stated in an article for KPTM News in Nebraska. He says that threat was meant to bring bad luck to his business and to cause customers to cease from visiting his establishment.
“The fact that this person would do this and get caught doing it is just pretty stupid,” Fernandez said. As a result of the attack, Fernandez focused on stepping up security and installed a new surveillance camera (Saunders 2013).
This latter example really drives home what not to do as a Hoodoo in an urban environment. There are security cameras everywhere now. You cannot disregard this fact and expect to perform a clandestine work and go undetected. You have to assume you are being watched. Given this fact, you may want to disguise your appearance. Unless you want to be caught and your identity known, then you must strategize your attack in a way that addresses today’s realities so that a conjure working designed to be covert and clandestine, is deployed in a way that insures its covert, clandestine nature.
“The fact that this person would do this and get caught doing it is just pretty stupid,” Fernandez said. As a result of the attack, Fernandez focused on stepping up security and installed a new surveillance camera (Saunders 2013).
This latter example really drives home what not to do as a Hoodoo in an urban environment. There are security cameras everywhere now. You cannot disregard this fact and expect to perform a clandestine work and go undetected. You have to assume you are being watched. Given this fact, you may want to disguise your appearance. Unless you want to be caught and your identity known, then you must strategize your attack in a way that addresses today’s realities so that a conjure working designed to be covert and clandestine, is deployed in a way that insures its covert, clandestine nature.
