Hoodoo

Hoodoo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Alternate use: hoodoo (geology)
Hoodoo is a folk religion or traditional magic which originated in the southern United States. The goal of Hoodoo is to allow people access to supernatural forces to influence their daily lives.
Hoodoo is believed to have influence in many areas, including gambling, love, divination, cursing one's enemies, treatment of disease, employment, and necromancy. Many patent medicines were aimed at Hoodoo practitioners. Significant use is made of various home-made potions and charms, but there are also many successful commercial companies selling various Hoodoo components.
Hoodoo and Voodoo share some elements: the latter probably influencing the former, and the terms may have a common etymology. The terms generally refer to different beliefs and practices, however: Hoodoo is very informal, largely based on traditional African practices, though it drew significantly from Native American folklore, especially the use of herbs and other botanical elements. Elements of various Christian, Jewish and European folk practices found their way into Hoodoo. Voodoo is an established religion. Hoodoo is the magic without the religion. If Voodoo and Santeria can be said to be influenced by Catholicism then Hoodoo has been influenced by Protestantism and Southern Evangelical movements.
Most adherents have been black, but whites and Native Americans also used Hoodoo.
Hoodoo is used as a noun to describe a magic spell or potion, as a title for a powerful practitioner (Hoodoo Doctor, Hoodoo Man or Hoodoo Woman), or as an adjective or verb depending upon context. The word can be dated at least as early as 1891. Some practitioners prefer the term Hoodooism, but this has mostly fallen out of use. Synonyms include conjuration, witchcraft, or rootwork. The latter demonstrates the importance of various roots in the making of charms and casting spells. An amulet characteristic of hoodoo is the mojo, often called a mojo bag or mojo hand; this is a small sack filled with herbs, coins, sometimes a magnet, and various other objects of magical power.
Due to Hoodoo's great emphasis on an individual's magical power, practices are easily adapted based on one's desires, inclination and habits. Knowledge is passed person to person; there is no structured hierarchy.
Like many other folk magics, great emphasis is placed on herbs, minerals, parts of animals' bodies, an individual's posessions, and bodily fluids, especially menstrual blood, urine and semen.
Many blues musicians referred to Hoodoo in their songs, and such elements have become important to the music.
Zora Neale Hurston recorded many Hoodoo practices and tales.

History

Voodoo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Voodoo (disambiguation).
The term Voodoo (Vodun in Benin; also Vodou or other phonetically equivalent spellings in Haiti; Vudu in the Dominican Republic) is applied to the branches of a West African ancestor-based Theist-Animist religious tradition. Its primary roots are among the Fon-Ewe peoples of West Africa, in the country now known as Benin (formerly the Kingdom of Dahomey), where Vodun is today the national religion of more than 7 million people. The word vodun is the Fon-Ewe word for spirit.

In addition to the Fon or Dahomeyan tradition which has remained in Africa, there are related traditions that put down roots in the New World during the days of the transatlantic African slave trade. Voodoo or vodun is probably the most ancient religion in the world, directly derived from Prehistoric belief systems. This "primitivism" generates exceptional interest in the Paleoanthropological field.

Besides Benin, African Vodun and its descendent practices may be found in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Brazil, Ghana, Haiti and Togo.

The more or less "pure" Fon tradition in Cuba is known as La Regla Arara.

In Brazil, the Fon tradition among former slaves has given rise to the tradition known as Jeje Vodun.

Contents [showhide]
1 The African Origins

2 New World Traditions

2.1 Haitian Vodou


2.1.1 History
2.1.2 Beliefs
2.1.3 Liturgy and Practice
2.1.4 Values and Ethics
2.1.5 Orthodoxy and Diversity
2.1.6 Survivals in the Southern US
2.1.7 Myths and Misconceptions


3 External links

[edit]
The African Origins
As stated before, Vodun is a Theist and magical form of Animism that developed among West African tribes predating Historical times. The cultural area of the Fon, Gun, Mina and Ewe peoples share common Metaphysical conceptions around a dual Cosmological divine principle: the God-Creator (whose name can vary but we will define as Mawu) and the God(s)-Actor(s) or Vodun(s), sons of the Creator. The God-Creator is the Cosmogonical principle, who does not mess with the mundane, and the Vodun(s) are the God(s)-Actor(s) who actually govern on terrenal issues. It is quite interesting to notice the similarities between this archaic conception and the much late opposition God-Pantocrator / God-Politeuma found in most modern Monotheistic religions.

The Pantheon of Voduns is quite large and complex. There are seven direct sons of Mawu, interethnic and related to natural phenomena or historical or mythical individuals, and dozens of ethnic Voduns, defenders of a certain clan or tribe. Plus the modern Voduns, mostly coming from Ghana.

Totalitarian regimes in West Africa tried to suppress Vodun as well as other forms of religiosity, but today they are flourishing again and Vodun is practised by over 30 million people in the area. For anyone interested in Vodun or Anthropology, a visit to the Vodun museums and markets in Ouidah or Cotonou, Benin, or Lome, Togo, is a compulsory and fascinating experience.

[edit]
New World Traditions
[edit]
Haitian Vodou
West African or Beninese Vodun is similar to Haitian Vodou in its emphasis on the ancestors, however each family of spirits has its own specialized clergy that is often hereditary. Spirits include Mami Wata, who are goddesses of waters; Legba, who is virile and young in contrast to the old man form he takes in Haiti; Gu, ruling iron and smithcraft; Sakpata, who rules diseases; and many other spirits distinct in their own way to West Africa. New World Voodoo and its derivatives is a razor sharp case of religious syncretism between the ancient religion imported together with West African slaves, the Christian beliefs of their masters and local religions.

Called Sèvis Gine or "African Service" in Haiti, a Creolized form of Vodou. Haitian Vodou also has strong elements from the Ibo and Kongo peoples of Central Africa and the Yoruba of Nigeria, though many different peoples or "nations" of Africa have representation in the liturgy of the Sèvis Gine, as do the Taíno Indians, the original peoples of the island now known as Hispaniola.

