VooDoo - The Truth Behind A Sinister Narrative

0:01 Hello bizarre story friends. You've tuned into the bizarre AF where we talk about the strange, the absurd, the unknown, and things that are bizarre AF. I'm Kevin. I'm going to be your host for today's episode. And as always, we ask that you keep an open mind, keep a skeptical ear, but keep listening to the facts as we take you on our newest journey. Voodoo the truth behind the sinister narrative. Hello my bizarre story friends and my Co Hostess with the most is Alicia.

1:04 How are you girl? I'm good. I'm so good this this. I think that we're doing a little bit of voodoo over here because. Voodoo magic. Cocktail because I'm like, ooh, how did that have? I didn't see that. Magically appeared in front of you. It's Oh my God, Voodoo. I love this life. I love this life I'm living. #Truth. Hashtag my truth. This is my truth. Yes. Yes. So. Alicia yes, Sir. What do you think of when I say the word voodoo?

1:46 Okay, Can I tell you like the first thing I think of? Yes, I wanna know. So the very first thing I think of is voodoo. You do. Voodoo you do. Voodoo. Good God girl, are you gonna get RIP? Good God, girl. Get a grip. Like, honestly, that's what I think of, like, in my head. That's what I say every time you say voodoo. That is what I'm saying. That's the inner model. I don't know. I have no idea. It's probably like something like there was in a cartoon in the 90s or something. I have no idea. But that's the first thing I think of. The second thing I think of. Voodoo that you do so well. Yeah, yeah, it has. It has to be something. But then I think of like. I don't know. More like, I think magic and like the South or like New Orleans. OK.

2:35 And it was like, I don't know, like Haiti. Yeah, OK, OK, but what else? What else the images conjure? What images conjure in your mind when you hear the word voodoo? The Princess and the Frog. What is wrong with you? What? Dude, honestly. Like, really? OK, well, have you seen The Princess and the Frog? The Disney movie? No. OK, it's cute. It's really cute. It's worth it. You would like the music? Voodoo. There's some voodoo. I believe there's some voodoo in it. OK, so let me ask you this. What is the voodoo in the Hollywood picture? What does the What is the voodoo? Well, it's like there's like skulls and like like animal, like bones, like bones. And I I always think like, but like a like what is wrong with me?

3:31 But I think of like a like a plume of smoke or something like mysterious, like like mysterious. I always think of The Color Purple. Yeah, yeah. OK. OK. Does that. No, I. Have no, I'm like. I'm having some semi. Tracking Kevin's like Alicia, I'm on for the ride. The Cuckoo ride. Where are we going? Cuckoo town. Cuckoo voodoo. You do hoodoo every time. Just remember, that is what I'm picking in my head, OK? But that will not leave my. Please tell me about voodoo. Yeah. Well, so. Am I on the right track? Well. The answer is no, Alicia The. Answer is, we did not say what I thought you were going to say. Let me just say that.

4:16 I totally. My next sentence were was Well, you're not alone. Shut up. But you ruined it. I am alone. I'm all alone, Kevin. I'm. I'm literally crying. Let me let me tell you what I thought you were going to say like a normal person. Please do. I thought you were going to say like sacrifices and blood and like, you know, like tribal like. Like beats, drums and.

4:56 Spirits and drums and like goats and spells. And that's what I thought you were gonna say. Maybe my idea is more accurate. Well, clearly. OK, well, Alicia, you're not alone. In fact, everyone thinks of voodoo that way. I'm crying. I really am. I'm really crying right now. Well, so my point is, was that that's Hollywood films and bad researched books and these tourist triumphs, traps and these misguided behaviors of these people that just want to take advantage of that is really what has driven societal. Perception of voodoo.

5:53 Yeah, yeah, I can see that. OK. So and like you said, you thought of the South, you thought of new. Orleans, that is. Synonymous with with voodoo. And it actually is where voodoo entered the American realm. So yeah, that makes sense. OK, so voodoo actually originated from an ancient Kingdom called. The homie and we always apologize in advance for when we pronounce words, because we're terrible at it. But we do try. But we do try. The homie is present did present day Nigeria. Oh, OK. Area. OK.

6:36 And it derives from a fond word for God or spirit, and it's called vodou vo, Dou vodou and. Other accurate spellings are actually vodun, which is vo Dun and vodone which is vo DOUN. But it was never Voodoo VOODOO, that's never what it was. And actually the voodoo is 100% sensationalist. It is. A really, actually a derogatory Western creation Voodoo as we know Voodoo today.

7:27 Ah, OK, it's all Western like it has. All western built it it. Doesn't really have. Real. Gotcha. It's not the real vodoo. OK vodoo. Yeah, by the people who really understand what vodoo is and what they believe in and. People we're going to talk about in a second just have taken advantage of people's ignorance of it. So there, so it's it's it's like it's a bastardization of. Yeah. Exactly. Of what, precisely? The the root was What the root it was. Yeah, that's It's like going to church only on Christmas. Yeah. Like you're like, this isn't really what it's. Not what Christianity is Christmas. Yeah, exactly.

