Voudou vs Hoodoo

People ask me about Voudou and Hoodoo. They think it is the same thing, but they are not. Voudou is about spirituality. It is more of a religion, whereas Hoodoo is about nature and root workers. There are many versions of these two. The main one that I am familiar with is the New Orleans versions.

While raising my children in Louisiana I learned many things, and Marie Laveau was at the top. It is normal to go anywhere around there and see three X’s on walls, buildings, stairs, and so on.  These are left there asking for blessings from Marie Laveau.

Louisiana has a different feeling than any other place I have been. The atmosphere is different. Things like the three X’s are normal. Going into the local stores and see a picture or statue of St. Expedite is normal.

Starting in 1719 people started flooding into New Orleans from Cuba, Africa, Mexico and so on. Many different cultures and traditions. Some were arrested because they would not conform to Catholicism.

There were Saints which were like their deities and orishas, so they acted like the were praying to St. Anthony but in reality, they were giving offerings and asking for blessings from Elegua. Working together was Père Antoine (the pastor of St. Louis Cathedral church), Maire Laveau, and Dr. John. They helped people with the blessing, spells, and rituals, who couldn’t help themselves. And lots of healings.

Marie Laveau practiced a mash up of different religions. From going to a catholic church to holding huge rituals in Congo Square. They tried to stop her, but she just spelled the police and did it anyway.

She helped and taught all those who came to her. She was a hairdresser and born a free woman of color, which most of the townspeople didn’t like. She was also a slave owner. She would buy people and then help them in whatever ways she could from giving them jobs, setting them up with housing, to burying them in her tombs.

The magic she practiced was New Orleans style Hoodoo. It was another type of mash up from different traditions. It ranged from things like going to the church and praying on her knees for three days with three peppers in her mouth to free a man from prison to healing those sick with yellow fever. She lived her life helping others while practicing both Voudou and Hoodoo. But the two are different in so many ways.