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8. Marie Laveau's Legacy In the later years of her life, Marie Laveau gradually moved away from pure Voodooism. Some of her critics claimed she was in league with the Devil (or "Papa La Bas" as the Devil was also known in New Orleans Voodoo, from the French word meaning "down" or "low," an obvious allusion to hell). Yet she had once been a devout Catholic, and over time she began to incorporate Roman Catholic elements into her Voodooism. Statues of the Saints, the belief in the Virgin Mary, and Holy Water were now mixed in with the snake, the Zombies, and the gris-gris. Eventually, Marie Laveau would give up on Voodoo altogether and return completely to the Roman Catholic religion. In 1869, past the age of 70, Marie Laveau was replaced as Voodoo Queen by a woman named Malvina Latour. Supposedly, Marie was voted out by the Voodoo worshipers at a meeting near Maison Blanche on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Sadly, her followers had determined Marie had grown too old to be in charge. Marie spent the rest of her life as a devout Roman Catholic and dedicated much time and effort visiting the prisoners in the local jail as an act of charity; she even helped build prayer altars for them in their jail cells, it was said. Malvina Latour could not, however, maintain cohesion within the Voodoo belief, and soon she was challenged by rival queens and Voodoo doctors who acquired their own followers. The most notable of the successor Voodoo doctors was James Alexander, who operated from Orleans Street at the back of the French Quarter. None of the subsequent queens and doctors who followed Marie Laveau could inspire or manipulate Voodoo worshipers to the degree of unifying the faith. As a result, Voodoo in New Orleans began its irretrievable decline. In 1881 Marie Leveau died, and she was buried in St. Louis Cemetery Number 1 down on Basin Street. Today when one speaks of the Voodoo Queen in New Orleans, typically only one name comes to mind -- Marie Laveau. The Voodoo Queen stills lives on today in New Orleans, if only in legend. Her grave is visited by the faithful and the curious year-round. Many come to her tomb and place small offerings there, like beans, food or various Voodoo items. Many make chalk marks on the face of her stone tomb, in the sign of an X or a cross. Still others believe that Marie Laveau's spirit rises on St. John's Eve, June 23, and holds court over a spectacular Voodoo ritual. (See "Ghosts of New Orleans" for more details.) Needless to say, there is debate as to whether an actual ghost of the Voodoo Queen exists. But of the sorceress herself, one thing is absolutely certain -- of all the practitioners of the Voodoo faith, no one in New Orleans was ever more renowned or more influential or more powerful than Marie Laveau. Sources and further reading: Great Characters of New Orleans, Mel Leavitt; Fabulous New Orleans, Lyle Saxon; The Voodoo Queen, Robert Tallant; A Short History of New Orleans, Mel Leavitt; Black New Orleans, John Blassingame; The French Quarter, Herbert Asbury; Gumbo Ya Ya, compiled by Lyle Saxon, et. al. ; Voodoo In New Orleans, Robert Tallant; Voodoo: Past and Present, Ron Bodin; Voodoo: Opposing Viewpoints, Don Nardo and Erik Belgum. Note: A good source book for traditional Louisiana charms is Gumbo Ya Ya: A Collection of Louisiana Folk Tales which was written under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration, Louisiana Writers' Project, 1945. Another good source for Voodoo recipes is Voodoo: Past and Present by Ron Bodin. Most of the examples cited in this article can be found in these two sources. © Copyright 1998 ParaScope, Inc.
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