Marie Laveau

Posted: 06.01.2020 | Updated: 04.14.2025

New Orleans is the place that inspired Anne Rice’s “Interview With The Vampire.” The city where jazz was born, and where Louisiana voodoo was made. Marie Laveau, the infamous Voodoo Queen staked her claim here and she has refused to let go since.

New Orleans was one of the first port cities within reach of the Gulf Stream. Its markets and sailor infested alleys, meters from a heavy traffic shipping route, were a smorgasbord of collectivities and cultures.

This influx of so many cultures – European, African, Spanish, Chinese, Turkish, and dozens more – started paving the town with their tradition. The Voodoo Priestess, who still captivates us today, grew out of this hodgepodge. Her eternal spirit is still alive in its midst.

New Orleans is a place so steeped in magic and weird stuff that the locals don’t even bat an eye at anything out of place.

Discover this strange way of life for yourself on a historic walking tour with NOLA Ghosts!

Why Was Marie Laveau Famous?

Marie Laveau was a valued healer, leader, and business owner in her New Orleans communtity. But most of all, in the eyes of the American public, the first Voodoo Queen. She brought the religion to a broader public by inviting all people of New Orleans into religious practices once held secret. Her name is now syonymous with Louisiana Voodoo and her grave is one of the most visited in the United States. The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans is truly eternal.

Origins of The Voodoo Queen

With that intro in place, we might as well start the pageantry of strange and often folkloric NOLA denizens that make the Big Easy’s magical tapestry.

The first on our list is the world-famous Marie Catherine Laveau (September 10, 1801 – June 15, 1881). Laveau was a Louisiana Creole voodoo practitioner and a polarizing historical figure.

Madame Laveau has become overtime famous and iconic folklore like character. Portrayed in movies, TV series, books, and songs, always drenched in mystery, charm, and gothic undertones.

Marie Laveau was born a free African American in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. She was the biological daughter of Charles Trudeau – a rather influential surveyor and politician – and Marguerite Henry a free woman of color. 

When Marie turned 18, she was wed to Jacques Paris, a French immigrant who had fled from the Haitian Revolution. They had two daughters, one out of wedlock.

A year after they finally tied the knot, Jacques went and bit the dust; he died in 1820.

For all intents and purposes, Marie was the chimera of the American dream come to life.

She was a striking woman. Highly charismatic and a go-getter with a genetic background of 1/3 African, 1/3 Native American, and 1/3 European. Many men were smitten by Marie’s exotic allure. 

Following her husband’s mysterious death, Marie entered a domestic partnership with Christophe Dominick Dummy de Glapion, a French nobleman.

They stayed together until his death in 1855 and had 15 children, although all are not entirely confirmed.

The Voodoo Priestess

Marie Laveau was a dedicated practitioner of Voodoo and a world revered authority in herbal healing. People all the way from Washington and as far as the Indies constantly called on her for advice. 

“Laveau traveled the streets of New Orleans like she owned them.”

What really made Marie stand-out, aside from the fact that folks were deathly afraid of being cursed by her, was her uncanny ability to unearth secrets.

If a politician needed blackmail material on their opponent then there was a really good chance Marie had the skeleton in the closet they were after. She could find the smoking gun at the drop of a hat. 

Marie knew how to market her brand. She started publicizing through the grapevine her magical career and began spreading rumors, some unsubstantiated, of the power of her pet snake, Zombi; “the reincarnation of the African god.”

Her daughter, Marie II started having grand theatrical public events. She threw huge firework-like displays for the attendees to St. John’s Eve rituals. They knew the power of pomp and circumstance. 

Marie Laveau and Her Little Birds

Whether there was any truth to Marie’s occult powers – a mix of Roman Catholic practices and saints with African spirits and folklore- is up for debate.

What is nonetheless known is that Marie was, in fact, a rather ingenious spymaster. Over the years she developed a network of informants; most servants of prominent white households throughout the region. 

Marie catered and pumped this well-spring of inside information into a database she could later work for opportunities. Wealthy patrons, the big kahunas of NOLA life, had a bad habit of talking off the cuff – exposing private details – in front of the help. 

Marie’s little birds – her spies – were paid in money, favors, or through tonics. 

She knew everyone’s secrets. Mainly because the vaults they were kept had a security glitch; they were blind to the help.

Marie Laveau Death

Marie Laveau death took palce on June 15, 1881, at age 79. She died peacefully in her home and had a lavish, heavily attended funeral, everyone, from the lowliest servant to outstanding members of the social elite were present.

The day of her death, the first rumors started making the rounds. People had seen Marie’s ghost prancing around town.

Her figure and phantom – indicative of her of legend – slowly becoming a fixture in the NOLA zeitgeist.

Marie Laveau’s Grave

Surrounded by lore, legend, and half-truths, Marie is an often disputed historical figure in American history. Was she a saintly patron of the arts and Voodoo practices or a cold-hearted beast, similar to a gang boss? Perhaps, she was simply a product of an oppressed society.

Up until March 1st, 2015, Marie’s grave was a dark tourism hot spot. Her final resting spot, located in plot 347 of the Glapion family crypt in Saint Louis Cemetery No.1 in New Orleans, was a required pilgrimage site for fans of the otherworldly.

Tourists would visit the grave, draw and X mark with chalk on the tomb, yell out a wish, turn around 3 times and kick on the granite walls. If the wish was granted, they were required to come back, circle their X, and leave Marie an offering.

For years, thaw a step common practice… Until the gravesite was vandalized and the Archdiocese of New Orleans had no choice but to restrict access to Marie’s tomb.

Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo

Marie Laveau’s house is also a hotspot for those seeking to learn more about the Voodoo Priestess. But there is some confusiong on the matter. Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo, often considered by outsiders as her home, is merely the former site of her daughter Marie II’s shop.

The true home of the Louisiana Voodoo Queen is further up the Quarter, on the corner St. Ann and Rampart. 1020 St. Ann was where Marie Laveau and Christoph Glaupion rasied their children. It is where she fixated the city of New Orleans with her connection to the unknown and made a living while doing it.

Her home burned down after Marie Laveau II’s death in 1897. The younger Laveau drowned in Lake Ponchatrain while performing a ritual with her many followers. They say that hte spiritual vortex created in the house was so great that it was engulfed in flames.

Marie Laveau’s home is now a double shotgun and private home. But, visitors still leave offerings across the windows of this Creole cottage in hopes she will answer their prayers.

Haunted New Orleans

Marie Laveau, like the Axeman of New Orleans and other bizarre tales, is one of the reasons why NOLA – the Big Easy – is by far the spookiest place in the United States. Did you know Marie Laveau had a daughter? Lear about these New Orleans legends and more on our blog!

Book a walking ghost tour with NOLA Ghosts to discover the city’s haunted history for yourself. Keep up with us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to learn more about America’s most haunted places.

Sources:

• http://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2012/07/marie-laveau.html 
• https://64parishes.org/entry/marie-laveau-2?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiApsm7BhBZEiwAvIu2X6_INNSa1_uZE71cIHVGW7Nqt0FbdPIoQ9cT9zAdVXcjQpeCP2tXQhoCU54QAvD_BwE
• https://www.neworleans.com/things-to-do/multicultural/traditions/voodoo
• https://allthatsinteresting.com/marie-laveau