The City Speaks: Religion

   New Orleans Voodoo
o   Throughout New Orleans one would be able to find voodoo shops as a normal thing. Fortune tellers practice in or around these shops. One souvenir that tourists are most likely to purchase from these shops are voodoo dolls.
o   Visit Voodoo: A Longstanding Religious Practice for information on this ever-popularized religious culture





 Mardi Gras
o   This celebration is actually a Christian holiday, celebrated the day before Lent.
o   The first ever Mardi Gras is believed to have been celebrated way back in 1699 when French explorers first landed themselves in New Orleans.
o   Mardi Gras = “Fat Tuesday” in French
o   Once Louisiana became a U.S. state in 1812, Mardi Gras was graced as a legal holiday for that state.
o   Mardi Gras is celebrated for 12 days prior to and leading up to Fat Tuesday. This celebration consists of parades, floats, bands playing NOLA-customed music, elaborate masks, more beaded necklaces than one can count, and the delicacy that is King’s Cake.



Watch this video to see how Mardi Gras is celebrated by millennials. 




       Jazz Funerals
o   With influences of customs of the African and French cultures, these funerals are held to honor those who have passed in New Orleans as a means to help the deceased find their ascent to heaven.
o   A jazz funeral is most honored in New Orleans as they are performed for those that are influential to the city: police officers, well-respected musicians, and other respectable persons of the city
o   The typical jazz funeral would begin at the home of the deceased to their church or the chosen funeral home. The casket would be carried by a horse-drawn hearse, accompanied by the somber hymns of a brass band. After the memorial, the march would continue to the cemetery in the same tone. Once the burial service is completed and/or the attendees of the funeral were no longer at the church, the band wound signal the change of music to the still-attending. After, the music would drastically change to the smashing of tambourines and the banging of drums, allowing attendees to dance to the music so as to release the mourning and begin the celebration that was the life of the passed member. With this great parade, the group would then travel to the area of the reception.








The Fleur-de-lis

·        Fleur-de-lis translates from French as “flower of the lily”
·        Legend believes in two ideas of the symbol:
1.       An angel presented Clovis, the Merovingian king of the Franks, with a lily in golden color to symbolize his purification upon his conversion to Christianity.
2.       Clovis believed that waterlilies showed him how to cross a river safely and to succeed in battle, thus he adopted the symbol.
·        History shows that in the 12th century, King Louis VI (most believed) was the first French monarch to have the fleur-de-lis upon his shield. Later, English kings displayed the symbol on their coats of arms, emphasizing their claim to the throne of France. Upon the 14th century, the symbol was then incorporated into family insignias that would be sewn onto knight surcoats.
·        The military has used the resemblance of the symbol to a spearhead as a means to exemplify martial power and strength. It is even used today in our own United States Army.
·        Religiously, the fleur-de-lis has been represented in multiple forms:
·        As Joan of Arc led French troops to victory, she carried a banner in which showed God blessing the royal emblem of the French.
·        The Roman Catholic Church referenced the lily as an emblem for the Virgin Mary.
·        Because the fleur-de-lis has three “petals,” the symbol has been used to represent the Holy Trinity.
·        The symbol has traditionally been presented for French royalty to signify perfection, light, and life.



Information provided by Autumn Thomte

Works Cited
New Orleans Jazz Funeral Service Rituals. Funeral Wise. https://www.funeralwise.com/customs/neworleans/. Accessed January 2, 2017.
French History in New Orleans. New Orleans Official Guide. http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/multicultural/multiculturalhistory/french.html. Accessed January 2, 2017. 
The Fleur-de-lis In Heraldry and In History. Fleur-de-lis Designs. http://www.fleurdelis.com/fleur.htm. Accessed January 3, 2017.

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