Raymond J. Martinez

If voodoo has a human figurehead in the United States, Marie Laveau, who reigned as New Orleans's flamboyant "Queen Mother" of Haitian sorcery for much of the nineteenth century, is undoubtedly it. Raymond J. Martinez, from whose biography of Marie the following piece is excerpted, paints a portrait of an uneducated but charismatic, business—savvy woman who established a track record for precognition during her early days as a hairdresser. She rose to eminence as one of the city's most visible and popular celebrities, all on the basis of her success rate at fortunetelling and "spells for hire"-both benevolent and malign. Martinez suggests no gifts short of true telepathy would have given Marie the edge or long—term clout necessary to dominate her competition and acquire the reputation that has...