The Wall Of Voodoo is deeply
woven into the great part of New
Orleans secret traditions. Voodooist
for years have left marks in wall
streets and even tombs to lead
the faithful to their secret and
public ceremonies. The art on
the house walls and fences in
Rosalie Alley follow that ancient
passage into the hidden world
so few dare to tread. The art
is the works of Sallie Ann Glassman,
a New Orleans artist and practicing
Voodoo Queen.
Mambo
Sallie Ann has been practicing
Voodoo in New Orleans since 1977.
She traveled to Haiti in 1995
to undergo the week-long “couche”
initiation rituals; during these
rituals, she was ordained as Ounsi,
Kanzo and Mambo Asogwe, or a High
Priestess of Vodou. Mambo Sallie
Ann is one of the few white Americans
to have been ordained through
the traditional Haitian initiation.
As an American woman of Jewish-Ukrainian
heritage with a thorough knowledge
of the Kabala and ritual magick,
she brings a unique perspective
to the traditional practices of
vodou.
About
The Voodoo Artist
Mambo Sallie Ann is the founder
of La Source Ancienne Ounfo and
the founder of the Island of Salvation
Botanica, a resource for Vodoun
religious supplies and a showcase
for Mambo Sallie Ann’s Vodou-inspired
art. Renowned for her powerful
workings and community-based rituals,
Mambo Sallie Ann is one of the
most personable and accessible
of the powerful New Orleans Voodoo
Priestesses. 
Sally
Ann Glassman possessed by the
spirit of Marie Laveau was featured
on the first show for Sci Fi Investigates.
A
large crowd attended this year’s
ritual, including many members
of the national media. Representatives
of NBC, the SciFi Channel ,(Deborah
(Debbie) Dobrydney gets her formal
voodoo bapstism head washes by
Sallie Ann Glassman Above.) National
Geographic Magazine mingled with
devout vodusi and the curious
as Mambo Sallie Ann once again
entreated the help and assistance
of the Loas, most especially that
of Marie Laveau, in facing the
first hurricane season since Katrina.
SCI FI INVESTIGATES SEASON 1 FIRST
OCTOBER 12, 2006 SHOW http://www.scifi.com/investigates/index.php
Sallie
Ann Glassamn host several private
and public rituals each year.
Hurricane Protection
Ritual
This ritual is held each July,
approximately a month into New
Orleans’ annual hurricane
season. Under the direction of
Mambo Sallie Ann Glassman and
La Source Ancienne Ounfo, the
ritual is held to honor the powerful
Petwo Lwa Erzulie Dantor and to
thank her for continued protection
in the face of these powerful
and destruction forces of Nature.
Mambo Sallie Ann assembles the
servite around the peristile in
her temple where offerings are
made and rituals are performed
to invoke Dantor across the dark
waters of the Great Abyss, asking
her to keep her faithful safe
for another year. Appropriate
offerings at the Hurricane Protection
ritual include spicy fried pork,
corn and egg omelets, spicy cakes
and candies such as “Red
Hots” and “Hot Tamales,”
rum, whiskey, cigars, Florida
Water, and storm water. Dantor
is syncretized with the Catholic
Our Lady of Prompt Succor and
the Black Madonnas of Poland,
among others. Mambo Sallie Ann
and the Ounfo have been holding
the Hurricane Protection Ritual
each year for the past eight years,
and each year New Orleans has
been protected. However, the destruction
and havoc wreaked by Hurricane
Katrina have tempted many to suggest
that Dantor finally failed her
servite and the City. Devotees
of this powerful Lwa are quick
to point out that, actually, Hurricane
Katrina did turn away from New
Orleans at the last minute: after
making landfall in Louisiana’s
southern Plaquemines Parish, Katrina
turned eastward and vented her
worst fury on the Mississippi
Gulf Coast. Believers in Dantor
and the power of this yearly ritual
credit this last minute turn to
the great Lwa and reiterate what
officials all across the region
have said again and again: This
was not a direct hit; had Hurricane
Katrina been a direct hit, there
would be nothing but water where
the City now stands. Thanks to
Erzulie Dantor, many believe,
there is something left of New
Orleans today.
