Hi Anaquana,
Let me start by stating that I am not personally a practitioner of Voodoo. However, I worked for nearly a year in a Voodoo shop in New Orleans and was friends with several active practitioners. The shop in which I worked catered to locals who needed actual spell components rather than tourists looking for a thrill. Part of my job was to dress candles, fill gris-gris bags, create potions and help customers design rituals.
The truth behind Haitian Voodoo, at least the New Orleans derivative, is far less sinister/dangerous/sensationalistic than the media or popular culture would have you believe. Where is your Voodoo houngan character from? New Orleans Voodoo was mixed with elements of Catholicism in the early 1800s. Haitian Voodoo today also has a Catholic undercurrent, but it is not nearly as pronounced.
In any event, showy Voodoo rituals are mostly done for the tourists. True rituals are much simpler and take place behind closed doors. They're also not dangerous or deadly. Voodoo practices mostly deal with healing the sick and helping the disadvantaged. Google "Marie Laveau" for information on the famous New Orleans Voodoo Queen's good works.
Anyway, a simple cleansing ritual for a friend? He'll probably invite her to his home, where he has a small altar set with pictures of his ancestors, small statuary representing his chosen spirit(s) (Google "Voodoo Spirits" for ideas) and perhaps a few flowers or other token gifts to the spirits (food or wine, perhaps, not dead cats or children lol).
Your houngan will talk to his friend for a few minutes, make her feel comfortable, and probably try to draw out her most pressing concerns to give the ritual a bit of focus. If she's curious about the altar/religion/ritual, he'll be glad to answer any questions.
He will probably burn a little incense and call to his chosen spirit(s) and/or ancestors for help. Depending on his preferred method of spell working, he might burn a white candle (for general healing/cleansing) or a color that targets a more specific need. Google "candle colors" for ideas. Some Voodoo practitioners use essential oils as well. He might burn a smudge stick (a bundle of sage lit at one end) around his friend (close to the body, roughly where the aura is) or even ask to smudge her entire home (used to drive out evil forces and create a calming space). Incidentally, smudge sticks are also used by modern witches and spiritualists. A lot of the practices overlap between religions. Anyway, he'll say a short prayer for her, asking his chosen spirits and/or ancestors to assist her. At the end, he will thank the spirits/ancestors for their help and release them.
Before she leaves, he will probably give her a gris-gris bag. A gris-gris bag is sort of a good-luck charm, usually a small pouch filled with dried herbs. Google "magical herbs" for a guide to the various herbs that might fill the bag (High John the Conqueror root is a very powerful general good luck item. Very expensive, but one piece will suffice. It's also very good if she's having financial difficulties). He might write her name on the bag in magical symbols.
Again, I'm not a practitioner or an expert. The above is based strictly in my experiences as a shop assistant and friend to New Orleans Voodoo practitioners. If you would like some more opinions, the shop where I worked, Esoterica, has an active forum known as the Oracle
http://members4.boardhost.com/onewitch/ There's a lot of witchcraft discussion (the shop supplies a lot of witches), but some Voodoo discussion as well. Feel free to jump in and post your questions. If you want to speak to my former boss directly, you can email her at
[email protected]. She's actually a witch rather than a Voodoo practitioner, but she has studied both New Orleans and Haitian Voodoo in great detail. Her name is Mimi.
That's a lot of info. I really hope some of it helps! If you have any specific questions, I'll do my best to answer.