Marie Laveau
| Marie Laveau | |
|---|---|
.png) Portrait by Frank Schneider, based on a painting by George Catlin (Louisiana State Museum) |
|
| Born | September 10, 1794 New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Died | June 15, 1881 (aged 86) New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Known for | Vodoun practitioner |
Marie Laveau (September 10, 1794 – June 16, 1881[1]) was a Louisiana Creole practitioner of Voodoo renowned in New Orleans. She was born free in New Orleans.
Her daughter Marie Laveau II (1827 — c. 1895) also practiced Voudoun, and historical accounts often confuse the two. She and her mother had great influence over their multiracial following. "In 1874 as many as twelve thousand spectators, both black and white, swarmed to the shores of Lake Pontchartrain to catch a glimpse of Marie Laveau II performing her legendary rites on St. John's Eve (June 23–24)."[2]
Contents |
Early life [edit]
Marie was believed to have been born free in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, about 1794, the daughter of a white planter and a free Creole woman of color. On August 4, 1819, she married Jacques (or Santiago, in other records) Paris, a free person of color who had emigrated from Haiti.[2] Their marriage certificate is preserved in St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans. The wedding Mass was performed by Father Antonio de Sedella, the Capuchin priest known as Pere Antoine.[3]
Jacques Paris died in 1820 under unexplained circumstances. He was part of a large Haitian immigration to New Orleans in 1809 after the Haitian Revolution of 1804. New immigrants consisted of French-speaking white planters and thousands of slaves as well as free people of color. Those with African ancestry helped revive Voodoo and other African-based cultural practices in the New Orleans community, and the Creole of color community increased markedly.
Career [edit]
After Paris's death Marie Laveau became a hairdresser who catered to wealthy white families. She took a lover, Christophe (Louis Christophe Dumesnil de Glapion), with whom she lived until his death in 1835. They were reported to have had 15 children including Marie Laveau II, born c. 1827, who sometimes used the surname "Paris" after her mother's first husband.[4]
Very little is known with any certainty about the life of Marie Laveau. Her surviving daughter had the same name and is called Marie Laveau II by some historians. Scholars believe that the mother was more powerful while the daughter arranged more elaborate public events (including inviting attendees to St. John's Eve rituals on Bayou St. John). They received varying amounts of financial support. It is not known which (if not both) had done more to establish the voodoo queen reputation.[5]
Of Laveau's magical career there is little that can be substantiated. She was said to have had a snake she named Zombi after an African god. Oral traditions suggested that the occult part of her magic mixed Roman Catholic beliefs, including saints, with African spirits and religious concepts. Some scholars believe that her feared magical powers of divination were actually based on her network of informants which she developed while working as a hairdresser in households of the prominent. As she visited her clients (mostly white) she listened closely to their gossip. Some assert that she ran her own brothel and cultivated informants in that way as well. 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.[5]
On June 16, 1881, the New Orleans newspapers announced that Marie Laveau had died peacefully in her home. This is noteworthy if only because people claimed to have seen her in town after her supposed demise. Again, some claimed that one of her daughters also named Marie (many of the daughters had Marie within their names due to Catholic naming practices) assumed her name and carried on her magical practice, taking over as the queen soon before or after the first Marie's death.
According to official New Orleans vital records, a certain Marie Glapion Lavau died on June 15, 1881, aged 98.[6] The different spelling of the last name as well as the age at death may result from the casual 19th-century approach to spelling as well as conflicting accounts of Laveau's birth.
Marie Laveau was reportedly buried in Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans in the Glapion family crypt (see External Links below for clickable tomb map.) This fact is in dispute, according to Robert Tallant, a journalist who has used her as a character in historical novels.[7] The tomb continues to attract visitors who draw three "x"s (XXX) on its side, in the hopes that Laveau's spirit will grant them a wish. Some self-styled researchers claim that Laveau is buried in other tombs, but they may be confusing the resting places of other voodoo priestesses of New Orleans.
Although some references to Marie Laveau in popular culture refer to her as a "witch", she is properly described as a 'Voodoo priestess'.
