This is what the most famous American witches of the 19th century were called - mother and daughter Marie Laveau. They bore the same name and practiced the same craft. The life of these extraordinary relatives has long ago turned into a legend.
NASTY WIDOW
Marie Laveau Sr. was born in New Orleans, presumably in 1794. The mestizo, in whose veins flowed the blood of white, black, colored and red-skinned ancestors, was freeborn. Marie was strikingly beautiful and drove many people crazy. But she preferred the “colored” Jacques Paris from the island of San Domingo (now Haiti) to everyone else. On August 4, 1819, she was legally married to him.
Marie and Jacques did not enjoy each other's company for long - the young hubby quickly disappeared. Marie insisted that he had returned to his homeland. Although evil tongues were chattering that Marie had personally sent her husband to the next world. The widow did not grieve for long.
She set up something like a beauty salon, whose clients were rich ladies and Creoles of New Orleans. Marie was known as a jack of all trades: she combed, curled, and cut hair. Clients willingly shared their intimate secrets with her, talking about their husbands and their incomes, lovers, relatives, and illnesses. Subsequently, the energetic lady used these revelations for selfish purposes: she did not hesitate to blackmail her former clients with them.
MASTER CLASS
Around the year 1826, Marie became the mistress of a certain Louis Christophe Duminy de Glapion. Louis and Marie lived in love and harmony until 1855 - until his death. The lovers never sealed their bonds with legal marriage, but this did not stop them from producing 15 offspring. Having entered into a relationship with Duminy, Marie closed her hairdressing salon and devoted herself entirely to witchcraft.
New Orleans at that time was the scene of a brutal battle between several queens of witchcraft, vying for spheres of influence. Marie fearlessly entered the battle, wanting to subjugate everyone else. It was rumored that for the sake of her goals she resorted to the help of otherworldly forces.
The talented witch added elements of church services to the already sensational witchcraft sabbaths - sprinkling with holy water, fumigation with incense, joint prayers to Christian saints. A natural actress, she turned secret ceremonies on Lake Pontchartrain into grandiose performances with prayers over a black coffin and the sacrifice of live roosters.
As a result, Marie Laveau's signature performances were wildly popular. The cream of society, representatives of the press, police officers and, of course, thrill seekers - everyone considered it an honor to get to the “show”. Marie demanded only one thing from visitors - an entrance fee.
Meanwhile, there were other, more private events for the rich. There you could spend the night with a pretty mulatto, black or Creole girl - of course, for a fee.
So, step by step, Marie achieved her goal and became the “chieftain” of the entire city. All local sorcerers, healers, healers and sorcerers meekly obeyed her. Both blacks and whites turned to Laveau for miracle potions and advice. She did not hesitate to charge exorbitant prices from whites for services, while she did not take a penny from blacks.
CRIMINAL TALENT
In 1830, the scion of a wealthy aristocratic family dishonored a young girl from a lower, although respected, class. Evidence against young man were quite significant. Driven to despair, the young man's father went to Marie Laveau to enlist her support.
If the witch helps get her son acquitted, the rich man promises her a house in the city center. Marie quickly got down to business. At dawn, when the trial was to take place, she went to pray in the Cathedral of St. Louis. There, the powerful sorceress spent several hours at the altar grille with three pods of Guinea pepper in her mouth.
Later she contrived to place these peppers under the judge’s chair. It is noteworthy that the judge was appointed one of those young rakes who used the services of the New Orleans witch. No matter how much the district attorney called for the defendant to be found guilty, no matter how much he cried for justice, his fiery speech had no effect on either the judge or the jury. The defendant was found not guilty.
The happy father kept his word, and soon Marie and her large family moved to St. Ann Street in the prestigious French Quarter, where she lived until her death in 1881. The house became a center for witchcraft, and the small outbuildings probably served as secret trysts for white men with black mistresses.
FAMILY AFFAIR
After the death of the mother, one of the daughters took over her role. Marie Laveau looked strikingly like her mother, only her skin was lighter.
