Louisiana Voodoo, also known as New Orleans Voodoo, is an African diasporic religion that flourished in Louisiana and the broader Mississippi River valley from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. It emerged through a process of syncretism, blending the traditional religions of West and Central Africa with Haitian Vodou and Catholicism.
The tomb of Marie Laveau in New Orleans.
Origins and Development
From the early 18th century, enslaved West and Central Africans, primarily Bambara and Bakongo peoples, were brought to the French colony of Louisiana. Their traditional religions syncretized with each other and with the Catholic beliefs of the French. This process continued as Louisiana came under Spanish control and was later purchased by the United States in 1803.
In the early 19th century, migrants fleeing the Haitian Revolution arrived in Louisiana, bringing with them Haitian Vodou, which further contributed to the formation of Louisiana Voodoo. Practiced primarily by black people, but with some white involvement, Voodoo spread up the Mississippi River to Missouri. The religion probably appealed to members of the African diaspora, whether enslaved or free, who lacked recourse to retribution for the poor treatment they received through other means.
According to a census of 1731-1732, the ratio of enslaved sub-Saharan Africans to European settlers was more than two to one. Because the Africans were held in large groups relatively isolated from interaction with whites, their preservation of African indigenous practices and culture was enabled.
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In northern Louisiana and other European colonies in the American South, enslaved families were usually divided; large numbers of African slaves who were once closely related by family or community were sent to different plantations. However, in southern Louisiana, families, cultures, and languages were kept more intact than in the north. In 1803, the United States took control of Louisiana through the Louisiana Purchase. This resulted in a large influx of Anglo-Americans into the region.
Beliefs and Practices
Information about Voodoo's beliefs and practices comes from various historical records, but this material is partial and much about the religion is not known. Historical records reveal the names of various deities who were worshiped in Voodoo. Prominent among them were Blanc Dani, the Grand Zombi, and Papa Lébat, whose identities derived from various African divinities. These were venerated at altars and offered animal sacrifices; several sources refer to the involvement of live snakes in rituals.
Spirits of the dead and Catholic saints also played a prominent role. Each Voodoo group was independent and typically led by a priestess or less commonly a priest. Membership of these groups was provided through an initiation ceremony. Major celebrations occurred at Saint John's Eve (23 or 24 June), which in the 19th century was marked by large gatherings on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain.
There are four phases to a Voodoo ritual, all identifiable by the song being sung: preparation, invocation, possession, and farewell. The practice of making and wearing charms and amulets for protection, healing, or the harm of others was a key aspect to early Louisiana Voodoo.
The Ouanga, a charm used to poison an enemy, contained the toxic roots of the figuier maudit tree, brought from Africa and preserved in Louisiana. The ground-up root was combined with other elements, such as bones, nails, roots, holy water, holy candles, holy incense, holy bread, or crucifixes. The administrator of the ritual frequently evoked protection from Jehovah and Jesus Christ.
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Voodoo (also spelled Vodou) derives from the term for deities used by the Fon people of West Africa and is a religion that believes all things have spirits. In this religion, humans in the physical world and invisible spirits called orishas (or lwa in Haiti) guide human and natural lives. The Voodoo faithful tend to the spirits with worship and devotion. In their modern form, these practices include communing directly with spirits through dance, trance, and rites to address a variety of personal and communal needs. As a religious system, Voodoo keeps people in harmony with their spirit ancestors and nature.
The enslaved in New Orleans were not able to practice their religion openly. Instead, they co-opted Catholic holy days and saints’ feast days, disguising the service of their own gods, who included Monsieur Dani (known in Haiti as Damballah) and Papa Lébat.
Opposition and Restrictions
Although the religion was never banned, its practice was restricted through laws regulating when and where black people could gather. Growing government opposition in the mid-19th century brought multiple arrests and prosecutions, while increased press attention directed greater attention to prominent Voodoo practitioners like Marie Laveau.
Marie Laveau: The New Orleans Voodoo Queen (Occult History Explained)
"Portrait of a Creole Woman with Madras Tignon" by Frank Schneider, circa 1915, after an earlier work by George Catlin.
Marie Laveau: The Voodoo Queen
Among the fifteen "voodoo queens" in neighborhoods scattered around 19th-century New Orleans, Marie Laveau was known as "the Voodoo Queen", the most eminent and powerful of them all. Her religious rite on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain on St.
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Laveau worked as a hairdresser, but also assisted others with the preparation of herbal remedies and charms. She died in 1881. Her influence continues in the city. Across the street from the cemetery where Laveau is buried, offerings of pound cake are left to the statue of Saint Expedite; these offerings are believed to expedite the favors asked of the Voodoo queen. Saint Expedite represents the spirit standing between life and death. The chapel where the statue stands were once used only for holding funerals.
Marie Laveau continues to be a central figure of Louisiana Voodoo and of New Orleans culture. Another of the most prominent practitioners of the mid-19th century was Jean Montanée or "Dr John", a free black man who sold cures and other material to various clients, amassing sufficient funds to purchase several slaves.
Voodoo in Contemporary Culture
While practiced in New Orleans in the nineteenth century among both African Americans and whites, over time Voodoo became a more hidden religion under the disapproving gaze of Protestant churches and law enforcement in the twentieth century. Today, however, the Voodoo faithful have become more open about their religion, leading to its continued influence in cultural life.Because Voodoo developed as a spiritual system among those least powerful in Louisiana, its origins are not well documented.
While the full history of Louisiana Voodoo awaits further research, we do know that its practice has had significant influence in spiritual life in New Orleans, where Voodoo was regionally distinct until the 1940s, but is now heavily influenced by the Vodou of Haiti, where it remains a prominent religion. Voodoo has also influenced popular music, as seen in songs like Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile" and Colin James' "Voodoo Thing". The New Orleans singer Mac Rebennack took on the stage name of Dr.
Voodoo and Mardi Gras
Voodoo beliefs and rituals are intertwined with Mardi Gras masking traditions. Since at least the 1800s, skeleton, or skull and bone, gangs have been a part of Black carnival. Often dressed in black costumes painted with white skeleton bones, the maskers act as both carnival town criers and spiritual guardians. Rousing their community before dawn on Mardi Gras, their signature warning is “You next!”
During such treks, Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes, Big Chief of the Northside Skull and Bone Gang, recognizes Papa Ogun, the god of iron and warfare, and the Haitian Vodou spirit family of Guédé, guardians of the cemetery. Queen Kalindah Laveaux, a Voodoo priestess, brings spirit medicine to Black masking activities. Her society, the Mystic Seven Sisters, continues the traditional healing work of generations of women. They sometimes accompany the Northside Skull and Bone Gang to the Tomb of the Unknown Slave at St. Augustine Catholic Church in the Tremé neighborhood as the gang summons and embodies the ancestors. Traversing the streets, the women provide prayers and energy for a safe day.
Both Big Chief Alfred Doucette of the Flaming Arrows and Cardell Patterson, Flag Boy of the Uptown Warriors, have made suits in honor of this esteemed figure. While some maskers honor the Voodoo past, others infuse carnival with contemporary Voodoo spirituality. The Divine Prince Ty Emmecca leads the House of the Divine Prince, a Voodoo spiritual church.
