SPIRITUAL REALM

Let me start by saying that we visited New Orleans during the weekend of Halloween. It was also during the VooDoo Festival. The first picture is of a "mock" voodoo alter that I saw on the city tour. The bus driver also drove us by an actual certified voodoo temple where a real priestess would do a reading for you. Later that night, we located the temple (set up just like any other tourist shop right off of Bourbin St.) because one of the teachers wanted a "real" voodoo doll. I stood across the street and refused to go in. There were dolls hanging all over the ceiling of the shop. The teacher changed her mind about buying anything after a tour of the place.

The LaLaurie Mansion - one of the MOST haunted places in the city.
(I think everything was haunted on some level.)

The following three pictures were taken inside the St. Louis Cemetery #3 (there are 42 cemeteries in all). New Orleans is below sea level so the caskets will float if they are buried below ground. If you family is well off, then they can purchase a tomb to bury their family members. Most tombs only hold one casket at a time. So when one person dies, the last person's remains are removed from their casket and placed at the back of the tomb while the next body is placed into the casket spot. It takes one year and one day before anyone's remains are composed enough to be moved. So what are you suppose to do if your uncle dies today, and you die tomorrow? Not to worry - your casket will be placed in one of the wall vaults around the perimeter of the cemetery until there is room for you. The wall vaults look like apartment buildings for the dead.

Jackson Square with St. Louis Cathedral in the background.

Saturday morning before we left (the morning I had the beignet) I talked to the sisters at the Cafe where they had just come from morning mass. They were teachers at the elementary school. The friend from New Orleans had gone to school at one of the Catholic schools in the area. After talking to the sisters, we went over to the Cathedral. Mass was over, but they were still chanting in the back. So Mom, I went in a knelt down to say a prayer for you.