Making Myth Podcast
We’ve all heard the phrase “reality is stranger than fiction” but does the same thing apply when we look at the past? The Making Myth podcast hopes to untangle fact from history, myth, legend and speak to how we assign meaning to our lives.
Join us on the journey as we transcend through the past and emerge with new understandings.
Making Myth Podcast
Episode 15: The Formidable, Mystical Marie Laveau
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Known more by legend than fact, Marie Laveau has been immortalized for her Louisiana Voodoo practices. Born in New Orleans as the first free woman of color in her family, she's remembered for much more than her religious practices. By the end of her life, Marie was known as the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans and had practiced it for at least 60 years.
Marie was not only known for her Voodoo practices and ceremonies. She nursed the sick in Yellow Fever epidemics, cared for the condemned, and let Choctaw women and children sleep in her front yard. She was a true figurehead of multiracial, diverse community of New Orleans, and is still consulted for guidance today.
Come along with us as we explore Marie's place in New Orleans history, influence on Afro-Catholic practices, and her enduring legacy through history and astrology for Black History Month!
Sources
Articles:
- “The Ancestors: Marie Laveau’s Tomb” by August Darbonne, Kathryn O’Dwyer (https://tinyurl.com/yaav7s86)
- "The Birth of New Orleans' Voodoo Queen: A Long-Held Mystery Resolved" by Ina J. Fandrich (https://tinyurl.com/5n6sszf4)
- "Extreme Penalty of the Law: Death Punishment for Murder, The Executions Yesterday", New Orleans Republican, May 14, 1871 (https://tinyurl.com/4et3fz47)
- “Marie Laveau” by Carolyn Marrow Long (https://tinyurl.com/34ej4p5m)
- "Marie Laveau's husband disappeared 200 years ago, but an LSU student thinks she finally found him" by Doug MacCash (https://tinyurl.com/y5e3eun7)
Books:
- The French Quarter: an Informal History of the New Orleans by Herbert Ashbury
- The Magic of Marie Laveau: Embracing the Spiritual Legacy of the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans by Denise Alvarado
- A New Orleans voudou priestess: the legend and reality of Marie Laveau by Carolyn Morrow Long
- Witch Queens, Voodoo Spirits, & Hoodoo Saints: A Guide to Magical New Orleans by Denise Alvarado
Primary Sources:
- Le Code Noir, May 6, 1687 (https://tinyurl.com/2s468ypz)
- Louisiana's Code Noir, 1724 (https://tinyurl.com/5z28pun5)
Websites:
- Marie Laveau Home Site (https://tinyurl.com/m4ck5jj5)
- Marie Laveau's Tomb (https://tinyurl.com/524krb6s)
- Marie Laveau, Voodoo Practitioner (https://tinyurl.com/y934fm97)
- St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 (https://tinyurl.com/4nn8utak)
- Who was Marie Laveau? (https://tinyurl.com/3n73sn5p)
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