8:12 Yeah, OK. Yeah, exactly so. Kind of, as I alluded to, Vodou really has nothing to do with all those simplistic false images that we see and you know, sticking pins into dolls and. Oh yeah. Putting axes on things and creating potions and turning innocent people into zombies and like, that's all, yeah, totally fiction, OK? It's all fiction. Yeah, it tends to like err on the side of negative, doesn't it? Like like it's always like more. Yes, turning my enemy, you know? Yeah, like revenge on my enemy or. Bones and yeah, yeah, like hurting people and doing bad things, right.

8:54 Like try. Yeah. Trying to. Yeah. Trying to have. Trying to to create something, you know, mean or bad. That's right. It's never anything good. In that exactly, that's exactly what voodoo is, but not not vodoo. Vodoo. Exactly. Oh, do. Exactly. It's an actually an organized form of so vodou is an organized form of communal support. It actually attempts to provide meaning to the human experience in relation to like the supernatural. So it tries to be a positive.

9:42 Connection to the supernatural as opposed to this negative. Hay, yeah. Hexy thingy? Yeah, exactly. Now, Vodou is essentially A monoesthetic religion, which is actually a religion that, you know, focus on one God, you know, one spirit kind of thing. And it's known as Maulisa among the fawn, which is a fo N, which is a group of people. The Orlon, which is among the Yoruba and Bondi or Grand, met in Heidi in. Haiti. Haiti.

10:22 Excuse me. OK. Hey, remember. She said Haiti do. You remember when I was fucking crazy in the beginning and I was like, I think of, like Haiti and like New Orleans and like. You were getting 2 on the nose. You're supposed to be like, more Hollywood. Sorry. OK, so. So we have both of these grow or these. Three groups, right. Yeah. The kind of. Yes, exactly. That kind of know this Vodou. Yeah. Right. As as truly what it originated to be. And so there's these temples where Vodou is practiced and the really what they actually truly were are outside of America are these really kind of simple buildings and they're marked with images of. Mary, Jesus and Joseph and inside these temples or altars are usually this.

11:22 The center post and the structural support of this building there is adorned these two offerings and they're called Iowa IWA and it's an offering to Iowa. That's the the point of these temples is Iowa is like. The spirit, it's like the entity. Like the monotheistic? Yes, exactly. Like, yes, exactly. Like we know God. Yeah, yeah. And so to find these voodoo temples, you would look for these flags on these bamboo poles and they would put these flags out of them and they would be in the yards of just like these normal looking homes.

12:04 You just see this bamboo pole and you see this flag sticking out of this pole. Well what these did is they signaled that in that home was the residence of a priest or priestess. Oh of Vodou. Kind of like when you're going or you're walking in a different country and you see, I don't know. The spinning like white tube that has white and red and blue. Yes, exactly. You know what that is? It's a Barber, right? Or like a thing of beer. It's, yes, a bar or whatever. Precisely. OK, cool. Yes, that's right.

12:44 And the flag colors would reveal what kind of will do the priest or priest is practiced. OK. So what genre? Yeah, Genre. Yeah. So kind of like, does they, do they specialize in cures or do they specialize in blessings? Gotcha, That kind of thing now. But traditionally it was just a white square flag. That's really traditionally what it was. And the reason it was white is because that represented purity and goodness and that kind of thing. Yeah. And it's much kind of much way that the green is seen in the as a Muslim color. This white was seen as a Vodou color. Oh cool.

13:33 Can just kind of how they relate, right. So it was a very pure, clean, wholesome, loving form of religion. Yeah, it's a religion. Yeah, totally. Just like everything, everything starts off. It was like, yeah, yeah, it's like, precisely. The intense, Yeah. The. Intention is always pure, right? It's like, and then we're just trying to understand the world around us and the things that we can't really put our finger on we don't get. And to try to help us live through the day or yes. Whatever. And have create community and you know, connection. Yeah, connection. Similar belief system.

14:16 Yeah, have a place where we can all meet. And then someone's gonna take it. And elsewhere. Yeah, yeah, but then guess what someone's like? Exactly. I think. I could think. I think. Let me twirl my mustache. I think I could make money at this exact capitalism at its best. Precise, finest. So Haitians walk into vodoo temples for consultations every day. Sure. They, they pray and they sing and they they talk and they wish, for lack of a better term, ask, you know, ask for.

15:01 Yeah. Or like kind of. Yeah, stop. Yeah. And they will generally carry candles, spices. Carvings, powders. These are kind of offerings of such. Right. At the temples. At the temples, Yeah. When you walk in. So, OK, You're talking about the Haitians. Uh, huh. We were in Nigeria. Yes. So the Haitians are going to Nigeria or the Haitians? Have they have these? Their own versions Their own. Versions. So they're all doing ultimately the same types of things, they just call them different words.

