From the beginning of the twentieth century small notes in the newspapers of New Orleans testified to the fact that Voodoo was still a living force. But it is extremely doubtful that any celebrations near the Bayou St. John or Lake Ponchartrain ever took place after the Malvina Latour period. More emphasis seems to have been placed on the use of gris-gris, the placing and removing of curses, and on the practice of homeopathic magic than on the dances and orgies that were once so common. In the 1950's the Voodoo curses were still considered as the worst of blights. Witchcraft and all the other varieties of evil magic common throughout the United States did not compare with it. Because they were usually of Anglo-Saxon origin, and, though they could be annoying, they were understood and familiar. Voodoo has always been different, dark, strange and complex, even to those who practice it. Nowadays Voodooists still mix their beliefs with some perverted form of Christianity. In New Orleans it is still often blended with Catholicism, probably because the city has always had a large Roman Catholic population. They have adopted many Catholic saints as their own and invoke them to aid in Voodoo work. Drugstores on South Rampert Street offer a great variety of gris-gris, which are still very popular and frequently used in New Orleans. Druggists sell Love Powder, Anger Powder, Peace Powder, Controlling Powder, War Powder, Easy Life Powder, Mad Water, Black evils Water, Hells Devil Oil, Love Oil, Mad Oil, Get-Together Drops, Fast-Luck Drops, Separation Water, Follow Me Drops and much more. Color candles are also part of the profitable business. A Voodoo drugstore owner says that it is surprising how many people still believe in the power of gris-gris. The most unbelievable thing for him is how many white people come to his shop and ask for love powder and stuff to fix other people. One third of his customers are white, the other two-thirds colored. However, he admits that much of it is just plain psychology. The owners of the Voodoo drugstores make almost all their own gris-gris. The powders and oils are usually very simple in content and are usually highly scented. Among simple people medicine must have a strong taste to be considered effective. In general, good gris-gris must smell nicely, bad gris-gris should have a vile odor. There are love powders, which must be put in food or drinks. Some of these are mild aphrodisiacs. The oils and waters are usually also colored and perfumed, and with different colors and odors for various purposes. Flying Devil Oil, for instance, is olive oil, colored red, with cayenne pepper added. However, Voodoo is not always harmless; there is bad gris-gris too.
Terrifying stories about people who went mad or even died because a
curse had been placed
upon them can still be heard in New Orleans today.
But most of the people who died because of a Voodoo curse, were simply
the victims of poisoning. It was common gossip that the Laveaus used poison.
Of all the gris-gris in use today, though, the most popular is 'Johnny
the Conqueror.' There are different kinds of Johnnys, but every type is
a twisted root with a pronglike formation at the end. For love and gambling
the power of Johnny is considered supreme. New Orleans still has Spiritual
Churches, some of whose practices bear a resemblance to the original
voodoo rituals. Ritualistic dancing and exotic altars characterize these
small tightly knit Christian congregations. The churches more likely represent
a religious movement that developed from the intersection of various beliefs
during the latter nineteenth century, and became first organized in the
1920's as a woman's movement.
4.1. Misunderstandings and Misconceptions
A lot of misunderstandings about Voodoo have entered the general consciousness.
For many
people outside Haiti, Voodoo has become synonymous with zombies,
Voodoo dolls and black magic. This is mainly caused by widespread and
sensational, but false stories and by the resulting influence of popular
books and movies that did not even attempt to reflect the religion as
it is truly practised. Voodoo is primarily a religion, after all, and
while selling love potions and protective charms may be a lucrative side
business for a priest, his primary occupation is still as a spiritual
leader of his community. So, although so many people associate magic with
Voodoo, its role in the actual practice of the religion in reality is
very small. In a strict sense, the Voodoo priest is not a magician; he
is just a person with an impressive knowledge of the spiritual world who
interacts with the spirits and gets them to perform services in exchange
for his offerings.
performs a ritual that causes a person to die. Then, within a short
period of time, the bokor calls the person back to life as a soulless
body. Many researchers believe that this process of 'zombification' is
an actual practice, achieved not through magic and ritual, but rather
through a combination of powerful drugs and poisons, involving a mixture
so toxic that it just has to be absorbed through the skin to have an effect.
So the victim does not die, but becomes completely paralysed and falls
into a coma. When the person is revived again, he is so disoriented that
he cannot remember his name or his family. The human personality is entirely
absent. Zombies are thus easy to control and are said to be used by bokors
as slaves for farm labour and construction work. Contrary to what is shown
in popular movies, the bodies of zombies do not continue to decay and
they do not fear being harmed by a zombie, they are more afraid of being
made into one. Probably this goes back to a fear of enslavement. However,
as widespread as stories about zombies are, there are few reliable, documented
cases of actual zombies. Unlike in the Night of the Living Dead movies,
Haiti is not crawling with reanimated, soulless bodies. 
