Voodoo Queen, Mama Odie Origins

Like Dr. Facilier, Mama Odie is a character from Disney’s “Princess and the Frog” film who also uses Voodoo magic. See, Dr. Facilier’s ultimate goal was to steal the La Bouff family fortune. His evil plan he put together to accomplish this borrowed from the Voodoo religion and actual practices. But he’s not the only one to use magic in the movie. On the opposite side of the morality spectrum, we have Mama Odie the Voodoo Queen of the Bayou. Who, by the way, was originally written to be Failier’s mother. She offers sanctuary to the film’s heroes, Tiana and Prince Naveen.

In using magic of her own, Mama Odie figures out how to break the blood curse that turned them both into frogs. Just like Dr. Facilier, she too had help from her “friends on the other side.” The Voodoo spirits called Loco and Damballa While also learning about those spirits. Some spotlight will be given to the New Orleans natives who inspire the Mama Odie character. The real-life Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau, and renaissance women Coleen Salley.

Mama’s Magic: Voodoo vs. Hoodoo

There’s a whole different dimension of Voodoo that had not been mentioned or even touch yet, referred to it as Hoodoo. Louie the alligator even says Hoodoo himself when talking about Mama Odie. But that begs the question, what is the difference between them? The answer is actually quite simple: contrary to popular belief, Voodoo is a real religion that is not evil by design. It’s the evolution of the West African vodun religion. Which was given to the Caribbean by the slave trade and then mixed with Christianity.

While there are different kinds of Voodoo and specific rituals can vary from person to person, there are organization institutes complete with leaders, teachings, and rituals. This was officially established in what its practitioner all connect to and practices like communicating with spirit. In the unseen world making sacrifices for them and using talismans, are all part of that system.

Hoodoo, on the other hand, is not a religion. It is often given affiliation with Voodoo but is taken into account as folk magic with no set-up rules. In other words, it’s a more personal power that can be based on someone’s desires, interests, and habits. Can be in use to either improve or destroy someone’s life, depending on whatever someone’s inclination happens to be. The reason this is all relevant is that despite Mama Odie being the Voodoo Queen of the Bayou, the magic she uses in the film is a lot closer to Hoodoo. For example her use of transfiguration, she transforms certain items into others and even her snake Juju into other animals. Which is not a skill that Voodoo priestesses in the real world are known for having.

Mama Odie’s Magic

While the rest of her magic would technically consider being Hoodoo. Even the other feats we see performed in the film actually go beyond traditional Voodoo. Like speaking to animals, conjuring objects out of thin air, and fighting Facilier’s minions with her magic wand. It would be more accurate to place these in the category of fairy godmother magic. A common component of Disney movies, to put it simply fairy godmother magic has no connection to organized religion or spirituality. And consists of whatever is necessary to move the plot forward.

Like Cinderella’s fairy godmother bippity boppity booping the pumpkin into a carriage and the fairies in “Sleeping Beauty” make the cake for Aurora’s birthday. On the one hand, it’s not very surprising that the writers would make Mama Odie rely on fairy godmother magic. Since she is no doubt filling that archetypal role in Tiana’s story. But it is strange that the Voodoo Queen of the Bayou doesn’t actually use any Voodoo on screen.

She gets kind of close when she uses her gumbo pot like a crystal ball. Then ask how to turn Tiana and Naveen human again. But that kind of magic is more common in European folklore. It would be a lot more accurate to Voodoo if she had made a sacrifice to the spirits. Then used the pot to communicate with them and ask for the solution directly. Kind of how Dr. Facilier communicates with his Loa through the masks hanging up in his emporium. Then again people can argue that’s exactly what was happening in the scene and the spirit simply answers her question by conjuring a vision in the gumbo.

Mama’s Odie’s First Loa – Loco

But if Mama Odie does work with Voodoo spirits, which ones? There’s no denying that Mama Odie has a strong personality. As such her Loa’s would also reflect that personality. One of her distinct characteristics is her connection with nature. She lives in the tree in the middle of the Bayou, has a snake wrapped around her neck most of the time, and can coordinate an entire ensemble of flamingos into a synchronized dance routine. Unlike her magic, this appreciation for nature is very reflective of Voodoo culture. Its practitioners don’t even like to cut down trees.

One such Loa is Loco the protector of the woods. As this title implies, Loco is a helpful Loa with good intentions. Meaning he could be considered a Rada Loa or a good Loa, on the flip side of that coin is the Petrola Loa. Which is thought of as volatile and has a hot temper, these are the Loa that Dr. Facilier associates with and makes the grave mistake of making mad.

Back to Loco, the element of nature he’s most associated with is trees which were pointed out Mama Odie lives in. Loko is also the patron god of healing and is said to be the source of the curative abilities that certain herbs and tree leaves poses.

Voodoo doctors always make sure to sacrifice to him before performing any treatment. Usually in the form of a black or white goat or oxen. The offering is then wrapped up in a little sack and then hangs from the branches of a tree. Unfortunately, there aren’t many pictures depicting Loco in his physical form. He’s often described as a butterfly with a servant that follows him around and smokes a pipe.

Mama Odie’s Second Loa – Damballa

The other Loa Mama Odie likes and works closely with is Damballa. The serpent god of lighting and rain. The reason for bringing this up is because of her close relationship with her pet serpent Juju. Which, fun fact: is the word for the spiritual belief system that incorporates objects like talismans into Voodoo religious practice. Juju is basically Mama Odie’s assistant, helping her constantly with tasks in her home. The house’s location is in his ideal environment, a tree within a swamp. Very similarly Damballa is said to spend his time in trees, rivers, springs, and marshes.