15:45 So they're different. Yeah. So, So it's just a different flavor of. Yeah, different flavor. OK. So the Haitians, VO do you know, this is kind of more, they're more offering based and OK, yeah, they have their own version. Yes, exactly. So possessions. And I'm not talking about possession that I hold in my hand. I'm talking about a physical possession, like demonic, like something else within me. See. You know what? That's a great way to put it. Because where my head goes is a Christian like The Exorcist, Yes. I think possession, that must be the the devil or a demon, right? But in reality it doesn't have to be negative exactly, It could just be something else taking records. Yes.

16:44 So possession is a very important part and critical dimension of voodoo. OK, OK. I didn't know that. And really, for anyone who doesn't understand it, at its core it is the one of the least. Understood aspects of it for exactly the reasons that you just spoke of. Because we in the Western world have zero connection to that possession other than the devil. Yeah. That is like the only reason you would be possessed. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

17:24 There's no. You're Blair on the bed. You're right, right. Shooting like green peas soup out of your mouth, right. But like, yeah, I you know what? I would. OK, here's a question. Who would you like to be possessed by? Like, you get to choose anyone, anything, whatever. Like, who would you be? Like, yeah, this is cool. Or like, I'm curious or whatever. Anything what does that see and that what does it means like you would? What's like maybe what kind of entity or like? What would happen if her entity it possessed you like would? Maybe you're like, I don't know. I want to see, I'd like to see how Elvis would, you know, I don't know. I don't know where the fuck Elvis came from and that, but whatever he did, but I I mean, like, you know, something like that, like.

18:12 Or like maybe like I'd I'd wonder what my cat like for me. I have a cat, Oliver. It would probably just sleep. It would. Totally be. It's so funny you say that, cuz if I it would be I immediately go to animals. Like I don't think can't think of a single person that I would want to be but like animals, like I would want to connect at that level with animals. I could, yeah. I think I'd probably trust. My cat. A little bit more than I trust humans. OK, OK, but let's flip the the script. Who would you want to possess? Let's say you could possess someone, anyone. Like there's no one that you would be like I'd.

18:53 I'd be curious about the way they live their life Or like, oh, yeah, like it can be a person. Yeah. So you're the entity possessing. Who would you be? Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett. Yeah, he's such a fucking boring ass motherfucker. Totally. But he's so smart. Yes, he is. Yeah, I don't think he has a fun life. Like I know he goes like to Dunkin Donut and he gets a doughnut and a coffee and he reads a paper and he does. And he goes to like a steakhouse in Nebraska. Right. And like, right lives in a little one bedroom house and yeah, yeah, but I mean just. I think the you don't. Experience.

19:34 Like I want to. Probe his his brain. I want to probe your brain, Warren Buffett. Yeah, I would just like to experience the Jeep. That genius, OK? Not the life, that just the genius. See, that's beautiful. I would want to possess like someone who's fucking hot. Like a really hot person. I don't care if it's a man or a woman, I just want to be them. Like live. Their life for a. Day hot and rich and like just don't give a that. Would be fun. I'm not. It's so. Fun like I would because look like and young, so I don't have any, like, ailments. Yeah, like all that, yeah.

20:16 And then I'd probably like, send money or like take a bunch of cash out or something and like, send it to myself. That's hilarious. So when I go back into my body, I could retrieve it. My God, you're hilarious. So I'd do something like that, but I would just, yeah, I would. I'd fucking live it up like maybe I'd be like, some like. Douche bag dude with like a six pack like fucking hot as shit walking down the beach and be like ba ba ba ba ladies oh. My God. Ba, ba, ba, man, I'm like, just no, everyone's like, you're hot and I'd be like, thanks. Oh my God, that's. Right. You would not do that. You're so, so pure and pure and heart. I'm more like, I'm more like that. Superficial.

21:01 Like I'm like super, the superficial, like like like New Orleans voodoo versus the vodoo, The Haiti, the Haitians vodoo. That's like you and I, there's you're either one or the other. There's no in between. That's awesome. That's fun. Yeah, I'd do it. So then you say, OK, well, like what is the purpose of possession like? Why? Right, Yeah. Why would you? Why would you do that? Yeah, cuz you're an entity, right? Yeah. So you don't need. So both the Iowa which is the Spirit. Yes.

21:43 And the community are affirmed, that is the purpose. Of possession. And if you look up the word affirmed in the dictionary because I had to do that because I go, well, what does that really mean If you feel like you're affirmed, right? Well, the second definition other than, so the first definition is something that is a state of fact. I'm like, no, that's not what I meant. The second definition is offer someone emotional support or encouragement. Oh. That. Affirmation affirmed. That's the.

