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This is an informal record of the events at the New Orleans
Voodoo Spiritual Temple ranging from April to December of 1996. Most
people
have very little idea of what it means to be a Priestess at a major Temple
in New Orleans. To be a Priestess of such a Temple means that one's
private
life is almost always sacrificed to the Work of the loa and other Great
Spirits. The Work comes before all else and in a situation like the
Temple,
the Work just keeps coming. In greatest part, a record of events at the
Voodoo Spiritual Temple is a record of Priestess Miriam Williams life
during this period.
Many years ago I had the honor to be part of a series of Workings
performed
by the British O.A.I. Ms. Jerry Aherns, the O.H.O. (Priestess) of the
Order
was staying at our Temple. I quickly realized that when any request was
made
of the Order that that request was actually made of Jerry Aherns. If a
series
of rituals was planned....Jerry had to be there. If interviews were
planned
...Jerry had to be there. If initiations were planned...then, once again,
Jerry had to be there.
It is the same with Priestess Miriam. Any event at the New Orleans Voodoo
Spiritual Temple is actually an event from her life. Time that she has
given to the spiritual community. Nema (MAAT MAGICK) has defined a
characteristic of the Priesthood as having "a heart on fire with love."
It is only a person with a BIG heart on fire with love that would be
capable of providing the time a energy necessary to the maintenance of
a full time Temple.
April of 1996 saw the filming of portions of the film "Dark Angel" at
the Voodoo Spiritual Temple. It is important that Voodoo be factually
represented in movies made in the Americas. Artistic control is almost
never complete but in having the actual settings where Voodoo rituals
are performed used in the filming of moving pictures there is a guarantee
of a good amount of authentic representation. The filming took place
on ground sacred to the loa. This one fact is of utmost importance
in allowing the loa to influence the filming itself and to contact those
who later view the footage.
May is the time of our cities Jazz and Heritage Festival. This years
event was significant in terms of contact between the cities Spiritual
Houses. Anna Marie, the daughter of Chicken Man, invited Priestess
Miriam to attend and provided tickets, transportation, and splendid
hospitality. If Spiritual Houses are to be truly "spiritual" they
must cooperate rather than compete. This is a simple fact...spirituality
has never been associated with putting one's own welfare over the
welfare of others. This is either a benign or a malignant selfishness.
Either way it is selfishness. The honor Anna Marie paid to Priestess
Miriam is also an honoring of the root meaning of spirituality. Anna
Marie is to be both thanked and commended for her actions. One receives
honor by giving honor.
June saw the celebration of St. John's Eve in the New Orleans
Spiritual Voodoo Temple's courtyard. The Spirits were served well.
Also in June Priestess Miriam and I were invited to Wic-Can Fest in
Ontario, Canada. The rituals and workshops presented by the Temple at
the festival took on particularly strong meaning in that Canadian soil
meant freedom to many Africans enslaved in the USA.
In July Priestess Miriam was invited to attend ceremonies at a Hounfor
in Haiti as an honored guest. Her participation in these ceremonies
marked a joining of Haiti and New Orleans; two great centers of the
Voodoo. During this month I was invited to perform a Blessing of the
Drums ceremony and workshops at Starwood Festival. Links between
members of the Spiritual Voodoo go deep. It is interesting to note
that when Priestess Miriam arrived in Haiti a Mombo named Mishlen
was assigned by the Hounfor care for her needs....Mishlen is also
my wife's name.
The Big Easy tele-vision dramatic series did filming in August at the
New Orleans Voodoo Spiritual Temple. May the loa and other Great Spirits
use the images presented to the viewers to gather their chosen
onto Themselves.
During a good part of September Priestess Miriam was in California
to oversee preparations being made for a filming of her life story.
The tale of how an individual came to the Voodoo and then came to
serve as a Priestess of the Spirits will be an inspiration and
instruction to all of us.
All Hollows, All Souls, and All Saints were honored in rites at the
New Orleans Voodoo Spiritual Temple. Ceremonies for the Deads alternated
with wedding ceremonies for the living in October this year. The wedding
ceremonies mixed well with the respect given to the ancestors.
During November a group of 50 theologians teaching in USA universities
came to the Spiritual Voodoo Temple for a ritual. This meeting of
spiritual traditions was a festive occasion. A number of the theologians
stayed for the dancing that followed the rite. They, in particular the
women, removed their shoes and joined in the celebration.
In December the Temple was invited to Bogalousa to participate in the
opening festivities of the Carnival Season. After the
ceremony/performance Priestess Miriam was asked to give words of spiritual
benediction to the crowd. She responded by saying that the joy of Carnival
comes from inside not from outside events. The Joy lives in and arises
from our Hearts.
Good words to close with.
Priest Louis Martinie'
A Record of the Voodoo Spiritual Temple +|+ Death of an Houngan Mardi Gras at the Temple +|+ Images of Haiti
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