Laveau Jr. was born on February 2, 1827. It is unknown whether Marie the Elder appointed her daughter as her successor or whether she took on this mission herself, but everyone agreed that Marie the Younger lacked the scope and talent that her famous predecessor possessed. Marie, like her mother, started with hairstyles, opened a bar, and soon a brothel.
However, in some ways Marie II still outdid her mother. She considered herself a zealous Catholic, trying not to encroach on the holy of holies - church services, rituals and holidays. My daughter demonstratively neglected these things. For example, she did not hesitate to completely reshape the day of St. John the Baptist, which fell on June 23, in her own way.
One of the newspapers described this celebration “a la Marie the Younger.” The event was celebrated in the St. John's Delta on Lake Pontchartrain. First, the crowd greeted their queen with singing, then built a huge fire under the cauldron. The container was filled with water from a beer barrel. They also poured salt and black pepper there, dropped a black snake cut into three parts (which was supposed to represent the Trinity), a cat, a black rooster and all kinds of powders.
Marie ordered everyone to undress, which was done while singing an endlessly repeated refrain. At midnight everyone rushed into the lake to cool off their ardor, and stayed in the water for about half an hour. When everyone came ashore, the singing and dancing continued for another hour. Then Marie delivered a sermon and allowed those gathered to have a half-hour “renewal of strength,” that is, group intercourse.
Then everyone had a snack and sang a little more until the signal was given to put out the fire under the boiler. Four naked women lit the fire, and the brew was poured back into the barrel. Now only Marie allowed everyone to get dressed and made another speech. By that time, dawn had already broken, and everyone began to go home.
WISH FULFILLERS
Like her mother, Marie Jr. practiced sexual orgies, organized drunken brawls - in general, she promoted herself as best she could. But no matter how hard she tried to achieve the same influence, she failed. True, she reigned for some time at the blacks’ witchcraft sabbaths and ruled Lake Pontchartrain, but her career was quickly declining. Very little is known about the second half of Marie’s life, and this information is very contradictory.
Even about the circumstances of her death, nothing is known for sure. Some said that she drowned during a storm on the same Lake Pontchartrain in the 90s of the 19th century. Others said they saw her back in 1918. Marie II is believed to be buried in St. Louis Cemetery. They say that girls from all over the area often flock there: just one visit to the burial place - and the young maiden miraculously finds the man of her dreams.
By the way, the famous sorceress “number one”, Marie Laveau I, also rests in the same cemetery. There is not even a name on her crypt, but the path to it is also not overgrown. Here they leave offerings in the form of food, money or flowers, and then, turning around three times and placing a red cross on a stone with a brick, they ask Marie for help.
Residents of New Orleans tell tourists that they have repeatedly met famous queens of witchcraft, either in human or animal form. Mother and daughter allegedly turned into crows, into old women in long white dresses with characteristic structures of blue scarves on their heads.
Another time, ladies wandered around the city in the form of Newfoundlands, turned into snakes, and hovered in the air. And on the eve of St. John's Day they made their way to Lake Pontchartrain to perform secret witchcraft rituals. In general, to this day the main New Orleans witches do not give anyone peace.
Oksana VOLKOVA
Equally renowned for her skills as a hairdresser and voodoo practitioner, Marie Laveau rose to prominence in New Orleans during the last half of the 19th century, as her reputation as a powerful mambo (or priestess) soared. She was constantly sought out by rich and poor in order to enlist help in various matters, both good and not so good.
Most often, people turned to her for love spells, or asked for help during childbirth, so that the child would be born healthy, or when they wanted to receive an inheritance. But no less often did those who longed to take revenge for insults inflicted by an enemy come to her.
