Voodoo Queen

by Calvin Windless Jr.

If you haven’t heard of her, she is known as the “Voodoo Queen of New Orleans”, according to many eyewitness accounts. Her title as Marie Laveau was earned due to the hard work she did while she was alive but, the thing about it is that she still holds on to that name to this day because of how powerful she was as a mortal. 2 Still to this day the crypt where she's buried, which is St. Louis Cemetery #1 is said to be the most haunted cemetery in America. If you ask some of the visitors, they claim to have seen the ghost of the Voodoo Queen herself. According to road trippers they have said to see the voodoo queen 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.

Some background information about this amazing and mysterious woman is that she was introduced to multiple religions and was well acquainted with all of the leaders in the “French Quarter” and so they taught this older teenager at the time what they knew. She had multiple tutors, some taught her religion like Catholicism, which was Pere Antoine who was the high priest of her time. On the other hand, the voodoo side of her teaching came from a man by the name of Bayou John, he taught her things like how to prepare spells and charm bags which were called a “Gris-Gris” which was used for prosperity and protection if used right. She was a person who didn’t just do things out the goodness of her heart, which is something most people do. For instance, she used her influence on her client to get a brand new house equipped with anything she would ever need and want. She used the man to get her a house, in exchange for an acquittal for their son in court. Her legacy followed her mostly by word of mouth. It was told by her having abilities to sway a justice system an determine a verdict amongst many other things that she was infamous about.

Works cited 
“St. Louis Cemetery.” Road trippers, https://maps.roadtrippers.com/trips/19417349. Accessed 29 October 2018.

Hehe, Joshua. The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. Medium.com. 3 February

Links for Further Research
www.womemhistoryblog.com.
http://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2012/07/marie-laveau.html.
This article entails information on her story and how she became known as the “Voodoo Queen.”

www.allthatsinteresting.com.
https://allthatsinteresting.com/marie-laveau.
This is to explain how she worked up to be the leader and advice giver from when she was young.

www.atlasobscura.com.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/marie-laveaus-tomb.
Tells about the story of her tomb and its history.

The First Saint Louis Cemetery, (New Orleans)

Brandon Hill

This is an overview picture of the first Saint Louis Cemetery

“Save Our Cemeteries” explains the first Saint Louis Cemetery. The cemetery was established in 1789. New Orleans is the city where the spooky cemetery can be found. It is the oldest cemetery in New Orleans, and is said to be the spookiest. The Cemetery was divided into three different sections at first. There was a section for the Catholics, Non-Catholics, and Negros. The cemetery is not divided today, it has had reconstruction to make it bigger. The Cemetery contains some important people to the State of Louisiana. Maria Laveau, the famous voodoo queen is buried in the cemetery. The first black mayor of New Orleans Ernest Nathan Morial, is also buried here. The cemetery is very important because it has a lot of value to it. The tombs of the people buried there are fascinating. Most tombs are decorated with something, or has drawings on it to remember the person. 

In “Maria Laveau: A Nineteenth Century Voudou Priestess” Carolyn Long, explained the importance of Maria Laveau. She has one of the more famous tombs people enjoy looking at. A lot of people say they do not know whether she was actually in there or not, but they continue to visit it and decorate it. She usually has Mardi gras beads hanging from her tomb, along with other items on the ground. Maria Laveau was the queen of voodoo in the city of New Orleans. She was said to be a great voodoo practitioner, and anybody who practiced voodoo looked up to her. Many people go to Maria Laveau’s tomb to practice voodoo, the marking of the X, on her tomb is a sign of voodoo. People mark X’s on the tomb as a sign of respect to her. People have said they have heard the ghost of Maria Laveau, which would absolutely creep me out, but that makes Maria Laveau’s tomb interesting along with the X’s and items left on her tomb. 

On the website French Quarter Phantoms, it gives great information about touring the first Saint Louis Cemetery. The tour of the cemetery looks very interesting. Personally, I would not take a tour to the cemetery because it would be scary and weird. I would encourage people who are interested in this type of information to take the tour. I think a lot of important information is given throughout the tours, and it would be an exciting adventurous trip. The tour is centered to take people throughout the entire cemetery. It is about one mile and it lasts for two hours. There are a lot of different tombs to look at. There are plaques located on some of the tombs to tell their accomplishments, and how they were significant to Louisiana. A tour would be helpful if you wanted to know about the first Saint Louis Cemetery because you could have your own personal experience.

On the website, Find A Grave there is an article explaining Ernest Morial. Ernest Morial was the first African American mayor of New Orleans. He was also a leading civil rights advocate. Ernest Morial created black history by becoming the first African American mayor of New Orleans. Becoming the mayor may have encouraged other African American males to become successful. Once he became mayor, African Americans probably looked at him as a role model. Ernest Morial, also spoke up as a leader, by becoming a leading civil rights advocate. Which means he wanted equal opportunity for minority groups. He was fighting for everybody to have equal rights, and I would say he was successful along with others. Today, we all have equal opportunity to do what we want, and speak our opinion. Ernest Morial was initially buried in the first Saint Louis Cemetery, but for spacing issues his tomb was moved. The first Saint Louis Cemetery is not only popular because of voodoo queens, but for individuals who created a way for equal rights.

