New Orleans Voodoo

Introduction
NO Voodoo was created by members of various African tribes.  They were influenced by members of non-African tribes.  It has various deities and rituals.  Marie Laveau was the greatest Voodoo Queen of all time! It has many similarities and differences to Haitian Voodoo.  NO Voodooists exchanged ideas with rootworkers and Spiritualists.  NO Voodoo became commercialized.

Origin
People from the Fon, Bambara, Mandinka, Ewe, Fulani, Bakongo, Igbo, Hausa, and other African tribes were brought to NO.  The Fon made up the majority of the Africans brought to NO.  Members of these tribes were also brought to Haiti.  They mix their religions together.  They added the beliefs and practices Americans and Catholicism.  NO Voodoo has been around since the early 1700's.

Nuances of NO Voodoo
Ayida Wedo-Rainbow serpent goddess.  She is the wife of Damaballah.  Our Lady of Immaculate Conception represents Ayida Wedo.

Damaballah: He is the Loa of wisdom.  He is a giant albino serpent.  He is the creator of humans and Loa. His 2nd wife is Erzulie Freda.  Ayida Wedo is his first love.  Saint Patrick represents Damaballah because of St. Patrick got rid of snakes in Ireland.

Eruzulie Freda: She is the goddess of love and beauty.  She has 3 husbands: Damaballah, Ogun, and Agwe. She has 3 wedding rings.

Papa Legba-Loa of the crossroads.  He connects heaven to earth.  He opens the doors to luck.  St. Lazarus is his saint.  ST. Lazarus went to the spirit world and was brought back to the physical world.  He is one of my favs.    

Ogou-Loa of technology, war, and hunting.

Agwe: Loa of the sea.  Mami Wata was his wife b4 Eruzluie Freda.

There is a hurricane protection ritual.  It protected NO during Hurricane Katrina.  Only a part of the hurricane hit NO.  Most of the hurricane hit Missippi.

There is a handwashing ritual to invoke the power of Marie Laveau.

Day of Dead ritual honors the ancestors.

There are many other rituals too.

Marie Laveau
She was a very intelligent practitioner of NO Voodoo.  A lot of people would see her for help.  She fed people on death row.  She helped someone not get convicted in court.  She nursed people yellow fever and cholera with herbs.  She was a great herbalist.  She had a daughter by the same name. She was a great Voodoo Queen too!

Voodoo & Vodou
They both were created by members of the same tribe.  They both were influenced by Catholicism; such as saints being representations of Loa.  They both have a lot of the same Loa.

Voodoo was influenced by Hoodoo, Vodou wasn't.  Vodou was influenced by Tainos.  Voodoo was influenced by other American tribes.  Vodou helped the Haitians overthrow the French, Voodoo wasn't revolutionary. Vodou is more structured than Voodoo.  Voodoo is more magical and Vodou is more religious.


Hoodoo & Spiritualism influence on Voodoo and visa versa
Rootworkers learned about saints from NO Voodooists.  Mojo Bags are used in Hoodoo and Gris-Gris Bags are used in NO Orleans Voodoo. I think both types of bags come from Bakongo people. Spiritualism incorporates beliefs and practices of NO Voodoo.  NO Voodooists learned about Black Hawk from Spiritualist.

Commercialization of NO Voodoo
It became commercialized so some people could make $.  The people that commercialized NO Voodoo didn't understand it, nor did they try too.  Some people would sell magickical items that weren't really magickical.  They pretended to NO Voodooists.  NO Voodoo have been presented as evil in movies because of Europeans anti-African attitudes.

Conclusion
NO Voodoo is a great religion!!!  It was created by Africans from various tribes and they were influenced by Americans and Europeans.  It has its own deities and rituals.  Marie Laveau was the greatest Voodoo Queen and she made Voodoo popular.  Voodoo has many similarities & differences to Vodou.  Voodoo was influenced by Hoodoo and Spiritualism.  It also impacted those religions/magickical system.  Voodoo became commercialized by evil capitalists.

References

http://voodooneworleans.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Voodoo

http://bloodymarystours.com/

http://www.neworleanscvb.com/visit/about/voodoo/
https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/from-benin-to-bourbon-street-a-brief-history-of-louisiana-voodoo
https://glitternight.com/2014/08/13/the-top-eleven-deities-in-voodoo-mythology/
http://www.hauntedneworleanstours.com/toptenhaunted/toptenvoodoorituals/
http://gonola.com/2012/09/05/happy-birthday-marie-laveau-nine-legends-you-didnt-know.html
https://roadtrippers.com/stories/mistress-marie-laveau-the-voodoo-queen-of-new-orleans
http://santeriachurch.org/what-is-the-difference-between-voodoo-hoodoo-and-santeria/
http://voodoohoodoospellbook.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_29.html
NO Voodoo
Vodou
History of Voodoo
Voodoo & Friends
Hoodoo & Voodoo