Cascarilla roots can be traced back to native traditions in West Africa. Among other beliefs, these people brought the concept of “sacred white earth”, which they called “efun”, to the New World. The people from this region believed that the substance could provide protection against evil and when they were cut off from their ancestral lands they looked for an alternative that would achieve the same results.In powdered form, cascarilla can be put to use more extensively than in solid form. To safeguard the home, the powder can be sprinkled on the floor or it can be blended with plain water or a floor cleaner and applied to the floors. Likewise, you can dust your entire body with it. You could also limit the dusting to only your hands in case they contact anything potentially bad. An alternative custom that blatantly reveals the Caribbean origins of this magic is to coat a coconut with the powder and roll it about the floor while gradually guiding it out through the front exit. 
Cascarilla is a potent cleanser and protective agent. Cascarilla can be used on the body, dissolved into water to create a liquid bath & floor cleanser and is also used for drawing circles or for marking magical symbols on walls or floors.