In Louisiana, Voudou is almost always associated with Marie Laveau. She is the Voudou Queen of New Orleans, quite literally. She took the traditions of her ancestors—along with her mother’s and her grandmother’s flair for entrepreneurship—and found a way to harmoniously blend the Catholic religion imposed upon her with her indigenous Creole practices. And she made a little money in the process! She triumphantly traversed both Catholic and Voudou worlds and was accepted, for the most part, by the society in which she lived.

Marie Laveau’s successful combination of Catholic elements, African religions, and Creole culture survived over one hundred and fifty years and is carried on and emulated to this day by devotees and practitioners alike. Thus, her style of Voudou has proven persistent and worthy of acknowledgment as a definitive, emergent Creole tradition. But because there are so many different expressions of New Orleans Voudou, and because not everyone embraces her or Catholicism in their practice, I call Marie Laveau’s brand of New Orleans Voudou Laveau Voudou to differentiate it from other forms of Creole Voudou in Louisiana.
To understand Laveau Voudou, we must first understand the basics of Voudou in general. The word Voudou means “spirit of God.” West African Vodun cosmology centers on the vodun—the spirits and other elements of divine essence that govern the Earth. It is a religious system often called monotheistic, but that term is not accurate. It is more precisely described as henotheistic, because it acknowledges the existence of one ultimate God but does not deny there are other deities as well. To illustrate, New Orleans Voudou is based on a hierarchy of spirits consisting of three levels: at the top, Bon Dieu (Good God); below that are powerful spirits referred to as loas and orishas; and third are the Ancestors. In addition, saints, angels, spirit guides, and revered cultural heroes are also acknowledged. These powerful spirits act as intermediaries between Bon Dieu and humans and assist us in the daily matters of life. They love us, guard us, and protect us. They give us solutions to our problems. All of the spirits help us navigate life, warning us of impending danger while ripping the masks off those who would wish us harm. Finally, Ancestor reverence is considered to be the foundation of New Orleans Voudou. The loas, orishas and Ancestors are not worshiped; rather, they are served and revered, respectively.
There are three primary forms of Voudou in New Orleans: African Vodun, Haitian Vodou and New Orleans Voudou. There are varying degrees of overlap among them and colloquially speaking, all of these forms fall under the umbrella term Voudou in Louisiana. New Orleans Voudou consists of numerous expressions due to its folk status, survival among families, appeal to the individual practitioner and, “Because many ‘Louisiana Voodoo’ practitioners are fearful of ostracism, ridicule, and further persecution, they have become a type of ‘underground’ religion in New Orleans” (Maranise 2012, 2). Elmer Glover, a New Orleans bokor, stated during a panel discussion in 2011 called Vaudou Practice in Haiti and New Orleans, “There are different types of Voudou. We have what is called Ifá, Orisha, Lukumi, Santeria, Umbanda, and ancient Egyptian practices to name a few. All of these are forms of Voudou.” Voudou Priestess Claudia Williams from Starling Magickal in New Orleans and keeper of the official shrine to Doctor John Montenée stated, “I grew up with the teaching that all African Traditional Religions fell under the umbrella term ‘Vodou’ or ‘Voodoo.’ Everyone’s teaching varies slightly” (Claudia Williams, personal communication April 19, 2019).
While most New Orleans Voudou practitioners serve and work with Marie Laveau in some capacity, either as loa, spirit guide or elevated Ancestor, there exists another form of New Orleans Voudou practiced by those who do not like Marie Laveau because of her commercialization of the religion. As a result, these individuals refer to their form of New Orleans Voudou simply as “The Religion” and their members as the Faithful (Osbey 2011). These individuals are not Marie Laveau devotees and do not include her as a spirit in their service to the Ancestors.
Read the article and answer the following questions in the FB group under the post called "Discussion: Laveau Voudou."

  1. In your own words, what is Voudou?
  2. What makes Laveau Voudou unique from other forms of Voudou in Louisiana?
  3. Is Hoodoo part of Voudou in New Orleans?