Do do that Voodoo that You Do So Well

As part of the workshop, Katherine booked some tours for us to get inspiration in creating our Apothecary kits. Our first event was a Meet and Greet Party at the Voodoo Museum. There was traditional New Orleans fare to dine upon including seafood gumbo, jambalaya, and a traditional Mardi Gras King cake. The person that gets the baby in their piece of cake is supposed to supply the cake for the next Mardi Gras party. We got to sit down with a voodoo priest who described the process of making a gris-gris bag for us. And Cinnamon, a voodoo queen, demonstrated the dancing and music of the traditional 19th century New Orleans Voodoo rituals.

The next morning was a tour of the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum. This is the site where Louis J. Dufilho, Jr., being the first to pass the licensing examination, made his pharmacy the first United States apothecary shop. This is normally a self-guided tour, but we were given some detailed descriptions of the contents of the cases on the lower level. It was very interesting hearing about the treatments that used to be considered standard to treat various ailments, such as blood-letting, injecting mercury, usage of heroin and cocaine. It was also common for the pharmacist to carry assorted voodoo potions, and people could come in and ask for them by number. Makes you wonder if that is the origin of "Love Potion #9"? A lot of the early drugstores had soda fountains, which often used lead pipes. Even the early makeup contained lead, and when they saw how bad it was, they switched to a paraffin wax. Wearing a wax-based makeup in New Orleans during the summer proved challenging, and led to the expression "Mind your own beeswax". (I've also seen it referred to colonial women who were in the process of making candles.)

The proprietor of the Voodoo Museum is a local New Orleans historian and he guided us on a Cemetery walking tour one afternoon. On our way to the cemetery we stopped at Congo Square and got some of the history about voodoo and jazz, jazz funerals, zombies, voodoo and the connection to Mardi Gras. At St. Louis Cemetery #1 is the tomb of Marie Laveau, a one-time reigning Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. Most voodoo queens are considered healers, and she is accredited with saving many lives during the yellow fever outbreaks that plagued the city. Even today, people will come to her tomb, and make their pleas for assistance. Although you are no longer allowed to mark on her tomb, people have taken to marking other tombs in the cemetery and leave offerings to her. In the Catholic church across the street is a statue of St. Expedite, and is said to represent Baron Samedi, the spirit of death in voodoo. However, he's known for providing fast solutions to imminent problems, and seems to have an affinity for pound cake.

We also went on a Ghost and Vampire tour (which probably is cooler at night, but scheduling just didn't work out to make that happen). Some of our haunted stops included the Bourbon Orleans hotel where a girl from one of the Quadroon balls is supposed to haunt, and there are reports of several childlike spirits cozying up to the guests. The Andrew Jackson sits on the site of a boarding school where five children lost their lives in a devastating fire in the late 1700's. Over the years, guests have reported hearing children playing in the courtyard in the middle of the night, despite the fact that the courtyard was deserted. And Muriels, where dinner is still served to the ghost of Pierre Antoine Lepardi Jourdan. There was also a stop at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop where the infamous pirate is supposed to have hidden treasures. And the LaLaurie mansion, where a husband and wife cruelly treated their slaves, and were discovered chained to a wall in a secret attic. Since the house has passed onto new owners, something terrible has happened to those new owners, including Nicholas Cage who ended up declaring bankruptcy shortly after taking ownership.

So interesting to hear all of the tales of mystery and intrigue that surround this city. Certainly very rich inspiration for our creations.