Martha Ward
Voodoo Queen |
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Voodoo Queen Chapter Titles Who in Heaven or Hell, Africa or France, Was Marie Laveau? Catholic in the Morning, Voodoo by Night Working Wife, Widow, Mistress, and Voodoo Divorcée Marie Laveau Brings the New Orleans Saints to Town Color Schemes and Protection Policies on St. Ann Street Freedom à la Mode, à la Marie Life in the Cities of the Dead At the Altar of Love and Luck Madame Laveau’s Prayers, Poisons, and Political Pull How John, the Devil, and Mam’zelle Marie Hoodooed the Media A Tale of Two Sisters The Last Queen of the Voodoos Returns from the Dead |
VQ ExcerptHow John, the Devil, and Mam’zelle Marie Hoodooed the Media“Then Marie Laveau comes out with a thin, thin gown on—almost nude. She would start dancing so slow-like. Man, I’m telling you, she could bend her body into all kinds of knots.”  Original drawing by Carol Peeples (Copyright, 2001) Hundreds of people lined the shore, waiting for her. As she stepped from the boat, they clapped and hailed her with the words and rhythms of the conjure song everyone knew belonged to her— Mam’zelle Marie, fe chauffez. Mam’zelle Marie, chauffez ça. “Ms. Marie, make it hot, turn up the heat, feel the power.” She sang to them in response. C’est m’a, coupé ça, c’est m’a, coupé ça. “It is there, it is real. Cut it, kill it, finish it.” Marie spread a large white cloth on the beach. On one side she set a cross; on the opposite side she placed flowers, three candles, and a picture of St. Peter the Protector. In the middle she stood a portrait of St. John the Baptist whose birthday the Voodoos celebrated each summer on June 23. “They celebrated on St. John’s Day because they wanted to be like him,” a member of her choir that night said. “You see, he was a great man and always did what was right.”  As the drum beat built, she and the other members of her circle added their gifts and offerings to John. Then everyone gathered in circles around the priestess and knelt in the sand. Marie rapped on the ground three times; the spectators shouted with her—Un-Deux-Trois, “One-Two-Three.” Marie ordered a fire built on the lakefront beach. Some men brought a large pot and filled it with water from a barrel. An old man prayed in French as he added salt. A young girl sang and shook in peppers. Someone opened a box and pulled out—a Times reporter who saw this ceremony in 1872 believed it was a fat snake.  Original drawing by Carol Peeples (Copyright, 2001) They then cut the “snake” into three pieces. Marie, the old man, and the girl each took a piece and put it into the boiling vat. The drumming and singing continued as Queen Marie called for “a cat,” cut the animal’s throat, and threw it whole into the pot—the reporter put the quote marks around “cat” as if there were some doubt. Then she lifted up a live black rooster, its feet tied to its head, and plunged it into the boiling water. Amid songs and yells, Queen Marie ordered the ritual participants to undress.The reporter paid closer attention to this phase of the ritual. Men of his period believed that a woman was “undressed” who did not have on all the required layers of clothing or was dressed in casual clothes in front of people from a different race or gender. So the phrase “entirely nude” must be taken lightly—it often meant that only the last see-through layer of clothing remained. Everyone grasped hands with their neighbors and circled the pot; Marie took a shot bag of multi-colored powders from the pocket of her dress and poured the mixture into the pot. She sang another song; the crowd knew it too and joined in the chorus, C’est l’amour, oui Mam’zelle, c’est l’amour. “This is love, yes Mama, this is love.” In the light of the fire against the cloudless night, Marie danced, and no one who saw her ever forgot. At midnight, she paused and shifted the tempo of the celebration. “It’s time to enter the water,” she proclaimed, and signaled everyone to follow her into the warm shallow waters of Lake Pontchartrain—jump, splash, swim, bathe, play. Wet clothes clinging to the bodies of dancers and revelers offered journalists yet another view of “entirely nude.” Marie’s friends had set up large tables covered with white tablecloths and were serving fried and baked chickens, jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, light sugared cakes and heavy sweet spirits—rum, champagne, and fancy liquors. Dance, eat, drink—Marie told them—this night will last a year.  |
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