~ Voodoo Priestess Estate ~ ©
LiDiex Glassworks, 9" Iridized Titanium Ceramic Skulls
An Aunt Vouivre Shrine Wall Find
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This is another of our long listings with an abundant text and 8 photographs!
So please sit back and read the listing through. If you have come this far, we are sure you will find it was worth the wait.
Well over twenty-one and a half years have now passed since we were called to do the estate that had been closed up for seventeen years!
An Aunt Vouivre Shrine Wall Find ~*~
This is another of our long listings with an abundant text and 8 photographs!
So please sit back and read the listing through. If you have come this far, we are sure you will find it was worth the wait.
Well over twenty-one and a half years have now passed since we were called to do the estate that had been closed up for seventeen years!
The Voodoo Estate!
This type of call usually gets us excited as they are a treasure trove. Located here in Florida, there was no electricity or running water so we rigged our own lighting and in we went. If you have ever seen the Adams Family you will have some idea as to what we were greeted with! Then the attorney handling the liquidation gave us some background.
The estate had belonged to an alleged powerful Voodoo Priestess/JooJoo Exorcist, grand daughter of a Marie Laveau and favored daughter of a Marie Glapion. These names meant nothing to us, but the late night talk of Voodoo and exorcism in the old mansion was enough for us to spend the night in a hotel to return in the morning to assess the estate. The rest is history.
Our research has shown that this woman was what she claimed and was indeed descended from a long line of well known Vodoun family originating in New Orleans in the early 1800's.
We were pretty unnerved by this until we discovered they were also devout Catholics! Although I have to admit this was unlike any Catholic home we have ever been in and some of the items found inside did give us pause.
There was no feeling of dread or unwelcome in the mansion, there was however quite a bit of contraband and other items we can or will not sell here.
This is one of a few pieces from this estate we will be listing this week, so check our other listing's!
We will, upon the new guardian's request, issue a named Letter of Authenticity with each piece from this estate, complying with the terms set forth to us by the estate's attorney.
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Some Back Story
Their journals and inventory tell us, this is one of the two hundred and forty "LiDiex Glassworks, 9" Vapor Iridized Titanium Ceramic Skulls" that lined the shelves of the four and eight foot walls that acted as the backdrops for the Main Altar or Shrine to her, "Aunt Vouivre."
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Aunt Vouivre
1867? - 1936
A blood Aunt, she had been taken into the fold as, "a young initiate" by Marie Glapion. Chronological investigation revealed her to be, "of Romanian and French descent, sent to the United States to avoid police questioning in the murder by poison of an elderly man in 1878. Revenge for sexual assault being her motive."
Their mother's apparently did have a marital connection that made Aunt Vouivre a Third Great Aunt. Her journals indicate they were three years apart in age, Aunt Vouivre being the elder. They also show a forty year history as a part time live-in, full time practitioner follower whose specialty was toxins. Allegedly she had the ability to communicate with reptiles, often seeking out specific species for their fluids for use in her poisons.
Her journals note of Aunt Vouivre's murder in France, in 1936.
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Guivre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, for the most part...
A guivre is a mythical creature similar to a dragon. In legend they were portrayed as serpentine creatures who possessed venomous breath and prowled the countryside of Medieval France. The words "guivre" (wurm, wyvern, which is derived from it, or serpent) and "givre" are spelling variations of the more common word "vouivre". Vouivre, in Franc
Comtois, is the equivalent of the old French word "guivre." All these forms are derived ultimately from Latin vipera, as is English viper.
Guivres were said to possess a long, serpentine body and a dragon's head. The guivre had horns in its forehead in some accounts, as well. Locally in France it was known as an extremely aggressive creature that would sometimes attack without being provoked. They were afraid of naked humans, and when they saw them, blushed and looked away. Documentation points to their residence as being in small bodies of water like pools and lakes, forests, and any damp place.
La Guivre
Samson of Dol was present at an encounter between a small dragon-like creature (known as "La Guivre") and a priest. Samson had come to visit Saint Suliao with an entourage of followers. Suliao was impoverished but sought to provide a meal as best as possible for the group. One priest, uneasy with the low quality of food, took a bread roll and hid it under his robe. Almost instantaneously he started convulsing and Suliao pulled apart his bosom, seeing what the man had done. He admonished the priest and removed a hideous serpentine creature from the robe. There he exorcised it and then compelled another man to throw it from the roof of a building in Garot.
Vouivre
Guivres are also well known as vouivres, and the terms have become synonymous. For example, in The Drac: French Tales of Dragons and Demons, the vouivre is depicted as a female creature with dazzling, green scales which emanate sound as the vouivre flies. The vouivre is depicted as greedy, her head crowned with pearls and a golden ring about her tail. The beast in this story stayed in a cave for most of her time, then left to bathe only for a few minutes.
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The Skulls
Their journals go on to tell us, these wall skulls are copies of four larger, similar skulls that are attributed as being crafted "in-house" during what amounted to a make-shift pottery group of estate residents which dates them to the late 1970's. The design and vapor iridization titanium application were copied and refined by The LiDiex Glassworks which she commissioned to make these for the renovation of her aunt's shrine.
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LiDiex Glass Works
The research involved in this estate provides continuous fascination. The founder of the LiDiex Glass Works, is known to us as the 1898 LiDiex, but to most, he was known only as "LiDiex," a 5th. generation descendant of the original Man Known Only as "LiDiex" to the shores of this country who arrived as a survivor and saboteur of the slave Ship Henrietta Marie in 1701. He then found his way to New Orleans to meet with the parents of the then infant grandmother of our priestess, Marie Laveau.
