A Priest's Head, A Drummer's Hands: New Orleans Voodoo: Order of Service

I have the pre-publication version of the book and had met Louis Martinié at the Babylon Rising festival. As a fellow author, I can say Louis Martinié is without a doubt one of the nicest people you can meet. My only regret is that I can't spend more time with Louis to learn from him directly. This book is simple to understand, has the drum rhythms for New Orleans Voodoo in the order of service that Louis follows. Each group will generally have a different order of service, however this order is effective and generally speaking is easy to follow. It included in the pre-publication information a fair amount of detail on each Lwa included in the book and can well get your practice started. New Orleans Voodoo is generally not initiatory and Priest Martinié synchronizes some elements of Voodoo with Buddhist thought. The combination however works well and is appropriate for New Orleans Style Voodoo which is definitely a mixture.My only complaint about the book, was that some of the rhythms are a bit difficult to follow however, I can not hold that too much against the book, since my inability to get some of them relates more to my lack of time to practice ( and the Rhythms do need to be practiced). However, on multiple occasions I have used the rhythms and the Lwa come, and I am an initiated Houngan in Haitian Vodou.-Andrieh VitimusAuthor of Hands On Chaos Magic

Great information written in a concise manner. A necessary addition to any Houngan or Mambo’s library!

Very good book.

This book is full of crap. Louis Martinie is a satanist, wiccan, and a thelemite that uses vodou to cover up the horrible crimes that those cults commit against nature and innocent people. Martinie is a racist man that has stolen material and he has never done anything for black people. He clearly uses the false claim of practicing vodou as a means to make money off of our traditions. Further, "New Orleans Voodoo" is something that white people made up. It has never existed. Louisiana voudou predates colonization and the Louisiana purchase so this is why white people don't know anything about it's real practices. All they can do is make up bits and pieces and exploit real priests and priestesses who have died because they cannot speak against these white people. Our ancestors do not deserve these defamatory remarks about our history.

This is a thoughtful and well written introduction to the practice of New Orleans Voodoo.