Sep 23, 2012

Conjurin' the Red Hoodoo


I have written of use of blue color, or rather blue colored curios in Hoodoo before, in my article "Hoodoo blues" , and have decided to do the same,  regarding the color red, which is so prominently used  in Hoodoo too.

Red  Ochre powder
Whether  it’s Red ochre ,  red brick, Cayenne,  or any other red curio or formula, Hoodoo  associates power, fierce and quick drawing qualities with such. It is no mistake that color red is corresponding to Protective, Blockbuster and thunderous deities In Hoodoo, such as St. Michael  the Archangel, St Barbara or Chago Loa, and we can even see red
Being’ one of the colors that correspond to Legba.   Speed and drawing/conjuring things is also commonly seen as “red” in Hoodoo,  and therefore candles  dedicated to St.Expedite  are often red wax dyed candles.

It’s also correspondent to love, passion , attraction and even luck drawing, for the Red Fast Luck formula is red indeed, and the color often comes from flakes of Alkanet root in it.

Much like Fire and South , to which color corresponds,  the red in Hoodoo ( and in magick ) is a powerful adjunct to any kind of spiritual work, in terms of speed and power. Blood which is red, is sacred , and ties to ancestral, constantly flows, hence is an enlivening,  and radiant , beckoning spiritual energies. To color seems to share the properties.

Fiery wall of protection products are often associated with  fire and color red and share it’s protective and “fiery” ( hence the name  ) qualities. Most of the    botanicals used  in the  formulae correspond to fire, Mars or Sun.

Reddening

Reddening is a New-Orleans Voodoo Hoodoo style folk ritual/spell  of laying lines made of powdered red bricks in front of doors, windows or even around yard and house. It is believed that this practice originates from using red ochre ( a natural dye Fe2O3, anhydride of yellow Ochre (  or just Ochre, Fe2O3 x 5H20 ), traditionally used in Africa as a skin dye and apotropaic agent.  Ochre naturally occurs as clay and is sometimes used as material or part of material for making a poppet, to work sympathetic ( image ) magick on someone, more so in African derived traditions.

Red bricks and chunks and pieces of them, are used to make the traditional 3 cross marks on Mamzelle Leveaux’s grave , as a part of wishing or rather petitioning ritual,  performed at her resting place. 
Powdered red birck dust, makes for a Hoodoo powder “pre excellence” , use to nullify conjure work, preferably that focused on objects , or even foot track magick. It’s commonly used to sprinkle over powders and objects or liquids , lain down in crossing work , such as foot track magick or sprinkling Hot foot powder where someone will walk over it. Sprinkling such with Red brick dust powder , renders such crossing harmless.  

Seems though, that like many curios of  New Orleans style conjure, red brick is  a two-headed conjure, for it can be used to cross , or swell a men as Zora Neale Hurston recorded in her folkloric work : “Mules and men”   , which says:
So Pierre took me with him to steal a new brick. We took the brick home and dressed nine black candies by writing e offensive doctor's name on each. His name was written nine times on a piece of paper and placed face down on the brick. It was tied there securely with twine. We put the black candles to burn, one each day for nine days, and then Pierre dug a well to the water table and slipped the brick slowly to the bottom. "Just like the brick soaks up the water, so that man will swell." [1]

 I have also read of Crossing Hoodoo jar spell  , recently,  that utilizes   brick, rusty nails, beans, and other things, all in  nine amounts [2]  
Red Hoodoo dyes

     Certain botanical contain natural  red dyes  and are often used to give color to oils in Hoodoo  ( or other type of formulae if/when needed )  , such as Alkanet root ( Alakana tinctoria )    , Puccon root or Bloodroot ( Sanginaria candiensis ) Cayenne pepper flakes ( Capiscum annum )  , Red Sandalwood powder   ( Pterocarpus Santalinum ) even Dragon’s blood resin  (  Dracaena Drako ), or common Onion peel ( Allium ) , and are all source of dye but have magickal use as well 
     You’ll probably use flakes of Alkanet to tint “Red fast luck”, for they  are protective of those that would wish to Jinx our money, while You’d probably go for Cayenne pepper flakes or   Onion peels in oil that’s supposed to banish or move ( away  ) someone or something. Fiery wall of protections contains Sandlwood ( often red one, to give color, even though Red Sandalwood is really a love related botanical  ) and Dargon’s blood resin ,  as those are protective and fiery.

