Witch? Sorceress? Daughter of Satan? Thief? Saint? Born in 1794, Marie Laveau reigned as the undisputed Queen of the Voodoos for nearly a century. Her beauty and powers were legendary, and caused her to be the subject of wild gossip throughout her life. She passed on her secrets to a favorite daughter, who helped her dominate the underworld of voodoo in New Orleans. "It is an absorbing tale, and the emotional undertones, the conflicts in her human relations, the overwhelming loneliness of her position, all come through the story of a strange life." Kirkus Reviews "The author creates a vivid, haunting atmosphere, which (like Marie's arts) holds the reader in spell. . . . an intriguing novel that is competently mounted and exceedingly well executed." New York Times

Each year, thousands of pilgrims visit the celebrated New Orleans tomb where Marie Laveau is said to lie. They seek her favors or fear her lingering influence. Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of Marie Laveau is the first study of the Laveaus, mother and daughter of the same name. Both were legendary leaders of religious and spiritual traditions many still label as evil. The Laveaus were free women of color and prominent French-speaking Catholic Creoles. From the 1820s until the 1880s when one died and the other disappeared, gossip, fear, and fierce affection swirled about them. From the heart of the French Quarter, in dance, drumming, song, and spirit possession, they ruled the imagination of New Orleans. How did the two Maries apply their “magical” powers and uncommon business sense to shift the course of love, luck, and the law? The women understood the real crime—they had pitted their spiritual forces against the slave system of the United States. Moses-like, they led their people out of bondage and offered protection and freedom to the community of color, rich white women, enslaved families, and men condemned to hang. The curse of the Laveau family, however, followed them. Both loved men they could never marry. Both faced down the press and police who stalked them. Both countered the relentless gossip of curses, evil spirits, murders, and infant sacrifice with acts of benevolence. The book is also a detective story—who is really buried in the famous tomb in the oldest “city of the dead” in New Orleans? What scandals did the Laveau family intend to keep buried there forever? By what sleight of hand did free people of color lose their cultural identity when Americans purchased Louisiana and imposed racial apartheid upon Creole creativity? Voodoo Queen brings the improbable testimonies of saints, spirits, and never-before-printed eyewitness accounts of ceremonies and magical crafts together to illuminate the lives of the two Marie Laveaus, leaders of a major, indigenous American religion.

Against the backdrop of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century New Orleans, A New Orleans Voudou Priestess: The Legend and Reality of Marie Laveau disentangles the complex threads of the legend surrounding the famous Voudou priestess. According to mysterious, oft-told tales, Laveau was an extraordinary celebrity whose sorcery-fueled influence extended widely from slaves to upper-class whites. Some accounts claim that she led the "orgiastic" Voudou dances in Congo Square and on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, kept a gigantic snake named Zombi, and was the proprietress of an infamous house of assignation. Though legendary for an unusual combination of spiritual power, beauty, charisma, showmanship, intimidation, and shrewd business sense, she also was known for her kindness and charity, nursing yellow fever victims and ministering to condemned prisoners, and her devotion to the Roman Catholic Church. The true story of Marie Laveau, though considerably less flamboyant than the legend, is equally compelling. In separating verifiable fact from semi-truths and complete fabrication, Long explores the unique social, political, and legal setting in which the lives of Marie Laveau's African and European ancestors became intertwined. Changes in New Orleans engendered by French and Spanish rule, the Louisiana Purchase, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow segregation affected seven generations of Laveau's family, from enslaved great-grandparents of pure African blood to great-grandchildren who were legally classified as white. Simultaneously, Long examines the evolution of New Orleans Voudou, which until recently has been ignored by scholars.

The life and work of the legendary “Pope of Voodoo,” Marie Laveau—a free woman of color who practically ruled New Orleans in the mid-1800s Marie Laveau may be the most influential American practitioner of the magical arts; certainly, she is among the most famous. She is the subject of songs, films, and legends and the star of New Orleans ghost tours. Her grave in New Orleans ranks among the most popular spiritual pilgrimages in the US. Devotees venerate votive images of Laveau, who proclaimed herself the “Pope of Voodoo.” She is the subject of respected historical biographies and the inspiration for novels by Francine Prose and Jewell Parker Rhodes. She even appears in Marvel Comics and on the television show American Horror Story: Coven, where she was portrayed by Angela Bassett. Author Denise Alvarado explores Marie Laveau’s life and work—the fascinating history and mystery. This book gives an overview of New Orleans Voodoo, its origins, history, and practices. It contains spells, prayers, rituals, recipes, and instructions for constructing New Orleans voodoo-style altars and crafting a voodoo amulet known as a gris-gris.

An extensively researched, indispensible guide concerning Marie Laveau and the family members, friends, and strangers interred in the famous tomb. Featuring the first known statement to appear in print of Marie Laveau's own words as to her age and condition of health that was taken in a deposition by a Justice of the Peace on February 24, 1873.

Few religions are as misunderstood as Afro-Caribbean traditions like Voodoo, Yoruba, Candomble, Shango, Santeria, and Obeah. Even the most wide-ranging books about Paganism rarely include a discussion of the African earth religions.