Marie Laveau

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Alleged portrait of Marie Laveau, which hangs in the Louisiana State Library in the Cabildo.

Marie Laveau (1794? - June 16, 1881?) was an American practitioner of voodoo.

Very little is known with any certainly about the life of Marie Laveau. She is supposed to have been born in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana in 1794, the daughter of a white planter and a black woman. She married Jacques Paris, a free Black, on August 4, 1819; her marriage certificate is preserved in Saint Louis Cathedral in New Orleans.

M. Paris died in 1820 under unexplained circumstances; after his death, Marie Laveau became a hairdresser who catered to wealthy white families. She took a lover, Luis Christopher Duminy de Glapion, with whom she lived until his death in 1835.

Of her magical career, little definite can be said. She is said to have had a snake called Zombi. Oral traditions suggest that the occult part of her magic mixed Roman Catholic beliefs and saints with African spirits and religious concepts. It is also alleged that her feared magical powers came in fact from a network of informants in the households of the prominent that she developed while a hairdresser and that she owned her own brothel. She excelled at obtaining inside information on her wealthy patrons by apparently instilling fear in their servants whom she "cured" of mysterious ailments (Which she may have caused or suggested, a form of professional munchausen's disorder).

On June 16, 1881, the New Orleans newspapers announced that Marie Laveau had died. This is noteworthy if only because she continued to be seen in the town after her supposed demise. It is claimed that one of her daughters by M. Glapion assumed her name and carried on her magical practice after her death.

She is buried in Saint Louis Cemetery #1 in New Orleans, in the Glapion family crypt. The tomb continues to attract visitors who draw three crosses (XXX) on its side, hoping that her spirit will grant them a wish.

Image:MarieLaveauMausoleum.jpg

[edit] In modern fiction

Marie Laveau appears in a many novels, especially those that touch on the occult. These include Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods, in "The Arcanum" by Thomas Wheeler, in Voodoo Dreams by Jewell Parker Rhodes, and in Isabel Allende's romance Zorro, among others. She is the ancestress of a werewolf in the film Cry of the Werewolf. She makes appearances in many other works as well, including children's literature, comic books, and short stories.

Marie Laveau is mentioned in "Midnight Moon" - A novel by Lori Handeland

Marie Laveau is an enemy of both Doctor Strange and Dracula in Marvel Comics.

[edit] In music

Marie Laveau is the subject of a song by the famous New Orleans blues singer, Dr. John. The song is aptly named, "Marie Laveau."
Marie Laveau is heavily referenced in Grant Lee Buffalo's track Dixie Drug Store.
Marie Laveau is mentioned in the song "Clare" by Fairground Attraction.
Marie Laveau is the feature of the country song "Marie Laveau" by Bobby Bare.
The group Redbone wrote their hit single Witch Queen Of New Orleans in her honor.
Marie Laveau is mentioned as promenading with Oscar Wilde in "Wheel Inside the Wheel" by Mary Gauthier.
Marie Laveau is mentioned in "I Will Play for Gumbo" by Jimmy Buffett.
Marie Laveau is indirectly mentioned in "Gris-Gris" by NYC gothic-rock band Curse. The song speaks of the ritual many perform to bring a visit from her spirit in great detail.