Marie Laveau's Tomb and the XXX Wish: Where the Ritual Came From and How to Visit Today
Where the XXX wish on Marie Laveau's tomb in New Orleans comes from, how the ritual is described, why marking the tomb is now vandalism, and how to honor her today.
Few graves in America draw as many wishes as the whitewashed family tomb in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 where Marie Laveau, the most famous Voodoo priestess of New Orleans, was laid to rest in 1881. For decades visitors scratched three X marks on its plaster, knocked, turned around and asked for a favor. This guide explains who Laveau was, where the XXX ritual actually comes from, why drawing it today damages the tomb, and how to honor her without harm. It does not promise that a wish made at her grave, or anywhere else, will come true.
Contents
The XXX on Marie Laveau's tomb in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans comes from a wishing custom: visitors draw three X marks, knock, turn around three times, make a wish and leave a small offering. Devotees marked the tomb with crosses soon after her death in 1881, while the fixed three-X formula is a later, tourist-era version. Marking the tomb damages its historic plaster and is treated as vandalism. Since 2015 the cemetery can only be entered with a licensed tour, so the respectful alternative is to visit with a guide and make your wish without touching the tomb.
Marie Laveau died on June 15, 1881, and was entombed in the Laveau-Glapion family tomb in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1.
Source/tradition: Long 2006; New Orleans Historical, University of New Orleans
The tomb was painted pink by a vandal in December 2013 and restored in 2014.
Source/tradition: New Orleans Historical, University of New Orleans
Since 2015 St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 can only be visited with a licensed tour, except by families of the buried.
Source/tradition: Archdiocese of New Orleans visitor policy, reported 2015
Devotees marked the tomb with crosses and left offerings in the decades after her death.
Source/tradition: Sexton accounts, Louisiana Writers' Project, 1930s-40s, cited by Long
Visitors make a wish by drawing three X marks, knocking and turning around three times.
Source/tradition: Widely described tourist custom since the later 20th century
A wish made with the XXX ritual at the tomb will be granted.
Source/tradition: No evidence; a matter of belief
VERIFIED = verifiable in scientific or official sources · TRADITIONAL = historically or culturally recorded · LIVED PRACTICE = widely practiced, experiential knowledge · NOT PROVEN = spiritual interpretation, not scientifically established.
Quick answer
The XXX on Marie Laveau's tomb in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans comes from a wishing custom: visitors draw three X marks, knock, turn around three times, make a wish and leave a small offering. Devotees marked the tomb with crosses soon after her death in 1881, while the fixed three-X formula is a later, tourist-era version. Marking the tomb damages its historic plaster and is treated as vandalism. Since 2015 the cemetery can only be entered with a licensed tour, so the respectful alternative is to visit with a guide and make your wish without touching the tomb.
Who Marie Laveau was
Marie Laveau was born around 1801 in New Orleans, a free Louisiana Creole woman of color. Church records show that in 1819 she married Jacques Paris, who disappeared a few years later, and that she then lived for decades with Christophe Glapion, with whom she had several children. She worked as a hairdresser to wealthy families, which, according to the legend, gave her access to their secrets.
She was also a practicing Catholic and a Voodoo priestess. Newspapers of her time describe the large gatherings on Bayou St. John on St. John's Eve, the night of June 23, that were associated with her name. She nursed the sick during yellow fever epidemics and visited prisoners condemned to death. She died on June 15, 1881, at her cottage on St. Ann Street.
Much of what is told about her today mixes the woman with the legend, and with her daughter Marie Philomène Glapion, who is often called Marie Laveau II. Historians such as Carolyn Morrow Long and Martha Ward have spent years separating the documented life from the stories.
The tomb in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1
St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, opened in 1789 just outside the French Quarter, is the oldest surviving cemetery in New Orleans. Its above-ground tombs are built of brick and covered in lime plaster and whitewash, a construction that has to be maintained and repaired again and again.
Marie Laveau was placed in the Laveau-Glapion family tomb there, alongside Christophe Glapion, several of her children and grandchildren and other relatives. Her daughter Marie Philomène joined them in 1897. It is a family tomb, not a monument built for her, and it is still a burial place owned and managed by the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans.
For many years it was one of the most visited graves in the United States, and it shows the marks of that attention: layers of plaster, repairs, offerings and the traces of countless hands.