22:25 Affirmation. So that's the point of the possession. OK, that makes it way less scary. Exactly, exactly. Wow. So the participants transcend their material. Material corporal body, Yeah, their Yeah, exactly. Material world. Yes, yes, by coming, by becoming spirits. And then the spirits renew their vigor by what they call dancing and feasting with the schwall, and that translates to horses. And so they believe that during possession that the Iowa rides the person like a cavalier rides a horse.

23:09 That's the. That's the benefit. That's the benefit of the Iowa to rejuvenate. Wow. And equally as important, possession is a time when the Iowa communicate in a tangible way with the people that are receiving answers to pressing questions. So they the the person gets answers from the Iowa and the Iowa gets to rejuvenate through the energy of the person. So for the Iowa it is a spa day. Yeah, exactly. It's the recharge day.

23:51 Yeah, where you're just getting, you're getting everything you need you know. And then for the person, OK, so they have the answers. So like once they're possessed, they're getting, they already know what the answers are. Are they aware when these. Answers come. So I guess when they go into it, they. Go into it with questions, right? They come out of it with. Answers OK, then what about are they are they able to like when they're do they are they in a trance or are they like they're gone? Like they don't know what's happening to their body or they like watching their body? Are they at all, like, aware of what's going on when? They're being possessed.

24:35 That's actually a good question. Like I What is the actual experience? Yeah. That I do not know the answer to. And I'm sure it's probably different for everyone, right? And that very well could be. Yeah, that's right. That's right. That's really interesting. I never thought of possession as being. A positive thing. A. Positive we have. So bastards, The thing. Precisely. That's exactly right. Wow. So I think I mentioned this. Voodoo translates to God or spirit. That's what the word translates to. So what's interesting here is that when the slaves started coming to America. Yep.

25:33 They were coming from Haiti and Africa and. They were being stolen. Stolen as pieces of as goods, yes. Could bring nothing with them, right? Because they were property. Right. No, They were oftentimes just ran down by people and like literally like like you were running for your life, you were fleeing to try to be like. Because people would rat them out. All these people live here like they're pretty strong, like, and then they get paid by these. Sure, you know smugglers. Sure. So yeah, no, the last thing that they're they're physically running from, no one was like willingly saying, oh, America, I've heard of that place like.

26:18 Yeah. Yeah, like I want to try a new world. No one said that. It's fucked up. Yeah, they didn't have anything on them. So in the early 1800s, New Orleans was getting really populated with. Slaves from Central Africa and the and the Caribbean. And because they were pieces of property, like I said, they couldn't bring anything with them. But what they did bring with them were their values and beliefs in the traditions and the relation religious practices which was voodoo. Yeah. That's what they knew. So then you say. Well then how was voodoo? Created, right.

27:03 What was that transition? Yeah. And that answer is starts and ends with Marie Laveau. That bitch. That bitch. You heard of her? Oh, she's on our list. She is on our list, yeah. Yes, yes. So we're gonna talk about her for a minute. OK, people, get a drink. Yeah, the next minutes are gonna be a little. She's a rough. She's a. Real piece of fucking. She's a piece. She's a piece.

27:43 She's a definite piece, yeah. Yeah, she was. The kind word would be complex. I definitely thought you were gonna go with a different. C word did you? You fooled me. Which Marie Laveau do you ask? Oh, did I not mention that there were five? Wait, there were five of them. Wait, we're gonna talk about the first one? OK. Did I know that? No, I don't know if I didn't. I bet you will. When I tell you why there was five you, I bet you'll know. So Marie Laveau, for those who might not know, was a dedicated practitioner of voodoo and was also a prominent female religious leader and community activist, among many other things, now historical records state. That Marie Catherine Leveaux was born a free woman of color in New Orleans in today's French Quarter in Louisiana, and she was born on September 10th, 1801. Her mother, Marguerite de

29:15 Ecantel, was a free woman of color of Africa, European and Native American ancestry. Now, because Leveau's mother was not married at the time of her birth, her father wasn't identified on her 1801 baptismal record. Now, a possible candidate is a man by the name of Charles Leveau. He's the son of Charles Leveau Chardoo, and he is a white Louisiana Creole and politician. Now other historians, they claim that Leveau's father was this freeman of color named Charles Leveau, and much of the confusion is due to inconsistent spellings of all of these different names and different pronunciations of these names and. Sure, yeah.

30:09 And we're going to find, you're going to see in a lot of the things that we talk about today, nothing is. Nothing in her life is. Provable, for lack of a better term, like nothing is like, it's just all like. Lore. Lore. Or cold frickin life. Right, which would be helpful. Yeah. At that time. Yeah, so Lavos started this beauty parlor where she was a hairdresser. And sure, she did hairdressing for. The poor and you know, the lower class people. But she also did it for very wealthy families of New Orleans, right?

