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Who Do That Voodoo?
By Amy Condra-Peters
 Voodoo's influence still lingers in the lush, languid
city of New Orleans. During summer evenings, when the leaves rustle in the
breeze and the air vibrates with the bellowing songs of cicadas and
bullfrogs, it is easy to imagine the steady rhythm of the dancers in Place
Congo, and the white-robed Voodoo priestesses who once worshipped secretly
at Bayou St. John.
Originating in West Africa, Voodoo is a faith that has colored New Orleans
with an exotic and bewitching luster. Slaves carried Voodoo customs from
Africa to Haiti. Later, planters, slaves, and free Creoles of color brought
these beliefs to New Orleans, where they took hold in the region throughout
the nineteenth-century. Louis Armstrong Park, formerly known as Place
Congo, was the site of massive drum-and-dance celebrations by local slaves.
These spectacles frightened and amazed the Creole planters and colonists
who witnessed them.
Today, Voodoo continues to thrill visitors to the Crescent City. During my
last visit to my hometown, I noticed that Voodoo tours seem to be even more
popular than the seamy offerings of Bourbon Street. At the very least, these
tours are better advertised: brochures promoting such salacious jaunts as
"Bloody Maryıs Voodoo Cemetery Tour" and "The Spellbound Tour, departing
from Reverend Zombieıs Voodoo Shop" are thrust into the hand of nearly every
tourist who sets foot in the French Quarter.
It was inevitable that I would eventually find myself clutching a daiquiri
(in a go-cup, of course) and listening raptly to tales of playful gods and
long-haired Voodoo priestesses. Having been advised that Hollywood has given
Voodoo a bad rap, I wondered how clearly these various tours would clear up
misconceptions. I decided to sample some of the most promising itineraries
for an up-close view of this fascinating religion.
I dragged my mother along on my first tour, the Tour of the Undead, which
began in the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum. Charles Massicot Gandalfo,
otherwise known as "Voodoo Charley," founded this museum in 1972. Although
it has changed locations throughout the years, this Voodoo museumıs mission
has remained the same: to promote the cultural and spiritual aspects of
Voodoo, rather than simply exploiting the religion as a spooky tourist
attraction.
The displays here are designed to inform as well as entertain. In a
backroom, a video playing "Voodoo: From the Inside" presents an overview of
Voodoo beliefs and practices. The videoıs main message is that, contrary to
how they are usually portrayed in movies, Voodooıs followers do not consist
solely of crazed, wild-eyed zombies who relish chomping off the heads of
live chickens. Most Voodoo practitioners believe in one God, and aspire to a
joyful and balanced spiritual life. And, while Voodoo ceremonies in Haiti
still involve blood sacrifice, those in New Orleans are much more likely to
include an offering of rum than a slaughtered chicken or goat.
After watching the documentary, we were invited to browse through the
exhibits before the tour began. My mom and I wandered around, noting the
mounted African masks, the glass cases filled with old Voodoo dolls, and a
skeleton wearing dark sunglasses and a jaunty black top hat. Our guide,
Chris, gathered us together in the room presided over by this grinning
skeleton, who is named Baron Samedi. Chris explained that Baron Samedi is
one of the many loas, or spirits, who act as messengers between humans and
the supreme being. Each loa has a distinct name and personality. The Baron,
for example, serves as the gatekeeper between the worlds of the living and
the dead. He also happens to have a voracious appetite for food and drink,
making him a fitting personification of the New Orleanian reminder to "eat,
drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may all die!"
Our guide took this proclamation to heart as he led us to the first of the
tourıs many bar breaks. Each of these intermissions edged Chrisı dramatic
tendencies up a few notches, until, eyes gleaming and cheeks glowing, he was
practically screaming ghost stories at us. One of the most macabre scenarios
involved a band of eighteenth-century Spanish soldiers who tortured and
robbed their officers and fellow soldiers. The bodies of these unfortunate
victims provided a feast for a number of large river rats. Years later, said
Chris, the screeches of rat teeth gnashing against human bones still echo
through the former barracks. Our guideıs eyes gleamed as concluded his
story, "And that, my friends, is a sound that will never be heard on a white
noise machine!"
Since this is a nighttime tour, the melodrama is turned up to an almost
deafening volume. The Tour of the Undead includes a trilogy of stories
concerning those nocturnal roamers, vampires, ghosts and Voodoo spirits.
While you wonıt walk away from this tour with a deep understanding of
Voodoo, romping through the French Quarterıs supernatural hotspots can be
an extremley entertaining way to spend an evening.
For a more informative take on Voodoo in New Orleans, Bloody Maryıs Tours
offers curious tourists a daytime tour of the cityıs Voodoo sites, including
Voodoo Queen Marie Laveauıs grave in St. Louis Cemetery #1. Accompanied by
my mom and my brother, I followed Bloody Mary through the above-ground tombs
that rise above the cityıs below-sea-level surface. Dressed in a simple
black dress and a floppy black sun hat, Bloody Mary is a much more
down-to-earth presence than I had expected (her brochure depicts a
scantily-clad blonde vampire, complete with blood-coated teeth). Mary led
us to the tomb of Marie Laveau, a modest, whitewashed monument surrounded by
offerings such as flowers, fruit and candles.