Where the XXX wish came from
The custom of marking the tomb is old. In the 1930s and 1940s, writers of the Louisiana Writers' Project recorded the words of cemetery sextons who described visitors leaving offerings and making crosses on the tomb with pieces of red brick, charcoal and sharp stones. They were describing devotion that had grown up after Laveau's death, not a tourist game.
The neat formula of three X marks, knock, spin and wish is newer. It spread with guidebooks, walking tours and the growing tourist economy of the late 20th century, and it turned a local devotion into something every visitor could copy. That is how most living folk customs work: a simple gesture is repeated, explained and standardized by the people who share it.
What the marks mean is also debated. Some describe them as a request, others as a kind of signature or a way to be noticed by the spirit. No single, original meaning has been documented.
The documented custom and the tourist formula
| Devotional marking | The XXX formula | |
|---|---|---|
| When recorded | Sexton accounts collected in the 1930s–40s | Widely described from the later 20th century |
| Marks | Crosses in brick dust, charcoal or stone | Exactly three X marks, often in groups |
| Gestures | Offerings, prayers, requests | Knock three times, turn three times, make a wish |
| Afterward | Thanks and further offerings | Return and circle your X when the wish is granted |
| Status today | Offerings restricted | Treated as vandalism |
How the ritual is usually described
In the version most tour guides and websites repeat, the ritual goes like this: you draw three X marks on the tomb, knock three times on it, turn around three times, and make your wish. You leave a small offering such as coins, flowers or a candle. If the wish comes true, you are supposed to come back, circle your marks and leave another gift in thanks.
Seen as folk magic, the structure is familiar. There is a mark that says you were here, a threefold action that shifts your attention, a spoken request and a promise of return. Similar patterns show up in wishing wells, pilgrimage shrines and saints' graves around the world. What made the Laveau tomb unusual is that the mark was made directly on a fragile, historic grave.
Temple Tip
If you want the feeling of the ritual without the damage, keep its structure and move it: write your three X marks on a slip of paper at home, knock three times on your own table, turn three times, speak the wish and light a candle for Marie Laveau. The intention is the same. The plaster of a family grave stays intact.
Why the marks are now a problem
Lime plaster breathes and needs to be repaired with compatible materials. Marker, lipstick, brick and charcoal scratch and stain it, and repeated cleaning wears it away. Over time the XXX custom turned the tomb into one of the most damaged graves in the cemetery.
The turning point came on December 24, 2013, when workers found the whole tomb painted pink with latex paint. The paint trapped moisture and harmed the historic surface, and it had to be removed with care. The tomb was restored in 2014 by specialists working with the Archdiocese and preservation groups, and it was returned to its whitewashed state.
Today, marking the tomb is not seen as a harmless tradition. It is treated as defacing a grave. Anyone who does it risks being removed from the cemetery, and the damage costs money that preservation groups have to raise.
A grave, not a wishing wall
It is easy to forget that the Laveau-Glapion tomb is a family grave. People who are buried there have descendants, and the Catholic church that owns the cemetery still treats it as a place of burial and prayer.
Honoring Marie Laveau means honoring that, too. Many practitioners of New Orleans Voodoo today ask visitors not to mark the tomb and to direct their devotion to prayer, song or gifts that do no harm.
Visiting today: the rules
After the vandalism, the Archdiocese of New Orleans changed the rules. Since March 2015, visitors can only enter St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 with a licensed tour company that works with the cemetery, except for people with family members buried there. Tours are short and guided, and you cannot wander alone through the rows.
Rules on the tomb itself are strict. You may look, listen, take photographs and say a quiet prayer. Marking, touching the plaster, leaving candles that burn or objects that stick to the tomb are not allowed. Some guides let visitors leave nothing at all. Check the current rules with your tour company before you go, because they are enforced by the cemetery, not by the guides alone.
If you want to support the place, the nonprofit Save Our Cemeteries, founded in 1974, works to preserve the historic cemeteries of New Orleans and has taken part in restoring its tombs.
Voodoo, Hoodoo and the Laveau legend
New Orleans Voodoo is a religion with roots in West and Central African traditions, shaped in Louisiana by enslaved and free people of African descent and by the Catholic Church. It is not the same as Haitian Vodou, although the two are related, and it is not the same as Hoodoo, the African American folk magic of the American South. Marie Laveau stands at the center of the New Orleans tradition, and today some practitioners honor her as an ancestor or a spirit.
