When the mist rises along the Mississippi and moonlight
spills across shuttered doorways and ancient cobblestones,
it's easy to find mysticism and magic in the French Quarter.
The Quarter's narrow streets and hidden courtyards are intriguing
by day - by night they can be positively eerie, and even
an unexpected peal of laughter from an open doorway can
send tingles down the spine of the most stalwart visitor.
If you're the type that embraces
the unearthly, who longs to uncover the arcane, then your
soul will feel right at home in the French Quarter. The
Vieux Carre has proven fertile ground for the birth of both
legend and literature -- voodoo priestesses, ghosts, witches
and vampires, whether real or imagined, have contributed
to the mystical tradition of this ancient ville; with our
help you can walk in their footsteps.
When You Do That Voodoo
Until the past decade or
so, the mystical belief most associated with New Orleans,
and particularly the French Quarter, was voodoo. Brought
to the area over two hundred years ago by West African slaves,
voodoo has a rich tradition that dates back some 7,000 years.
Perhaps the best known and most revered practitioner of
voodoo in the city, and some say the "founder" of New Orleans
voodoo, was Marie Laveau, a free woman of color born in
1794 in Haiti. Laveau was also a devout Catholic; it was
this unique blending of Voodoo rituals and Catholicism that
would differentiate New Orleans voodoo from other forms
of the practice. Legend has it that Laveau lived in a house
at 1020 St. Ann Street; there is no "Laveau Museum" here
as one might expect, but there is a small plaque commemorating
her residency. To view an interesting collection of voodoo
artifacts, purchase voodoo accessories, or commission a
love potion or customized gris-gris bag filled with magical
herbs, head to The New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum (http://www.voodoomuseum.com)
at 724 Dumaine Street. The Museum also offers a variety
of otherworldly tours, some of which include a trip to the
priestess' much-visited tomb in St. Louis Cemetery #1. Zombie's
House of Voodoo at 723 St. Peter Street and the Marie Laveau
House of Voodoo at 729 Bourbon Street are rumored to be
less authentic but are no less popular with the curious;
Zombie's is the departure point for another group of tours.
You can also walk down to
509 Decatur Street and have a drink at the Marie Laveau
Voodoo Bar, where the proprietresses offer art and artifacts
for your perusal and claim to have the petrified body of
Laveau's cat. To complete your indoctrination, visit the
New Orleans Pharmacy Museum (http://www.artcom.com/museums/nv/mr/70130-21.htm)
at 514 Chartres Street, in 1823 the shop of one of the country's
first licensed pharmacists and now home to an interesting
collection of medicinal artifacts including voodoo items
and handwritten recipes for potions and cures.
A Ghostly Presence
Any old city is sure to have
wandering spirits, and The French Quarter probably has more
than its share. Indignant sultans, sadistic slave owners,
and even melancholy generals have all lent their sepulchral
presence to the otherworldly lore that surrounds the old
city. Both employees of and visitors to La Petit Theatre
du Vieux Carre, a well-known playhouse at 616 St. Peter
Street, have reported ghostly experiences with an assortment
of now-departed actresses, audience members, and even a
stagehand. The Beauregard-Keyes House (http://neworleansonline.com/hisho-beaukeye.htm)
at 1113 Chartres, is reputed to be haunted by the ghosts
of three Mafia henchmen who were killed by members of the
family they were sent to murder, as well as by the ghost
of former occupant General P.G.T. Beauregard, who purportedly
cannot rest because of the terrible guilt he feels over
his involvement in the Civil War. Equally eerie, but unfortunately
less publicly accessible ghostly haunts include the LaLaurie
House at 1140 Royal, whose sadistic owner Madame Delphine
LaLaurie chained and tortured her slaves and may have driven
one to jump to her death in the home's courtyard, as well
as the Gardette-LePrete House at 716 Dauphine. This impressive
domicile was home in the 1870s to a mysterious middle easterner
who was rumored to maintain a harem. He and his companions
were all found hacked to pieces one morning, some say at
the request of the angry sultan to whom the harem actually
belonged.
If you prefer to seek the
macabre in the company of like-minded companions, then join
the New Orleans Ghost Tour, which leaves every evening at
8pm from the steps in front of Café du Monde, just across
from Jackson Square.
From Vampires to Witches
The Quarter's supernatural
patina has been given a further shining with the publication
over the past two decades of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles
and Witching Hour books. Nearly all the characters in Rice's
works hail from her beloved New Orleans, and the French
Quarter is a favored haunt for many of them. For the record,
vampirism hasn't always been an integral part of the French
Quarter's history, but the old city has been home to a witch
or two. Even so, the vampire Lestat and his brethren have
definitely become intimately entwined in the local lore,
as the throngs of visitors following black-caped tour guides
around the Quarter each night can attest.
One of the excursions, The
Vampire Tour, leaves every evening at 8:30 pm from in front
of St. Louis Cathedral. If you want to seek out Rice's locales
on your own, visit Madame John's Legacy (http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/madam.htm)
at 632 Dumaine Street, the exterior of which was used in
a scene in Interview With a Vampire when Lestat and his
child prodigy, Claudia, feast on an entire Creole family.
Several blocks of Royal Street, from 700 to 900, were also
used during the filming, and Gallier House (http://home.gnofn.org/~hggh),
at 1132 Royal, may have been Rice's inspiration for her
vampire family's 18th-century abode. Rice fans will also
enjoy dining at Galatoire's at 209 Bourbon Street, Desire
Oyster Bar in the Royal Sonesta Hotel (http://www.sonesta.com/SONESTA/Sonweb2.nsf/Site/Properties-LA-Royal-About)
at 300 Bourbon Street, and The Court of Two Sisters (http://www.courtoftwosisters.com/)
at 613 Royal Street, all of which figure in The Witching
Hour. Rice's vampires, who of course don't eat, have little
use for the Quarter's many dining establishments, but Lestat
does meet the body thief at Café du Monde (http://www.cafedumonde.com)
at 1039 Decatur Street in the book of the same name.
If you want to expand your
reach to encompass even more of the ethereal, consider visiting
one of the many fortune-tellers in Jackson Square for a
tarot reading, or consult with the psychics and tasseomancers
(tea-leaf readers) at Bottom of the Cup Tea Room located
at 732 Royal Street. To find a comprehensive selection of
books, voodoo items, herbs, oils, and mystical accessories,
visit Richard Moffitt's Mystic Curio (http://www.mysticcurio.com)
at 831 Royal Street. If you're lucky, Moffitt, who is one
of the Quarter's friendliest and most interesting inhabitants
(imagine a cross between St. Francis and Merlin), will be
there to assist you.
A final stop of interest
to aficionados of the occult is the Musee Conti Wax Museum
(http://get-waxed.com) at 917 Rue Conti. For nearly half
a century, the museum has been telling the story of New
Orleans in wax, including the legends and lore surrounding
many of its supernatural occupants. Be sure to visit the
Haunted Dungeon!
