O
urnextstop: the famousSt.Louis
CemeteryNo. 1, thecity’soldest
cemetery.Opened in1789, it isone
of threemajoraboveground (mostly)Cath-
oliccemeteries in theCrescentCity, located
justablockoutside theFrenchQuarterand
eightblocks from theMississippiRiver.
“Voodoobelieves thatall religion is
saying thesame thing,”explainsRobert,our
cemeteryguide, asheweavesus through
thewarpedgridof tombs.Hepoints toone
swarmedwith tourists. “That’swhereMarie
Laveau isburied.”
Iholdmybreath. Ifyou’ve touchedyour
toes into themurkywatersofvoodoo, you
know thatMarie is itsreigningqueen,de-
spiteherdeathmore thanacenturyago.
Voodoo isplaguedbymisconceptions,
andpartofmy journey toNewOrleans is to
dispelmyown.Sure, thereare thedollsyou
prick topainyourenemies, like theones in
Marita’sshop, and thebagsofblessedherbs,
calledgris-gris, said tochannelenergies
towardeverything from love to longevity,
but, likeRobertsaid, at itscore, voodoo is
areligion—onedeeplyrooted inCatholi-
cism, explainingMarieLaveau’spresence
here. Imovecloser, runningmyfingertips
alongarowofsizzling-hot“X’s”carved into
thesurfaceofher tomb.
I later learn fromMiriam, avoodoo
priestess— likeMarieLaveau; thehighest
rankavoodoopractitionercanachieve—
thatvoodoo isderived from theFrench
word for“you,”
vous
, and theEnglishword
do
, literally translating to“youdo.”Miriam
emphasizes thepowerof theselfand the
connectednessof thepractice, explaining
that theenergiesof theuniverse layerus
all togetheras family: shemygrandmother,
Robertmy father.LikeRobertsaid, it’san
inclusivereligion,which iswhy there’sno
specificscriptureorauthority.
Continuing through themazeof tombs,
Robertexplains that it takesexactlyone
yearandoneday for thebodies ineach to
decomposeandmakeroom foranew family
member’scorpse. “Thinkof it likeanoven,”
hesays.AsIsquishmybody intoashadow
andpound therestofmywaterbottle, it
isn’thard to.For thefirst time, returning
Voodoo isderived fromtheFrench
word for“you,”
vous
,
andtheEnglishword
do
, literally
translatingto“youdo.”
78
OCTOBER2015
AMERICANWAY
CLOCKWISE
FROM
LEFT
:
thebar atMuriel’s;
MarieLaveauandher
tomb; hand-painted
dolls atBoutiquedu
Vampyre
