NEW ORLEANS -- It feels like ancient history now. But there was a time when the Superdome curse was threatening to take its place alongside the Bambino and the Billy Goat.

The New Orleans Saints didn't win a single playoff game in their first 33 years, going 0-for-3 in their iconic home building. And people started to wonder whether it wasn't such a great idea to build the Dome on top of the old Girod Street Cemetery in the early 1970s.

So as Voodoo priestess Ava Kay Jones said in ESPN's latest 30 for 30 podcast, Cursed and Blessed, the Saints decided to "bring in the big guns" before their 2000 wild-card playoff game against the reigning Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams.

The Saints actually held a Voodoo ritual in the middle of the field to cleanse the Superdome of negative spirits. Jones wore a large boa constrictor around her neck and carried a custom-made Voodoo doll, a gris-gris bag and a bottle of gin while being accompanied by drummers and dancers from the Voodoo Macumba Dance Ensemble.

"We had never won a playoff game. And everybody was like, 'What is it?' Because no one ever wanted to admit it may be the caliber of the football team. So it had to be something else, right?" Saints president Dennis Lauscha said with a laugh. "So we leaned into it. And we worked with [Jazz Fest and Essence Fest producer] Quint Davis, and he found us a Voodoo priestess. And lo and behold, we won."

Indeed, the Saints beat the Rams 31-28 and did it in a fashion that seemed to put the curse on the opposition when Rams receiver Az-Zahir Hakim dropped a punt in the final minutes to secure the win.

"All of our Saints were marching in, let's put it that way," Davis said.

The Saints (10-3) have won six playoff games in the Superdome since, and they're hoping for at least one more this season. They have already clinched the NFC South title as they prepare to host the Indianapolis Colts (6-7) on Monday Night Football (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Priestess Ava Kay Jones performed a Voodoo ceremony to rid the Superdome of evil spirits before the Saints took on the Rams during the 2000 playoffs. AP Photo/Andrew J. Cohoon

Davis has helped produce entertainment for the Saints for years -- including the Monday Night Football performance featuring U2 and Green Day when the Superdome reopened after Hurricane Katrina in 2006.

But even though part of the purpose was to entertain the fans before that 2000 playoff game, he said those involved were deeply serious about the rituals they were performing.

"I do believe in blessings and curses. Not just because of local folklore or anything but because the Bible speaks of blessings and curses. So this concept, I believe, is spiritually and biblically valid," Jones said. "And then growing up in New Orleans, you know, we're always conscious of things from another world."

Voodoo is more than a curiosity for tourists in New Orleans. It is a religion with African and Caribbean roots that is deeply embedded in the city's diverse "gumbo pot" culture.

Jones -- who was part of the inspiration for the Mama Odie character in Disney's animated "The Princess and the Frog," according to directors John Musker and Ron Clements -- is a bit of a gumbo pot herself. Her parents have Native American and French roots. And she called herself a "dyed in the wool Catholic" who is also "very much aware of my New Orleans spiritual heritage."

The Voodoo doll that was custom-made for the Superdome ritual remains on display at Voodoo Authentica in the French Quarter. ESPN.com/Mike Triplett

Brandi Kelley, the owner of Voodoo Authentica in New Orleans' French Quarter, is the one who got Davis and Jones together for the Superdome ceremony. She said the idea was to "honor the spirits that were in the Dome, appease them and give them the acknowledgment that they deserved.