Haitian Creole forms of Vodou exist in Haiti (where it is native), the Dominican Republic, parts of Cuba, the United States, and other places that Haitian immigrants dispersed to over the years. It is similar to other African-diasporic religions such as Lukumi or Regla de Ocha (also known as Santería) in Cuba, Candomblé and Umbanda in Brazil, all religions that evolved among descendants of transplanted Africans in the Americas.

[edit]
History
The majority of the Africans who were brought as slaves to Haiti were from the Guinea Coast of West Africa, and their descendants are the primary practitioners of Vodou (those Africans brought to the southern US were primarily from the Kongo kingdom). The survival of the belief system in the New World is remarkable, although the traditions have changed with time. One of the largest differences however between African and Haitian Vodou is that the transplanted Africans of Haiti were obliged to disguise their lwa (sometimes spelled loa) or spirits as Roman Catholic saints, a process called syncretism.

Most experts speculate that this was done in an attempt to hide their "pagan" religion from their masters who had forbidden them to practice it. To say that Haitian Vodou is simply a mix of West African religions with a veneer of Roman Catholicism would not be entirely correct. This would be ignoring numerous influences from the native Taíno Indians, as well as the evolutionary process that Vodou has undergone shaped by the volatile ferment of Haitian history. It would also be ignoring the large influence of European paganism in Roman Catholicism and its pantheon of saints.

Vodou as we know it in Haiti and the Haitian diaspora today is the result of the pressures of many different cultures and ethnicities of people being uprooted from Africa and imported to Hispanola during the African slave trade. Under slavery, African culture and religion was suppressed, lineages were fragmented, and people pooled their religious knowledge and out of this fragmentation became culturally unified. In addition to combining the spirits of many different African and Indian nations, pieces of Roman Catholic liturgy have been incorporated to replace lost prayers or elements; in addition images of Catholic saints are used to represent various spirits or "mistè" ("mysteries", actually the preferred term in Haiti), and many saints themselves are honored in Vodou in their own right. This syncretism allows Vodou to encompass the African, the Indian, and the European ancestors in a whole and complete way. It is truly a "Kreyòl" religion.

The most historically important Vodou ceremony in Haitian history was the Bwa Kayiman or Bois Caïman ceremony of August 1791 that began the Haitian Revolution, in which the spirit Ezili Dantor possessed a priestess and received a black pig as an offering, and all those present pledged themselves to the fight for freedom. This ceremony ultimately resulted in the liberation of the Haitian people from their French colonizers/exploiters in 1804, and the establishment of the first black people's republic in the history of the world.

Haitian Vodou grew in the United States to a significant degree beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the waves of Haitian immigrants fleeing the Duvalier regime, taking root in Miami, New York City, Chicago, and other major cities.

[edit]
Beliefs
Also see Haiti festivals the Haitian Vodouisants believe, in accordance with widespread African tradition, that there is one God who is the creator of all, referred to as "Bondye" (from the French "Bon Dieu" or "Good God", distinguished from the god of the whites in a dramatic speech by the houngan Boukman at Bwa Kayiman, but is often considered the same God the Roman Catholic Church talks about). Bondyè is distant from his/her/its creation though, and so it is the spirits or the "mysteries", "saints", or "angels" that the Vodouisant turns to for help, as well as to the ancestors. The Vodouisant worships God, and serves the spirits, who are treated with honor and respect as elder members of a household might be. There are said to be twenty-one nations or "nanchons" of spirits, also sometimes called "lwa-yo". Some of the more important nations of lwa are the Rada, the Nago, and the Kongo. The spirits also come in "families" that all share a surname, like Ogou, or Ezili, or Azaka or Ghede. For instance, "Ezili" is a family, Ezili Dantor and Ezili Freda are two individual spirits in that family. The Ogou family are soldiers, the Ezili govern the feminine spheres of life, the Azaka govern agriculture, the Ghede govern the sphere of death and fertility. In Dominican Vodou, there is also an Agua Dulce or "Sweet Waters" family, which encompasses all Amerindian spirits. There are literally hundreds of lwa. Well known individual lwa include Danbala Wedo, Papa Legba Atibon, and Agwe Tawoyo.

In Haitian Vodou, spirits are divided according to their nature in roughly two categories, whether they are hot or cool. Cool spirits fall under the Rada category, and hot spirits fall under the Petwo category. Rada spirits are familial and mostly come from Africa, Petwo spirits are mostly native to Haiti and are more demanding and require more attention to detail than the Rada, but both can be dangerous if angry or upset. Neither is "good" or "evil" in relation to the other.

Everyone is said to have spirits, and each person is considered to have a special relationship with one particular spirit who is said to "own their head", however each person may have many lwa, and the one that owns their head, or the "met tet", may or may not be the most active spirit in a person's life in Haitian belief.

In serving the spirits, the Vodouisant seeks to achieve harmony with their own individual nature and the world around them, manifested as personal power and resourcefulness in dealing with life. Part of this harmony is membership in and maintaining relationships within the context of family and community. A Vodou house or society is organized on the metaphor of an extended family, and initiates are the "children" of their initiators, with the sense of hierarchy and mutual obligation that implies.

Most Vodouisants are not initiated, referred to as being "bosal"; it is not a requirement to be an initiate in order to serve one's spirits. There are clergy in Haitian Vodou whose responsibility it is to preserve the rituals and songs and maintain the relationship between the spirits and the community as a whole (though some of this is the responsibility of the whole community as well). They are entrusted with leading the service of all of the spirits of their lineage. Priests are referred to as "Houngans" and priestesses as "Manbos". Below the houngans and manbos are the hounsis, who are initiates who act as assistants during ceremonies and who are dedicated to their own personal mysteries. One does not serve just any lwa but only the ones they "have" according to one's destiny or nature. Which spirits a person "has" may be revealed at a ceremony, in a reading, or in dreams. However all Vodouisants also serve the spirits of their own blood ancestors, and this important aspect of Vodou practice is often glossed over or minimized in importance by commentators who do not understand the significance of it. The ancestor cult is in fact the basis of Vodou religion, and many lwa like Agasou (formerly a king of Dahomey) for example are in fact ancestors who are said to have been raised up to divinity.

