Voodoo and witchcraft: U.S.A roadtrip 1 (Marie Laveau)

"I would rather believe an absurd and fascinating lie, than a trivial and colorless truth; myths carry more passion than facts".

The United States for its 230 odd years, is in essence a rather sturdy and overgrown babe, when compared to archaic age of its peers from across the pond. But unlike its counterparts, the mismatch origins of its people, in other worlds, the proverbial "melting pot nationalities" has in turned blessed it with a rather unique and segmented belief system; and, to me at least, there is nothing more interesting than magic.

That last word should not be confused with parlor tricks and befuddle rabbits, but with true sorcery, or  the believe of such.

No sooner had the new empire been erected that witchcraft became, in the 13 colonies, both a standard and a rooted fear.

Let us go, if not in chronological order, for now, in geographical contours and only focus on the borderline of Louisiana; and more importantly at NEW ORLEANS.

Whenever the word Voodoo come up we immediately grasp at the idea of Zombies, Voodoo dolls, and, in my case, the James Bond villain "Baron Samedy"; unfortunately forgetting, like all religions, that sometimes the bad is far more alluring than the good.

Voodoo, or at least Louisiana based folkways, which in turn should not be confused with its siblings: Haitian and Southern Voodoo, is a mixture of West African Vodun and slave mentality. It has combined often contradictory beliefs, into a vast school of thought; creating a union between Catholicism, Francophone culture, slave trade and Santeria.

A whole book can and have been written on the subject, and to expect a wikipedia search, coupled with a google investigation to actually feed a meaningful article; is laughable at best. As such I will only skim the surface of this frothing soup and target one particular personage in its unbounded history; 

Madame Marie Laveau

Marie, according to some reports, was born a free slave in the French Quarter of New Orleans in the year 1794. 

She was married to a Haitian immigrant by the name of Jacques, about 25 years after her birth. The man only survived ONE year of their marital bliss, he died of mysterious and unexplained circumstance. She later became a hairdresser for the wealthy, and had a child who would surpass her with far more elaborate public displays of sorcery: Marie Laveau II

There are two explanations to Marie's magical career, both interesting in there own way. 

In one we find our self under the weight, glamor and strength of a bonafied Voodoo queen, that mixed catholic beliefs, African ghosts, and all sorts of religious ideals into a personal occult philosophy. Her shadow was felt everywhere and her powers respected, and, above all, highly solicited by the "upper crust". 

In the second and, perhaps, less sensationalist, but still quite tasty version, we find a spy master. A woman with a web of spiders so immeasurable, that to this day one would be hard press to find its edges. A woman whose "birds" were in all the households and plantations of the state. Her power were based more on psychological "cold reading" and a network of informants, that excelled at obtaining inside information on their wealthy patrons, than in any true divination and whisper from the spirits. 

"Servants are just red imps in the parlor; they don't really exist"

Marie died like a celebrity at the old age of 86. Her grave, at Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1, in New Orleans, is one of the most visited attractions for tourist who venture into that city, and perhaps one of the most call upon vaults in the world; surpassing even Elvis's tomb in Graceland; people believe in the crypt's power to grant wishes and desires. To this day it is said the Marie's ghost haunts her final resting place.

Marie's influence and enigmatic nature has spawned a number of depictions in popular culture. From tribute songs ("Witch queen of New Orleans" by Redbone); to lovely chapter's by Authors such as Christopher Farnsworth (Blood Oath) and Neil Gaiman (American Gods); and soon even Angela Basset will portray her in American Horror Story: Coven.

Her legacy has been deep-seated the spirit of our time; in the zeitgeist of our period.

Let us protect one more mystery and not tarnish it with truths.