That's pretty much what I have in mind, yes, although probably pretty light on the voodoo angle just because it's so...expected, y'know? And I'd want to do a respectful take if I do it at all. I'd love to do some Candomble stuff but that's mostly a Brazilian deal.
I was actually thinking of a secret order of Egyptian-descended magi, deriving their powers from Thoth-hermes, who use their magic to bottle the Ba and Ka of the dead and sell it to rum-runners as personality-affecting, life-extending hooch. They don't consider themselves 'colored' but their neighbors certainly do, so they have a shaky alliance with the local African-descended magical community, which slightly resents their intrusion.
Definite yes on the alligators, though.
(Parenthetical Edit: I particularly like this idea because none of the bits of the soul the Egyptians believed in were immaterial- they all corresponded to particular physical entities. So, a liquor that contains part of an Egyptian 'soul' contains part of the physical person. Cannibal soul-moonshine.)
I was actually thinking of a secret order of Egyptian-descended magi, deriving their powers from Thoth-hermes, who use their magic to bottle the Ba and Ka of the dead and sell it to rum-runners as personality-affecting, life-extending hooch. They don't consider themselves 'colored' but their neighbors certainly do, so they have a shaky alliance with the local African-descended magical community, which slightly resents their intrusion.
Definite yes on the alligators, though.
(Parenthetical Edit: I particularly like this idea because none of the bits of the soul the Egyptians believed in were immaterial- they all corresponded to particular physical entities. So, a liquor that contains part of an Egyptian 'soul' contains part of the physical person. Cannibal soul-moonshine.)