[edit]
Liturgy and Practice
After a day or two of preparation setting up altars, ritually preparing and cooking fowl and other foods, etc., a Haitian Vodou service begins with a series of Catholic prayers and songs in French, then a litany in Kreyòl and African "langaj" that goes through all the European and African saints and lwa honored by the house, and then a series of verses for all the main spirits of the house. This is called the "Priyè Gine" or the African Prayer. After more introductory songs, beginning with saluting the spirit of the drums named Hounto, the songs for all the individual spirits are sung, starting with the Legba family through all the Rada spirits, then there is a break and the Petwo part of the service begins, which ends with the songs for the Gede family. As the songs are sung spirits will come to visit those present by taking possession of individuals and speaking and acting through them. Each spirit is saluted and greeted by the initiates present and will give readings, advice and cures to those who approach them for help. Many hours later in the wee hours of the morning, the last song is sung, guests leave, and all the exhausted hounsis and houngans and manbos can go to sleep.

On the individual's household level, a Vodouisant or "sèvitè"/"serviteur" may have one or more tables set out for their ancestors and the spirit or spirits that they serve with pictures or statues of the spirits, perfumes, foods, and other things favored by their spirits. The most basic set up is just a white candle and a clear glass of water and perhaps flowers. On a particular spirit's day, one lights a candle and says an Our Father and Hail Mary, salutes Papa Legba and asks him to open the gate, and then one salutes and speaks to the particular spirit like an elder family member. Ancestors are approached directly, without the mediating of Papa Legba, since they are said to be "in the blood".

[edit]
Values and Ethics
The cultural values that Vodou embraces center around ideas of honor and respect - to God, to the spirits, to the family and society, and to oneself. There is a plural idea of proper and improper, in the sense that what is appropriate to someone with Dambala Wedo as their head may be different from someone with Ogou Feray as their head, for example.. one spirit is very cool and the other one is very hot. Coolness overall is valued, and so is the ability and inclination to protect oneself and one's own if necessary. Love and support within the family of the Vodou sosyete seems to be the most important consideration. Generosity in giving to the community and to the poor is also an important value. One's blessings come through the community and there is the idea that one should be willing to give back to it in turn. Since Vodou has such a community orientation, there are no "solitaries" in Vodou, only people separated geographically from their elders and house. A person without a relationship of some kind with elders will not be practicing Vodou as it is understood in Haiti and among Haitians.

The Haitian Vodou religion is an ecstatic rather than a fertility based tradition and does not discriminate against gay men and lesbian women or other queer people in any way. In fact there are hounfos or temples in Haiti whose clergy are entirely gay males or lesbians, etc. In Haitian Vodou the sexual orientation or gender identity and expression of a practitioner is of no concern in a ritual setting. It is seen as just the way God made a person. The spirits help each person to simply be the person that they are.

[edit]
Orthodoxy and Diversity
There is a diversity of practice in Vodou across the country of Haiti and the Haitian diaspora. For instance in the north of Haiti the sèvis tèt ("head washing") or kanzwe may be the only initiation, as it is in the Dominican Republic and Cuba, whereas in Port-au-Prince and the south they practice the kanzo rites with three grades of initiation – kanzo senp, si pwen, and asogwe – and the latter is the most familiar mode of practice outside of Haiti. Some lineages combine both, as Manbo Katherine Dunham reports from her personal experience in her book Island Possessed.

While the overall tendency in Vodou is very conservative in accord with its African roots, there is no singular, definitive form, only what is right in a particular house or lineage. Small details of service and the spirits served will vary from house to house, and information in books or on the internet therefore may seem contradictory. There is no central authority or "pope" in Haitian Vodou since "every manbo and houngan is the head of their own house", as a popular saying in Haiti goes. Another consideration in terms of Haitian diversity are the many sects besides the Sèvi Gine in Haiti such as the Makaya, Rara, and other secret societies, each of which has its own distinct pantheon of spirits.

[edit]
Survivals in the Southern US
A common saying is that Haiti is 80% Roman Catholic and 100% Vodou. In the southern United States, it has also influenced the system of folk magic and folk religion known as hoodoo which derives primarily from Congo and Angolan magical practices from Central Africa. The best survivals of possibly Haitian-influenced religion in the southern US, however, are most likely to be found within the African-American Spiritual Churches of New Orleans, a Christian sect founded by Mother Leafy Anderson in the early 20th century which incorporates Catholic iconography, ecstatic worship derived from Pentacostal forms, and spiritualism. A hallmark of the New Orleans Spiritual Churches is the honoring of the Native American spirit named Black Hawk.

[edit]
Myths and Misconceptions
Public relations-wise, Vodou has come to be associated in the popular mind with such phenomena as "zombies" and "voodoo dolls". While there is ethnobotanical evidence relating to "zombie" creation, it is a minor phenomenon within rural Haitian culture and not a part of the Vodou religion as such. Such things fall under the auspices of the "bokor" or sorcerer rather than the priest of the Lwa Gine.

The practice of sticking pins in "voodoo dolls" has been used as a method of cursing an individual by some followers of what has come to be called "New Orleans Voodoo", which is a local variant of hoodoo. This practice is not unique to New Orleans "voodoo" however and has as much basis in European-based magical devices such as the "poppet" as the nkisi or bocio of West and Central Africa. In fact it has more basis in European traditions, as the nkisi or bocio figures used in Africa are in fact power objects, what in Haiti would be referred to as pwen, rather than magical surrogates for an intended target of sorcery whether for boon or for bane. Such "voodoo" dolls are not a feature of Haitian religion, although dolls intended for tourists may be found in the Iron Market in Port au Prince. The practice became closely associated with the Vodou religions in the public mind through the vehicle of horror movies.

There is a practice in Haiti of nailing crude poppets with a discarded shoe on trees near the cemetery to act as messengers to the otherworld, which is very different in function from how poppets are portrayed as being used by "voodoo worshippers" in popular media and imagination, ie. for purposes of sympathetic magic towards another person. Another use of dolls in authentic Vodou practice is the incorporation of plastic doll babies in altars and objects used to represent or honor the spirits, or in pwen, which recalls the aforementioned use of bocio and nkisi figures in Africa. One Haitian artist particularly known for his unusual sacred constructions using doll parts is Pierrot Barra of Port au Prince.