The annals of 19th-century Voodoo are full of stories of victims of this vengeful magic who woke up after a restless night of frequent awakenings to find on the threshold of their homes bones, cemetery soil and the inevitable doll, planted under the cover of darkness by Marie Laveau herself. All these stories would be just scary tales, but, according to reliable sources, almost all of Marie Laveau's witchcraft worked. Often, the simple phrase that the Voodoo Queen was "working" on a person was enough to cause physical or emotional collapse; Often after such news a person died. The powerful spells mastered by Marie Laveau are still practiced in New Orleans today, and the tradition of using dolls is still alive and popular.
Marie Laveau had enormous power over people, and anyone could see this.
Take this case, for example.
A wedding was being prepared in New Orleans. A rich groom, a beautiful bride - and everything would be fine, but the groom was in his eighties, and the bride was only sixteen. The obstinate bride became stubborn: it was rumored that she already had a betrothed - as expected, a handsome fellow, but poor, who went to distant lands to get rich and return to his beloved.
Of course, neither the father of the bride nor the old groom took him into account. Another thing is the girl! She did not agree to the wedding, although her father had already taught her senses with a whip and locked her in a room, putting her on bread and water.
Having learned that the bride stood her ground, despite the flogging and hunger, the rich groom became worried: after all, he wanted to get a young wife, and not her corpse!
He decided to turn to Marie Laveau for help: everyone knew that her love potion worked flawlessly. A couple of drops in a glass of water - and the beauty will certainly agree to marriage!
This is what the elderly old man thought, but did not take into account one thing: the bride managed to turn to her before he did.
And when the groom came to Marie Laveau, she listened to him and reassured him - of course, if that’s what he wants, the wedding will take place!
Immediately, as if by magic, the bride stopped being stubborn and agreed to set a wedding day.
And the wedding took place - after the wedding there was a luxurious dinner, and then a ball. That’s when it all happened: right during the dance, the groom had a stroke and collapsed on the floor. They called a doctor, but, alas, it was too late! The beauty became a widow, having been a wife for no more than an hour, but having received legal rights on the wealth of her untimely deceased husband.
They say that the first thing the newly made widow and heiress to a huge fortune did was to call her beloved from the West Indies, who no longer needed to hunt for money, and entered into a legal marriage with him.
In 1830, a wealthy townsman approached Marie Laveau: his son was accused of murder. If the accusation were confirmed, the young man would face the gallows.
The father promised Marie Laveau to give him his own mansion if she ensured that her son was found innocent.
The Voodoo sorceress thought about it and agreed.
On the morning of the day when the trial was to take place, she came to church, putting three pods of pepper in her mouth, and prayed for a long time, casting spells on the pepper. Then she went to the courthouse (it was located on the same square as the church) and went into the hall where the hearing was to take place. There she placed a pepper pod under the seat of each of the judges.
The result of the meeting was as follows: the young man was found innocent, and the murder he committed was recognized as self-defense. The young man's father kept his word and handed over the mansion to Marie Laveau.
This incident, which became famous in the city, brought Marie Laveau even greater fame, and her witchcraft was recognized as omnipotent.
Yes, Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo witch from New Orleans, terrifying her enemies, was truly a living legend.
The mere threat of her curse made people become submissive and soft as wax and comply with all her demands and requests. She handled both love potions and curses with equal ease, was aware of all the secrets of New Orleans, and it was rumored that Marie could read minds.
In the third season of American Horror Story, the viewer saw the “Voodoo Queen” of New Orleans – Marie Laveau. This lady literally held her own in her neighborhood and beyond. The series does not highlight her biography too much, and those moments that we manage to see are, frankly speaking, very questionable. Although, who knows... In any case, it is no coincidence that Marie becomes the heroine of our article today, since she real prototype really deserves our attention.
Like the heroine of the series, the real Marie Laveau was called the “Queen of Voodoo,” people went to her for help, they feared her anger, and her fame spread throughout New Orleans. It was rumored that her love potions were infallible, and that the curses that Marie was capable of sending were generally better to remain silent about. In general, Marie's power over people was almost limitless.
