Page 65 - All About History - Issue 27-15

LOUISIANA VOODOO Voodoo

spells

Cure-All
The greatest of the city’s legendary ‘Voodoo queens’, Marie Purpose: A cure for all ailments, both mental
Laveau ruled the spirits in 19th-century New Orleans
and physical
There are several Voodoo traditions but, like jazz Born around 1800, Laveau was the daughter You will need: Jimson weed (also known as
and gumbo, Louisiana Voodoo is a unique and of two mixed-race ‘free blacks’, one of who was Moonflower), sulphur (also known as brimstone),
complex product of New Orleans. It originated in a Creole born in Louisiana. She married twice:
the mixing of French Catholicism with the West first to a free black emigrant from Haiti and then honey and a black cat
African traditions of slaves. Christian candles, to Christophe de Glapion, a white noblemen of Instructions: Mix the ingredients in a glass
crucifixes, and holy water mingled with French descent. Later, one of their 15 jar. Rub the jar against the black cat.
‘gris-gris’ charms, curses, poisons children, Marie, would work with
and amulets. Laveau as a double act. Sip it slowly, but be careful: in large
The arrival of escaped slaves According to legend, Laveau doses, Jimson weed is toxic and
from Haiti in the early 1800s worked as a hairdresser, causes hallucinations.
was as crucial to music as visiting the homes of rich
it was to Voodoo. In the clients: a useful way to pick
USA, slaves were banned up gossip, especially if, as
from playing drums, but is rumoured, she traded Banish a Woman
in Haiti, drumming was Voodoo her cures for information
Queen Marie
permitted; the drum Laveau from their servants. Her Purpose: Get rid of the competition
groups of Congo Square only professional record You will need: A voodoo doll, a
would be crucial to the is a registration as a
growth of jazz. Similarly, liquor importer, which pin, Spanish moss, Devil’s Dung
the Haitians imported the suggests that she had (Asafoetida) and sulphur
Voodoo Queen, a healer, diversified into other forms Instructions: Stuff the doll with Spanish
priestess and magician, into of entertainment in her later
New Orleans’ complex and years. She may also have run moss, Devil’s Dung and sulphur. Write the
racially charged society. a Storyville brothel. other woman’s name on a piece of paper, and
In New Orleans, the typical On St John’s Eve, 23-24 June pin the paper to the doll. Put the doll in a
Voodoo Queen stood between 1874, more than 12,000 people,
blacks and whites: she was usually of black and white, gathered on the shore sewer or dump and tell it where to go. Leave,
mixed African and Creole descent. She also stood of Lake Pontchartrain to witness Laveau’s rites, and don’t look back.
between Christianity and African folk traditions. which seems to have been a ceremony that mixed
There were 15 Voodoo Queens in 19th-century New Catholic saints and African spirits. Faith in Voodoo
Orleans, each ruling her own neighbourhood, but remains strong in New Orleans and recently, a Feather Fetish
the greatest and most powerful – at least according public rite was held in a bid to reduce the crime Purpose: Make an enemy sick.
to her legend – was Marie Laveau. wave that followed Hurricane Katrina.
You will need: Colourful feathers
and black thread
A Voodoo altar in the
Instructions: Tie a handful of
French Quarter in 2008
feathers into a bunch. Tie a second
bunch from slightly shorter feathers.
Tie the two bunches together in a cross
shape, so that it resembles a crude
human form. If you place the doll inside
your enemys pillow, they will suffer terrible
’
headaches. If you slowly unwind the thread
over a period of days, when the doll falls
apart, so will your enemy.

From: Denise Alvarado, The Voodoo Spellbook © Rebekka Hearl; Thinkstock; Alamy
(Weiser Books, 2014)

65