The Praxis of Church and State in the (Under)Development of Women's Religion from France to the New World

William & Mary Journal of Women and the Law, Sep 2017

By Barbara L. Bernier, Published on 04/01/01

A PDF file should load here. If you do not see its contents the file may be temporarily unavailable at the journal website or you do not have a PDF plug-in installed and enabled in your browser.

Alternatively, you can download the file locally and open with any standalone PDF reader:

https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1207&context=wmjowl

The Praxis of Church and State in the (Under)Development of Women's Religion from France to the New World

William & Mary Journal of Race The P raxis of Church and State in the (Under)Development of Women's Religion from France to the New World Barbara L. Bernier 0 0 Barbara L. Bernier, Th e Praxis of Church and State in the (Under)Development of Women's Religion from France to the New World, 7 Wm. & Mary J. Women & L. 659 (2001), https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmjowl/vol7/iss3/4 - "There is no penalty cruel enough to punish the evil ofwitches ... since all their wickedness, blasphemies and all their designs rise up against the majesty of God to offend Him in a thousand ways." INTRODUCTION I was surprised to learn of the insurrection of black, white and colored women in New Orleans in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.2 My initial research indicated that witchcraft was alive and well in Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but it appeared to be lost as Europeans crossed the Atlantic. Upon further inquiry, I discovered that in certain parts of France women accused of witchcraft were often banished, rather than burned at the stake.3 These banished women often arrived in San Domingue, currently known as Haiti, as indentured servants.4 * Associate Professor of Law, Roger Williams University School of Law; B.A. 1972, State University of New York (Plattsburgh); M.S.W., 1974, Adelphi University;, J.D. 1978, Howard University;, L.L.M. 1980, Temple University. I would like to thank Bethany Foose and Daphne Clarke for outstanding research assistance. I would also like to thank Kari Lou Frank, Sheryl Orr and Juli Horka-Ruiz of the William and MaryJournalof Women and the Law for their work on this Article. I dedicate this Article to the women who took a stand and continue to take a stand for justice and freedom. 1. JONATHAN L. PEARL, THE CRIME OF CRIMES: DEMONOLOGY AND POLITICS IN FRANCE, 1560-1620, at 121 (1999) (quoting JEAN BODIN, ON THE DEMON-MANIA OF WITcHES 1580, at 204 (Jonathan L. Pearl & Randy Scott eds. & trans., 1995)). 2. See William H. Seymour, A Voudou Story, TIMES PICAYUNE (New Orleans), Aug. 14, 1806, at 14. This newspaper article discusses a meeting ofwhite and black women engaged in a voodoo ritual with a woman named Celeste as the main character. Id. The incorporation of the French influence on witchcraft in New Orleans is evident from the story's conclusion: On the banks of the Seine, in France, on a bright summer day, might be seen, in company with a holy sister, a pale, wan woman; as she walks along she mutters incoherent words; at times a sad smile pervades her countenance, her actions strange, all betray a mind diseased, a body from whence all reason has forever flown. Within the cloistered walls wherein she has resided for years, only to the mother superior is known the melancholy fate of her who at times answers to the name ofCeleste. Id. 3. BRIAN P. LEVACK, THE WITCH-HUNT IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE 83-84 (1987). 4. LASNNEC HURBON, VOODOO: SEARCH FOR THE SPIRIT 19 (Lory Frankel trans., 1995) (noting that "[inorder to meet the pressing demands for labor, the company even imported impoverished whites, called engages, who were treated like slaves for thirty-six months"). [Vol. 7:659 The connection between France and Haiti is reinforced by comparing the names given to witches in these areas. A common French term for witches in some regions was vaudois.5 This is very similar to the Haitian terms voodoo and voodooiennes. The Haitian revolution unleashed both slaves and indentured servants onto the shores of North America, specifically in Louisiana.6 New Orleans is particularly interesting because the slaves from San Domingue brought the concept of voodoo with them, which the New Orleans culture incorporated.7 Furthermore, the French Code Noir, which was enacted in Louisiana, prescribed a different approach to the legal rights and responsibilities of both slaves and slave owners than was typical in the colonies.' The legal system in New Orleans provided the opportunity for interaction between whites and people of color.9 This in turn permitted women of all colors to unite to practice the woman-based religion known as witchcraft. This Article presents the historical roots of witchcraft in France, the emergence of voodoo and witchcraft in Louisiana and the interconnection of white women and women of color who practiced this religion, which conflicted with patriarchal norms grounded in law and religion. This Article consists of three components. Part I looks to the historical significance of witchcraft in France. Part II discusses the interconnection of legal slavery, pla~ageand witchcraft in the state of Louisiana and Part III discusses contemporary social and legal 5. E. WILLIAM MONTER, WITCHcRAFT IN FRANcE AND SwITzERLAND: THE BORDERLANDS DURING THE REFORMATION 195 (1976). 6. See GWENDOLYN MDLO HALL, AFRICANS IN COLONIAL LOUISIANA: THE DEVELOPMENT OFAFRO-CREOLE CULTURE INTHE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY302 (1992) ("Pon and Yoruba [ancient African nations] religious practices deep (...truncated)


This is a preview of a remote PDF: https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1207&context=wmjowl

Barbara L. Bernier. The Praxis of Church and State in the (Under)Development of Women's Religion from France to the New World, William & Mary Journal of Women and the Law, 2018, Volume 7, Issue 3,