The 1701 LiDiex was a wood carver as were most of his descendants. This is another case of the multi-generational relationships we have encountered with this family as the LiDiex all had a strong association with these women. Although a close practitioner and believed to be father to one of her children, the 1898 LiDiex was most noted for his glassmaking after his return to New Orleans from an extended stay in Europe where he studied the glass making techniques of Bohemia and Murano. He continued making glass for her and her followers up to the time of his demise in 1968.
Late journals show him to be one of her chief enforcers, a "Zuvembie" leader, and refer to him as, “a skilled sorcerer, tactician, warrior and artist" who was deeply involved in her works.
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Their glass works provided an additional source of income to this estate and a primary source of income for numerous staff members. Their Glassworks is attributed with their, “alchemic glass” which we have noted as being a consistent source of unexplained paranormal activity as those of you who follow the listings from this estate already know.
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But Back to the Skulls
According to her journal entries this group of skulls were made from recycled sewage sludge to make the ceramic which was then iridized with titanium and vapor fumed with olive oil to create their colorful finish. We found their mention of casting sewage sludge a bit unusual but our research revealed this is a fairly common practice that has been in use for over fifty years!
We recovered two hundred and nineteen of the original two hundred and forty skulls that were intact and had been selling them periodically over the last twenty-one years. Unfortunately, many original designs originating from this estate were sold to clients in Indonesia and Taiwan or copied outright from our listings by agents for our counterfeiting friends the Chinese and about seventeen years ago we found them being sold on Chinese commercial websites and. These were mostly higher end jewelry pieces, most notably, the Nephilim Horn rings and items from the LiDiex glassworks, these skulls among them. The fakes differ in size and quality and have been mostly shut down. A problem that seemed to solve itself by what we thought were a sold out group.
Last January we finally got to unpack more of the crates that hadn't been moved in years and recovered the last thirty-two of these which are being individually offered here.
These vary in condition from very good to mint. They are mostly unmarked but a few have LiDiex and dates etched into them. We will pull the best ones on a first come, first served basis.
But Back to the Skulls
According to her journal entries this group of skulls were made from recycled sewage sludge to make the ceramic which was then iridized with titanium and vapor fumed with olive oil to create their colorful finish. We found their mention of casting sewage sludge a bit unusual but our research revealed this is a fairly common practice that has been in use for over fifty years!
We recovered two hundred and nineteen of the original two hundred and forty skulls that were intact and had been selling them periodically over the last twenty-one years. Unfortunately, many original designs originating from this estate were sold to clients in Indonesia and Taiwan or copied outright from our listings by agents for our counterfeiting friends the Chinese and about seventeen years ago we found them being sold on Chinese commercial websites and. These were mostly higher end jewelry pieces, most notably, the Nephilim Horn rings and items from the LiDiex glassworks, these skulls among them. The fakes differ in size and quality and have been mostly shut down. A problem that seemed to solve itself by what we thought were a sold out group.
Last January we finally got to unpack more of the crates that hadn't been moved in years and recovered the last thirty-two of these which are being individually offered here.
These vary in condition from very good to mint. They are mostly unmarked but a few have LiDiex and dates etched into them. We will pull the best ones on a first come, first served basis.
Each measures approximately 9" in length x 6" in height x 6" in width and weighs 1 lbs., 5 oz.
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One of her journal entries does speak of the placement of the skulls at this altar, which reads; "They are a reminder of death, decay, memento mori. A reminder of our own mortality."
Two of these were on display for a short period of time in our old conference room and unpacked five years ago! They were quickly sold and we thought that was the last of them.
It is certainly a nicely aged vintage, eclectic artifact with an extraordinary provenance that is much nicer than the photographs are able to depict.
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We have been contacted and visited by a number of people who were interested in the items from this estate since our first batch was listed. Among the buyers have been known psychics and practitioners. More than one, after adorning themselves or handling their purchase, stated "this is a woman of power!" Many of our customers, after receiving items from this estate have reported dream contacts and other unexplained phenomenon.
Unusual, authentic Voodoo Priestess Estate piece and at a bargain price!
This is truly a rare opportunity to own anything with attributes to this estate. The majority of this estate is now gone. Most of what we had left, and it was considerable, has been split up and sold to a couple of private, foreign collector practitioners and will never be available to the public again. We made the decision to do this as we have had some pretty strange visits from even stranger individuals and there have been enough unexplained phenomenon going on in the warehouse where her things were kept that many of our employees refused to go in there.
The pieces offered and sold here are some of the few remaining pieces that will ever be offered to the public.
Nice addition to any collection, altar, wardrobe or decor, displays really well.
Really doesn't get any better than this.
There are 8 photographs below to tell the rest of this tale.
Buyer to pay our discounted rate of $6.66 for Insured USPS Ground Shipping with Tracking, handling and lagniappe.
Rest assured your order will be carefully packed to withstand the onslaught of the most deranged of Postal Workers.
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Payment is due at listing end.
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©Text and Photos Copyright 2001-2023 bushidobuce
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Photographer's Note;
More than once during the photo sessions of these skulls, images that I was able to catch with the camera what appeared, sort of as in a reflection. Very hard to describe. A few times they seemed to converge into a reflective humanoid shapes, a vehicle convoy, samurai armor, a man with a gun, images that I tried to capture on camera which I do believe I managed to do during this photo session. Probably just the power of suggestion, lack of sleep and overactive imagination anyway. Right?
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