31:05 And she was very good at obtaining inside information on her rich clients at that beauty parlor. We all know how beauty parlors are. Oh my God. Lady gossip. So much drama. Lady drama and lady gossip. But also male drama. Yeah, drama's drama drama's drama. But like at that. But back then. Yeah, for sure. No. No. Yeah. And so then or she would get them from their servants, these rich women's servants, cuz she would use their hair too. You know what? That's where you get the real fucking tea, yes? And she would give them Steve Discounts to get them in her chair. And she would sometimes she would even like they would they. They said it.

31:52 I mean, I'm quoting, I'm air quoting. If you're not watching cured mysterious ailments. And that's so then she would convince these people that she knows she's like some. Yeah. And so then she would get trust. Sure, yeah. And then she could get all kinds of info. Oh, of course, yeah. Oh yeah. Oh, oh, you have a little tickle in your throat. Uh huh. Yeah. Try this magic. Here, try this magic elixir. Here it's part. It's part. I don't know what is that arsenic, but it's OK. You'll be feeling great in no time. Great. Tell me all your secrets. Just a few minutes. So she used this information during her voodoo consultations with wealthy women to obviously enhance her image as a clairvoyant.

32:46 So because she would say whatever XYZ husband named blah blah blah, which she only knew because she just did their helps hair two days ago. Right. She knows the town. It's not like the towns are like as big as they are today. Also, I'm sure. OK, think about it. What do you want to do? Stand on your, like on your feet all day? You know, doing people's hair? Like that's hard bar like really pretty hard work? Or do you want to make twice the amount of money and just use insider knowledge and information? And she was probably really good at talking to people and reading them.

33:29 Hills. Yes. Which one are you gonna pick? I'm gonna pick the psychic every time. Der Exactly. That's exactly what it was exactly. And so she made the money by selling her clients also what they were called. It's called a greegree. I think it's gree GRISGRIS is gree. Gree I think is how you pronounce it. And these are they're charms and if you really what they. Ultimately were in the true sense of the form, are these little sacks that you would put little charms and things inside, seal it up and wear it around your neck?

34:12 As like a protective. Yes, exactly. Or a thing that will make your wishes come true. Or you know, whatever, right? We still have those today, don't we? Still today. Still today. So in her role as a a voodoo practitioner, customers would come to the VO for help with like family disputes, health issues, finances, that I mean. Yeah, you name it you. Name it exactly. She she was the woman who was like, Oh yeah, word of mouth spreads pretty damn quick at A at a beauty salon. That's right. She's trying to get no. Shit that you don't think you should know, then you were like.

34:54 It, yeah, She's already proven. She's been able to prove the fact that she knows what she's talking about. That's right. And people are like, Oh my God, you have the answers to life. I've been looking for the answers. I've talked in other episodes before. If you want to believe something, yeah, then even the littlest thing will make you believe. Of it's confirmation bias, yes. Yeah, precisely. So she had him. She had him. I mean. You have to. You have to appreciate it. She yeah, exactly. Exactly. Can't blame her. Can't blame her. So she would do these things at her own home. She would go to this thing called Go Square.

35:36 She would go to lake. Was it punch a train, Punch a train, I think is the lake that's over there. She would do it over there. And she maintained her authority throughout her life and her leadership. There was one attempt that someone tried to challenge her status, for lack of a better term, as a. Voodoo preset. Yes, in 1850s. Some other Pres system. Like, hey, bitch, you've got, like you got a maid, you know in her mind she's thinking this right? And like you've got these suckers. So I'm going to challenge you and I'm going to like prove whatever right, like you are not. Throwing down the gauntlet.

36:18 Yes, you fraud, yes. Yes. Failed. I mean she cuz she just had some. She knew people just loved her. Yeah, they loved her. No, it's kind of like, I hate to say the word the please the T word. People love him. He can do no wrong, Do no wrong. Like Teflon. Yeah, Teflon. So it's the same kind of concept like once you've got someone, it's like you could. Do no wrong. Yes, right. Yeah, they they they put on a pedestal. They believe anything that she's. But she also was proving for a long time that she did know what she was talking about. Well, yes, she did know. She did her work.

36:58 Yeah, she did. She she had ears and eyes probably all throughout. She probably paid people off in order to do it, of course. So it's not like she like she didn't actually earn that, like she did earn that title. She did. She did it so. So what happened when she when the woman challenged her, she was just like nothing. Nothing. Yeah, nothing ultimately happened like she just because of because people knew Marie so much and trusted her so much that that was just kind of a non event. They're like please girl. Good girl, Good girl.

37:39 Good girl, good girl. I need to. Have a little sound bite that does. Yeah. Yeah, it did. Nowhere. Her daughter Marie Laveau. Numa dos. She was much more theatrical when when her mom died, she just, she just took the reins and she just made it like. Drama like. Our kind of girl. Yes, it's Fiatos girl. Yeah, my kind of. Girl thirsty and she's throwing smoke bombs. Like I feel the power within me. Judy started to have an affair on her husband last summer and it's really Charlie's baby. Whatever.

