The Marie Laveau image by New Orleans' artist,
Dimitri Fouquet, of his original oil paintings as featured on Dr. John's
CD "Creole Moon
New Orleans Voodoo is a hybrid voodoo, reflective of the eclectic culture that is uniquely New Orleans. Marie Laveau is somewhat of a poster child for the mixed races that emerge from New Orleans as she is said to have been a free person of color and part Choctaw. She was born to a wealthy French planter Charles Laveau, and a mother who may have been a mulatto slave, a Caribbean Voodoo practitioner, or a quadroon mistress. She is said to have had a snake called Zombi. Oral traditions suggest that the occult part of her magic mixed Roman Catholic beliefs and saints with African spirits and religious concepts.
Sightings of Marie Laveau's Ghost
One alleged Laveau ghost sighting stands out. Tallant (1946, 130-131) relates the story of an African-American named Elmore Lee Banks, who had an experience near St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. As Banks recalled, one day in the mid-1930s "an old woman" came into the drugstore where he was a customer. For some reason she frightened the proprietor, who "ran like a fool into the back of the store." Laughing, the woman asked, "Don't you know me?" She became angry when Banks replied, "No, ma'am," and slapped him. Banks continued: "Then she jump[ed] up in the air and went whizzing out the door and over the top of the telephone wires. She passed right over the graveyard wall and disappeared. Then I passed out cold." He awakened to whiskey being poured down his throat by the proprietor who told him, "That was Marie Laveau."
Source:
http://www.hauntedneworleanstours.com/marielaveau/houseofvoodoo/
The following are some places of interest that any fan of Marie Laveau must include for a perfect visit to the haunts of this most
famous Voodoo Queen.
1801 Dauphine Street Marie -Laveau's Father's Home
1900 block of North Rampart Street (in Faubourg Marigny) - Dowry House
1016, 1028, 1022, 1020 St. Ann (originally 152 Rue St. Ann)
St. Louis No. 1, Crypt No. 3 - Alleged Burial Site of Marie Laveau
723 Rue Dumaine - New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum
729 Bourbon Street - Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo
Source: http://www.hauntedneworleanstours.com/marielaveau/marielaveaustomb/
Marie Laveau's
House of Voodoo
If you're planning your visit to New Orleans, or a local looking for something different to do, this is one of the Haunted attractions in and around New Orleans! Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo shop is reportedly on the actual location that was the legendary Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau II's home. It is also next to the St. Ann Street cottage where Marie Laveau I actually died.
Local patrons, shop employees, and in-house psychics say that the ghost of Marie Laveau actually haunts the building, particularly the reading room. It is not uncommon to have Madm'zelle Laveaus' ghosts participate in a tarot or palm reading and add her two cents.
Now, the haunted building is the home of a unique Voodoo museum and shop that features an authentic Voodoo altar. A definite tourist attraction, Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo attracts the curious as well as the serious practitioner of Voodoo and Voudon.
Marie Laveau is buried in Saint Louis Cemetery #1 in New Orleans, in the Glapion family crypt. The tomb continues to attract visitors who draw three crosses (XXX) on its side, hoping that her spirit will grant them a wish.