In the article, “The Spirit Of New Orleans Will Haunt You” by Tanya Wragg. She explains why New Orleans is portrayed as spooky. The streets of New Orleans is said to have had its legends of vampires, witches, and voodoo priestesses wandering them. The city of New Orleans has a various selection of spooky tours. There is a ghost expedition bus ride, which is a tour given to investigate paranormal activity. I think the tour would be pretty cool, but scary. The tour is said to be intense, because a person must be mentally, emotionally, and physically ready to experience a physiologically experience. They say this because spirits can mess with peoples mind. People may start to see ghost, or think they are hearing ghost after they have been on the tour. In my opinion, that could drive a person insane. New Orleans still has an original plantation, which can still be visited on a tour. The tour takes people over the Mississippi River, directly to the Laura Plantation. Visiting a plantation would be scary to me, because I think spirits sit at plantations. I think spirits sit at plantations because the plantation was their home. New Orleans has an abundance of spooky things, along with the Saint Louis Cemetery tour. The tours defiantly portray New Orleans as spooky. 

In this video, the LaLaurie mansion is explained. This portrays more about why New Orleans is considered spooky and haunted. 

Works Cited:

“America’s Most Haunted: French Quarter, New Orleans (Halloween 2012)”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zg3lbHge-Q. 16 Oct. 2016.

“Ernest Nathan Dutch Morial.” Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=morial&GSfn=ernest+&GSiman=1&GScid=643477&GRid=147114913&. 16 Oct. 2016.

Long, Carolyn. “Maria Laveau: A Nineteenth-Century Voudou Priestess.”  Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association. Web. 92-262, 2005.

“Maria Laveau’s Tomb in St. Louis Cemetery # 1, New Orleans, LA.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nob2DDQELVI. 16 Oct. 2016

“St. Louis Cemetery # 1- St-Louis-Cemetery-Number-One.” City Profile. http://www.cityprofile.com/louisiana/photos/36126-new-orleans-st-louis-cemetery-number-1.html. 16 Oct. 2016

“St. Louis # 1 Cemetery Walking Tour.” French Quarter Phantom Ghost Tours. https://www.frenchquarterphantoms.com/cemetery-tour. 7 Oct. 2016.

“ST. Louis Cemetery No. 1.” Save Our Cemeteries. http://www.saveourcemeteries.org/st-louis-cemetery-no-1/. 16 Oct. 2016.

Wragg, Tanya. “The Spirit Of New Orleans Will Haunt You.” Hispanic 18.5 (2005): 64-65. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.

Marie Laveau the Voodoo Queen

Quaderia Fields




 The Voodoo Queen herself: Marie Laveau, by Dannie Cox


 
Looking at the history of New Orleans there are many famous people that are still remembered today. It is believed that New Orleans is a place popular for its deliciously famous beignets, gumbo, jazz music and voodoo. Voodoo practices originated in the West Indies country of Haiti during the French colonial period. The slave-owners in the south tried converting all of the slaves into being a Christians but the slaves just wouldn’t let that happen.

In order to keep their faiths and beliefs alive many of the Africans in the catholic parts of New Orleans began practicing voodoo. Throughout different parts of Africa, a great amount of people had the same beliefs on wanting to keep their religious beliefs alive. Marie Laveau, born a free woman in 1794 was the most famous, respected and feared voodoo queen of all time. Before she was considered to be the voodoo queen she was a hair dresser and nurse. How could she have gone from a hairdresser and nurse to someone that was considered THE voodoo queen is a great question. Due to Marie knowing so much about medicine she was able to mix the correct herbs to help those that were sick or those who had problems with their love life. (Chambers)

Typically in the world the term voodoo is affiliated with being evil, but for Marie Laveau many people saw her as doing something good. She not only helped people with their health and hair, but when she began practicing she specialized in romance and finance.  Although Marie Laveau has been long gone people still visit her gravesite in hopes that she’ll grant their wishes. Marie’s remains are located at St. Louis Cemetery #1. 

 
In the picture above is where Marie Laveau’s remains reside. Many believe if they go to her grave site and draw an x on it and leave her something as a sacrifice she’ll grant their wishes. In a YouTube video, Brett Stanker gives a tour of the different tombstones at St Louis Cemetery #1 and he comes upon Marie’s. While in another YouTube video Charles Chamberlain sets the stories straight about the rumors on Marie Laveau. Not everyone was aware that Marie Laveau wasn’t only one person, but it was also her daughter Marie Laveau II. Marie Laveau had 15 children, but she named one of her daughters after her. Like her mother, Marie II also practiced voodoo. St. Louis Cemetery #1 has become a well-known cemetery not only because of Marie Laveau but for others that are laid to rest here. 

 
Works Cited


Black, Annetta.”Saint Louis Cemetery No.1”. Atlas Obscura. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.

 Chambers, Wendy Mae. "Voodoo on the Bayou - Marie Laveau." Voodoo on the Bayou - Marie Laveau.          N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

Chamberlain, Charles. “Marie Laveau: Legend and Truth “YouTube.  YouTube,  26. Nov.2013. Web. 13.Oct 2015

Stanker, Brett. “A Walk Through the Oldest Cemetery in New Orleans.” YouTube. Youtube, 21 Dec. 2008.  Web. 13 Oct. 2015.

St. Louis Cemetery No.1| Save Our Cemeteries.” Save our cemeteries. N.p., 10 Sept. 2015. Web. 07 Oct. 2015.