What is voodoo

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Voodoo-or voudou-is the Haitian folk religion. It consists of various African magical beliefs and rites
that have become mixed with Catholic elements.
It began with the arrival of slaves in the New World, most of them from the western, Slave Coast
area of Africa, notably from Dahomey, now Benin, and Nigeria. In Benins Fon language, vodun means
spirit, an invisible, mysterious force that can intervene in human affairs (Hurbon 1995, 13; Mtraux
1972, 25, 359; Bourguignon 1993).
According to one writer, The Blacks suffered under merciless circumstances-their property and their
family and social structures all torn to shreds; they had nothing left-except their Gods to whom they
clung tenaciously. In Haiti and elsewhere, there was an attempt to strip them even of that, their
heathen beliefs being rigorously suppressed. However, the slaves worshiped many of their Gods
unbeknownst to the priests, under the guise of worshipping Catholic saints (Antippas 1988, 2).
Voodoos African elements include worship of loa (supernatural entities) and the ancestral dead,
together with the use of drums and dancing, during which loa may possess the faithful. Catholic
elements include prayers such as the Hail Mary and the Lords Prayer, as well as baptism, making the
sign of the cross, and the use of candles, bells, crosses, and the images of saints.
Many of the loa are equated with specific saints; for example Damballah, the Dahomean snake deity, is
identified with St. Patrick who, having legendarily expelled all snakes from Ireland, is frequently
depicted stamping on snakes or brandishing his staff at them (Bourguignon 1993).
Voodoo spread from Haiti to New Orleans in the wake of the Haitian slave revolt (1791-1804). The
refugee plantation owners fled with their slave retinues to Louisiana where slaves had previously toiled
under such repressive circumstances that their African religion had all but withered.
However, oppression lessened somewhat with American rule, following the Louisiana Purchase of
1803, and-with the influx of thousands of voodoo practitioners-soon New Orleans began to hear the
beat of the drum (Antippas 1988, 14).
Voudon refers to "a whole assortment of cultural elements: personal creeds and practices, including an
elaborate system of folk medical practices; a system of ethics transmitted across generations
[including] proverbs, stories, songs, and folklore... voudon is more than belief; it is a way of life,"
wrote Leslie Desmangles, a Haitian professor at Hartford's Trinity College in "The Encyclopedia of the
Paranormal" (Prometheus Books, 1996).
Voudon teaches belief in a supreme being called Bondye, an unknowable and uninvolved creator god.
Voudon believers worship many spirits (called loa), each one of whom is responsible for a specific

domain or part of life.

So, for example, if you are a farmer you might give praise and offerings to the spirit of agriculture; if
you are suffering from unrequited love, you would praise or leave offerings for Erzulie Freda, the spirit
of love, and so on. In addition to helping (or impeding) human affairs, loa can also manifest themselves
by possessing the bodies of their worshipers.
Followers of voudon also believe in a universal energy and a soul that can leave the body during
dreams and spirit possession.
In Christian theology, spiritual possession is usually considered to be an act of evil, either Satan or
some demonic entity trying to enter an unwilling human vessel.
In voudon, however, possession by loa is desired. In a ceremony guided by a priest or priestess, this
possession is considered a valuable, first-hand spiritual experience and connection with the spirit
world.
The practice of Voodoo is probably as old as the African continent itself. Sometimes written Voudou,
Vodou or Voudun, the word itself means God Creator or Great Spirit. It has been greatly distorted and
misused; human sacrifices, vampires, dripping blood and devil worship all make the stuff of spooky
novels and Hollywood movies. Yet none of these originated with or ever belonged to Voodoo!
Voodoo is a life affirming practice that encourages its participants to better understand the natural
processes of life and their own spiritual natures.
If one looks at the dictionary, Voodoo is likely to be defined as an ancient religion from Africa that
involves the cult of Ancestors, of various animistic spirits, and the use of trances to communicate with
such spirits. It is true that Voodoo did originate in Africa. Today it is practiced by millions throughout
the world, in Africa, the Caribbean, Central, North and South America, in various forms, often with
elements of catholicism mixed in. However, its main purpose remains as always to heal: to heal the
individual in relationships within himself or herself, with others and ultimately with God.
Around 1510 the slave trade began, slaves being taken from the West Coast of Africa (Gulf of Guinea)
from what is now Senegal and Gambia to the Congo region. The slaves who were torn from their native
lands brought with them their beliefs and regional practices. Many were first brought to the Caribbean
islands to work the plantations and be forcibly Christianized. Their owners ("masters") did not
recognize the mystical qualities of their native ceremonies. Rather they considered them to be savages,
incapable of abstract concepts or spirituality. Of course the denial of their humanity made it all so much
easier to keep them as slaves. Yet in the terrible conditions of their enslavement, the Africans' only
hope lay in their very faith. Amidst broken tribes and families, they found unity and solace in God and
ancient rituals. It certainly also gave them a deep sense of inner freedom.