Another similarity is that both Juju and Damballa aren’t great communicators. Juju only ever listens and never speaks, meanwhile Damballa doesn’t bother with speaking because he’s so wise that humans can’t understand him. Instead of communicating an exact message his mere presence radiates comfort and fills the people around him with optimistic energy.

To be clear there is no claim that Damballa is literally Juju. But it would make perfect sense if he chose to possess Juju from time to time to guide and give assistance to Mama Odie.

One of his oldest and most faithful worshipers. Since “Princess and the Frog” takes place in 1926, that places Mama Odie’s birth around 1729. When Voodoo and Hoodoo were first being developed in the southern U.S. So if Damballa was going to regularly check in with anyone, Mama Odie would be a great candidate.

Mama Odie’s Inspiration

Disney has a long history of basing its iconic characters on historical and cultural figures even with more iconic personalities. And Mama Odie is no exception. If you were to look up Moms Mabley, Marie Laveau, or Coleen Salley, you would see right away elements of Mama Odie reflected in each of them. But who exactly are these women and what makes them so special that Disney used them for inspiration.

Starting with Jackie Moms Mabley, was one of the earliest African American women to make a name for herself in the world of comedy. After joining the Vaudeville Circuit at the very young age of 14. She would tell jokes, sing songs, and have an energy about her that people all over the country couldn’t get enough of regardless of their culture or creed. Mabley continued to find success in showbiz throughout her entire life. She doesn’t have any connections to the Voodoo world or New Orleans, but the actress who played Mama Odie, Jennifer Lewis, based her performance on Mabley’s stage persona. Just from watching a few seconds of her stand-up, the resemblance can be seen immediately, complete with missing teeth.

Another powerhouse personality who inspired Mama Odie is Coleen Salley. She was an author, scholar, Mardi Gras queen, and one of New Orleans’ most prolific local celebrities. The field research team at Disney actually went so far as to hire Salley for her consulting services when they visited New Orleans to learn more about the city and its rich history. In fact Mama Odie’s line “You ain’t got the sense he was born with” comes directly from Salley’s book Epossumondas. She received special thanks in the movie’s credits alongside Leah Chase, a famous New Orleans restaurateur who inspired the Tiana character.

Mama Odie’s Historic Inspiration

There is one woman who stands out among them as the most influential over Mama Odie, in fact, without her, the character might not even exist. Her name was Marie Laveau, and she was the real-life Voodoo Queen. How exactly does someone become a Voodoo Queen? It would be interesting to learn that Laveau’s gift and her connection with African spirituality, ran in the family. Not only was she the granddaughter of a powerful Voodoo priestess, but her mother was a known practitioner as well. But there’s more to her story than that. Laveau was born a free woman of color in colonial New Orleans, where she stayed her entire life. As an adult, she had several children with a french nobleman, Christophe Dominick Duminy De Glapion.

In order to create some economic stability for herself and her family, Laveau became a hairdresser. It was during that time that she realized she had a real knack for getting people to open up to her about their problems. Whether they were Black, white, or somewhere in between, her clients felt safe venting to her. It was this side gig as a part-time therapist that put Laveau on the path to becoming Voodoo royalty.

As stated before Laveau had clients of all races and social classes. This meant some of her Black clients who were house servants would divulge personal information about the white folks they worked for. This created the illusion that Laveau had supernatural insight because of her gift to her wealthy clients. They would often pay for her advice about their marital issues, finances, and childbearing, and would make special requests for protection against evil energy. Which is awfully similar to the people who would seek out Mama Odie’s services.

Marie Laveau’s Gift

Laveau wasn’t trying to con these people or disrespect the Voodoo religion. She always gave them the best advice she could without revealing her sources and used real Voodoo practices that her mother had taught her. Then, after her mother died, Laveau was drawn even further into the Voodoo religion and was educated in its ways by a well-known root worker named Dr. John. After going through this schooling the services she offered were taken to the next level. She would host ceremonies in her own backyard, where she would conjure up the spirit of the deity Damballa. Who would manifest through Laveau’s pet snake that she always wore around her neck yet another similarity she has with Mama Odie.

There is one large difference between these two queens though. Mama Odie is almost 200 years old, while Marie Laveau passed away in 1881 around the age of 80. Although to be fair, eternal life wasn’t traditionally part of the Voodoo repertoire. As one would expect her body was buried in the city she lived in her entire life, New Orleans, specifically St. Louis Cemetery number one. To this day her grave receives regular visits from her fans and supporters who’ve made it tradition to draw an X on Laveau’s tomb to make a wish.

Nowadays the general public can’t access this part of the cemetery without a tour guide on account of how many times her grave has been vandalized. Not counting the X’s people marked on it. In 1982 the punk rock band “The Misfits” were arrested for allegedly trying to dig up Marie Laveau’s body after one of their concerts. In 2013 someone spray-painted her tomb with pink latex paint.

By: Zaylah De La Torre

Sources:

The Disney Wiki: Mama Odie

Britannica: Marie Laveau

Britannica: Moms Mabley

Coleen Salley

HOODOO HERITAGE: A BRIEF HISTORY OF AMERICAN FOLK RELIGION by MEGAN LANE

Featured Image Courtesy of Loren Javier‘s Flickr Page – Creative Common License

First Inset Image Courtesy of Tom Thai‘s Flickr Page – Creative Common License

Inset Image Courtesy of Lupisfer Wolf’s Flickr Page – Creative Common License