 Marie Laveau was an intelligent, statuesque woman of African, Caucasian and
Native American ancestry. Laveauıs work as a hairdresser gained her entrance
into the homes of New Orleans' most prestigious families. Many society
women confessed their secrets and scandals to Laveau, who used this
knowledge to her advantage. Laveau would charge desperate wives a fee to "unhex"
their unfaithful husbands. She would then visit these husbands and let them
know that she had soothed their wivesı anger; these grateful men would offer
Marie Laveau more money to show their appreciation.
By 1830 Laveau had not only gotten rich; she had also become the undisputed
Queen of Voodoo in New Orleans. She organized public Voodoo ceremonies in
Congo Square (now Louis Armstrong Park) and at Bayou St. John. Crowds made
up of 6-7000 people would gather in Congo Square, dancing and swaying in
unison to melodies played on bamboo flutes. In order to further entice
paying audiences, Laveau heightened the sensationalism of these ceremonies
by including new mystical elements, such as incense, holy water and statues
of saints. These practices had usually associated with Catholicism.
Like most New Orleanians, Laveau was a devout Catholic, and saw nothing
unusual about combining her two religions. In fact, Roman Catholicism had
been influencing Voodoo customs since the seventeenth century. In Haiti,
fearful plantation owners banned the practice of Voodoo and all slaves were
forced to convert to Catholicism. Soon, though, the two religions began to
blend; Voodoo followers simply used Catholic saints to represent their
familiar loas. Our tour guide, Bloody Mary, explained that, like many Voodoo
practitioners in New Orleans, she had been raised as a Catholic. She
explains, "I donıt believe that you have to choose either Voodoo or
Catholicism, and neither does the philosophy of Voodoo."
 I took my seven-year-old daughter on my final Voodoo tour, this time with
Historic New Orleans Walking Tours. Although that particular morning was
grey and windy, there was nothing ominous about the tourıs meeting place.
Our group gathered at the cheerful Café Beignet on Royal Street, where we
were greeted by a cheerful woman named Anna. She immediately offered any
nervous tourists this assurance: "Weıre going to have a good time!"
Thus assured, we all marched through the Quarter to Our Lady of Guadalupe
Church, which is now the official chapel of New Orleansı Police and Fire
Departments. Here, Anna told us the real reason the people of New Orleans
are always ready to let the good times rollthey are motivated by pure,
unadulterated fear.
Such dread is well founded. Ironically, the city that is renowned for
staging brilliantly "good times" has historically been the setting for grave
adversity. New Orleans was founded by the French in 1718, taken over by
Spain in 1762, regained by Napoleon in 1800, and sold to the United States
in 1803. During her 272-year history, New Orleans has survived yellow fever
and cholera epidemics, Indian attacks, slave uprisings, revolts,
conspiracies, hurricanes, floods, the American and French revolutions,
segregation, integration, and rampant political corruption. Tragedies that
could irreparably scar any other city only add to New Orleansı unique
persona as a place where the past and the present are fused, and the future
is not even considered.
This desire to live in the moment might explain the importance of St.
Expedite to both Roman Catholics and Voodoo practitioners. A statue of St.
Expedite stands in Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. St. Expedite is portrayed
as a classical warrior, one who wears a red robe and brandishes a cross in
his right hand. He is the patron saint of prompt solutions, the saint to
call upon during urgent emergencies. His origin is shadowed in controversy;
the most popular story (and the one that our guide, Anna, told us) is that
when a shipment of religious relics arrived one day at the church, the
statue of St. Expedite was the only one that nobody recognized. The only
clue to his identity was a label on the packing crate that read "Spedito".
So, this saint became known as St. Expedite. 150 years later, when a Roman
Catholic scholar arrived in New Orleans and claimed that there was no such
saint, local Catholics rallied around and found an obscure saint, St.
Expeditus, to model their saint after.
Roman Catholic influence in New Orleans has contributed to a local reverence
for those that have passed on, and this veneration of family and tradition
is in constant evidence. Mantels in shotgun houses, Creole cottages,
mansions, and suburban homes are all more often than not decked with
treasured family photographs, funerary art and candles. Such traditions have
seeped into local Voodoo practices, which continue to intrigue both the
cityıs residents and guests. Touring New Orleans' legendary Voodoo sites
provides a rare insight into this fascinating religion.
For details on the tour companies listed above, visit the following
websites:
The New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum
http://www.voodoomuseum.com
Bloody Maryıs Tours
www.bloodymarystours.com
Historic New Orleans Walking Tours
www.tourneworleans.com
Alter photo courtesy of Simone Ink
Stilt Man and Ava Kay Jones photos by
Marlene Goldman
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