Witch Queens, Voodoo Spirits, and Hoodoo Saints: A Guide to Magical New Orleans

Denise Alvarado and her books were the driving force for me to travel to know the folklore of New Orleans. his excellent account of the important spiritual figures, unusual saints, and renowned practitioners of New Orleans, a fascinating religious history. Alvarado has done modern readers a great favor by sharing and showing the true face of voodoo in New Orleans. I'm not from New Orleans, in 2021 it was my first visit it was like my introduction to voodoo it was through her book that I made my dream come true. Denise Alvarado is an excellent guide. She is very glad for her hands that keep giving light to many other books to enlighten us. ashe

Interesting material regarding characters on New Orleans spiritual culture. This book was well written with reverence and humor. Glad to have it in my library.

Denise Alvarado brings the history, tales and legends of the Voodoo, Witch, and Hoodoo luminaries of New Orleans to vivid life.

Denise Alvarado’s Witch Queens, Voodoo Spirits, and Hoodoo Saints is the book I wish I could have read as my introduction to the folklore of New Orleans. It is a superb account of the important spiritual figures, the unusual saints, and the renowned practitioners from New Orleans, a multicultural crossroads with a fascinating religious history.
Ms. Alvarado has done a great deal of research, including many citations from newspaper articles about colorful practitices and unusual rites drawn from feature stories. And then, she’s done modern readers a huge favor, by taking a critical and analytical stance against the racist flavor of the original articles. 

I am not a New Orleanian, but, as my surname suggests, my family has a long history in New Orleans. I have visited many times over more than fifty years, since I was a small child. Despite a thorough grounding in the spiritual history of New Orleans, I learned a lot from this book.

My introduction to New Orleans Voodoo was through Robert Tallant’s book. I so wish I could have read this volume first instead! The racism and the denigrating attitudes in Tallant’s book was already offensive to me as a young person in the 1980s, long before I began receiving ceremonies in Santeria.

Denise Alvarado is an excellent guide, and Witch Queens, Voodoo Spirits, and Hoodoo Saints gives readers a more truthful and rounded account of the the spiritual history and cross-cultural religious “gumbo” of New Orleans, America’s most interesting city.

Excellent!

Book Review / Denise AlvaradoWitch Queens, Voodoo Spirits, and Hoodoo Saints: A Guide to Magical New OrleansThis book was a walk through the folklore, lore, history, and culture of the characters that have made New Orleans Voodoo & Hoodoo what it is now, with the exception of a couple of characters, most of whom I did not know, some I would have heard them mentioned a few times, but I hadn't had a reason to sit down and read about them.For someone who is not native to the USA and has not yet set foot in the magical city of New Orleans, but has read and learned some basics of Voodoo & Hoodoo, this book was a great help in understanding why New Orleans is the center of Voodoo and Hoodoo.The stories that the book collects are complex but precise and give you a clear idea about the magical culture and religion of the city.~ Elhoim Leafar.

Love my audible subscription. Enjoying this work.

I love Denise Alvarado, she has so much knowledge about Magical New Orléans, I can't stop reading this book and when I'm done ill read it again! :)

Alvarado never fails to show that she knows exactly what she’s talking about. I’m in no way an expert on the Voodoo subject but I’m always fascinated by her work.