[edit]
External links
The West African Spirituality, Mystic and Religion (http://www.pyramidofyeweh.org)
Open Directory Project Vodou, Vodun, Voodoo category (http://www.dmoz.org/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/African/Diasporic/Vodou,_Vodun,_Voodoo/)
Animisme au Bénin (http://www.bj.refer.org/benin_ct/tur/vodoun/vodoun.htm)
TRADITIONAL RELIGION IN AFRICA:THE VODUN PHENOMENON IN BENIN (http://www.afrikaworld.net/afrel/zinzindohoue.htm)
Haitian Religion, Ritual, and Tradition in Edwige Danticat's Breath, Eyes, Memory (http://www.geocities.com/chadofborg/breatheyesmemoryvaudou.html)
Vodou and Shamanism, Articles (http://www.VodouShaman.com)
-In Spanish, Vudu Congo y Magia Negra- An introduction to traditional Vodun and myth-debunking (http://webs.ono.com/usr007/bextrema/vudu/)
Vodou Shaman, book, Haitian Vodou (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/089281134X/ref=pd_pym_ka/103-3544604-2853467)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voodoo"

VODOUN (VOODOO)

VODOUN ("VOODOO")
THE RELIGIOUS PRACTICES OF SOUTHERN SLAVES IN AMERICA
A History of Religious Persecution and Suppressionby
Mamaissii “Zogbé” Vivian Hunter-Hindrew,Hounon Amengansie, M.Ed
"Papa"
"Vodoun/Hoodoo priest" in "gris-gris jacket" great-grandfather of Mamaissii “Zogbé” Vivian Hunter-Hindrew, (author)

"The West African slave trade, depleted some of the best minds taken fromthese African soils. Many were priests and priestesses,who were raided from remote villages, and taken to America."
Paraphrased quote taken from film presented to visitors to Elmina's Slave Castles in Ghana. 2001

