Voodoo in New Orleans

A black cat, a prominent symbol in Voodoo, thought to
bring bad luck, courtesy of this site.

     As I mentioned in my previous blog post entitled, Religion in New Orleans, I have always been interested in religion in Voodoo and its importance in New Orleans Culture.  In doing some research, I found the journal, “Louisiana History of the Louisiana Historical Association.”  While we spoke about Voodoo in New Orleans, as well as the great Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveau, I found this journal to be very enlightening.  While the journal expresses that Voodoo traditions are often kept quiet, we can still learn a great deal about it.  George Washington Gable defined Voodoo as “the name of an imaginary being of vast supernatural powers residing in the form of a harmless snake.  While the origin of Voodoo is hard to determine, the aforementioned journal states that N.N. Puckett, a southern sociologist found many similarities between Southern Negro Folklore, superstitions, languages and customs, and their “counterparts” in West Africa.  There are also many similarities between Voodoo and Christianity on Haitians.  Some of these similarities include the significance of the black cat, serpent and the color red.  Voodoo appealed to many superstitious Negros, both slaves and free, due to the denial of education and religion.  Voodoo was most common in New Orleans before the civil war.  In the days of the civil war, New Orleans officials oppressed the practice of Voodoo. Unfortunately, the persecution of those who were caught practicing Voodoo led to the more extreme privatization of Voodoo rituals and beliefs.
     The thing I found most interesting about voodoo is the great variety of beliefs.  There were hexes, rituals, prayers and many other practices meant to result in different outcomes, both positive and negative.  I find this intriguing that people do not only use it for the positive outcome, but for the negative.  I am a Christian, and I have noticed that many people neglect to act or practice (pray) unless things suddenly take a drastic downfall in one’s life, or things do not seem to be working out the way one wants them to.  Christianity seems to only stick to many people in certain parts of their lives, while Voodoo seemed to apply to every aspect of the person’s life, from the good to the bad.  I feel that there must be a cultural change between religion during the Civil War era and present day, but I still find it fascinating that religion in my experience is not practiced the way Voodoo has been described to me, finding a connection in every aspect of one’s life.