Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

Robert Tallant scoured through New Orleans in the 1930s and 1940s to pick up information and stories about Voodoo and its local history. The results were published as Voodoo in New Orleans (New York: Macmillan, 1946; republished, Gretna, La.: Pelican, 2003). Tallant's version, after filtering for some period bias, still holds true in many of its physical observations, at least from what I've seen in Detroit sixty years later.

Descriptions of gris-gris, Mojo bags, candles, oils, powders and various charms, talismans, and fetishes lead me to believe that little has changed in the milieu of daily use among a broad spectrum of people in urban areas. The people who use these items do not necessarily think of them as Voodoo or Hoodoo, but they do believe them to be helpful tools in making their lives better, giving recurrent hope in a brutal world. The direct link to very old traditions is startling, though. Hope, as they say, springs eternal -- as does faith.

Tallant additionally recounts details of the fascinating lives of Doctor John Montanet and Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans.

Doctor John's arc apparently carried him from initial role as Senegalese prince in the early 1800s into slavery; captured by Spanish raiders, he was shipped to Cuba; there, by his wits and skill, he managed to convince his owner to free him. Eventually, after returning to Senegal, he migrated to New Orleans. Once there, be became a major Voodoo player, telling fortunes and acting like an early version of Tony Soprano. He became rich and purchased mostly female slaves, marrying many of them and setting them free. In all, he claimed a harem of fifteen wives and more than fifty children. He is the inspiration for the living musician who calls himself Dr. John, and let's not forget Screamin' Jay Hawkins, also in the music mix.

Marie Laveau is probably better known than the original Doctor John, and Tallant devotes 100 pages to her story. I'll save her for a future post.

By now, enough more has been written about Voodoo / Vodoun to realize that there are many facets and variations of the belief system. In most cases, syncretism combines elements of African religion/worldview with Euro-Christianity, particularly Spanish, French and Portuguese variations of Catholicism, with which it rather easily blends. Protestant variations might come under the rubric of "Hoodoo." Santeria seems to have initially developed in Spanish Cuba; some Voodoo has a French flavor; and Macumba, in Brazil, is yet another variation.

One thing Tallant emphasizes is the importance in New Orleans of High John the Conqueror, St. John's Eve and St. John's Day, the latter two a gumbo of "pagan" and Catholic devotions that are also celebrated in Ireland and Spain. The dates are June 23 and 24, just after the Summer Solstice / Midsummer's Day. It involves bonfires, among other things. I'll be looking for this one in Detroit next year.

Today's Rune: Wholeness.

An lot soleil!