However, Marie lived in the 18th century, and we live in the 21st. And such legends seem strange to us, to put it mildly. We would rather assume that Marie was quite a powerful, cunning and enterprising woman, and even with the skills of a psychologist. In general, Marie was born into the family of a planter and a free Creole. Little is known about her childhood. Raised a girl in Catholic traditions. At the age of 25 she got married, unfortunately, her family life did not last long: Marie’s husband died under mysterious circumstances. Therefore, you need to earn your living yourself.
Marie, having collected her dowry, was able to open a hairdresser. And surprisingly, Marie turned out to have golden hands. She easily did the best hairstyles and styling. Gradually, the number of clients began to increase; it is worth noting that the cream of society came to her for a haircut. In those days, haircuts, straightening and other services were quite long processes, and in order to entertain themselves, clients chatted sweetly about what was happening in their families, on the personal front, and so on. Marie, since she was black, naturally no one noticed. Meanwhile, she listened carefully and memorized the information so that she could later use it for her own purposes. Soon Marie learned all the secrets of New Orleans and had no intention of keeping them. Since then, less and less time remained before Marie would be called the “Queen of Voodoo” or the “Queen of Blackmail.”
She had no equal in blackmail. Knowing that black people in New Orleans were treated like furniture, Marie decided to get information through them. She played on the characteristics of people: in those days the population was very superstitious, pious, and so on. So, sometimes dark-skinned servants of rich houses found a Voodoo doll on the threshold of the house: a terrible sign of an imposed curse. When the servant realized that he was in trouble, Marie Laveau appeared, offering to lift the spell in exchange for some favors. As a result, she acquired agents in every rich house. Fearing Laveau's disfavor, the servants were ready to talk about everything that was going on in the house, so long as Marie did not send evil spirits to them. Marie soon had a detailed dossier on every resident of New Orleans.
It's time for Voodoo. The black population has always practiced Voodoo magic; with Marie, ordinary Sunday gatherings turned into a real show. There was dancing, music, exotic rituals, and the whole city came to see such a spectacle. To achieve greater approval among the population, Marie added elements of Christianity to Voodoo: the crucifix, holy water, prayers, and so on. So the churchmen became more loyal to her, and Marie became the founder of Orleans Voodoo. As a result, Voodoo began to be respected and feared by everyone, both black and white. Marie created amulets, tinctures, potions. It’s clear that she was not a witch, she simply skillfully used people’s fears and fueled them. And knowing the ins and outs of each resident, she could introduce herself as both a soothsayer and a fortuneteller. She was surrounded by legends and rumors, which, by the way, she spread quite well about herself. For example, through her efforts, people were sure that she was capable of turning a person into a zombie, which additionally instilled fear.
Marie closed the hairdresser and devoted all her energy to maintaining her authority as the “Queen of Voodoo.” She was the head of the last official Voodoo conclave (yes, there were a lot of people interested in magic back then) in 1869. As part of this meeting, it was decided that it was time for Marie to retire, since the years do not spare anyone; she was already over 70 years old. After Laveau's removal as queen, voodoo was no longer taken seriously. Nowadays, when it comes to Voodoo traditions in New Orleans, the only thing people remember is the name - Marie Laveau.
Until now, it is an object of worship among both local residents and tourists. They say that if you put a cross on her grave crypt and make a wish, and then knock on the door of the crypt, then the wish will certainly come true. The bravest and bravest even perform Voodoo rituals on her grave.
Whether this is true or not, who knows. But now it’s clear how a black woman managed to hold the whole of New Orleans in her hands.
Every resident of New Orleans knows about those times when the city was engulfed in darkness. One single woman terrified and terrified several tens of thousands of people. And no one dared to go against it.
Marie Laveau was born in New Orleans in 1794. She was not completely black. Her father is the owner of local plantations, and her mother is a simple slave. Nevertheless, Marie grew up in prosperity and was raised as a Catholic.
At the age of 25, she married a free black man, but soon remained a widow - without money, without work.
With the pennies remaining from the dowry, the woman decided to open a hairdresser and was right. Her salon became very popular among the noble public. Rich ladies, sitting in line for hours to see Marie, chatted about everything - about their husbands, lovers and their businesses.
