MARIE LAVEAU—Marie Laveau is a prominent person in American folklore, yet her history lies in shadow. Rumor has it she was born in the French Quarter of New Orleans in 1794, her father a white planter, her mother a black woman. Her death was announced in the New Orleans newspapers on June 16, 1881, which is of great interest considering she continued to be spotted in the town long after her supposed death. She was laid to rest in the Saint Louis Cemetery in New Orleans.1
THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GATES—According to legend, there are seven gates through which souls can travel to the afterlife. Each continent has its own gate: Africa’s gate lies under the paw of the sphinx; Asia’s gate is near the Temple Mount; Europe’s gate lies at the Père Lachaise Paris Cemetery; South America’s gate is hidden beneath the Christ the Redeemer statue; Antarctica’s gate sits at the South Pole; Australia’s gate is in the vicinity of the Rookwood Cemetery; and North America’s gate is situated at Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1, inside the grave of Marie Laveau.
THE TREE OF LIFE—There is a famous oak tree in Audubon Park in New Orleans that has received the nickname “The Tree of Life.” It is a rather famous oak, having been registered with the Live Oak Society and officially named the Etienne de Boré oak. The tree’s circumference is just under thirty-five feet and was number 13 on Dr. Edwin Lewis Stephens’s list of forty-three original inductee trees into the Live Oak Society. A tree this size could possibly be five hundred years of age or older.2