Marie Laveau
Headwashing Ceremony
Commemorating the time of year
most preferred by Voodoo Queen
Marie Laveau for her workings,
this ceremony takes place on June
23rd, traditionally St. John’s
Eve and an important date in many
cultures. During her lifetime
Mambo Marie Laveau hosted her
voodoo “bamboulas”
to coincide with this date; these
always took place along the waterway
known as Bayou St. John in New
Orleans. To honor both the tradition
and the great Voodoo Queen herself,
Mambo Sallie Ann Glassman and
La Source Ancienne Ounfo host
a midsummer headwashing ritual
each year on the same waterway
favored by Marie Laveau. This
ritual, performed for the benefit
of devotees and members of the
public alike, is a celebration
of the season of fullness and
plenty. As with other rituals,
Marie Laveau, honored as a powerful
ancestral Lwa in her own right,
is invoked by the Mambo to join
in the festivities. A ritual headwashing
takes place and all are invited
to share in the powerful “ashe”
or energy that is invoked from
the presence of Marie Laveau and
that is passed, through the Mambo,
to each devotee. Hypnotic ritual
drumming accompanies the ritual
and after headwashing is complete
devotees dance long into the sapphire
night. Offerings for Marie Laveau
are appropriate and these include
white candles, white scented flowers,
hair dressing items such as combs,
brushes, ribbons and clips (Marie
Laveau was a hairdresser by trade),
foods such as fried pork and coconut
cake, cigars, Florida Water, and,
of course, rum. Mambo Sallie Ann
repeats her waterside ritual in
the lobby of the International
House Hotel in New Orleans each
June 23rd - 24th, St. John’s
Day.
Bywater Voodoo
The area now known as Bywater
was mostly plantation land in
the Colonial era, with significant
residential development beginning
the first decade of the 19th century
as part of what was known as "Faubourg
Washington", part of the
predominantly Francophone "Downtown"
section of New Orleans. Many people
from the French Caribbean settled
here, especially refugees from
the revolution in Haiti. During
the century it grew with both
white and free colored Creoles,
joined by immigrants from Germany
and Ireland.
Island
Of Salvation This is a
real voodoo supply store. www.feyvodou.com
There was little division between
this area and what became known
as the Lower 9th Ward until the
Industrial Canal was dredged through
the area in the early 20th century.
A generation knew the area as
the "Upper 9th Ward",
but as other areas of the 9th
Ward above the Canal further from
the River became developed, a
more specific name was needed.
Inspired by the local telephone
exchange designation of BYwater
which fit the neighborhood's proximity
to the River and the Canal, the
neighborhood was known as "Bywater"
by the 1940s. And Voodoo flourished
or so it is said.
Development and speculation surrounding
the 1984 World's Fair prompted
many long term French Quarter
residents to move down river,
at first into Marigny; by the
late 1990s the bohemian artistic
type of communities of the type
found in the Quarter mid-century
had spread down to Bywater, and
many long neglected 19th century
houses were refurbished. And when
entering these homes signs and
symbols of New Orleans Hoodoo
Voodoo is more then apparent.
The portion of Bywater on the
river side of St. Claude Avenue
was one of the few portions of
the 9th Ward to escape flooding
in the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina in 2005, and has made
a more rapid recovery than many
other parts of the city.
The Great Wall
Of Voodoo
The long fence and surrounding
buildings are covered with Veve's
also and protection symbols. All
hand painted by Glassman herself.
Everyone is said to have spirits,
and each person is considered
to have a special relationship
with one particular spirit who
is said to "own their head",
however each person may have many
lwa, and the one that owns their
head, or the "met tet",
may or may not be the most active
spirit in a person's life in Haitian
belief.
Haitian Vodouisants
believe, in accordance with widespread
African tradition, that there
is one God who is the creator
of all, referred to as "Bondyè"
(from the French "Bon Dieu"
or "Good God"). Bondyè
is distinguished from the God
of "the whites" in a
dramatic speech by the houngan
Boukman at Bwa Kayiman, but is
often considered the same God
of other religions, such as Christianity
and Islam. Bondyè is distant
from His/Her/Its creation though,
and so it is the spirits or the
"mysteries", "saints",
or "angels" that the
Vodouisant turns to for help,
as well as to the ancestors. The
Vodouisant worships God, and serves
the spirits, who are treated with
honor and respect as elder members
of a household might be. There
are said to be twenty-one nations
or "nanchons" of spirits,
also sometimes called "lwa-yo".
