Known as the Voodoo
Queen of New Orleans, according to many eyewitness accounts, this was a title
Marie Laveau not only earned, but to this day has not relinquished. In fact,
the crypt where she's buried St. Louis Cemetery #1 is believed ot be the most
haunted cemetery in America. Visitors claim to have seen the ghost of the
Voodoo Queen herself, inside the cemetery, walking around tombs, in her trademark
turban, while whispering a Santeria Voodoo curse to disrespectful gawkers. If
you visit her grave, you'll notice that people still leave offerings, candles,
flowers, Voodoo dolls, all in the hopes that Laveau will bestow her
supernatural blessings. When people make a wish at her tomb, they return if
their wish comes true and leave three X marks as a sign of their gratitude.
So, who was the Voodoo
Queen of New Orleans? How did a freeborn Creole woman rise to become one of the
most powerful, influential and feared women in 19th century Louisiana? Here's
the truth behind the legend...
Slave ships from West
Africa first brought Voodoo to Louisiana. Practicioners knew which plants and
herbs could heal and which could bring about hallucinations, sickness, and
death.
Upon arrival, the
slaves were christened Catholic and were orally taught the faith. In
Catholicism the slaves found parallels in their own belief systems and in
conjunction with their own religious practices involving naturalism,
spiritualism and herbalism, voodoo practitioners would create amulets that had
the power to heal or cause harm and perform rituals involving drums, prayer and
dances designed to bring about a desired effect. Marie Laveau was one such
voodoo practitioner. - Strange History
Last season's American
Horror Story: Coven, delved into the dark history of Marie Laveau and her power
and influence over the New Orleans Creole community.
As a free woman of
color, Marie Catherine Laveau was born in New Orleans on September 10, 1801.
She was the illegitimate daughter of a free man of color and a Creole mother.
Historians believe that Marie’s mother and grandmother were voodoo
practitioners. In 1819, at the ripe young age of 18, Laveau married Jacques
Paris, with whom she had two children, both of which are believed to have died
young. Her husband also passed away under mysterious circumstances. By the time
she was in her 20s she was known around town as the Widow Paris. This name
would also be etched onto her tomb, which has become quite the popular tourist
attraction.
After the death of
Jacque, Marie became a hairdresser, most of her clients were wealthy white
socialites, which allowed her to be privy to the myriad of rumors and gossip
that floated around the French Quarter. Because Laveau had access to a wealth
of information from both the elite women she serviced, to their servants and
slaves, she was able to convince people that she was a Voodoo priestess with
mystical powers. She was basically a 19th century Miss Cleo. Laveau then
entered into a common-law marriage with Louis Christophe Dominick Duminy de
Glapion (say that five times fast!) and they had seven children together.
Unfortunately, only two of her children survived past childhood. In all, it's
believed Marie gave birth to 15 children, of which one lived to adulthood.
Of Laveau's magical
career, there is little that can be substantiated, including whether she had a
snake she named Zombi after an African god, whether the occult part of her
magic mixed Roman Catholic saints with African spirits, or whether her
divinations were supported by a network of informants she developed while
working as a hairdresser in prominent white households and in a brothel she
ran. She appeared to excel at obtaining inside information on her wealthy
patrons by instilling fear in their servants whom she either paid or cured of
mysterious ailments.
People from each strata
of society sought out Marie's assistance with spells and potions.
It has been said that
the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans had the power to put a person into or out of
City Hall. She nurtured the sick through multiple epidemics, stood on the
gallows ministering to the condemned and was accused of causing the deaths,
through voodoo, of both a lieutenant governor and a governor. Many condemned
her as a witch while others praised her as a saint. - Strange History
By the 1860s, Marie
ceased practicing voodoo in public, however according to folklore she continued
to practice foro well into old age. Her daughter Marie Laveau II actually
picked up the mantle her mother left behind and was known for her "wild
rituals in the swamps around New Orleans." It's believed that she drowned
in Lake Pontchartrain.
Marie Laveau died on
June 15, 1881. The New Orleans Daily Picayune printed the following obituary:
“Those who have passed
by the quaint old house on St. Ann, between Rampart and Burgundy streets with
the high frail looking fence in front over which a tree or two is visible, have
been within the last few years, noticed through the open gateway a decrepid old
lady with snow white hair, and a smile of peace and contentment lighting up her
golden features. For a few years past she has been missed from her accustomed
place. The feeble old lady lay upon her bed with her daughter and grand
children around her ministering to her wants."
The paper went on to
write that she died with a smile on her face, and was buried in the family tomb
at 5PM, in St. Louis Cemetery #1. Her funeral was attended by throngs of
people.
Marie's beauty and
wisdom were also recounted in her obituary, however, her voodoo practices were
referred to as being "skilled in the practice of medicine" and being
"acquainted with the valuable healing qualities of the indigenous
herbs." The paper touched upon stories of her healing abilities as a
"very successful nurse."
"In yellow fever
and cholera epidemics she was always called upon to nurse the sick, and always
responded promptly. Her skills and knowledge earned her the friendship and
approbation, of those sufficiently cultivated, but the ignorant attributed her
success to unnatural means and held her in constant dread. Notably in 1853 a
committee of gentlemen, appointed at a mass meeting held at Globe Hall, waited
on Marie and requested her on behalf of the people to minister to the fever
stricken. She went out and fought the pestilence where it was thickest and many
alive today owe their salvation to her devotion. Not alone to the sick man was
Marie Laveau a blessing. To help a fellow citizen in distress she considered a
priceless privilege."
The paper was very
explicit in providing every minute detail of Laveau's life. Noting that she
lived in an "unassuming cottage", built by French settlers, and was
in a state of decay, but Marie welcomed people into her home, day or night, and
provided them food and a warm place to spend the night.
Marie also made herself
available to condemned men, providing them counsel before they were they were
executed. In fact, Marie became a folk hero of sorts, fighting on behalf of the
condemn. It was reported that she'd beg for mercy for prisoners, and she was
reportedly very anti-capital punishment. In her obituary, the local paper noted
her pious nature, and her devotion to Jesus and the church:
"All in all Marie
Laveau was a most wonderful woman. Doing good for the sake of doing good alone,
she obtained no reward, oft times meeting with prejudice and loathing, she was
nevertheless content and did not lag in her work. She always had the cause of
the people at heart and was with them in all things. During the late rebellion
she proved her loyalty to the South at every opportunity and fully dispensed
help to those who suffered in defense of the “lost cause.” Her last days were
spent surrounded by sacred pictures and other evidences of religion, and she
died with a firm trust in heaven. While God’s sunshine plays around the little
tomb where her remains are buried, by the side of her second husband, and her
sons and daughters, Marie Laveau’s name will not be forgotten in New Orleans.”
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