St. John’s Eve Headwashing Ceremony In Honor of Marie Laveau “Mother of Vodou, Queen of Conjure, Mistress of Many Names: Teach us how it is right to call upon you. Meet us in the moonlight, where the waters kiss the shore; let our drum beats be the heart beat
Of your presence that endures.”
June 23rd, the Eve of St. John, has historically been an important day in the Vodou religion and in the beliefs of related conjure practices. Indeed, if there is such a thing as a “holy day” in traditional voodoo, St. John’s Eve is that day.
Madame Marie Laveau (1794-1881) was recognized as the Mother of Vodou in New Orleans in her lifetime. Even as a young woman she enjoyed the distinction of her reputation as a “rootworker” and “conjure woman.” Although initially that reputation was mainly among the free people of color and slave populations of New Orleans, she entered mature womanhood recognized by all as the de facto Queen of Voodoo in New Orleans – a title that has never been successfully challenged in all the years since her death.
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