38:28 Right, Right. She just knew all the fucking she and gossip, right? I think she's probably, yeah. Imagine start using like little poppers. Yeah, like smoke, just the whole wall of smoke comes up. She has like a a hat and she's pulling like rabbits and. Yeah, she was getting. Theatrical girl. I love it. Love it. So there is very, like I said before, very little that can be factually substantiated with like you go through records and like there's literally nothing that can be substantiated like nothing. But scholars think that she was actually a devote Catholic, and by combining Catholicism with Vodou, she made something that was much more palatable.

39:18 And so people could kind of just a little bit relate to it, but it was still very mysterious and and odd, and so it became very sellable. Right. And so. Some what was other than the other thing that was very interesting is you would read things and that her even her Marie's character was a controversy like some people would go Oh yes, she's like this awful and despicable woman and ruthless and awful And then other people would go Oh no, no, no. She was so marvelous and she was a servant of the people and. Like like her whole life was a conflict.

39:58 Like no matter what you read, like you could find the opposite. Of everything. Because when you started talking about her, I'm like, she's a bitch. Uh, huh. But that's like all like that. She was really crass and mean and like, yeah, torture people and like, yes, really, really bad. But you're talking about someone who? Like honestly, like the way that you're talking about her, I'm I'm more apt to believe that she's a normal fucking person who probably had a lot of enemies, cuz she's. Trying to take advantage of people. Well, of course. But she also was making, like, think about it. She was a black woman in New Orleans in the 1800s, you know? A free woman doing what she could to survive. Making money, yeah. Like God forbid something like that happens like. From wealthy white women.

40:44 From from taking these you know the money of these like wealthy families and making a name for herself and everyone's to Oh my gosh yeah. Well, Murray told me that yeah, if we want to have a baby we have to do, you know, we have to do this and like John's like, are you fucking kidding me? Like. You spent how much money with with Murray? Like, are you like, of course she's going to have enemies. She's 6. She's a successful woman. She's a successful black woman. Yeah, precisely. She can only have enemies. Yeah, I mean, that's fucking awful, but especially then. So an example of her being a selfless servant. So in 1952 it's reported that she was people had observed.

41:30 Her paying regular visits to these two men that were in jail and at the at the time executions were public and at the at this moment of this execution it is and I am air quoting and documented because you know things conflict in her life that the sky gets kind of. Dark and mysterious. And when they're about ready, when they hang these two men, the both of their ropes slip and they don't die and as a result aren't executed. And and from that point it is written that that event is what started the Louisiana ban on public executions. What?

42:27 Right. So. She had been visiting these guys and these do we know what these guys were in? I do not know the circumstances of their execution. The I mean, I don't know, not playing devil's advocate, but like the fact that we don't know the circumstances says it was probably not a heinous crime. It was they were going to mean executed. Yeah, but what if they're just black men that were, you know, went into the wrong shot fair or like, looked at someone, you know, across the street and Oh yes, so the. White woman goes Oh yeah, they're looking at me, bro. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, they were undressing you with with their eyes. It's like bitch, no one wants to undress you with with their eyes.

43:12 OK, yeah, you are gross. But like could be something like that. So they were like being unjustly. Right. So then you go. OK, well, she was a servant of the woman. Yeah, she's saving someone innocent. And then, but also like, why was she there? What was she doing? Was she giving them pointers? Are there ways that you can? Slip it. Yeah, well like slip or like like help do. Something new, Yeah. Like, maybe she knew something about. Or maybe she slipped something to a guard. A guard or something. You know and was trying to help that. Yeah, make it loose or.

43:52 Yeah. Who knows? I mean, but they first, but. Either way, people were like just more proof. Yeah, more proof. And also maybe there's some. I can't. I can. Marie was fucking smart, OK? Was this Marie Two or Marie One? This. Was Marie one? This was Marie one. Yeah. OK Marie One was like super well respected. People liked her. She she probably just. It was a good confidant, especially for, like, these women. Show how to talk to. You know how to talk to people on how to listen, because that's really what a psychics. That's right. That's right. They listen and they observant. Yes, exactly. So you know, you have her and she's probably subtly like.

44:35 Saying, oh, this probably isn't right, this isn't right. And so, like, she's influencing. That's that's The thing is like, she has so much influence over this fucking town and, like over these people that they're like, oh, public executions are pretty wrong. Yeah. Like, yeah, I mean, Marie was the one who planted that fucking idea into your head, you know, would not surprise me. Like I don't think that's a coincidence. Like, she seems like, I don't know, maybe I'm a Marie fan now. I don't know, right. Well, that's because that's kind of supports the point of. There are two absolute sides of the coin with her. Yes, yeah. And there is not. There is nothing in the other caves that proves it either way. Yeah.

