Louisiana's Sacred Places: Churches, Cemeteries and Voodoo

Anne Rice, lauded author of gothic fiction calls it, “Delightfully vivid bringing to life all the favorite haunts of the lively spirits both living and dead.”

Deborah Burst continues her series of discovery on a trail of history and mystery across Louisiana’s most solemn and revered locales. In her ten-year writing and photography career, Burst has combined her love for art, history and architecture into a poetic trail of Louisiana’s Sacred Places.

From New Orleans across the back roads of St. Tammany, Pointe Coupee and both East and West Feliciana Parishes, Burst brings an eccentric collage of cultures and customs to the page. It’s a colorful journey to the cities of the dead, the serenity of country churchyards, and the mesmerizing calling of spirits in a Voodoo ceremony.
Witness full-page photographs of the Moorish architecture inside the stunning Immaculate Conception Jesuit Church, the ghastly history of Our Lady of Guadalupe church, and a close up of St. Roch Chapel’s chamber of miracles. Moving west learn the telling portraits of Civil War casualties laid to rest under weeping oaks in Clinton and St. Francisville. More than churches and cemeteries, the book follows the legends of Pointe Coupee planter homes and river road wonders.

Along the cypress bayous in St. Tammany, learn first hand the history of Covington and Lacombe along with mysteries of the Creole tradition in lighting the graves on All Saints Day. In one of the most intense chapters, Burst shares the Voodoo religion including interviews with Voodoo Priestess Sallie Ann Glassman. The book closes with some dark humor in how New Orleans celebrates its dead with jazz funerals and post-mortem parties fit for a king.

Burst’s vivid photography and discerning eye bring the spirits and celestial wonder to life in every frame. The book features 57 stellar photos inside an enchanting trail of Louisiana's Sacred Places.