By Ryan Lemberg

Look at a map of New Orleans, and one will find “Voodoo Chicken and Daiquiri” and “Voodoo Mart.” At the same time, products like “Voodoo Chips” are being sold, and many businesses in New Orleans capitalize off the Voodoo name. Resa Bazile, known as Cinnamon Black, is a Voodoo Priestess who has worked at the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum since 1980 after she won a Marie Laveau look-alike contest. Laveau is the most famous Voodoo queen in New Orleans history. She lived from 1801 to 1881 and was known for granting the wishes of people she would run into and using Voodoo to benefit the people of New Orleans. Individuals would visit her tombstone in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, drawing an “X” on it, hoping Marie Laveau’s spirit granted their wishes. It is rituals like this that grab the attention of tourists in New Orleans, making the city a spiritual hotspot.

“It [Voodoo] has been used, but it’s been done forever since the word ‘Voodoo’ even existed,” said Cinnamon Black in a phone interview. Cinnamon recalls the usage of Voodoo to sell “Voodoo Logger” in the 1950s and ’60s. “It was a beer that had skeletons on the front, and they wasn’t going to sell it across the border. They couldn’t sell it to other states like Texas, Arkansas, or Florida, but it didn’t have any skeletons on it; it was just called Voodoo Logger. So, the word within itself was something that was hush-hush. People were even afraid of the word [Voodoo] for so long.” 

As time passes, more businesses begin using the Voodoo name to draw in consumers, achieving great success. “It’s like a marketing tool. People are using it to market to get people to come and make them feel good. The idea of buying what they have, they’ll get something magical,” said Cinnamon Black. Matthew Deos is a Voodoo Priest, and his initiate name is Bozanfer Bon Ougan. “I grew up with a very intensely Italian Catholic family. But I also grew up gay. The formal Catholic church and homosexuality kind of don’t really sit at the same table. So, I kind of explored different world religions and tried to figure out if there was a place where I could be comfortable. When I found Vodou [Voodoo], one of the things that really intrigued me about it was that it’s Catholic without Vatican control, without recognition of Vatican authority, and without any sort of moral statement of how you should be in your private life. Vodou’s [Voodoo’s] idea is as long as you’re able to fulfill your community religious obligations, what you do in your private time or with who doesn’t matter,” explains Bozanfer Bon Ougan in a phone interview. Originally from Boston, Bozanfer Bon Ougan moved to New Orleans a decade ago because he “Was always in love with the city. When I was nine, I hyper fixated on the city.” 

Regarding the trend of using Voodoo to market products and businesses, Bozanfer Bon Ougan bluntly says, “I think you’re going to find that in any sort of context where something that becomes connected with cash leads to a . . . front-line of people who are trying to make it a circus. Or profit off the ‘Hollywood idea’ as opposed to having a devotion to the service itself.”

Voodoo Doughnuts, originally started in Portland, Oregon, approximately 2,522 miles away from the Voodoo capital of America, was so successful in using the curiosity sparked from the Voodoo name that there are now seventeen locations across America. An eighteenth location was opening up, taking the spot of Tujague’s, the second oldest restaurant in New Orleans. But plans to open up Voodoo Doughnuts have seemingly vanished. The franchise received severe push-back from trying to open up a shop next to the esteemed Cafe Du Monde, the Beignet coffee shop.

“The word Voodoo means New Orleans, too. A lot of people look at it through that point of view. Voodoo means New Orleans to them and to the world, so when they put the word Voodoo on their products, they’re telling the world they’re coming from New Orleans . . . realistically they’re [Voodoo doughnuts] not real Voodoo, they’re perpetrating a fraud”, said Cinnamon Black. The residents of New Orleans agree with Cinnamon Black’s sentiments, as the New Orleans City Planning Commission unanimously rejected a proposal to alter Tujague’s classic sign in place for Voodoo Doughnuts. With New Orleans being synonymous with Voodoo and a franchise coming from the Pacific Northwest into the French Quarter, Voodoo Doughnuts’ stint in New Orleans was doomed for failure. Interestingly enough, plenty of stores using the Voodoo name are not being pushed back against. Looking at the history of Voodoo in New Orleans paints the picture of why the word “Voodoo” became such a buzzword. 

A development in 1990 resulted in what is known as New Orleans Voodoo today. Bonzafer Bon Ougan explains, “What happened was . . .  an Ifa [Yoruba religion] priest named Oswan Chamani and his wife Miriam moved to New Orleans, and he set up a temple. He died shortly after. His wife will probably say she is not initiated in any system . . . but she calls herself Priestess Miriam, and she has her own temple. When they set up shop, they brought Orisha [divine spirits in Yoruba religion] names and all sorts of stuff, and that idea kind of took over. Because it is Ifa, his tradition is a real lineage that is a religion coming out of Nigeria. But, when that opened up shop, a whole bunch of people were like, ‘Oh, that’s what I’ve always done’ when it wasn’t. People just stood up to get cash.” 