Marie listened, remembered and thought... how best to apply the information.
A solution has been found. Marie began to spread information that she possesses the ancient African magic of voodoo. She began to throw small homemade, very frightening dolls to the houses of noble ladies who were served in her salon.
The black servants, seeing the witchcraft, immediately began to scare the owners about the curse that had been imposed, which only the shaman could remove. The closest option was Marie Laveau.
Knowing much more about the man than he assumed, she terrified her clients, selling expensive elixirs, amulets and enchanted bracelets - in a word, she promoted it to the fullest.
Marie Laveau acquired a whole network of agents, and she began to call herself the Queen of Voodoo. However, she soon received this title quite officially. Marie Laveau was chosen next high priestess, replacing Sanit Dede in this post.
Marie Laveau became inspired. She began organizing open Voodoo evenings for everyone. Black slaves, city moneybags, washerwomen, and noble ladies gathered there. 
In her rituals, Marie Laveau now openly used body parts of corpses, hair, nails, and animal entrails. It was also this woman who introduced Catholic features into the voodoo religion - the use of incense, holy water and po. All this terrified the residents of the city.
But most of all, the townspeople were afraid of finding a voodoo doll or a Gris Gris bag under their door. Despite the absurdity of the situation, realizing that the damage was caused by none other than Marie Laveau, it was to her that they went to remove the curse.
Thus, in such a situation, the one who paid the most to the Voodoo Queen won life, health and success. 
Did Marie Laveau really have any abilities, or was her entire evil empire built solely on the psychology and fears of people? Of course, now no one will tell for sure.
Marie Laveau retired from business at the age of 70. However, she practiced Voodoo until the end of her days. The next queen, Malvina Latour, was unable to achieve such success, nor, indeed, were her followers.
The power of Voodoo magic over people began to decline. Although it was never completely eradicated. Even today, at the grave of Mfari Lawo, under the cover of darkness, secret witchcraft rituals are carried out, and the tombstone is covered with all sorts of spells and crosses, which, it seems, should bring good luck to those who left them there.
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She is believed to have been born in New Orleans in 1794, the daughter of a white planter and a free Creole mother. According to other sources, she was born on September 10, 1801. On August 4, 1819, she married Jacques (other sources say Santiago) Paris, who emigrated to Louisiana in 1809, five years after the victory of the Haitian Revolution; a certificate of their marriage has been preserved.
In 1820, Jacques died under unclear circumstances, and Maria began working as a hairdresser, serving wealthy clients. She took a lover named Christophe, with whom she lived until his death in 1835 and with whom, according to legend, she bore fifteen children, including Marie Laveau the Younger in 1827.
Marie Laveau is considered one of the founders of Louisiana voodoo, who, thanks to her contacts with the city's elite, secured many necessary acquaintances and patrons in the person of rich and influential people. The local Christian clergy hated her and tried several times to put her on trial, but her connections at the top of society saved her. Seeing her main goal as changing the prevailing ideas among the white population about voodoo as a “cult of Satan,” Mary introduced into voodoo the cult of some Christian symbols, such as the crucifix and statues of saints, in order to try to convince ill-wishers that voodoo was related to Christianity. Thanks to her talent for persuasion, she, to one degree or another, endeared herself to the voodoo religion of many wealthy Creoles of New Orleans, who were often present at the rituals she performed, including the worship of the supreme loa of voodoo Dambala. However, there are no reliable sources that would illuminate individual details of her life, but there are a large number of legends. They report, in particular, that Lavoe had magical abilities for fortune telling and healing of diseases, had a whole network of informants to keep abreast of city events, and even ran a brothel.
She died June 15, 1881 at the age of 79 and is buried in St. Louis Cemetery. Her daughter Maria Laveau Jr. (died around 1895) also practiced voodoo and after her mother's death became her de facto successor; In this regard, it is sometimes difficult to establish which particular Marie Laveau is being referred to in a particular legend.