Some of the more important nations
of lwa are the Rada (corresponding
to the Gbe-speaking ethnic groups
in the modern-day Republic of
Benin, Nigeria, and Togo); the
Nago (synonymous with the Yoruba-speaking
ethnicities in Nigeria, the Republic
of Benin, and Togo); and the numerous
West-Central African ethnicities
united under the ethnonym Kongo.
The spirits also come in "families"
that all share a surname, like
Ogou, or Ezili, or Azaka or Ghede.
For instance, "Ezili"
is a family, Ezili Dantor and
Ezili Freda are two individual
spirits in that family. The Ogou
family are soldiers, the Ezili
govern the feminine spheres of
life, the Azaka govern agriculture,
the Ghede govern the sphere of
death and fertility. In Dominican
Vodou, there is also an Agua Dulce
or "Sweet Waters" family,
which encompasses all Amerindian
spirits. There are literally hundreds
of lwa. Well known individual
lwa include Danbala Wedo, Papa
Legba Atibon, and Agwe Tawoyo.
In Haitian Vodou, spirits are
divided according to their nature
in roughly two categories, whether
they are hot or cool. Cool spirits
fall under the Rada category,
and hot spirits fall under the
Petwo category. Rada spirits are
familial and congenial, while
Petwo spirits are more combative
and restless. Both can be dangerous
if angry or upset, and despite
claims to the contrary, neither
is "good" or "evil"
in relation to the other.
In serving the spirits,
the Vodouisant seeks to achieve
harmony with their own individual
nature and the world around them,
manifested as personal power and
resourcefulness in dealing with
life. Part of this harmony is
membership in and maintaining
relationships within the context
of family and community. A Vodou
house or society is organized
on the metaphor of an extended
family, and initiates are the
"children" of their
initiators, with the sense of
hierarchy and mutual obligation
that implies.
Most Vodouisants are not initiated,
referred to as being "bosal";
it is not a requirement to be
an initiate in order to serve
one's spirits. There are clergy
in Haitian Vodou whose responsibility
it is to preserve the rituals
and songs and maintain the relationship
between the spirits and the community
as a whole (though some of this
is the responsibility of the whole
community as well). They are entrusted
with leading the service of all
of the spirits of their lineage.
Priests are referred to as "Houngans"
and priestesses as "Mambos".
Below the houngans and mambos
are the hounsis, who are initiates
who act as assistants during ceremonies
and who are dedicated to their
own personal mysteries. One does
not serve just any lwa but only
the ones they "have"
according to one's destiny or
nature. Which spirits a person
"has" may be revealed
at a ceremony, in a reading, or
in dreams. However all Vodouisants
also serve the spirits of their
own blood ancestors, and this
important aspect of Vodou practice
is often glossed over or minimized
in importance by commentators
who do not understand the significance
of it. The ancestor cult is in
fact the basis of Vodou religion,
and many lwa like Agasou (formerly
a king of Dahomey) for example
are in fact ancestors who are
said to have been raised up to
divinity.
All dress in white
(the color of purity), with red
head scarves, or all red (the
color of Petwo rites). The crowds
that often come to the Alley range
from small groups to those of
150 plus gathered Achade Meadows
Peristyle, for the many different
yearly rituals.
"Many locals and a notable
celebrities have trodden the dirt
path leading o the New Orleans
Voodoo Peryistle, Just as they
may have in centuries past going
to rituals held by Marie Laveau."
"You see even Hurricane Katrina
couldn't kill New Orleans Voodoo,"
says Armando a presiding New Orleans
Voodoo King or Doctor."New
Orleans Voodoo Hoodoo culture
is not necessarily about black
or white, but about New Orleans
soul it's people."
Armando a Local Voodoo Priest
and leader of his own secret Society
often attends the rituals held
by other groups and often travels
there incognito. " I hide
myself from the"others Armando
Says. Not that I do not wish to
know them it's just a tradition
with my personal society."
