Dr. John’s Marie Laveau

Posted by kitperriman on August 16, 2022

Marie Laveau

(Dr. John)

Now there lived a conjure-lady, not long ago,
In New Orleans, Louisiana – named Marie Laveau.
Believe it or not, strange as it seem,
She made her fortune selling voodoo and interpreting dreams.

She was known throughout the nation as the Voodoo Queen.
Folks come to her from miles and miles around,
She sure know how to put that, that voodoo down.

To the voodoo lady they all would go,
The rich, the educated, the ignorant, and the poor.
She’d snap her fingers and shake her head,
She’d tell them about their lovers – living or dead.

Now an old, old lady named widow Brown,
Asked why her lover stopped coming around,
The voodoo gazed at her and squawked
I seen him kissing a young girl up at Shakespeare’s Park
Hanging on an oak tree in the dark.

Oh Marie Laveau, Oh Marie Laveau,
Oh Marie Laveau, Oh Marie Laveau,
Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen,
From way down yonder in New Orleans.

Ya, ya, ya – ya, ya, ya – ya, ya, ya – yaaaaa

Now old, old lady, she lost her speech,
Tears start to rolling down her checks,
Voodoo say, “Hush my darling, don’t you cry,”
I make him come back, by and by.
Just sprinkle this snake dust all over your floor,
I’ll make him come back Friday morning when the rooster crow.”

Now Marie Laveau she held them in her hand,
New Orleans, Louisiana was her promised land.
Quality folk, come from far and near,
This wonder woman for to hear.
They was afraid to be seen at her gate,
They’d creep through the dark just to hear their fate.
Holding dark veils over their head,
They would tremble to hear what Maria would say.

Marie Laveau, Oh Marie Laveau,
Marie Laveau, Oh Marie Laveau,
Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen,
From way down yonder in New Orleans.

Ya, ya, ya – ya, ya, ya – ya, ya, ya – yaaaaa

And she made gris-gris with an old ram horn,
Stuffed with feathers, shuck from a corn.
A big black candle and a catfish fin,
She make a man get religion and give up his sin.

Sad news got out one morning at the break of day,
Marie Laveau had done pass away.
St. Louis cemetery she lay in her tomb,
She was buried one night on the wake of the moon.

Marie Laveau, Oh Marie Laveau,
Oh Marie Laveau, Oh Marie Laveau,
The folks still believe in the Voodoo Queen,
From way down yonder in New Orleans.

Oh Marie Laveau, Oh Marie Laveau,
Oh Marie Laveau, Oh Marie Laveau,
Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen,
From way down yonder in New Orleans.

Marie, Marie Laveau, Oh Marie Laveau,
Marie Laveau, the Marie Laveau,
Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen.

Check out this version:

(Video: YouTube)

(Photo: Kit Perriman)

Dr. Hook’s Marie Laveau

Posted by kitperriman on August 9, 2022

Marie Laveau

(Shel Silverstein and Baxter Taylor)

Down in Louisiana where the black trees grow

lived a voodoo lady named Marie Laveau.

She’d got a black cat tooth and a mojo bone

and if anyone wouldn’t leave her alone

She’d go, “GREEEEEEEEEEEE another man done gone!”

She lived in a swamp in a hollow log

with a one eyed snake and a three legged dog.

She’d got a bent bony body and stringy hair

and if she ever saw you messing round there

She’d go, “GREEEEEEEEEEEE another man done gone!”

And then one night when the moon was black

into the swamp came Handsome Jack.

A no good man that you all know

and he was looking around for Marie Laveau.

He said, “Marie Laveau, you lovely witch,

why don’t you gimme a little charm gonna make me rich?”

He said, “Now gimme million dollars and I’ll tell you what I’ll do,

this very night I’m gonna marry you!”

It’ll be GREEEEEEEEEEEE another man done gone.

So Marie did some magic and she shook a little sand,

she made a million dollars and she put it in his hand.

Then she giggled and she wiggled and she said, “Hey, hey,

I’m getting ready for my wedding day.”

But old Handsome Jack, he said “Good-bye Marie,

you too damn ugly for a rich man like me.”

So Marie started crying, her fangs started shaking,

her body started turning, she started quaking.

She said, “GREEEEEEEEEEEE – another man done gone!”

So if you ever get down where the black trees grow

and meet a voodoo lady named Marie Laveau,

And if she ever asks you to make her your wife,

man, you’d better stay with her for the rest of your life

Or it’ll be GREEEEEEEEEEEE….

Check out the version below:

(Video: YouTube)

(Photo: Kit Perriman)

Marie Laveau: Voodoo Queen

Posted by kitperriman on August 8, 2022

Marie Laveau (1794-1881) was a Louisiana Creole free person of color who developed a reputation as The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans.

Laveau was born in the French Quarter, the illegitimate child of a wealthy plantation owner. She worked as a liquor importer, hairdresser, occultist, herbal healer, and also ran a brothel. Much of her power was said to have come from her carefully-cultivated network of spies who gave her the information she used to impress her patrons. One rumor claims that Laveau originated from a long line of voodoo priestesses in West Africa. Cynics, however, suggest she learned her skills from fellow practitioner, Doctor John Bayou.

At the age of 18 Laveau married Jacques Paris. He died in mysterious circumstances leaving her with two young children. Later, she took a younger man as a common-law husband and bore him fifteen children. Only one – a daughter also called Marie – reached adulthood. Marie continued her mother’s legacy when she retired from the public in old age.

Laveau supposedly had a snake called Zombi, named after an African God. She staged elaborate ceremonies where the dancers became possessed by voodoo spirits called loas; danced naked around bonfires; sold charms or gris-gris; saved several men from the gallows; told fortunes; and stayed eternally youthful. She passed peacefully in her sleep, but her ghost has often been seen in the graveyard where she is buried.

Laveau’s tomb is in St. Louis Cemetery, Number One. According to legend, if you draw an X on the tomb, turn around three times, knock on the tomb and shout your wish – it will be granted. Once this is done you must return to the tomb, circle the X you made, and leave an offering of thanks.

If anyone has tried this – please let me know if it worked!

Sources:

CSI, “Secrets of the Voodoo Tomb” at http://www.csicop.org/sb/show/secrets_of_the_voodoo_tomb/

The Mystica, “Laveau, Marie” at http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/l/laveau_marie.html

Voodoo On the Bayou, “Marie Laveau” at http://www.voodooonthebayou.net/marie_laveau.html

Wikipedia, “Marie Laveau” at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Laveau

(Photo: Angela Bassett playing the role of Marie Laveau in American Horror Story – Public Domain)

Kit Perriman

The Hill – A Historical Novel About Witches

Tag Archives: Marie Laveau

Dr. John’s Marie Laveau

Dr. Hook’s Marie Laveau

Marie Laveau: Voodoo Queen