Fig 1
Contrary to popular belief, the Africans enslaved to build the economic foundation of America were not Christians.1 During slavery, African-Americans were not even allowed to worship as Christians. 2 The builders of this great nation were practitioners of the various African Religions popularly known today as "Voodoo", (Vodoun) Akan, Ifa, Orisha, La Reglas de Congo, and Mami Wata . A small percentage were even (African-styled) Muslims3, incorporating ancestral veneration and family deities into their ritual practice.
These spiritual practices of the Africans enslaved in America, have their ancestral origins not from Haiti, Cuba, or the Americas, but directly from Dahomey ( Ewe [ev-way]), Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, the Congo, and other West African nations. The Spirits remained in their blood just as they did wherever the African was taken and enslaved in the New World 4
The West Africans also arrived in America speaking their native mother tongues, and were forbidden to learn English, or to read, including the Euro-Christian Bible. The Christian missionaries, (of whom the majority supported slavery), were not interested in actually teaching the tenets of Christianity to the enslaved Africans, but rather their primary focus was on civilizing them from their "idolatrous" ways, and making them compliant with their lamentable fate of chattel slavery. 5
On many southern plantations, it was even against the law for any enslaved African to pray to God. The slave owners greatly feared the spiritual powers that many enslaved African priests possessed. Those who were caught praying to God were often brutally penalized, as the following excerpt taken from Peter Randolph's 1893 narrative "Slave Cabin to the Pulpit" recounts:
In some places, if the slaves are caught praying to God, they are whipped more than if they had committed a great crime. The slaveholders will allow the slaves to dance, but do not want them to pray to God. Sometimes, when a slave, on being whipped, calls upon God, he is forbidden to do so, under threat of having his throat cut, or brains blown out. Oh, reader! this seems very hard- - that slaves cannot call on their Maker, when the case most needs it. Sometimes the poor slave takes courage to ask his master to let him pray, and is driven away, with the answer, that if discovered praying, his back will pay the bill.
Interestingly enough, many West Africans with an extensive history of pre-christian Talmudic (biblical) ritual knowledge and practice, even arrived in the Americas highly familiar with their own pre-Christian tales of the legend of "Moses" .6 They were not familiar with him as the christianized Moses who led the Jews to the promised land, but rather as"the great conjurer," in which he was revered and celebrated for centuries as the "bringer of the law."
In some locations, Moses was even worshiped as a God. As someone who wielded great power with the High God. A great and powerful elder who dwelt among humans. He was directly associated with the symbol of the rainbow, serpent deity Dan (or Damballa) of the Vodou Religion in Dahomey.
Rainbow Serpent Diety. Oldest manifestational form.The repository of the great Ancesters. Arara/Yeveh Vodoun. Augusta, GA. USA.
Though some forms of westernized Christianity made its way to many West African nations prior to the trans-Atlantic voyages, it effected little inroads into the lives of the millions of traditionalist Africans captured and enslaved in America. Thousands still continued to praise God, propitiate their ancestors and serve their tutelary and ancestral divinities.
"Snake Woman"
There was a woman that died. The night before she died, we was crossing Gilmore, and Moore Street, going to church and her snake got away. . . She kept two snakes in the house.[She] say she could send them anywhere she wanted to.
"Story told by Conjureman" Wilmington, N.C., Hyatt: Hoodoo, Conjuration, & Witchcraft. pg 66 Vol I.
Denied basic medical care, and distrustful of "modern medicine", millions of enslaved Africans in the South, still depended exclusively on the "root worker," for their medical and spiritual prescriptions to tend to their physical and spiritual needs. In the case of "Voodoo" (Vodoun), thousands more even performed secret rituals to their divinities of War, petitioning their aid in the numerous insurrections towards their liberation.
It was this latter ritual of African Religious practice, that incited the most fear and hatred in the hearts and minds of the slave owners, and American White citizenry. The slave owners learned only too well of the efficacy of its power.
This was so because "Voodoo's" (Vodoun) philosophical structure, and its ritual and cultural manifestation, emphasized the warrior gods who sustained and directly aided the Africans in their long struggle toward freedom. It was in this respect that the priesthood weld considerable power as they did in Africa.
I've Got A Way To "See" The Spirit
"I've got a way to see the spirit.If I am going any place in the night,I can walk along the road,and if anybody died in a house,and I pass that house out in the country,and I want to see whoever it was that died,I can spit on the ground in front of me,and hold up my arm, and look under there, and I can see whoever it is that died.If you look back, you can always see them hiding behind you.I have to look under my left arm,if I want see them before they scare me."
"Voodoo" woman". Sumter, South Carolina
AUTHOR'S NOTEMany African-Americans still possessed the "gifts of the"Voodoo" Spirits" in-spite of harsh laws prohibiting them from publicly honoring them as was done in Haiti.Their powers would rival so-called "modern-dayNew Agers"
Fig 2
As a result, an aggressive campaign was implemented to do away with African traditional religious practices once and for all. Heavy fines were often levied. Brutal forms of torture, severe beatings and even death was imposed on anyone caught practicing any from of the religion. Stringent laws were passed to prevent the Africans from speaking any African languages, building shrines, making ritual drums, or any musical instruments. Family members and neigbors were encouraged to "report" one another if caught practicing any form of the religion.
These draconian laws (which continued unabaited until well after Reconstruction), included prohibitions against organizing in public; and any other method by which the slave owners suspected they might be "working " their magic.
Many priests and priestess' were murdered, some escaped up North, and nearly all who refused to [later] "convert" to Christianity and could not escape, suffered intense spiritual alienation and anguish due to the neglect of their Ancestors and gods. Thousands resisted and continued their practices underground. Forcing a once historcially open and proud religio-culural tradition to develop the underserved reputation of being "dark, and sinister" in the West.
These medieval, and unconstitutional laws were so successful, that in less than one generation, the many priests and priestesses who were not murdered, were forced to practice underground, and the new generations of enslaved Afro-diaspora had developed a learned afro-hagiophobia: a pathological fear and irrational intimidation of African spiritual and esorteric science, ancestral veneration, and its ritual and cultural expressions. The simplist spirit manifestations that were once understood in their cosmological context, now "spooked" the newly conditioned generations of African-Americans.
My life story is that I am a gifted medium
I do a spiritual form of work. On this altar is a looking glass, and I must contact [the spirit] in a state of concentration . You must fast and pray and get in contact with a good spirit. Then I go before them and set my lights which my lights must be washed off with either holy water or blessed water in order to work. Then I must close the door and go in to what you would call a concentration[trance], and I then contact my "individual" [spirit].This chair is supposed to be consecrated and blessed by that individual [spirit] that uses this chair.
[Priestess], New Orleans, Lousiana
Fig. 3
This relentless campaign of maligning and actively suppressing African religions continued throughout the decades by the colonial [and later United States] government.
Replete with its racist imagery, and demeaning Hollywood stereotypes, "Voodoo" became the universal standard by which Christian evangelicals, racist anthropologists, educators and the general public used to clump, classify and categorically dismiss all African religious systems under colorful pejorative labels as "evil, crazed, sex-frenzied, idolatrous,cannibals, primitive, fetish worshiping, superstitious, demonic cults"-devoid of any meaningful moral foundation, social structure or philosophical/esoteric content.
Intentionally, mocked as "Voodoo", no clear distinctions were made between the ancestral religious traditions and its beneficent practices, and the "darker" maleficent traditions such as "socerey, conjuration, and witchcraft." Tantamount to the spiritual-genocidal equivalency of blending Satanism with Christianity proper.
Madam Collins
I'm a spiritual doctor.I know about this work.I am a "doctor" that "tricks."
The sacrifice that you offer up to "Jesus" [meaning Legba]Removes the Trick. For he is the "trick" giverAnd the Trick taker.
You consecrate your altar with a prayer.In that room I wear white robes.I wear a white cap-like hat.It just fits your head. . .That prevents the work from "dying" your head.It turns your hair gray.This work will age you.
[I] get plenty of work from White people.They can't get to a man [Episcopal Priest] like you.They come to some of us, who they think and heard is the best.
[priestess], Memphis, Tennessee
Fig. 4
Because the African diaspora welded no significant economic, or political clout, and most of what remained of its priesthood duly maligned and discredited, it became nearly impossible to present the true spiritual reality of what Vodou actually is, and its profound importance to the spiritual sustenance of the African diaspora.
Ancestral and spirit "callings" that manifested in their traditional modes, went unheeded, many lacking the philosophical/ ritual knowledge and expertise to tend to them. This would often escalate and deterioate into mental illness, family dysfunction, drug addiction, violent outbursts, alcoholism, suicide, and other forms of self-destructive behavior.
Even today, much of the ongoing social malaise, psychic and mental confusion, and spiritual pathology that many in the diaspora are experiencing, may be directly related to their dis-connectedness from the very gods and ancestors who are inextricably connected to their soul and psyche, but many have now, through centuries of conditioning, ignorance, fear and shame have learned to mock and avoid. Many try unsuccessfully to seek solace in other Western spiritual practices and Eastern traditions, with little understanding of the reasons why they have found no home or peace.
I Am A Shield Man
I'm a Shield Man,Nothing can hurt [hoodoo] me but a lick (punch)A Brickbat-A Pistol-or a Knife.
I can take a deck of cards and tell anybodymore than they want to know.
Not only take a deck of cardsI can take a cup and tell anybody anything they want to know
I can walk along the street and look at a personand tell whether they are "hurt" [hoodoo-ed] or not
I Am Your Black Jesus.
Lindsay-"Voodoo" priest, Richmond, Virginia (1970?)
Fig 5
In America, though many of the traditional ritual and ceremonial practices of "Voodoo" were lost, most of its healing, divinatory, and spirit manifestational elements , were later forced to merge into the magico-botanical practices of what came to be known derisively as "Hoodoo."
It is vitally important for the African-diaspora to understand that absence of the public expression of a religion does not negate ones ancestral lineage nor birth-right. The "Voodoo" is still present in the blood of those whose ancestors are born from it. They have never forgotten their children or rightful heirs. Thousands are still being born today carrying the Spiritual lineages of the ancestors. Many have lost the knoweldge of what to look for.
More than five volumes of this powerful oral tradition of our African-American ancestors spiritual mastery and God-given gifts has re-surfaced, leaving a powerful legacy to their descendants. A legacy not borne from Haiti, nor any other region, but the United States of America. A powerful testament to their lingering presence and gift to us of this ancient religion as their heir and true descendants who now carry their spirits.
Fig 6
African Traditional Religions with over 50 million open adherents, world-wide, are becoming the fastest growing religions in the world. Religious traditions that harbor no history of violent inquisitions, persecution of others, nor coercive proselytizing.
This is so because they are at their fundemental and cosmological core ancestal religions, of spiritual growth and transformation thru the gudiance, wisdom and earned power of ones immediate and divine African Ancestors and their appointed divinities.
Today, it is up to all to lift centuries of racist labeling, sterotypes, and mistruths about these powerfully transforming spiritual systems.