" I have walked Rosalie Alley
many times to attend rituals,
but only the spirits know who
I am." " I enjoy the
feeling and the mystical feelings
this place gives to me and have
experienced many loas and actual
ghosts on the dusty path."
" Glasmanns work is magical
and powerful!"
Acclaimed Photographer
Harriet Cross and Alyne Pustanio
admire the artwork of Sallie Ann
Glassman in Rosalie Alley.
Read
More Here: HURRICANE
PROTECTION RITUAL HONORING ERZULIE
DANTOR AND OUR LADY OF PROMPT
SUCCOR
The Hurricane Protection Spell
is held in Glassman's neighborhood,
on a back street called Rosalie
Alley. People from the Bywater
neighborhood and sometimes from
around the world make offerings
of prayer, music, dance, candles,
herbs, and objects before an altar
to both the Catholic Our Lady
of Prompt Succor and Ezili Danto,
the Haitian Voodoo spirit of passion
and of the great storm.
This over 250 ft long ever expanding
public work "Voodoo Gede"
mural is a ongoing project for
Sallie Ann Glassman. Many nelieve
it began for the Annual "Day
of the Dead" Ceremony and
represents her version of
The Gates
Of Guinee the portal to
the after world. Though this
fence walls and gates or the way
leading to the Achade Meadows
peristyle.
One old tradition still observed
in New Orleans today was to search
for Secret Voodoo Cemetery Gates
Of Guinee, The Mysterious Portal
To The Afterworld. Bringing something
as an offering, (a piece of King
Cake, Mardi Gras Beads etc.).
The dead love sweets and gifts,
and even more so they love King
Cake in New Orleans. In Voodoo,
the soul continues to live on
earth and may be used in magic
or it may be incarnated in a member
of the dead person's family. This
belief is similar to Catholicism
in that the soul is believed to
be immortal. Elaborate burial
customs have been established
to keep the dead buried in the
ground. It is believed that corpses,
or a persons spirit bottle* that
have been removed from their tombs
may be turned into zombies, who
then serve the will of their masters.
Not on any local Haunted Ghost
or Voodoo Tour it can be viewed
in Rosalie Alley in the heart
of the Bywater Neighborhood of
New Orleans if you dare to make
the trek. Some believe that the
X crossed fence leads to this
hidden legendary portal. And truly
believe it is not wise to visit
this alley all alone. Locals they
will warn you that you may be
pulled into the after world with
no hope of escape. A person can
instantly die and be taken back
to the afterworld. Still worse
you or taken there alive!
Ghede' is a very
wise man for his knowledge is
an accumulation of the knowledge
of all the deceased. He stands
on the center of all the roads
that lead to Guinee, the afterworld.
To find these real mysterious
gates in the city of New Orleans
might take a little detective
work. Some Locals say if their
open when you find them... beware!
If you then enter you will never
return to the real world.
Known as the Lwa
of the Dead in Vodoun, Papa Gede,
or Ghede, Guédé,
is also known as the Baron Samdi,
and is married to Manman Brigit,
mother of all Gedes. Together
the Gedes dress in funeral colors
of purple and black and surround
themselves with graveyard imagery.
The Gedes are very wise, Papa
Gede most of all, because they
possess the accumulated wisdom
of all the dead.
Each Year La Source Ancienne
Ounfo & The Island of Salvation
Botanica & Magical Pharmacy
present their Annual New Orleans
DAY OF THE DEAD CELEBRATION, Voodoo
Mambo Sallie Ann Glassman presiding
holds a open to the Public day
of the dead ritual. Followers
wear white with a purple head
scarf, or black and purple for
Gede. They bring a dish of food
for the people, and an offering
for the Dead and of course Gede'.
Gede’s tastes tend towards
peppers, flat breads, rum, cigars,
goats, crosses, grave-digger’s
tools, black cock feathers, skeletons,
sunglasses with one lens, hot
Creole foods, money, the colors
black, mauve, and white. He is
synchronized with St. Gerard.
Or you can bring something with
you that your ancestors or loved
ones enjoyed in life.
