No doubt the most well known of protective conjures in New Orleans is red brick dust. 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, but the most commonly known use for red brick dust is its application in pulverized form to the front steps of the home as a means of keeping evil away. It is said that red bricks were taken from the Dumaine Street Brickyard—the earliest place in New Orleans in which Voodoo rituals occurred—and were used in rituals and floor washes. The last reference to the Dumaine Street Brickyard in print was in connection with Voodoo Queen Sanité Dédé in 1825. Since Marie Laveau’s day, red bricks have been plentiful and can be procured all over the city.
The use of red brick dust has been mentioned in a number of writings. In The Life and Works of Marie Laveau, for example, Raul Canizares talks about hex-proofing the home Orleans-style:
The use of red brick dust has been mentioned in a number of writings. In The Life and Works of Marie Laveau, for example, Raul Canizares talks about hex-proofing the home Orleans-style:
New 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, 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 hex-proof your home using red brick dust is simple. Simply find a red brick—the older the better, because older bricks are softer than newer ones. Then crush it to powder using a hammer. Spread the dust across the threshold of your home and no evil will be able to enter.
Here are some other ways 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 FOR SAFE TRAVEL
Keep a chunk of red brick in the trunk of your car for protection and safe travel.
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.
Here are some other ways 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 FOR SAFE TRAVEL
Keep a chunk of red brick in the trunk of your car for protection and safe travel.
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.
Looking for Red Brick Dust?
In traditional New Orleans Voodoo, red brick dust is one of the most powerful and popular minerals used for protecting the home. After scrubbing the front porch with Chinese Wash or a mixture of urine and Essence of Van Van, red brick dust would then be spread across the threshold to keep bad energy and enemies from entering. Spread some of Voodoo Mama's Red Brick Dust across all thresholds of your home, including windowsills and doorways to keep evil away and to form a protective barrier.
Voodoo Mama's Red Brick dust is ground by hand from old bricks gathered from a local ghost town in the Southwest combined with red bricks from New Orleans. This ghost town is notorious for its paranormal activity and mystical energy. A classic wild west boomtown, it's history embraced bootleggers, opium dens, copper mining, prostitution and gambling and attracted people from all over the world in droves seeking riches and a freer life. After the bricks are collected, they are smudged with sage to insure they do not retain any negative attachments. After they are smudged, they reside for a period of seven days on my Marie Laveaux altar with offerings to receive the blessings and protection from the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans.
In addition to being used by itself as a protective barrier, Red Brick Dust can be added to floor washes, used to fix candles, added to mojo bags and gris gris, and added to doll babies for its protective qualities. According to oral tradition, it can be sprinkled over any evil conjure to nullify its effects.
If you are in need of red brick dust, I may have some. Just ask and I will see what I have in stock.
Voodoo Mama's Red Brick dust is ground by hand from old bricks gathered from a local ghost town in the Southwest combined with red bricks from New Orleans. This ghost town is notorious for its paranormal activity and mystical energy. A classic wild west boomtown, it's history embraced bootleggers, opium dens, copper mining, prostitution and gambling and attracted people from all over the world in droves seeking riches and a freer life. After the bricks are collected, they are smudged with sage to insure they do not retain any negative attachments. After they are smudged, they reside for a period of seven days on my Marie Laveaux altar with offerings to receive the blessings and protection from the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans.
In addition to being used by itself as a protective barrier, Red Brick Dust can be added to floor washes, used to fix candles, added to mojo bags and gris gris, and added to doll babies for its protective qualities. According to oral tradition, it can be sprinkled over any evil conjure to nullify its effects.
If you are in need of red brick dust, I may have some. Just ask and I will see what I have in stock.
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