45:21 That's what's so. Yeah. Jacked. Actually, of course, yeah. Just like people like none of us are, like, wholly innocent or holy guilty. So in her whole her old age, she was too old to practice and so her daughter's, you know, would take over her identity to continue the dynasty. Hence the Five Murray's. Did she have five dot or four daughters? Well, that's the other thing. I didn't go much into it, but when you read it like documents said that she had something like. God, I don't want to make this up, but I am going to make it up because I can't remember the number.

46:04 There's like 13 kids. Sure. But there was like only technically proof of like, I don't know, say 87. Sure. It was all jacked up. And that was the the tradition then was that your daughters would be named, I guess, after your mother. Something about that. And then or Marie. I can't, I can't honestly remember it exactly, but that's why she ended up having like three daughters named Marie. Oh, because like, you had to. Like that was the thing. That you did. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

46:46 And then of course, they saw what a meal ticket she had. And so they're like, bitch. We have a family business. I'm gonna keep going, girl. Yeah. Yes. I don't have to do any other work. The the name is already there. Yeah. Oh, are you the original? Are you the original? This is the original. Oh, this is the House of the. Original I'm Marie. Yes, I'm Marie Laveau. Oh, you're Marie Laveau. You're the Marie. Yes, I am the Marie Laveau. One of three. She don't say that. So Laveau's name in her history, they've. Obviously been, like you said earlier, been completely surrounded by legend and lore. Now, she's generally believed to have been buried in Plot 347 in the Glopian family crypt in the St. Louis Cemetery #1 New Orleans, but even that was distributed been has been disputed.

47:57 And that was kind of recently disputed by a guy named Robert Talent. And he's a journalist and he, he used her character in one of his novels. And you know, those geeks, they geek out and they research the shit out of shit and they're like, that's not true. You know what I mean? So. Oh, use Actually you it was St. the Why no St. Louis. It's like shut up. So yeah, so again, just another element in her life that has is just. She was. She was a like, bigger than life and like. Bigger yes than. Life only way to survive for a long time is to be a lore or a legend, to not have everything documented correctly but. You couldn't be a survived very well as a black woman in 1800s. Fuck no.

48:47 Yeah. You want to keep people guessing. It's it's what is that saying like? Like while you're drinking or something like don't like, don't talk a lot. It's fucking humming like, well, I can't think of that. I cannot think of it. But it's basically like saying like, you know, kind of don't show your hand. Like the more you talk, the easier it is for people to see how fucking stupid you are. So it's like the same thing with with Marie Laveau, it's like. The moment people start to see or like know a little bit too much about her, then they'd be able to tell her tells. Or like, be able to tell like, oh, she's kind of full of shit, like the true, like less the better true. Or the more conflictive the better? Right, right.

49:33 Because then you keep, keep, keep, prove anything. Yes, exactly. And you don't want things to be provable. No, that's the key to her success. Yeah, absolutely do. You want to know how to get a wish? Granted to this very day by Marie Lavelle. Oh my God. Oh yes, of course I do. There's a way? Really. Uh huh. People say it still happens. Huh. Does. OK, how does it happen? So this is a decades old tradition. OK. So you're gonna go to a grave and you're gonna draw an X on the tomb. Then you're going to turn around three times. Does this sound like something familiar? Yeah, it definitely does.

50:18 Then you knock on the tomb and you yell out your wish. Oh my God. If the wish is granted, the wish becomes granted whenever. Right. You have to go back to the grave. You have to put a circle. Around your ex that you put on, do you have to remember stone? You have to remember your ex and you have to leave her an offering. And if you don't, there will be consequences. Ooh, you're doomed. It's like that genie, like the double sided, like wish with like genies and stuff.

51:00 How it's like I want, you know, a car, you know, I want the best car and it's like. It's like awful. It's such a lobby. It doesn't work well or whatever, but it's like the best looking car. So it's like if you don't follow through with the offering and like whatever, then what? Like the your wish becomes your nightmare. I guess it. Something. You don't want to find out, Yeah, that's the point. It's like with any lore or. Cult or whatever. Like it's the unknown that scares you. Oh. Yeah, and that you don't want to fall, you don't want to know. It's the it's that battle within your brain.

51:42 Yeah. It's like what you can. Come up. That's what keeps you. Yes, going. That's crazy. Would you do that? Would you go to her? Hell, hell no. I mean, I would go just to see all the exes, but you wouldn't be fascinating. I wouldn't freaking. You wouldn't do it. You wouldn't say cock a doodle Doo or whatever. Because here's the thing. What I don't want to participate in something that could be real. Like. I don't think it's real. But what if it is? Like, I don't want any part of that. Like, I don't even want to be connected. Like, am I committed into you? You know what I mean? Like. No. OK, Gotcha. And Hollywood's got me fucked up too. Because then you see. Like, oh, once you get in bed with the devil then. Oh, so that's where it's coming from.

