Eshé (Mary J.) adores giving tours and sharing her love for New Orleans with the world. Born in the Kansas City area, she has family from the Louisiana and Mississippi plantation regions dating back to the 1700s. Eshé is a High Priestess of Plantation Vodou (Voodoo) and Djembe Drum. She has been communing with Oya, the spirit of fierce storms, since she was an infant. Her mother referred to this as Eshé “playing with angels.” Oya is well known to have a soft spot for kids, and even though this spirit was an obvious and loving force throughout Eshé’s life, it was not until moving to New Orleans that she learned Oya’s name and officially began her path as a High Priestess.

    With years of professional experience as a teacher, Bachelors of Arts degrees from Kansas State University in English (Emphasis in Creative Writing) and Anthropology (Emphasis in Cultural Studies), Eshé has plenty of experience investigating cultures and weaving those stories into thrilling and educational narratives to explore with guests on tours. And New Orleans is a city with plenty of stories to tell! Eshé has a deep emotional connection with the city, and New Orleans is the only place that has ever truly felt like her home. Her favorite tours to share are the Vodou Tour (Voodoo Tour), and the Cemetery Tour. Come rain or shine, you can find Eshé jumping around The City of the Dead with an exciting “FUN FACT” for anyone willing to listen!

    Malika’s passion is sharing the history and folklore of Southern Louisiana. This passion has been the inspirational wellspring for most of her performance work since 2016.

    Malika is a Sode in Ifa, an Olorisa of Oya upon completion of initiation at Temple Yemoja in Ibadan, Nigeria, and a High Priestess of Louisiana Plantation Vodou. She has been an eclectic Conjurer since she began praying to the moon at 14 years old. Malika has read tarot cards and pendulums for 23 years, cowries for 8, and now reads playing cards as well.  She is also a proud member of the choir at First Grace United Methodist Church in Midcity New Orleans; she sees this as the honoring of as many branches of her ancestry as possible. 

    Malika holds a B.A. in Arts Management-Music from Bennett College in Greensboro, NC (HBCU PRIDE!), and a Masters in Music Education, focused in Choral Conducting and Ethnomusicology from Georgia State. Her favorite tours to give are "all of them", though when pressed, it is the Tremé music and Black history tour that is at the top of her list. It's her first suggestion for anyone interested in learning about the roots of New Orleans music, language, worship, cuisine, and eccentricity.