Hmm, That inspired  me ;
Red Hoodoo powder:

Red Cayenne flakes,
an apotropaic botanical
·         Red brick dust, powdered
·         Dragon’s blood resin
·         Cayenne flakes 

Pulverize , If You wish add to a base of talc powder dyed red. If You use minerals such as Saltpeter or Epsom salts , it would make a nice “Run Dev*l Run” type of sprinkle.
Use as uncrossing or evil banishment agent, also could be used in offensive magick  too ( Red brick dust, and Cayenne are also used in Crossings , and Dragon blood is ingredient often found in “Dark arts” formulae or “pact working ) ,  and can of course, due to containing Red brick dust,  be sprinkled on “fixed” items , to render them harmless.   

Red Fast Luck

It’s a Hoodoo condition oil formula, as recorded by folklorist Zora Neale Hurston, red in color,  containing either

1)
·         Cinnamon
·         Wintergreen
·         Vanilla
·         Flakes of Alkanet ( for color )

Modern versions may include lodestones, even pyrite chips , orange peels and what not. These are however not parts of the formula as originally recorded by Hurston  , or
2)
·         Citronella essential oil diluted
·         PRESUMED: red dye

Again as recorded by Hurston,  this one could be referring to a lucky floorwash they use in New  Orleans, being simply diluted Citronella in water.
Now I said Red Fast luck , and not simply Fast luck as usually referred , to evade confusing it with yet another formula, containing  Bergamot ,as well as one ingredient of red Fast luck version 1 , as given above,   plus the third ingredient, an Asian grass  [3] which was traditional in New  Orleans and was   pale yellow colored .  

Also , it should be wisely to add here, that even though I myself  ( for my own workings ) as well as many suppliers will dye  Fast luck ( or rather Red fast luck ) red, it’s commonly sold in form of oil that has two layers, red and green,  alluding to the versatile use an nature of the oil , which can be use in love and money matters.
Therfore, Fast luck, as the name cunningly suggests  brings fast, though  most often very short lasting luck, and is as such preffered in things that may require luck in a hurry , quick money , love, lottery games and slot machine games .

It smells so very  fairly , that it can be used as magickal perfume as well.
Wickedly red

Another thing is closely related to color red , and often associated with same in Hoodoo, and it’s the De*il.   In all honesty  , attributing red to the Wicked one, may not be  an example   of  Christian, or/nor  other kind   of spiritual influence  on Conjure  ( Hoodoo and Creole Voodoo  ) as  an system, but rather an example of commercialism and it’s effect on anything really. Or an example of a trend, influencing magick  like anythin’ else that has to do with human beings.  See the trend of depicting the wicked one as horned, red figure was common even in midleage artwork, and later in modern days ,  prominently seen on commercial labels. A certain ( and quite famous  )  laundry detergent ( name beginning with “P”, ending with an “l” ) have once had a label clearly depicting red devil, and some   lye suppliers in States still use  red devil on their  stickers and labels of all sorts.
Hence, an example is “Red Devil Lye” which is use in Hoodoo in some places, by means of burring four  unopened containers with labels facing outwards in four corners of the yard, to ward off enemies, and is reportedly  very effective [4] Yronwode, Catherine “Hoodoo Herb and Root magic “
Red Devil image , is also often seen on various Hoodoo formula packages and labels such as Run Devil Run or Chinese wash, to name just   a couple of them J

NOTES: This article was written and composed by myself, therfore If You wish to use any part of it elswhere online add credits: Shadow of Shadows magick place, Shadow-333@hotmail.com ,  or a direct link to this post
CREDITS AND REFERENCES :
[1] quoted from :http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma01/grand-jean/hurston/chapters/hoodoo3.html#4 
[2] as stated on http://www.examiner.com/article/new-orleans-voodoo-curio-spotlight-red-brick-dust
[3]according to :   "PHARMACY RECIPE BOOK" , NEW ORLEANS PHARMACY MUSEUM
[4] Yronwode, Catherine “Hoodoo Herb and Root magic “, entry of "red lye"
IMAGE CREDITS:
Image depicting Ochre powder ( first image ) is from www.123rf.com  , and slightly edited here by myself, used  here for  explanatory and illustrativ e purposes, without any ill will. Second image, showing   Cayenne pepper flakes is from www.dreamstime.com  edited  by me for use here, and  used , as the previous one withou t any ill will

No comments:

Post a Comment