Voodoo in New Orleans
by Robert Tallant
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Book Summary Information
Author: Robert TallantEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1983-10
ISBN: 088289336X
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Pelican Publishing
Book Reviews of Voodoo in New Orleans
Book Review: First person accounts of VooDoo from late 19th, early 20th century
Summary: 5 Stars
I should preface by saying that I do not know much about VooDoo. However, from what I have gleaned so far, this book is unusual in that it gives first-person accounts of VooDoo that date back to the late 19th and early 20th century. Those who urge us to read other, perhaps more "accurate" accounts of VooDoo, seem to be referring to books which have been written far more recently, such as within the last 20 years. This book was first published in 1944 and thus has the advantage of being able to include accounts and testimony of those who actually encountered "Marie II", aka the daughter of the original VooDoo Queen of NEw Orleans, Marie Laveau.
The descriptions of VooDoo given in this book are not flattering. VooDoo rituals are invariably described as involving the sacrifice of live animals, sometimes done in a cruel or beastly fashion, such as when live animals are torn apart by human teeth: "LIve pigeons and chickens were sometimes introduced into the rites, to be torn to pieces with the fingers and teeth of the dancers." (p. 13) Live black cats are often immersed in boiling water, or slain at midnight in a graveyard. Numerous VooDoo "killings" are described. The VooDoo Queen herself is reduced by some witnesses to a glorified Madame: "The way I see it, that place wasn't nothing but a fancy kind of whorehouse, and Marie Laveau was the Madame." (p. 85)
The practice of VooDoo is depicted as mainly having to do with types of manipulative, and quite often overtly harmful magic and spells that fly directly in the face of what has come to be many a modern occultists' ethical guideline: "An ye harm none, do what you will." VooDoo curses fly back and forth between persons who apparently do not have the psychological maturity to imagine that the misfortune they experience might be a result of their own behavior, or simply chance. In the VooDoo-saturated society of turn of the century black New Orleans, VooDoo work and "fixing" is superstitiously perceived to be at the back of every unfortunate event, and VooDoo itself is viewed by observers such as author Tallant as having power primarily over those folk who are sufficiently simple-minded to be susceptible to the self-fulfilling prophecies that suggestions of a curse can evoke. The author points out that VooDoo power apparently had little effect upon many whites, who, when finding a VooDoo "conjure ball" on their doorstep, simply swept the trash away with a contemptuous sneer. By contrast, Tallant suggests that those blacks who believed in a curse, seemed to kill themselves with their own fear.
Curious readers of this highly engaging well-written, "I can't put it down" book will come away with unanswered questions, such as how it is that so many of the VooDoo spells worked, when directed at those who knew nothing of them. They may wonder with trepidation and awe, what exactly was seen, when Feltie Butler's widow observed "3 slimy snails and a little green frog" jumping out of his mouth, just before he died a "HooDoo death." Or why Corinne Mothershed saw 8 little blue snakes leap out of her MOther's mouth, before her mother apparently died by a similar VooDoo curse. However, given the generally scary picture that's painted of VooDoo by this book (we don't see much healing or life-affirming work going on), many readers are likely to conclude that if this is VooDoo, then they'll want to distance themselves from VooDoo and its curious power.
Summary of Voodoo in New Orleans
"Interesting investigation and straightforward handling of sensational times and tricksters, of the cult of voodooism in all its manifestations. From its first known appearances in New Orleans of 200 years ago, here are the fetishes and formulae, the rites and dances, the cures, charms and gris-gris. Here were the witch-doctors and queens, and in particular Doctor John, who acquired fame and fortune, and Marie Laveau, who with her daughter dominated the weird underworld of voodoo for nearly a century." Kirkus Reviews "Robert Tallant speaks with authority . . . ." New York Times "Much nonsense has been written about voodoo in New Orleans. . .here is a truthful and definitive picture." Lyle Saxton Both of Robert Tallant's highly praised books about the practice of voodoo in New Orleans have been re-issued in paperback. Originally published in 1946, Voodoo in New Orleans examines the origins of the cult voodooism. The lives of New Orleans's most infamous witch doctors and voodoo queens have been re-created in this well-researched account of New Orleans's dark underworld.State & Local Books
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