Marie Laveau (September 10, 1801 - June 16, 1881) was an American practitioner of voodoo.
Very little is known with any certainty about the life of Marie Laveau. One must keep in mind that her daughter had the same name, so the two were confused in later years in most recalled accounts. However it is thought, the mother was more powerful and the daughter was more elaborate in encouraging the public events (including inviting attendees to the St. John's Eve rituals on Bayou St. John) and financial response to their efforts. It is not known to which (if not both) the voodoo queen reputation refers in most respects. Marie I is supposed to have been born in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana around 1801, the daughter of a white planter and a free Creole of Color. She married Jacques Paris, also a free Creole of color, on August 4, 1819; her marriage certificate is preserved in Saint Louis Cathedral in New Orleans.
Jacques Paris died in 1820 under unexplained circumstances; after his death, Marie Laveau became a hairdresser who catered to wealthy white families. She took a lover, Christophe (Luis Christopher Duminy de) Glapion, with whom she lived until his death in 1835.
Of her magical career, little definite can be said. She is said to have had a snake called Zombi. Oral traditions suggest that the occult part of her magic mixed Roman Catholic beliefs and saints with African spirits and religious concepts. It is also alleged that her feared magical powers came in fact from a network of informants in the households of the prominent that she developed while a hairdresser and that she owned her own brothel. She excelled at obtaining inside information on her wealthy patrons by apparently instilling fear in their servants whom she "cured" of mysterious ailments.
On June 16, 1881, the New Orleans newspapers announced that Marie Laveau had died. This is noteworthy if only because she continued to be seen in the town after her supposed demise. Again, confusing the two voodoo women, it is claimed one of her daughters also named Marie (many of the daughters had Marie within their name due to Catholic naming) assumed her name and carried on her magical practice prior to her death and taking over as the queen near or after her death.
According to the list of deaths recorded at blank">RootsWeb.com, a certain Marie Glapion Lavau died on June 15, 1881, aged 98. The different spelling of the last name as well as the age at death may result from inaccuracies during entry of the cited text file.
She is said to be buried in _Saint Louis Cemetery #1 in New Orleans in the Glapion family crypt, although even this is in dispute, according to Robert Tallant, one of her biographers. Still the tomb continues to attract visitors who draw three crosses (XXX) on its side, hoping that her spirit will grant them a wish. Others state she is buried in other tombs but may be confusing the resting place of other voodoo priestess of New Orleans.
