MARIE LAVEAU ALTAR

Marie Laveau Altar at a New Orleans Voodoo Hoodoo Perystyle. A tiered altar is set up against the railing on one side of the old foot bridge that has for years crossed the Bayou in front of Cabrini High School. The altar is decorated with candles, flowers, incense, food offerings and other items; a worn and obviously much-loved statue of Marie Laveau stands proudly on the highest tier. By the end of the ceremony, the statue will be almost entirely obscured by offerings too numerous to name, placed there by devotees of Voodoo and of the woman who made this island religion – and her hometown of New Orleans – famous for generations.

A tiered altar is set up against the railing on one side of the old foot bridge that has for years crossed the Bayou in front of Cabrini High School. The altar is decorated with candles, flowers, incense, food offerings and other items; a worn and obviously much-loved statue of Marie Laveau stands proudly on the highest tier. By the end of the ceremony, the statue will be almost entirely obscured by offerings too numerous to name, placed there by devotees of Voodoo and of the woman who made this island religion – and her hometown of New Orleans – famous for generations.

Photo by New Orleans Photographer Harriet Cross ©2008