Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo
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Marie Laveau went on to raise her own family in the same house and often opened the building up to those in need. Despite Marie’s social position in a group marginalized in society, she gained followers and clients from all classes of life, from social-elites to prison inmates and all in between. She was a devout catholic and in between her frequent trips to Saint Louis Cathedral, Marie specialized in making gris-gris and doing spell work to fix the positions of her clients. Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo and Reverend Zombie’s Voodoo Shop are located in New Orleans in the historic French Quarter. For more than 40 years, both shops have intrigued curious tourists, collectors, and facilitated practitioners.
NEW ORLEANS VOODOO SHOPS
However, one thing each explanation will probably all have in common is ‘Magic’. Interestingly, not so often do we hear ‘religion’, even though the term originated in Dahomey for God or Spirit, and is in fact a profound spiritual tradition with rich history. Claiming to be the “largest Occult, Spiritual, New Age and Religious supplier worldwide,” Saydel wears its unique interests on its sleeve.
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MARIE LAVEAU
An independent nightlife guide and online community covering the Los Angeles Nightlife. This is one of the rare places in West Hollywood (or really anywhere) that offers happy hour on the weekends. Make sure you take advantage of their stellar deals while every other place charges full price for brews. These all traveled with slaves taken from West Africa to the Caribbean, South America, and the southern United States, branching into their distinct sects. You probably know of voodoo dolls, the witch doctor Facilier in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, perhaps the controversially named Voodoo Donuts. But beneath this cultural runoff, Voodoo is a complex, albeit dark… religion?
Marie Laveau House of Voodoo
There is little consensus on the monument’s origin story, but most people believe this Catholic cross was erected by missionaries sometime around the early 19th century to claim the hill for God. And anywhere between a week and a century later the cross was struck by lightning and locals came to believe this to the gods reclaiming the hill for themselves and their people. Voodoo combined pieces of Roman Catholicism (the religion foisted upon colonized nations by Italy, Spain, and Portugal) with traditional local belief systems, including, in some cases, witchcraft. Traits of Catholic saints and ideas from syncretic religions are mixed together in the form of loas, who act as intermediaries between the human world and the Supreme Creator. Marie was a beautiful and dynamic woman who balanced her devout Catholic upbringing and belief with the ‘roots’ of her voodoo practice. Her gris-gris was sought after and her counsel was important to French Quarter residents from homemakers to a few local politicians, according to legend.
Artistic legacy and in popular culture
Immediately upon entering the surprisingly utilitarian store, customers are greeted by a life-size statue of Papa Legba, the Orisha deity recognized by both Voodoo and Santeria as the go-between twixt gods and humans. Reflecting the diverse backgrounds of their customer base from the Caribbean, Mexico, and further afield, the shop carries a blend of African, Meso-American, and Roman Catholic items such as candles, oils, and effigies. However, despite the rare and esoteric beliefs represented in the shop, the shelves have the look of a tidy suburban pharmacy with rows of identical loa statues lined up next to tight formations of pre-fab prayer candles. Once inside you can see historic voodoo relics, paintings, sculptures, and other artifacts. Along with the blessed items we have such as gris-gris and mojo bags, we also stock a variety of pocket charms and talismanic jewelry.
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But some of it is real—that is, some of it is a treasured cultural tradition of great import to its practitioners. Some of them are essentially mall kiosks with plastic skulls and beads, there for the entertainment of tourists, while others are seriously sacred sites. Both Marie Laveau II and her mother practiced Voodoo as well as Voudoun, and they had great influence on their multiracial followers.
An 1874 ritual Laveau performed on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain drew a crowd of over 12,000 people. Among the more unusual services that the Historic Voodoo Museum offers are psychic readings. Prognosticating, or fortune telling, is an art that is deeply ingrained within the fabric of Voodoo culture. Learn about the historical and spiritual significance of the religion"”and the woman who helped revive it in the city"”at this store that triples as a museum and shrine. You'll find a mix of kitschy souvenirs up front and a spiritual advisor in the back, who performs readings just by feeling your pressure points. Whether you're a believer or not, Marie Laveau's is a spot that's uniquely New Orleans.
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These items can bring about luck, protection and a myriad of other blessings due to their symbolic natures or construction.They may utilize symbols, colors, imagery or natural elements that represent the intended purpose of each item. Our Gris-Gris are herbal bundles with a blend of herbs, roots, and oils to attract a specific purpose i.e. Mojo Bags contain a small gris-gris, natural gemstones and other items that call to the spirit world in the name of their purpose. These later are ‘activated’ by placing a personal article in the bag alongside the charged items to link the Mojo to you. Both charms are traditionally carried in the center or left (energetic receiving) side of the body and fed periodically with oils or perfumes. Most modern practitioners have a deep and beautiful relationship to spirit and ancestors, and a belief that one’s circumstances can be made better with help from the former and ritual practice.
A number of these beliefs are practiced by people alongside their Catholic faith, or even mixed into it. Serving the New Orleans community since 1972 and bringing you a casual and curious experience intended to preserve the legacy of New Orleans' Voodoo history and culture while educating and entertaining visitors. Marie Laveau’s home once stood on the site of present-day 1020 and 1022 St. Ann Street. Marguerite Darcantel, Laveau’s mother, and Catherine Henry, Laveau’s grandmother, raised Marie Laveau at the property.
Laveau died in 1881, and is said to be buried in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, in the tomb of her husband’s family, the Glapions. Amateur occultists, Voodoo practitioners, French Quarter tourists flock here in equal measure. They scribble Xs on the whitewashed mausoleum in hopes Laveau will grant their wishes. You can see Voodoo’s intersection of Catholicism and local beliefs quite literally at this mysterious monument in Haiti, where Voodoo originated.
We offer a wide variety of items to help in both learning about the spiritual realm and the practice of religious ceremonies. We have tribal masks and primitive sculptures from many areas of the world that help to connect you with the realm of your ancestors, and the spirits of the earth and sky. To learn more, please visit our shops and peruse our extensive collection of books on the many traditions that have influenced modern New Orleans Voodoo. We also have titles dedicated to various modern spiritual practices and spell work, including tarot, herbology, witchcraft, ceremonial magic, astrology, dream work and many more.
In our House, we carry items relating to a myriad and mixing pot of distinct religious and spiritual practices not limited to the type of Magic Marie Laveau herself would have practiced. In the spirit of the founders of all the African diasporic traditions, practitioners in New Orleans use all tools available to attain their ends. ‘Voodoo’ practiced today may look very different from one-hundred years ago but the purpose and spirit remain the same. It was in this house that Marie Laveau II lived out the last of her days with her family.
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