52:23 Not like like I don't like. I would want to owe anything. Any. Anyone. Anything. You don't want the strings attached? No string. Exactly. Gotcha. Is it worth it? It's not worth the string. It's never worth it. No. Never worth ever. No, it's never worth it. Have you ever seen a voodoo doll? Yes. Have you ever held a voodoo doll? Yes. Have you ever used a voodoo doll? No. Maybe I have. Have you ever poked a voodoo doll, I mean. You know what? You know what? I actually think that me and my friends as kids, like when you, like, tried the Ouija board for the first time. Yeah, I wonder if we, I feel like we made a voodoo doll and like like out of popsicle sticks or something. Sure, this is. Yeah, yeah, Sally, Yeah, stick it in your. Here.

53:07 But yeah, here's in your butt, in your eyes, your stupid face, you know, like, yeah, I hope you break your leg. Like, how awful is that? But it's such a kid thing to do. I think that was the first time ever touched one. Excuse me, It is a completion Hollywood creation. So that never. Never. I mean, it is a cool story. Nothing. Has. Nothing to do with anything is a Hollywood voodoo. Shenanigans. Yeah, all smoke and mirrors, No. Smoke and mirrors like drama. Yeah. I mean, it is pretty dramatic. It is. Dramatic. It's makes for good. It's a great imagery.

53:47 Good imagery. That's it. Yeah, that's it. That's it. I didn't know that I thought it was. Now it was literally denounced and declared irrelevant by those in high priesthood in Louisiana. Voodoo, that's how. Fake it, it is. Like this is so dumb. They don't not sell them. Oh my God, of course they're gonna be sold. BT dubs? Uh huh. They actually have vending machines in Britain that have voodoo dolls in them. That is so weird. And that Weird. Yeah, it's weird. It makes people have feel like, but you know what? It makes people feel like they have control. That's what it is, yeah. Although some people like. A stress ball.

54:29 Like anything, if people just use it for evil too. Yeah, it's very true. Negative attentions, yeah. As with everything in the world, fill in the blank may be leveraged for good or evil. That's the point, right? Yeah, totally. So this guy named Rob Gilmore, he's this high priesthood in in Louisiana voodoo. And he said quote, this is quote. It blows my mind that people still believe voodoo dolls are related to voodoo. Hollywood really did a number. We do not stab pins and dolls to hurt people. We do not take your hair and make a doll and worship the devil with it and ask the devil to give us black magic to get our revenge on you. It is not done, it won't be done and it will never exist for us. OK Rob, way to make it sound stupid. Like I said it, I mean, it sounds really stupid the way that he puts it.

55:30 It's like, you're right. Why do I believe that? That was really fucking dumb. But like I said, it doesn't stop people from making them and selling them and, you know, exploiting the weakminded. Yeah. But like, again, like I said, people will take anything good. That's the moral of this story. People take something. We started the story with very lovely religion, for lack of. A Yeah. Yeah, and ended with horror. Yeah, it it it really shifted and changed. Like something that was just she took.

56:12 Advantage of it, she took. Advantage of people. She saw that people didn't. You know, she knew about Vodou. She knew that these rich white people knew nothing about it. She saw an opportunity. She created this preposterous real thing, yeah. And it's just propagated ever since. And like Rob Robbie said that the Hollywood did us no favors. They just, you know, they took, they took it and roll with. And you can't blame Hollywood either, because that's their business. But I mean, Hollywood does that with any religion. Anything like it's never accurate, right? But it's interesting, like it is a beautiful religion.

56:53 Yes, when you know the deep down root. Of it, Yeah. It's really nice. It's nice. You understand why people would want to be involved with it. Just know the Louisiana voodoo. No, excuse me. Louisiana voodoo, yeah, is shenanigans. Yeah, Voodoo is legit, yeah. Right. But I would. I would watch one of those ceremonies that they do the voodoo, the dancing, the dancing the. Voodoo or the Voodoo? Voodoo. Yeah, yeah, no, no. That would be interesting. Interesting. But yeah, it's not this. Yeah. It's not this, like negative space. Gosh, how interesting is that? It's so great. Yeah. I never really knew. That vodu vodu.

57:35 Yeah, yeah. Like, it's fascinating. I love it. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that story with us. You're welcome. Yeah. Glad I glad I got to. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. So I guess we'll see you in a couple weeks. Yeah, in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, you know, Little Housekeeping, go and give us a little rating on wherever you're listening. If you love it, give us five stars 1020. Or one or. A little thumbs up if that's an. Applicant thumbs up. Yes. Or thumbs down Any you know. Yeah. Comment. Give us give us a comment react. Yeah. But you can find us at www.thebizarreaf.com and the bizarre AF on all your social media TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, everything. Yeah.

58:27 Yeah, you can get us anything, anywhere from our website. Absolutely. Yes, again give us and you can give us a call. Yeah, you can give us a call if you go on our website. Yeah, we'll play. It. OK. Thanks everybody. Thank you. Bye.