In popular culture [edit]
Papa Celestin recorded a tribute song, detailing Laveau's life on Papa Celestin's Golden Wedding. It featured in the episode Saints of HBO's Treme.
In the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novel American Gods by Neil Gaiman Marie Laveau's fictional mother (also named Marie Laveau) is taught voodoo practises by another fictional character known as Madama Zhutu. Madame Zhutu features as an ex slave who has some magical powers she acquired from her African homeland.
A character named Marie Laveau, based loosely on the real Marie Laveau, figures into the Marvel Universe, first appearing in Dracula Lives #2 from 1973.[8]
"Marie Laveau" is a country song by Shel Silverstein first performed by Bobby Bare in 1974, based on the legend of Marie Laveau. Actually, American rock group Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show recorded the song on their 1971, "Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show".
Laveau's gravesite, in Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1, figures into a pivotal scene of Robert J. Randisi's short story, "Cold As The Gun," from Foreshadows: The Ghosts of Zero.
Marie Laveau appears in the Benjamin January historical fiction mystery series, written by Barbara Hambly.
The song "Witch Queen of New Orleans" (1971) by Redbone describes Marie La -voodoo- Veau, who is the witch-queen of New Orleans. The song reached number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Marie Laveau has given name to a restaurant and nightclub in Södermalm, Stockholm.
An artifact called 'Marie Laveau's Crucifix' is mentioned in Episode 37 of the TV series 'Warehouse 13' titled 'Insatiable'.
A character named Marie Laveau, based loosely on the real Marie Laveau, appears in Italian comic book Zagor.
The song "Dixie Drug Store" from Grant Lee Buffalo's Fuzzy (1993) is about an encounter with Marie Laveau's ghost.
Jazz pianist Joe Sample's 2002 album, The Pecan Tree, contains a track titled X Marks the Spot (Marie Laveau).[9]
Marie Laveau's tomb is the site of a secret, underground voodoo workshop in The Caster Chronicles series novel, Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.
Marie is referenced as both "Marie" and "Maria" in T.Komine-san's The Path to Eternal Happiness, I Found It,[10] featuring Hatsune Miku.
Biographies [edit]
- Long, Carolyn Morrow. A New Orleans Voudou Priestess: The Legend and Reality of Marie Laveau, Gainesville: University Press of Florida (2006), (ISBN 9780813029740).
- Ward, Martha. Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of Marie Laveau, Oxford: University of Mississippi Press (2004) (ISBN 1578066298).
See also [edit]
Citations [edit]
- ^ "The Dead Voudou Queen; Marie Laveau's Place In The History Of New-Orleans". The New York Times. June 23, 1881.
- ^ a b "Haitian Immigration: 18th & 19th Centuries", In Motion: African American Migration Experience, New York Public Library, retrieved 7 May 2008.
- ^ Tallent, Robert (1971). Voodoo In New Orleans Collier Books, New York. ISBN 978-0-88289-336-5
- ^ "Haitian Immigration: 18th & 19th Centuries", In Motion: African American Migration Experience, New York Public Library. accessed 7 May 2008
- ^ a b Tallent, Robert (1946), Vodoo In New Orleans, New York: Collier Books, ISBN 978-0-88289-336-5.
- ^ New Orleans Vital Records Death Index, RootsWeb.
- ^ Tallant, Robert (1990) [1946], (Voodoo in New Orleans), Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing, p. 129, ISBN 0-88289-336-X Missing or empty
|title=(help). - ^ Laveau, Marie – Marvel Universe Wiki: The definitive online source for Marvel super hero bios
- ^ "X Marks the Spot (Marie Laveau)", The Pecan Tree, Joe Sample. Accessed 5 Oct 2012.
- ^ [1]
External links [edit]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marie Laveau |
- Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, Skeptical Briefs newsletter: Dec 2001, Investigative Files, Secrets of the Voodoo Tomb by Joe Nickell
- Clickable map of Tombs at St. Louis No. 1 (Click on Tomb No. 347 on map.)
- NY Times archived article from 1881 regarding Marie Laveau's death
- Haunted New Orleans Wish Spell
- Marie Laveau, Voodoo Queen & Faith Healer
