Marie Catherine Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans.
This week, I’m gonna be talking about the Voodoo Queen herself, Marie Laveau. She was an extraordinary woman, especially for her time. She had her hand in many things and was quite a successful businesswoman. She was also a wife and mother to several children.
Marie was born a free woman of colour on September 10th, 1801. Her mother, Marguerite Darcantrel, was a freed slave and mistress of her father, Charles Laveaux, who was a wealthy businessman. Marguerite gave birth to Marie at her mother, Ms. Catherine’s home, then returned to Charles, leaving her child with her mother. Marie’s father never married her mother, but he did sign legal papers that declared he was her dad.
Marie was the first to be born free in her family. It’s said that Marie’s great-grandmother arrived in New Orleans as a slave from West Africa in the mid-1700s. Her grandmother, Catherine, was bought by a free woman of colour but was eventually able to buy her freedom and built her small home in the French Quarter, where Marie would live and become the legendary Voodoo Queen.
Family
In August 1819, Marie married Jacques Paris, a free person of colour from Haiti, at St. Louis Cathedral. Her father attended the wedding and signed the marriage contract on her behalf in July 1819. The marriage certificate is preserved in the Cathedral where they wed. Her wedding gift from her father was a property he owned on Love Street (now North Rampart), but records show that by 1822 Marie and Jacques were living on Dauphine Street.
Going on baptism records, Marie and Jacque had two daughters; Marie Angelie Paris baptised in 1823 and Felicite Paris baptised in 1824. Felicite’s records state that she was seven years old when she was baptised, but that would mean that she was born in 1817, which was two years before Marie and Jacque’s marriage. Unfortunately, records on Marie Angelie and Felicite stop there.
The mysteries that surround Marie started early in her life. The disappearance of her first two daughters is similar to the disappearance of Jacque Paris. There is no documentation of his death, though the baptism record of Felicite declared him to be deceased and some believe that he may have died in Baton Rouge in 1823. What we do know for certain is that Marie called herself “the Widow Paris” for the remaining years of her life. Maybe on day we’ll have some better explanations of what happened to her early family, but right now all is still a matter of speculation of the unknown. I believe that history has a way of speaking to us, but only when it’s good and ready to be heard.
In 1826, Marie found love again with Louis Christophe Dumensnil de Glapion. Glapion came from a prominent New Orleans family and was a wealthy white gentleman. He and Marie spent thirty years in a common law marriage. Unfortunately, with them being an interracial couple, it was forbidden for them to have and actual lawful marriage. (What a stupid bloody law!!!)
Catherine, Marie’s grandmother passed away in 1831 and her cottage in St. Ann - Marie’s childhood home - was put up for auction to clear her accumulated debt. Louis ended up buying the cottage, as he knew how much it meant to his beloved wife. He and Marie moved in, settling happily and raised their children, who he was devoted to. It was their family home until the end of the 1800s.
Records show that Marie and Louis had seven children between 1827 and 1839, but three sadly didn’t make it out of infancy. Marie Philomene Glapion, born in 1836 was the longest lived of all their children and was rumoured to have grown up to be Marie II.
After twenty-nine years of marriage (ok “common-law”, but I really hate that definition) Louis died in June 1855. There’s no evidence that Marie ever got with anyone else after Louis’s death, but with how great their love seemed to be, she may have known that she would never find anything like it, so decided to remain single.
Slave ownership
It’s confirmed through historical records that Marie and Louis owned eight slaves. Little is know as to why she would allow it, but she was supposedly helping to free as many slaves as possible and there were rumours that their family home was a Southern Depot for the Underground Railroad and that’s how they freed slaves. Not much has been said of his involvement in the freeing of those people, but I’d like to think that his buying and selling of them was all to help them escape, even before he got with Marie.
There’s nothing documented on how their slaves were treated, but the fact that there are no bad things written about them gives me the impression that those people were treated well and that they really were been helped by Marie and possibly her husband. I really do hope this was the case.
Business and practice.
Marie became a very highly regarded religious leader and community activist. She was a devout Catholic but also a practitioner in the art of Voodoo. Some say Voodoo Queen while others prefer High Priestess. Either way, her magical ways were looked upon with much high regard by many and people would go to her for help in curing ailments, resolving family disputes and financial prosperity, among many other things.
She opened a salon, where she became a hairdresser to many of the wealthy families in New Orleans. Now, we all know that going to get our hair done can be therapeutic in more ways than just having someone pamper us for a while. Sat in that chair, people often speak to their stylist about their personal lives, families and any troubles they have. It’s almost like a therapy session sometimes, as well as a chance to catch up with friends about all the latest goings on in each other’s lives. Well, Marie was well aware of this and used it to her advantage. She was very good at subtly getting her patrons to divulge information and would listen to them gossip between themselves. She would even pay their servants for pieces of personal info with money or by curing any ailments they had.
Later, she would use the information she obtained during her Voodoo consultations with the women of the city. She gave them a lot of advice and it helped raise her standing as a powerful clairvoyant. She would also sell charms to her clients to help all their wishes come true. She may or may not have had any natural foresight, but she did what she could to solidify her power within the community and she was very successful. Marie maintained her authority and there was only ever one attempt to challenge her. This was in 1850 and it didn’t go anywhere as she was too highly revered my so many people.
Death and legacy
On June 15th, 1881, Marie Catherine Laveau Paris Glapion passed away. It was said that she went peacefully at home and her funeral was a major event that was attended by a huge number of the white elite of New Orleans. Tales that have been passed down tell stories that she was seen by several people after her death and that nobody knew if she faked her death or if it was her spirit that was seen. (Neither would surprise me to be honest, but I lean more towards her spirit.) She had made such a big name for herself that news of her death was published in several states across North America.
Her tomb in the Saint Louis Cemetery No.1 is very popular with tourists and people travel from all over the world to visit her burial site. In December 2013, the tomb was vandalised by an unknown person/people. It was covered in pink latex paint and was removed as soon as possible so that it wouldn’t cause any permanent damage to the plaster or the interior by locking in any moisture. In 2014, the ‘Save Our Cemeteries’ non-profit organisation, along with the Archdiocese, spent three months restoring the tomb. The project was inundated with visitors who marked the new plaster with ‘XXX’.
It is said that leaving the markings is a sign of respect to Marie and also to ask her favour in granting your wish. If your wish is granted, you return and circle your markings. Visitors to her tomb used to leave offerings of candles, flowers and coins but that is no longer allowed. On March 1st, 2015, public access the Cemetery was cut off because of repeated vandalism on various tombs and guided tours are now the only way to visit the legendary site.
Although Marie’s life is full of mystery, there are may songs written about her and fictionalised characters of her appear in comics and TV shows. Her legend lives on, as do many theories and rumours about her life. There are artist renderings of her, but none are truly accurate as she never sat for a portrait, so we actually don’t know what she really looked like. There is an image that is said to have been commissioned by her husband, but from my research, there are still some questions surrounding that. I will leave it up to you all to decide. She has, however, been described as a “woman of great beauty, intellect and charisma who was also pious, charitable and a skilled herbal healer.”
I truly believe that the legend of The Voodoo Queen will live on in the hearts of many for generations to come and that one day, we could possibly know more about her. From what I’ve learned about Marie, she was a remarkable woman who managed to become successful and prosper during a very troubled time, especially for people of colour. She knew of hardship and struggle, but also of love and kindness, which she also gave in abundance. I hold a lot of respect for Marie Laveau and hope to one day make the long journey across the pond to visit her tomb to pay my respects.
Well, that’s all for this week, my darlings. Join me next week for more ramblings.
Love and light to all.
Blessed be xxx