VooDoo - Marie Laveau

No study of ghostly tales or strangeness in New Orleans would be complete without mention of Marie Laveau, the unchallenged "Queen of Voodoo" in New Orleans. This mystical religion is as big a part of New Orleans as jazz, Cajun food and Mardi Gras. Before you start thinking that Voodoo is something of the past however, you should be aware that the religion is as alive today as it was in the days of Marie Laveau. On a recent trip to New Orleans, one can visit no less than 4 Voodoo shops and a Voodoo museum, plus many different Voodoo priestesses! But there has been no practitioner of Voodoo greater than Marie Laveau and no look at the religion in New Orleans would be complete without a mysterious glimpse of the woman who made it so famous. And at the ghostly tales which keep her memory alive today..... The actual religion of Voodoo, or “Voudon”, originated from the ancient practices of Africa. Voodoo came about most likely in Santo Domingo (modern day Haiti) where slaves devoted rituals to the power of nature and the spirits of the dead. The term “voodoo” was probably adapted from the African Fon spirit, “vodu”.For many enslaved Africans, such spiritual traditions provided a means of emotional and spiritual resistance to the hardships of life. In time, slaves from the Caribbean were brought to New Orleans and they brought Voodoo with them.

She is referred to as the Queen of Voodoo. She was born in 1783, to Marguerite Darcantel, a slave from Haiti and Mistress of a wealthy plantation owner, a Frenchman, Charles Laveau. She bore her father’s name and was a free woman of color. She was raised within the strict guidelines of the Catholic Church. A devout Catholic, she went to mass everyday of her life. She was a dark skinned woman with long black hair that she frequently wore in a single braid making her look much like an Indian or a Gypsy, probably adding to her mystique. In 1819, she married Jacques Paris, a native of Santo Domingo. He died a short time later and she was to be referred to as the “Widow Paris”. She later became mistress to Christophe Glapion with whom she had numerous children. Some accounts speak of her having as many as 15 children, it is believed however that she actually only had three daughters, one of which was also named Marie.

Marie Laveau was a hairdresser who, in 1826 became intrigued with the first New Orleans Voodoo Queen, Sanite DeDe. She began to study herbs and the secrets of the Voodoo religion. In spite of her attraction to Voodoo, she never abandoned her Catholic roots. She saw similarities between the two, particularly, between the Voodoo Loas and the Saints. Both demi-gods under one Supreme Being, each having a specific purpose. She incorporated the use of candles and Holy Water in Voodoo rituals. It was because of this “blending” of religions that the White Creole Catholics began to find Voodoo a bit more palatable. Actually, the church was conned into believing that the Voodouns had converted to Catholicism! By the 1830’s, Marie Laveau was the Queen of Voodoo and Voodoo once again was practiced inside the city limits.

She retired as Queen in 1875. Although throughout her reign she was feared by many a New Orleanian, when she died at the age of 98 in 1881, many people believed she was a saint. She is buried in St. Louis Cemetery # 1. Thousands of visitors flock to her grave site each year to make a wish or give thanks for wishes granted. Offerings of food, money, cigarettes or anything else that someone might deem of value can be found place at the foot of the grave.

Countless stories of Voodoo murders still crop up throughout New Orleans today.