VODUN

Vodun is sometimes called Voodoo, Vodoun, Vodou. Religions related to Vodun are: Candomble, Lucumi, Macumba, and Yoruba)
General background:
Vodun (a.k.a. Vodoun, Voudou, Voodoo, Sevi Lwa) is commonly called Voodoo by the public. The name is traceable to an African word for "spirit". Vodun's can be directly traced to the West African Yoruba people who lived in 18th and 19th century Dahomey. Its roots may go back 6,000 years in Africa. That country occupied parts of today's Togo, Benin and Nigeria. Slaves brought their religion with them when they were forcibly shipped to Haiti and other islands in the West Indies.
Vodun was actively suppressed during colonial times. "Many Priests were either killed or imprisoned, and their shrines destroyed, because of the threat they posed to Euro-Christian/Muslim dominion. This forced some of the Dahomeans to form Vodou Orders and to create underground societies, in order to continue the veneration of their ancestors, and the worship of their powerful gods." 1 Vodun was again suppressed during the Marxist regime. However, it has been freely practiced in Benin since a democratic government was installed there in 1989. Vodun was formally recognized as Benin's official religion in 1996-FEB. It is also followed by most of the adults in Haiti. It can be found in many of the large cities in North America, particularly in the American South.
Today over 60 million people practice Vodun worldwide. Religions similar to Vodun can be found in South America where they are called Umbanda, Quimbanda or Candomble.
Today, there are two virtually unrelated forms of the religion:
the actual religion, Vodun practiced in Benin, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Haiti, Togo and various centers in the US - largely where Haitian refuges have settled.
an evil, imaginary religion, which we will call Voodoo. It has been created for Hollywood movies, complete with "voodoo dolls", violence, bizarre rituals, etc. It does not exist in reality, except in the minds of most non-Voduns.
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History of Vodun in the west:
Slaves were baptized into the Roman Catholic Church upon their arrival in Haiti and other West Indian islands. However, there was little Christian infrastructure present during the early 19th century to maintain the faith. The result was that the slaves largely followed their original native faith. This they practiced in secret, even while attending Mass regularly.
An inaccurate and sensational book (S. St. John, "Haiti or the Black Republic") was written in 1884. It described Vodun as a profoundly evil religion, and included lurid descriptions of human sacrifice, cannibalism, etc., some of which had been extracted from Vodun priests by torture. This book caught the imagination of people outside the West Indies, and was responsible for much of the misunderstanding and fear that is present today. Hollywood found this a rich source for Voodoo screen plays. Horror movies began in the 1930's and continue today to misrepresent Vodun. It is only since the late 1950's that accurate studies by anthropologists have been published.
Other religions (Macumba, Candomble, Umbanda and Santeria) bear many similarities to Vodun.
Vodun beliefs:
Vodun, like Christianity, is a religion of many traditions. Each group follows a different spiritual path and worships a slightly different pantheon of spirits, called Loa. The word means "mystery" in the Yoruba language.
Yoruba traditional belief included a chief God Olorun, who is remote and unknowable. He authorized a lesser God Obatala to create the earth and all life forms. A battle between the two Gods led to Obatala's temporary banishment.
There are hundreds of minor spirits. Those which originated from Dahomey are called Rada; those who were added later are often deceased leaders in the new world and are called Petro. Some of these are
Agwe: spirit of the sea
Aida Wedo: rainbow spirit
Ayza: protector
Baka: an evil spirit who takes the form of an animal
Baron Samedi: guardian of the grave
Dambala (or Damballah-wedo): serpent spirit
Erinle: spirit of the forests
Ezili (or Erzulie): female spirit of love
Mawu Lisa: spirit of creation
Ogou Balanjo: spirit of healing
Ogun (or Ogu Bodagris): spirit of war
Osun: spirit of healing streams
Sango (or Shango): spirit of storms
Yemanja: female spirit of waters
Zaka (or Oko): spirit of agriculture
There are a number of points of similarity between Roman Catholicism and Vodun:
Both believe in a supreme being.
The Loa resemble Christian Saints, in that they were once people who led exceptional lives, and are usually given a single responsibility or special attribute.
Both believe in an afterlife.
Both have, as the centerpiece of some of their ceremonies, a ritual sacrifice and consumption of flesh and blood.
Both believe in the existence of invisible evil spirits or demons.
Followers of Vodun believe that each person has a met tet (master of the head) which corresponds to a Christian's patron saint.
Followers of Vodun believe that each person has a soul which is composed of two parts: a gros bon ange or "big guardian angel", and a ti bon ange or "little guardian angel". The latter leaves the body during sleep and when the person is possessed by a Loa during a ritual. There is a concern that the ti bon ange can be damaged or captured by evil sorcery while it is free of the body.
Vodun rituals:
The purpose of rituals is to make contact with a spirit, to gain their favor by offering them animal sacrifices and gifts, to obtain help in the form of more abundant food, higher standard of living, and improved health. Human and Loa depend upon each other; humans provide food and other materials; the Loa provide health, protection from evil spirits and good fortune. Rituals are held to celebrate lucky events, to attempt to escape a run of bad fortune, to celebrate a seasonal day of celebration associated with a Loa, for healing, at birth, marriage and death.
Vodun priests can be male (houngan or hungan), or female (mambo). A Vodun temple is called a hounfour (or humfort). At its center is a poteau-mitan a pole where the God and spirits communicate with the people. An altar will be elaborately decorated with candles, pictures of Christian saints, symbolic items related to the Loa, etc. Rituals consist of some of the following components:
a feast before the main ceremony
creation of a veve, a pattern of flour or cornmeal on the floor which is unique to the Loa for whom the ritual is to be conducted
shaking a rattle and beating drums which have been cleansed and purified
chanting
dancing by the houngan and/or mambo and the hounsis (students studying Vodun). The dancing will typically build in intensity until one of the dancers (usually a hounsis) becomes possessed by a Loa and falls. His or her ti bon ange has left their body and the spirit has taken control. The possessed dancer will behave as the Loa and is treated with respect and ceremony by the others present.
animal sacrifice; this may be a goat, sheep, chicken, or dog. They are usually humanely killed by slitting their throat; blood is collected in a vessel. The possessed dancer may drink some of the blood. The hunger of the Loa is then believed to be satisfied. The animal is usually cooked and eaten. Animal sacrifice is a method of consecrating food for consumption by followers of Vodun, their gods and ancestors.

