St. John's Day & the Marie Laveaus
The Holy Man Is John the Baptist, Jesus’ Cousin
Slaves weren’t allowed to practice their native religion under threat of punishment. African deities, Loas, were worshipped as Christian saints. The deities and the ancestral dead are worshipped by dancing and drumming. Catholic practices include the Hail Mary and the Lord's Prayer, baptism, making the sign of the cross, and using candles, bells, crosses and icons of saints.
Voodoo Holiest Day: June 24
Voodoo has long been accepted as part of New Orleans' culture. St. John's Day is celebrated around the time of the summer solstice, Midsummer. Practitioners and curiosity-seekers gather and participate in its rites.
The father of the Loa is Danbhalah-Wedo, Great Serpent, worshipped as a huge python called Dahn-ghwe. His wife is Aida-Wedo, the Rainbow, also a serpent.
John T. Martin, a voodoo priest has said it’s a day when people can choose healing or not. It's been estimated that 15 percent of New Orleans residents practice Voodoo in some form.
Current Voodoo St. John’s Day celebration in New Orleans is a shadow of what it was in its heyday, when Maries I and II presided over the rites in the 19th century.
Marie I and June 24th
Marie Laveau I, a free woman of color, was a devout Catholic and was the most powerful voodoo priestess who also popularized the religion by her charisma. Many of the celebrants were white.
People believed Marie had magical powers. She led Voodoo dances in Congo Square and sold charms, including gris-gris bags, and potions. Marie’s rites, including Saint John’s Day, were held at St. John's Bayou on the banks of Lake Pontchartrain.
Marie was introduced to voodoo by various voodoo doctors, practitioners of popular voodoo that emphasized curative and occult magic that has its commercial aspect. She began her own practice when she met Doctor John. She worked as a hairdresser, then worked alone as a practitioner and leader.
She gained the approval of the local priest by encouraging her followers to attend mass. She charged the rich dearly, but gave to the needy and tended to the sick.
Marie presided over rituals, including St. John’s Eve, which began at dusk on June 23rd and ended at dawn on the 24th, that resembled orgies. Hundreds attended, including reporters and the curious who were charged fees. There were drums beating, bonfires and animal sacrifices. Offerings were made to the appropriate Loas for protection. People were kept safe from the Loup-Garou, the Cajun werewolf that, allegedly, was afraid of frogs. Participants danced in intoxicated abandonment and, seemingly, became possessed by various Loas. She sat on her throne and directed the activities. Marie kept a large snake, Le Grand Zombi, that she would dance with in worshipping Damballah, shaking a gourd rattle to summon the deity.
Marie II
There were at least two Marie Laveaus. Marie I died June 15, 1881. Her daughter, Marie II, gradually took over her mother's activities. She lacked her mother’s compassion and intimidated people. She reportedly drowned in Lake Pontchartrain in 1897, but some people claimed to have seen her in 1919. It is believed that there was a third Marie, either a granddaughter or another Voodoo Queen, who took the name.
Related articles:
Gris-gris, Resquardo & Gurunfinda
Sources:
The Encyclopedia of Witches & Witchcraft, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, (Facts on File, Inc., 1999)
Voodoo & Hoodoo, Jim Haskins, (Scarborough House, 1990)
Voodoo in New Orleans, Robert Tallant, (Pelican Publishing Company, 1994)