Also
see: NEW
ORLEANS STYLE DAY OF THE DEAD
Baron La Croix (Baron
the Cross) is the mystical Baron
responsible for the reclamation
of souls. Baron Samedi is involved
in the magical ceremonies of the
Sanpwel, including those in which
the punishment of zombification
is inflicted on criminals. Baron
Cimitiere is the Big Black Man
in the cemetery, he is the one
who guards the bones of the dead
at night. Baron Kriminel works
for pay, and must be paid by the
end of the year, November 2, the
Feast of the Dead.
The veve, or traditional
insignia, of these lwa is a cross
on a tomb. The details of the
veve may vary depending on the
particular lwa or aspect being
invoked.
The spiritual children
of Baron and Maman Brigitte are
the Gede lwa. Every human being
on earth can become a Gede lwa,
although not all do! The Gedes
are powerful, and will prophesy
the future, heal the sick, give
advice, or perform magic of all
descriptions.
Possessed by Gede
lwa, and by Baron and Brigitte.
These lwa use a great deal of
indecent language, but they are
never nasty to people, they don't
curse at people, but instead they
tell hysterically funny dirty
jokes.
They dance the banda, which is
a wildly suggestive dance miming
sexual intercourse. And in the
midst of all this winding and
grinding, these lwa keep perfectly
straight faces - they are cadavers,
they feel nothing!
November 2, All Soul's Day, commonly
called Fet Gede (pronounced GAY-day),
New Orleans' Catholics attend
mass in the morning and then go
to the cemetery, where they pray
at family grave sites and make
repairs to family tombs. The majority
of New Orleans Catholics are also
said to be Vodouisants, and vice
versa, so on the way to the cemetery
many people change clothes from
the white they wore to church,
to the purple and black of the
lwa Gede, the spirits of the departed
ancestors.
The Feast of the Ancestors, Fet
Ghede, is considered the end of
the old year and the beginning
of the new, much as in the European
Wiccan tradition. Any debts to
Baron, Maman Brigitte, or Ghede
must be paid at this time. Baron
Kriminel sings to his debtors:
(Haitian Creole)
Bawon Kriminel, map travay pou
ve de te yo, m pa bezwenn lajan
(repeat),
Bawon Kriminel, O! Lane a bout
o, map paret tan yo.
(English)
Baron Criminel, I'm working for
the worms of the earth (lowly,
poor people),
I don't need money (repeat),
Baron Criminel, oh! The year has
ended, oh, I'll appear, to wait
for them (to pay me).
"Although
one is pure of thoughts and in
heart, searches for the gates
of the truly dead. You never know
when the winter winds (November)
blow, If the cursed gates are
searching for you too."
"If you enter the gates
backwards you might have a small
chance, to flee with your life
all intact. But if your motives
are untrue then the living death
calls your name , then there is
nothing you can do."
Attributed to Madame Marie
Laveau, 1800's New Orleans
Yearly Hurricane
Protection Ritual
HURRICANE CEREMONY VOODOO RITUAL
What: A public prayer ceremony
dedicated to Our Lady of Prompt
Succor (who has intervened historically
on New Orleans' behalf when a
hurricane has threatened) and
Ezili Danto (also associated with
Mater Salvatoris and Mount Carmel)
to ask for protection from hurricanes
When: HELD ANNUALY IN JULY
Where: Achade Meadows Peristyle,
3319 Rosalie Alley (off of Rampart,
between Piety and Desire)
What to bring in offering:
For Our Lady: flowers, statues,
candles, religious pictures, jewelry
For Danto: Barbancourt Rum, Florida
Water, candles, daggers, dolls
dressed in red and blue with gold
trim or calico prints, spicy black
beans, peasant cakes, unfiltered
cigarettes, fried pork, white
creme de menthe
What to wear: Please dress in
white (the color of purity), with
red head scarves, or all red (the
color of Petwo rites).
It is interesting to note that
the practice of Voodoo has survived
not simply among the people who
always practiced it, but also
in this place, where so much culture
was born and continues to thrive.
To me, ultimately, this demonstrates
the power of New Orleans to perpetuate
its own culture, to maintain its
identity even in the midst of
swirling demographic shifts and
physical assaults.
†
† †
