Marie Laveau

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Portrait of Marie Laveau after a painting by Frank Schneider (the latter was made around 1920 and is probably based on a model by George Catlin, which has now been lost )

Marie Laveau (* around 1794 ; † June 16, 1881 in New Orleans ) was a voodoo priestess and used techniques known as voodoo , which are also known as magic . She was considered one of the most influential people in New Orleans in the 19th century; there are numerous stories and legends about them.

Live and act

Laveau's grave in St. Louis Cemetery

Marie Laveau is said to be of Creole descent , born in the French Quarter of New Orleans in 1801 , to a white farmer and a black woman. Marie Laveau married Jacques Paris on August 4, 1819; the marriage is officially documented. Information about her life beforehand is not known. Paris died around 1826, other death dates are also given. From then on Laveau worked as a hairdresser who visited her customers - elegant white ladies - in their homes and received a lot of information from them and their servants. After the death of her husband, she lived with Luis Christopher Deuminy de Glapion, who died in 1835. Marie Laveau is said to have given birth to a total of 15 children, none of them married.

Voodoo followers were considered devil worshipers by the church and faced persecution. Marie Laveau responded by mixing voodoo with Catholicism , for example with Catholic devotional objects , statues of saints and crucifixes . She explained that voodoo followers are also Christians and put on voodoo shows that were cleared of parts that are difficult for Christians to understand, such as snake worship and blood sacrifice. She invited well-off people and paying guests. On the other hand, there were also secret voodoo ceremonies.

There were repeated attempts to bring Marie Laveau to court, but never came to a trial. Obviously they protected their diverse relationships and knowledge of New Orleans society.

On June 16, 1881, the New Orleans newspapers reported her death. Her eldest daughter, who was also named Marie Laveau, is said to have continued her voodoo practices. A few years later it disappeared without a trace. The mother's grave in Saint Louis Cemetery , part of the Glapions family burial site, is now a tourist attraction but is still visited by voodoo enthusiasts. It is not certain whether her daughter is also in this grave. The house on St. Ann Street , where the Laveaus lived , is now a small apartment complex.

In December 2013, Marie Laveau's grave was the target of vandalism .

Marie Laveau in the media

Former home of the Laveaus
  • Marie Laveau appears in Isabel Allende's novel Zorro .
  • She is mentioned in the song Clare from Fairground Attraction .
  • Bobby Bare wrote the country song Marie Laveau about her .
  • Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show in the song Marie Laveaux 1972, text and music by Shel Silverstein.
  • Dr. John wrote a song of the same name.
  • Canned Heat also dedicated a title to the voodoo queen on the album Boogie with Canned Heat.
  • Marie Laveau is one of the supporting characters in the crime novels written by Barbara Hambly about the main character Benjamin January.
  • Marie Laveau appears in the 1987 novel New Orleans by Alexandra Ripley .
  • The group Redbone wrote the song The Witch Queen of New Orleans about them.
  • Kenny Barron wrote a piece of the same name, which he published with his quintet in 2004 on the album Images .
  • Marie Laveau appears in the first part of the Sierra Adventure Gabriel Knight .
  • Marie Laveau appears as the undead, voodoo-practicing ghoul queen in Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series.
  • Marie Laveau appears in Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods as a supporting character in one of the sub-chapters that tell how the gods came to America.
  • In 2013, Marie Laveau was portrayed in the television series American Horror Story by Angela Bassett .
  • In Pastewka Season 7, Episode 3 The Curse , Bastian Pastewka has to cope with a curse from a descendant of Marie Laveau.
  • The Danish metal band Volbeat dedicated a piece to Marie Laveau on their sixth studio album Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie .
  • Trombone Shorty , also from New Orleans, has the pieces Laveau Dirge No. on his album Parking Lot Symphony (2017) . 1 and Laveau Dirge Finale dedicated to the lady.

literature

  • Martha Ward: Voodoo Queen: the spirited lives of Marie Laveau , University Press of Mississippi, 2004, ISBN 1-578-06629-8
  • Ina Johann Fandrich: The mysterious Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveaux: A study of powerful female leadership in nineteenth century New Orleans , New York: Routledge 2005

Web links

Commons : Marie Laveau  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mysterious vandal paints La. Voodoo Queen's tomb a bright pink , Daily News , Jan. 4, 2014
  2. ^ Trombone Shorty
personal data
SURNAME Laveau, Marie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Voodoo queen
DATE OF BIRTH around 1794
DATE OF DEATH June 16, 1881
Place of death New Orleans