New Orleans Voodoo Revival

History

In the late 1900s, Louisiana Voodoo saw a resurgence, but the resulting faith looked more like Haitian Vodou or Cuban Santería than the 19th-century version recorded by historians. Some modern followers have also turned to West African traditions, even undergoing initiation into West African Vodun. Scholar Jeffery Anderson called the connection to the old ways "quite tenuous," describing the current practice as "an emerging faith inspired by and seeking to reconstruct the older religion."

New organizations appeared, such as the Voodoo Spiritual Temple, founded in 1990 by African American priestess Miriam Chamani, which honored spirits from Haitian Vodou and Cuban Santería. Another group, La Source Ancienne, was started in the Bywater neighborhood by Sallie Ann Glassman, a Ukrainian-Jewish American who had been initiated into Haitian Vodou; she also ran the Island of Salvation Botanica. The most visible figure was Ava Kay Jones, a Louisiana Creole woman initiated into both Haitian Vodou and Orisha-Vodu, a U.S.-born offshoot of Santería.

Researcher Carolyn Long saw these groups as part of a "Voodoo revival" rather than a direct line from the 1700s and 1800s, noting they typically resembled Haitian Vodou or Santería. These communities spread knowledge through websites, newsletters, and workshops. In the 2000s, practitioners have blended Voodoo with Judaism, the Kabbalah, or Hinduism.

Beliefs

The Voodoo revival has drawn many of its deities from Haitian Vodou, where these divinities are called lwa. Commonly venerated lwa include Erzulie Freda, Ezili la Flambo, Ogoun, Mara, and Papa Legba, divided into separate nanchon (nations) such as Rada and Petwo. Each lwa is associated with particular items, colors, numbers, foodstuffs, and drinks, and they are often considered intermediaries of God, termed Le Bon Dieu in Haitian Vodou. In the 21st century, Louisiana Voodoo has been characterized as a system of ancestor worship, with communication with ancestors an important part of practice.

Practitioner and poet Brenda Marie Osbey described a belief in "a somewhat distant but single deity," while Rory O'Neill Schmitt and Rosary Hartel O'Neill expressed the view that contemporary Voodoo was monotheistic. Osbey rejected the centrality of Roman Catholic saints, describing them as "servants and messengers of the Ancestors," and noted that unlike in Haitian Vodou and Cuban Santería, the saints retained their distinct identities rather than being equated with specific West African deities.

The religion accords particular respect to elders, and Osbey described it as "entirely within the sphere of women, whom we call Mothers."

Practices

In the 21st century, various Voodoo groups wear white clothing for ceremonies. Influenced by Haitian Vodou, participants may dance around a central post called the poto mitan. Patterned flags known as drapos may be brought out, and songs are sung in Haitian Kreyol. Drawings called vèvè may be made on the floor to invoke spirits, and offerings are given to them.

Contemporary rites often involve calling spirits to enter a practitioner's body, through which they can heal or confer blessings; the possessed individual is called the "horse." Practitioners sometimes perform rituals to address specific issues, such as a 1995 ritual in the Bywater area to drive away crack cocaine abuse, burglaries, prostitution, and assaults, or a 2001 rite by Ava Kay Jones to drive harmful spirits from the New Orleans Saints football team.

Many practitioners maintain personal altars, often in the kitchen or living room, to assist communication with ancestors, with food and drink offered and libations poured. Music is often part of rituals. Some revivalists have incorporated snake dances, reflecting the historical presence of snakes in Louisiana Voodoo rituals; the New Orleans Voodoo Spiritual Temple has its own "temple snake." Some practitioners sacrifice animals in rites, subsequently cooking and eating the carcass, though this is not universal; Glassman's group prohibits animal sacrifice.

Among some practitioners, there is a tradition not to speak to non-adherents about Voodoo. Healing plays a prominent role, with shops called botanicas selling herbs and materials for preparations. Glassman produced her own New Orleans Voodoo Tarot for divination. A common gathering in historical Louisiana Voodoo was on St. John's Eve (June 23 or 24), with celebrations on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain during the 19th century.

Demographics

By the early 2000s, local estimates put the number of New Orleans Voodoo practitioners between 2,500 and 3,000. After Hurricane Katrina scattered much of the population, that figure reportedly dropped to under 300. Some followers inherit the tradition from family; others discover it on their own. Scholar Carolyn Long observed that the late 20th-century revival drew many well-educated, middle-class Americans of both races.

One prominent group, led by a man named Glassman, was noted for its mostly white membership. In 1995, journalist Rick Bragg described contemporary devotees as white people—pierced, intellectual, or sporting long ponytails—drawn to the religion’s drumming and cultural elements. Critic Osbey argued the revival appealed especially to young-ish whites because it felt forbidden, magical, and dramatically compelling. She contended these newcomers were not genuine practitioners, as they lacked descent from the ancestral spirits central to Louisiana Voodoo.