In the Voodoo tradition, every Priest and Priestess must take vows to pass down their teachings to their students exactly how they were taught to them. When West Africans and enslaved people were brought into New Orleans, enslavers would not allow enslaved people to practice Voodoo out of fear for the religion. Forced into practicing Voodoo in secrecy, the traditional ways of initiating and teaching the faith had to be adapted. In 1791, a slave revolt in Haiti resulted in more Voodoo followers coming into New Orleans. With the combination of enslaved West Africans and formerly enslaved people from Haiti, all of whom practiced some form of Voodooism, the result was the creation of a new sect of Voodooism known as Voodoo-Catholicism, better known as New Orleans Voodoo. 

“What calls itself New Orleans Voodoo, especially in the French Quarter shops right now, is absolutely disconnected from any other African lineage or tradition,” says Bozanfer. “It was a challenge for me. One of the things that I did when I came down here was kind of out of disgust. I created my own store . . . just to be able to say, ‘alright, the real thing is present here, and let me do things. Like I don’t need to point a finger and say, ‘That over there is untrue,’ I just need to quietly say, ‘This is how I do it, this is what I know it to be,’ and here’s proof behind these names and practices.” Bozanfer Bon Ougan’s store, “The Dark Lady,” closed down during the pandemic and has not reopened. A common theme amongst Voodoo practitioners is to do what they believe to be correct, even if it may contradict what other high-ranking community members are doing. 

Other Voodoo practitioners do not feel the need to go after these stores. Mambo Brandi is a Voodoo Priestess of Haitian descent who owns “Voodoo Authentica” in the French Quarter, a store that sells incense, candles, Voodoo dolls, gris gris bags, potion oils, and other products people need to practice Voodoo. “Voodoo Authentica” started in 1996 and has been flourishing ever since because of the curiosity it garners. It may sound like any gift shop in New Orleans, but what makes “Voodoo Authentica” unique is that Voodoo practitioners create all of its goods. Mambo Brandi, in a phone interview, says, “If you assigned yourself the job of ‘Voodoo police’. . . is that how I want to spend my time? Looking for every infraction I can find . . . It’s like, boy, are you missing out on a lot of what spirit is trying to tell you, which is ultimately to love people because people need love and acceptance and a sense of belonging.” 

Cinnamon Black has a similar viewpoint to Mambo Brandi, suggesting that the usage of Voodoo in businesses may not necessarily be horrible but rather draw people into Voodoo. Cinnamon Black says, “Companies used it [Voodoo]; it’s not that it cheapened it. It started to become more acceptable, inviting, and curious. So now that people are curious when you use that name, it will bring people to your stores.” Cinnamon Black and Mambo Brandi had no ill will towards the businesses that use Voodoo to sell.

On the contrary, Bonzafer Bon Ougan said, “I think of it in terms of, like, if you’re going to honor the name of any religion, are you gonna set up shop that says ‘Jewish Donuts’? ‘Hindu Pizza’? Or like ‘Buddhist Breakdancing’? It’s a weird miss for me where it’s like, what is it about this religion that people can say, ‘Oh, I love the name. I’m gonna take it!’ Don’t we try to honor religions as like cultural folkways? This is important to people, so maybe don’t be rude about it?”  Instead, Mambo Brandi suggested a way for those businesses that use the Voodoo name as an opportunity to educate people. The idea is to create business cards or pamphlets that people can take after purchasing Voodoo-marketed products in businesses not run by a Voodoo practitioner so that customers can talk to practitioners and understand what Voodoo is all about. 

Mambo Brandi’s idea echoes a sentiment of inclusivity within the New Orleans Voodoo community and religion. “There’s a lot of Voodoo practitioners out there in New Orleans, and they are not initiates. They’re not a part of a house. That’s not their calling, but they are people who come from a variety of spiritualities. You could come to me, and let’s say that you’re a very crafty person, and that spirit has started to reach out to you in some way, and you created a doll. Well, you’re a member of this New Orleans community. If you’re doing something, I want to support that.” There have been stories of people being spiritually inspired and coming to “Voodoo Authentica,” Mambo Brandi sharing, “You know, somebody walked through the door a few years ago, and they started getting dreams about spirit, and then they started making these bracelets. You know they’re a part of the community! You don’t have to have an asson to feel spirit and to be inspired by spirit.” An asson is a rattle used by Haitian Voodoo Priest and Priestesses during ceremonies. The rattle is given to individuals when initiated in Voodoo and grants the individual the rights and responsibilities of a senior Voodoo practitioner. 

Mambo Brandi and Cinnamon Black’s energies are focused on educating people about Voodoo and spreading its benefits instead of going after the people who may take advantage of the Voodoo name to profit from it. Every year, “Voodoo Authentica” hosts a “Voodoo Fest” which was hosted on October 31st this year. “Voodoo Fest” celebrated its 21st anniversary, highlighting how successful the festival has become. It is an event with free admission and programs run by voodoo practitioners. “The best way I can give a good example about Voodoo isn’t by being the ‘Voodoo police,’ it’s by being the best I can be by sharing the information I have to share . . . doing my best to present spirit in my best way, to present Voodoo in my best way, to present New Orleans heritage and culture in my best way. That’s what Voodoo Fest is about. That is why it is free, one hundred percent free. So that whether you’re a priest, a priestess, a school teacher, a garbage collector, whoever you are . . . it doesn’t matter, everyone is welcome at Voodoo Fest to come and experience all of these kinds of secret worlds for a day, and they are welcome.”