Quick Specs
- Author: Denise Alvarado
- Publisher: Weiser Books (2024)
- Type: Working spellbook and practical grimoire
- Best for: Modern witches and New Orleans Voodoo practitioners
A Working Grimoire, Not a History Lesson
This is the practical book. Where Alvarado’s earlier work documents Marie Laveau’s biography and the history of Louisiana Voodoo, The Marie Laveau Voodoo Grimoire is structured as a functional spellbook designed to be used at the altar. The table of contents reads like a working practitioner’s supply list: materia magica, beauty formulas, ritual oils, spiritual waters, incense, love magick, charm bags, gris-gris, and uncrossing and protection rites.
Alvarado grew up in New Orleans Creole culture and has studied Southern folk magic traditions for over five decades. She drew the contents here from documented drugstore inventories of the early 1900s, oral histories, and her own deep practice. Every formula is reproducible with materials available today, which is a deliberate choice on her part.
What’s Inside
The fifteen chapters move through Laveau Voudou as a living tradition: timing workings by moon phase and day of week, kitchen witchery and Creole remedies, crafting incense blends, working with saints and sacred objects, and building a magickal household. Seven folk rites specific to the Laveau tradition appear in their own chapter. Initiation is not required to work from this book, and Alvarado keeps the formulas accessible without stripping out their cultural depth.
How to Use The Marie Laveau Voodoo Grimoire
A practical guide to working with the spells and formulas in this grimoire.
- Start with materia magica
Chapter 1 covers foundational tools: stones, roots, bones, candles, holy water, and ritual oils. Read it before any working so you understand what each ingredient does. Laveau Voudou blends Catholic ritual with African folk practice.
- Choose a working by condition
Use the index or chapter headers to find a formula matching your need, whether love, protection, uncrossing, beauty, or household harmony. Each working lists ingredients and steps. Alvarado notes when timing by moon phase helps.
- Adapt the folk rites to your practice
Chapter 14 contains seven folk rites from the Laveau tradition. These structured rites work well as anchors for regular practice. Read the notes on sacred space and respectful servitude in Part 2 before attempting any of them.
The Tarot Fellow Standard
I stock both of Alvarado’s Marie Laveau titles, and I want to be clear about which one this is: the grimoire is the spellwork book. If you want to understand who Marie Laveau was and how her tradition developed historically, you want the biographical title. If you want to work in her tradition today, this is the one you open at the altar. Alvarado’s Creole heritage and decades of practice inform this book. New Orleans Voodoo is a living tradition, and I offer this book as an entry point, not a substitute for learning from practitioners and community. Browse my full Voodoo collection for complementary titles and supplies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, initiation is not required. Alvarado writes accessibly and structures formulas so a new practitioner can follow them. That said, the book rewards some prior reading, as it does not define every term from scratch.
The book covers healing, protection, love, beauty, banishing, uncrossing, and household harmony. It also includes Creole remedies, incense blends, ritual oils, gris-gris construction, charm bags, and seven Laveau folk rites.
The Grimoire is a working spellbook focused on formulas and rituals. Magic of Marie Laveau is primarily biographical and historical. They are companion volumes by the same author that serve different purposes on the shelf.
No. Alvarado specifically excluded recipes requiring expensive or unavailable ingredients. Most workings call for herbs, candles, oils, and household items that are easy to source from any spiritual supply or herbal shop.
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