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New Orleans Area Information
 New Orleans history is unmistakably linked to its love affair with the occult, with spirits and with voodoo. Perhaps that is why so many visitors to the city find it critical to include a connection to the occult as part of their trip. There are Haunted History Tours, Magic Walking Tours, and New Orleans Spirit Tours. Most popular, however, are visits to New Orleans many cemeteries.
In addition to the hope of encountering a spirit, New Orleans cemeteries are popular because of a distinctly unique characteristic: the graves are above ground. This custom was a necessary solution to the problem of burying wooden caskets filled with air in an area where one found water less than two feet from the surface. In the early days of New Orleans, it was often necessary to bore holes in the caskets, and load them with rocks and sand bags to get them to stay put. Even so, a good New Orleans rain would cause some of them to pop right out of the ground. A current problem facing the city is maintaining these tombs, some of which are over 250 years old.
One of the most popular cemeteries is St. Louis Cemetery #1, which dates back to 1789. This cemetery is located near the corner of Basin St. and St. Louis St. and in and of itself is replete with New Orleans history. This is the location of the famous tomb of the legendary Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. Claims of "Marie" spottings are frequent, if largely unverifiable. It is highly recommended that visitors to New Orleans visit its cemeteries as part of a tour that will provide a critical historical context as well as safety in numbers.
 There are several museums in New Orleans dedicated to Voodoo, ghosts, and the paranormal. One is the New Orleans Historic Voodoo. Another is the Voodoo in New Orleans exhibit at the Wax Museum on Conti Street, in the French Quarter.
Whether you are a believer or just a visitor who wants to get in touch with a critical part of New Orleans history and culture, you will want to include some dimension of the occult in your visit to "The Big Easy," or should we say, "The Big Scary." |
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