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A snapshot of a unique history of New Orleans.
New Orleans, as a city, has a long and illustrious reputation as a place of mystery, the unusual and the odd. In such a city of wide and eclectic tastes, the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum fits right in.
Curiosities in the Heart of the French Quarter
Founded in 1972 by Charles Massicot Gandolfo, a local artist with a passion for all things Voodoo, the small museum has been inducting its visitors into the mystical and occult for almost half a century.
There are several different branches of Voodoo. The museum concentrates on what is known commonly as Louisiana Voodoo or New Orleans Voodoo.
New Orleans Voodoo is a conglomerate of African and European influences that have been stirred together within the cultural melting pot of New Orleans. Originally brought to the city in the early 1700s through the African slave trade, Louisiana Voodoo can trace its roots back through three separate periods: African, Creole, and American.
A Trove of Voodoo Treasures
Among the more interesting and unusual services that the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum offers are psychic readings. Prognosticating, or fortune telling, is an art that is deeply ingrained within the fabric of Voodoo culture.
Visitors can arrange a guided tour of the nearby St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 to gaze upon the tomb of one of the most famous practitioners of New Orleans Voodoo, Marie Laveau. As a Voodoo priestess, her magical powers were legendary throughout the city of New Orleans.
Content originally created for Atlas Obscura.
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