Evil sorcery:
The houngan and mambos confine their activities to "white" magic which is used to bring good fortune and healing. However caplatas (also known as bokors) perform acts of evil sorcery or black magic, sometimes called "left-handed Vodun". Rarely, a houngan will engage in such sorcery; a few alternate between white and dark magic.
One belief unique to Vodun is that a dead person can be revived after having been buried. After resurrection, the zombie has no will of their own, but remains under the control of others. In reality, a zombie is a living person who has never died, but is under the influence of powerful drugs administered by an evil sorcerer. Although most Haitians believe in zombies, few have ever seen one. There are a few recorded instances of persons who have claimed to be zombies.
Sticking pins in "voodoo dolls" was once used as a method of cursing an individual by some followers of Vodun in New Orleans; this practice continues occasionally in South America. The practice became closely associated with Voodoo in the public mind through the vehicle of horror movies.
Internet resources used:
"West African Dahomean Vodoun: Historical background," at: http://www.mamiwata.com/history1.html
Voodoo Authentica of New Orleans' website at http://www.voodooshop.com contains information about Voodoo, and provides a free service by which individuals can Email questions. They sell Louisiana folk art, including Voodoo dolls, Gris Gris bags, Ju-Ju's, Spells, Potion Oils, etc. They also provide spiritual work and consultations by experienced practitioners, and convention & special event planning.
The Vodun Page at http://members.aol.com/racine125/index.html is a good introduction to Vodun.
A Web page titled "Voodoo: From Medicine to Zombies" has a description of some Vodun altars, and a mythological dictionary. See: http://www.nando.net/prof/caribe/voodoo.html for more information about Vodun.
A Web page titled "Vodun Culture" has a glossary of Vodun terms, descriptions of songs and dances, and a list of Vodun loa with their corresponding duties, colors and symbols. See: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/5319
An unmoderated forum, alt.religion.orisha was started in 1996-FEB for the discussion of African-based and derived belief systems throughout the African Diaspora. This includes: Candomble, Fon, Hoodoo, Macumba Arara, Palo, Santeria, Yoruba Orisha and Voudun. Some of the expected topics include: recent books, scholarly articles and tapes, ethnography, information on acquisition and use of herbs in ritual practice, ritual music, instruments and dance, divination systems, the changing role of traditional practice in modern times, the law and repression of ritual practices.
Le Peristyle Haitian Sanctuary has a web site at: www.leperistylehaitiansanctuary.com. They sponsor the National African Religion Congress (NARC World), and are located in Philadelphia, PA. They offer spiritual readings, spiritual baths, messages from the loa, religious retreats, ceremonies, literature, as well as cultural and social events
A quarterly newsletter for beginners in Santeria/Voodoo/African Traditions is available from bpantry@tiac.net
Branwen's Pantry, a mail order store specializing in supplies for Santeria and similar religions is at: http://www.tiac.net/users/bpantry/
"Voodoo" contains many links at: http://shecat.freeservers.com/6c.html
"West African Dahomean Vodoun: The world's oldest nature religion," at: http://www.mamiwata.com/
"Vodou," is a web site by Bon Mambo Racine Sans Bout Sa Te La Daginen. See: http://members.aol.com/racine125/index1.html

