Among
these the burning of black candles, accompanied by certain performances,
brings evil upon those against whom a "work" is made, while blue candles
have to do with love charms. It may also be noted that "love powders"
can be purchased now-a-days in drug stores in New Orleans.
In the days of long ago the great negro gathering place used to be Congo
Square--now Beauregard Square--and here, on Sunday nights, wild dances
used to occur--the "bamboula" and "calinda"--and sinister spells were
cast. Later the voudous went to more secluded spots on the shores of
Lake Pontchartrain, and on St. John's Eve, which is their great
occasion, many of the whites of the city used to go to the lake in hopes
of discovering a voudou seance, and being allowed to see it. A friend of
mine, who has seen several of these seances, says that they are
unbelievably weird and horrible. They will make a gombo, put a snake in
it, and then devour it, and they will wring a cat's neck and drink its
blood. And of course, along with these loathsome ceremonies, go
incantations, chants, dances, and frenzies, sometimes ending in
catalepsis.
There are weird stories of white women of good family who have believed
in voudou, and have taken part in the rites; and there are other tales
of evil spells, such as that of the Creole bride of long ago, whose
affianced had been the lover of a quadroon girl, a hairdresser.
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