The legend around her grew fast after her death. Stories of love charms for the wealthy, secrets gathered while dressing hair, and a woman who never seemed to age, perhaps because her daughter took over her role, have been told for more than a century. Some are exaggerated. Some served to make Voodoo look sinister to outsiders.
If you want to learn more, start with her history and with the voices of people who practice the religion today, rather than with souvenir versions. Our guide to cemetery etiquette for ancestor work also explains how to behave at any grave you visit.
Quiz: how do you want to honor Marie Laveau?
Three short questions help you find a way to honor Marie Laveau that fits you and leaves the tomb intact.
Voices from practice
Tour guides in New Orleans often report that visitors are surprised when they hear that the XXX is not allowed. Many say they had read about it online as an ancient custom and did not know about the damage.
Practitioners who honor Marie Laveau as an ancestor often describe their devotion in quiet terms: a glass of water, a candle and a prayer at home, and a visit to the tomb with empty hands. For them, not marking the grave is itself an act of respect.
People who once drew the marks often say that the ritual mattered to them because of the moment it created: a pause, a spoken wish, a promise to come back. That moment does not depend on the plaster.
What we don't promise
We do not promise that a wish made at Marie Laveau's tomb, at home or with a candle will come true. There is no evidence that the XXX ritual changes anything outside the person who performs it. What it can do is give a wish a clear form and a moment of attention.
We also do not speak for New Orleans Voodoo. Marie Laveau is a figure of devotion for living practitioners, and they are the ones to ask about how she wants to be honored. This article describes history and custom; it is not religious instruction.
Practically: how to work with this
- Learn her story. Read about Marie Laveau as a person before you engage with the legend. Carolyn Morrow Long's book is a good start.
- Book a licensed tour. Visit St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 only with a licensed tour company, and ask about the current rules.
- Leave the tomb untouched. No marks, no candles, no objects on the plaster. A quiet prayer or a moment of silence is enough.
- Move the wish home. Write three X marks on paper, knock three times on your table, turn three times and speak your wish.
- Light a candle. A 7-day candle can hold the wish while you act on it. See our guide on how to read a 7-day candle.
- Give thanks. If your wish comes true, give back in a way that helps: a donation to cemetery preservation, or time given to your own community.
From our shelf
Road Opener 7-Day Candle
If you came to New Orleans with a wish, you can carry it home instead of writing it on a tomb. A 7-day road opener candle in the New Orleans candle tradition burns for about a week while you hold the intention. Ships within 3 business days, from $11.95.
More in 7-day vigil candles and road opening.
Unsure which candle fits your wish? Our comparison of a road opener or money candle explains the difference.
Frequently asked questions
Is Marie Laveau really buried in the tomb in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1?
Yes. Burial records show she was placed in the Laveau-Glapion family tomb there after her death on June 15, 1881. Her husband Christophe Glapion and other family members are buried in the same tomb.
What does XXX on Marie Laveau's tomb mean?
It belongs to a wishing custom. Visitors draw three X marks, knock, turn around three times and make a wish. Devotees marked the tomb with crosses soon after her death; the three-X formula is a later version spread by tourism.
Can I still draw XXX on the tomb?
No. Marking the tomb damages its historic plaster and is treated as vandalism. Offerings are also restricted.
Can I visit St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 without a tour?
Not as a general visitor. Since 2015 the Archdiocese of New Orleans only allows entry with a licensed tour company, except for families of people buried there.
What happened to the tomb in 2013?
On December 24, 2013, it was found painted pink with latex paint. It was restored in 2014.
Was Marie Laveau a Voodoo priestess or a Hoodoo worker?
She is remembered as a priestess of New Orleans Voodoo, a religion. Hoodoo is a related but separate African American folk magic tradition.
Sources & further reading
- Long, Carolyn Morrow. A New Orleans Voudou Priestess: The Legend and Reality of Marie Laveau. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2006.
- Long, Carolyn Morrow. The Tomb of Marie Laveau in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. New Orleans: University of New Orleans Press, 2016.
- Ward, Martha. Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of Marie Laveau. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2004.
- Fandrich, Ina Johanna. The Mysterious Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveaux: A Study of Powerful Female Leadership in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans. New York: Routledge, 2005.
- Darbonne, August. “The Ancestors: Marie Laveau's Tomb.” New Orleans Historical, University of New Orleans (accessed 2026).
- Save Our Cemeteries, New Orleans. Information on St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 and preservation work (accessed 2026).
