The origin of the word is unclear, but some scholars trace it to juju the West African name for fetish , or sacred object. Most of the African fetishes were shaped like dolls, and early Europeans on the African West Coast may have mistaken serious religious objects for innocent looking poppets. Biren Bonnerjea whose Dictionary of Superstitions and Mythology appeared in 1927 defines juju as the West African name for a fetish, also called grigri . The gris-gris became traditional in New Orleans, the American headquarters for voodoo , where they were use for various things such as attracting money and love, stopping gossip, protecting the home, maintaining good health and achieving innumerable other ends. At one time, every police officer was known to carry a gris-gris for protection.
Ingredients are never an even number or more than thirteen.
Stones and colored objects are chosen for their occult and astrological meanings corresponding to the purpose for which the gris-gris is to be used. Other more elaborate gris-gris were made of bird nests and horse hair weavings. The dove's blood and sap were mixed together, and this mixture was used to write the amount that the gambler wished to win on the chamois, which was wrapped in the red flannel with the shark's tooth between the two layers, all of which was sewn together with cat's hair. This charm was supposedly worn in the left shoe to bring good and often uncomfortable luck. Such gris-gris filled with gunpowder or red pepper were thrown on a person or at his door supposedly to get him into a fight.