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.

In New Orleans, the most commonly known use for red brick dust is its application in pulverized dust form to the front steps of the home as a means of keeping evil away

Learn of the history of red brick dust, how it is used in New Orleans Voodoo, how to make it and several conjure works.

This article is a reprint from Hoodoo and Conjure Quarterly 2011.