Although African slaves came from many different regions, most influential were the tribes from
Nigeria and Dahomey. In 1729 the Dahomey conquered their neighbors the Ewes and sold their
prisoners to the slave ships often in exchange for European goods. Many from Dahomey were also
kidnapped. Both tribes had incorporated snake worship into their rites and some priests of the religion
unwillingly found themselves on route to Haiti and the new world. Within one generation of their
arrival, these priests had already established temples (hounfors) and developed a following in spite of
their captivity and severe opposition of the French and Spanish churches. The term Vo-Du came from
the Fons of dahomey. The other great influence came from Yorubaland (Nigeria), the site of the sacred
city of Ile-Ife. Among the Yorubas, the Loa (Lwa or Spirits) are known as Orisha. Other people that
contributed to modern Voodoo in the new world are the Aradia, Nago, Ibo, Congo, Senegalese,
Mandingo, Ethiopians, Sudanese and Malgaches.
The Voodoos believe in the existence of one supreme God, a very abstract, omnipotent yet unknowable
force. Below this almighty God, Spirits or Loa rule over the world's affairs in matter of family, love,
happiness, justice, health, wealth, work, the harvest or the hunt etc. Offerings are made to the
appropriate Loa to ensure success in those areas. Each Loa has its preferred fruits or vegetables, color,
number, day of the week, etc. The Loa also manifest through elements of nature such as the wind and
rain, lightning and thunder, the river, the ocean, springs and lakes, the sky, the sun, certain animals,
trees and stones. Furthermore every element of nature, animal, tree, plant, fruit or vegetable is sacred to
a certain Loa or Orisha.
Ancestors are consulted for guidance and protection. A rich and deep body of mythology and tales
exists attesting to the amazing memory and poetic ability of the "Griots" who passed it orally from
elder to youth and so on throughout the ages. It is truly a remarkable body of spirituality and a code by
which African life was ruled. A very complex system of divination also exists known as "Ifa". It is said
that the word Loa or Lwa itself derives from the French "Loi" (Law).
Upon their arrival in the West Indies and the New World, the slaves found themselves unable to
continue the practice of their ancestral rites, sometimes under penalty of death. But they quickly
understood the essential similarities between their beliefs and those of the Catholics; the Catholics
praying to their Saints to intercede to a higher God in their favor. That is in fact the exact criteria used
to "make a Saint", the ability to obtain miracles. A substitution took place: the Loa often taking the
name and some of the attributes of the Saints. The elaborate ceremonies and costumes of the church
also had great appeal for the Africans. I do not think that the Africans and their descendants would have
seen it as a direct substitution rather than as an added path of expression of their deep-seated faith and
beliefs.
In the Spanish Islands, the new religion became known as Santeria (the worship of the Saints). In other
islands and in New Orleans, the term Voodoo remained. Because of its unique blend of French, Spanish
and Indian cultures, New Orleans offered a perfect setting for the practice and growth of Voodoo. In
1809 many Haitians who had migrated to Cuba during the Haitian revolution found themselves cast out
and came to New Orleans. They brought with them their slaves who incorporated their rites and beliefs
to those of the existent slave population - Africans from Senegal, Gambia and Nigeria previously
brought to Louisiana by the Companie des Indes. Voodoo in Louisiana was enriched and revitalized. It
also incorporated the worship of the Snake Spirit (Damballah Wedo / Aida Wedo). To the Africans

Voodoo was not only their religion, it was also their natural medicine, their protection and certainly a
way of asserting and safeguarding a sense of personal freedom and identity.
Today about 15% of the population of New Orleans practices Voodoo. Modern Voodoo has taken
several directions: Spiritualist Reverends and Mothers who have their own churches, Hoodoos who
integrate and work spells and superstitions, elements of European witchcraft and the occult, and
traditionalists for whom the practice of Voodoo is a most natural and important part of their daily lives,
a positive search for ancient roots and wisdom. The practice of Voodoo involves the search for higher
levels of consciousness in the belief that -as indeed all of the ancient scriptures teach - it is we who
must open the way towards the Gods. for when we call out from our hearts, the Gods hear and indeed
are compelled to respond. Voodoo is a powerful mystical practice between (Wo)Man and God thus
saving him/her from further estrangement from the very universe that (s)he is born into.
Voudon originated with slaves who combined elements of their West African traditions and beliefs with
the Roman Catholicism imposed upon them by their masters in a process called syncretism. A 1685 law
forbade the practice of African religions and required all masters to Christianize their slaves within
eight days of their arrival. Slavery was condoned by the Catholic Church as a tool for converting
Africans to morally upright Christians. Slaves forced to adopt Catholic rituals thus gave them double
meanings, and in the process many of their spirits became associated with Christian saints.
Furthermore, Desmangles notes, "Many of the African spirits were adapted to their new milieu in the
New World. Ogun, for instance, the Nigerian spirit of ironsmiths, hunting and warfare took on a new
persona...
He became Ogou, the military leader who has led phalanxes into battle against oppression. In Haiti
today, Ogou inspires many political revolutions that oust undesirable oppressive regimes."
Though Haitian slavery ended in the early 1800s, followers of voudon were often persecuted by
authorities who demonized their religion. An 1889 book titled "Hayti, or the Black Republic"
(Filiquarian, 2012) falsely attributed human sacrifices, cannibalism and other atrocities to voudon,
further spreading fear of the religion.
Many fundamentalist Christians still regard voudon and voodoo with suspicion, associating it with the
occult, black magic and Satanism. Even today "voodoo" is often used as an adjective to describe
something that is unknowable, mysterious or simply unworkable (for example, in 1980 George H.W.
Bush famously disparaged Ronald Reagan's monetary policies as "voodoo economics").
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