Origins of Voodoo

Origins of Voodoo
Voodoo is a derivative of the world’s oldest known religions which have been around in Africa since the beginning of human civilization. Some conservative estimates these civilizations and religions to be over 10 000 years old. This then identify Voodoo as probably the best example of African syncretism in the Americas. Although its essential wisdom originated in different parts of Africa long before the Europeans started the slave trade, the structure of Voodoo, as we know it today, was born in Haiti during the European colonization of Hispaniola. Ironically, it was the enforced immigration of enslaved African from different ethnic groups that provided the circumstances for the development of Voodoo. European colonists thought that by desolating the ethnic groups, these could not come together as a community. However, in the misery of slavery, the transplanted Africans found in their faith a common thread.
They began to invoke not only their own Gods, but to practice rites other than their own. In this process, they comingled and modified rituals of various ethnic groups. The result of such fusion was that the different religious groups integrated their beliefs, thereby creating a new religion: Voodoo. The word "voodoo" comes from the West African word "vodun," meaning spirit. This Afro-Caribbean religion mixed practices from many African ethnics groups such as the Fon, the Nago, the Ibos, Dahomeans, Congos, Senegalese, Haussars, Caplaous, Mondungues, Mandinge, Angolese, Libyans, Ethiopians, and the Malgaches.
The Essence of Voodoo
Within the voodoo society, there are no accidents. Practitioners believe that nothing and no event has a life of its own. That is why "vous deux", you two, you too. The universe is all one. Each thing affects something else. Scientists know that. Nature knows it. Many spiritualists agree that we are not separate, we all serve as parts of One. So, in essence, what you do unto another, you do unto you, because you ARE the other. Voo doo. View you. We are mirrors of each others souls. God is manifest through the spirits of ancestors who can bring good or harm and must be honored in ceremonies. There is a sacred cycle between the living and the dead. Believers ask for their misery to end. Rituals include prayers, drumming, dancing, singing and animal sacrifice.
The serpent figures heavily in the Voodoo faith. The word Voodoo has been translated as "the snake under whose auspices gather all who share the faith". The high priest and/or priestess of the faith (often called Papa or Maman) are the vehicles for the expression of the serpent's power. The supreme deity is Bon Dieu. There are hundreds of spirits called Loa who control nature, health, wealth and happiness of mortals. The Loa form a pantheon of deities that include Damballah, Ezili, Ogu, Agwe, Legba and others. During Voodoo ceremonies these Loa can possess the bodies of the ceremony participants. Loa appear by "possessing" the faithful, who in turn become the Loa, relaying advice, warnings and desires. Voodoo is an animist faith. That is, objects and natural phenomena are believed to possess holy significance, to possess a soul. Thus the Loa Agwe is the divine presence behind the hurricane.
Music and dance are key elements to Voodoo ceremonies. Ceremonies were often termed by whites "Night Dancing" or "Voodoo Dancing". This dancing is not simply a prelude to sexual frenzy, as it has often been portrayed. The dance is an expression of spirituality, of connection with divinity and the spirit world.
Voodoo is a practical religion, playing an important role in the family and the community. One's ancestors, for instance, are believed to be a part of the world of the spirits, of the Loas, and this is one way that Voodoo serves to root its participants in their own history and tradition. Another practical aspect of Voodoo ceremonies is that participants often come before the priest or priestess to seek advice, spiritual guidance, or help with their problems. The priest or priestess then, through divine aid, offer help such as healing through the use of herbs or medicines (using knowledge that has been passed down within the religion itself), or healing through faith itself as is common in other religions. Voodoo teaches a respect for the natural world.
Unfortunately, the public’s perception of voodoo rites and rituals seems often to point to the evil or malicious side of things. There are healing spells, nature spells, love spells, purification spells, joyous celebration spells. Spirits may be invoked to bring harmony and peace, birth and rebirth, increased abundance of luck, material happiness, renewed health.The fact is, for those who believe it, voodoo is powerful. It is also empowering to the person who practices it.
Voodoo and its fight to survive.
Despite Voodoo's noble status as one of the worlds oldest religions, it has been typically characterized as barbaric, primitive, sexually licentious practice based on superstition and spectacle. Much of this image however, is due to a concerted effort by Europeans, who have a massive fear of anything African, to suppress and distort a legitimate and unique religion that flourished among their enslaved Africans. When slavers brought these peoples across the ocean to the Americas, the African's brought their religion with them. However, since slavery included stripping the slaves of their language, culture, and heritage, this religion had to take some different forms. It had to be practiced in secret, since in some places it was punishable by death, and it had to adapt to the loss of their African languages. In order to survive, Voodoo also adopted many elements of Christianity. When the French who were the colonizers of Haiti, realized that the religion of the Africans was a threat to the colonial system, they prohibited all African religion practices and severely punished the practitioners of Voodoo with imprisonment, lashings and hangings. This religious struggle continued for three centuries, but none of the punishments could extinguished the faith of the Africans. This process of acculturation helped Voodoo to grow under harsh cultural conditions in many areas of the Americas. Voodoo survives as a legitimate religion in a number of areas of the world, Brazil where it is called "Candomblé" and the English speaking Caribbean where it is called “Obeah”. The Ewe people of southern Togo and southeastern Ghana -- two countries in West Africa -- are devout believers. In most of the United States however, white slavers were successful in stripping slaves of their Voodoo traditions and beliefs. Thus Voodoo is, for most African Americans, yet another part of their heritage that they can only try to re-discover.
The Power of Voodoo
The strength that the Africans in Haiti gained from their religion was so strong and powerful, that they were able to survive the cruel persecution of the French rulers against Voodoo. It was in the midst of this struggle that the revolution was conspired. The Voodoo priests consulted their oracle and learned how the political battle would have to be fought in order for them to be victorious. The revolution exploded in 1791 with a Petr— ritual and continued until 1804 when the Haitians finally won independence. Today the system of Voodoo reflects its history. We can see the African ethnic mixture in the names of different rites and in the pantheon of Gods or Loas, which is composed of deities from all parts of Africa.
Haiti's government officially sanctioned voodoo as a religion
Thursday April 10, 2003.
Haiti's government has officially sanctioned voodoo as a religion, allowing practitioners to begin performing ceremonies from baptisms to marriages with legal authority.
Many who practice voodoo praised the move, but said much remains to be done to make up for centuries of ridicule and persecution in the Caribbean country and abroad.
Voodoo priest Philippe Castera said he hopes the government's decree is more than an effort to win popularity amid economic and political troubles.
"In spite of our contribution to Haitian culture, we are still misunderstood and despised," said Castera, 48.
In an executive decree issued last week, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide invited voodoo adherents and organizations to register with the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
After swearing an oath before a civil judge, practitioners will be able to legally conduct ceremonies such as marriages and baptisms, the decree said.
Aristide, a former Roman Catholic priest, has said he recognizes voodoo as a religion like any other, and a voodoo priestess bestowed a presidential sash on him at his first inauguration in 1991.
"An ancestral religion, voodoo is an essential part of national identity," and its institutions "represent a considerable portion" of Haiti's 8.3 million people, Aristide said in the decree.
Voodoo practitioners believe in a supreme God and spirits who link the human with the divine. The spirits are summoned by offerings that include everything from rum to roosters.
Though permitted by Haiti's 1987 constitution, which recognizes religious equality, many books and films have sensationalized voodoo as black magic based on animal and human sacrifices to summon zombies and evil spirits.
"It will take more than a government decree to undo all that malevolence," Castera said, and suggested that construction of a central voodoo temple would "turn good words into a good deed."
There are no reliable statistics on the number of adherents, but millions in Haiti place faith in voodoo. The religion evolved from West African beliefs and developed further among slaves in the Caribbean who adopted elements of Catholicism.
Voodoo is an inseparable part of Haitian art, literature, music and film. Hymns are played on the radio and voodoo ceremonies are broadcast on television along with Christian services.
But for centuries voodoo has been looked down upon as little more than superstition, and at times has been the victim of ferocious persecution. A campaign led by the Catholic church in the 1940s led to the destruction of temples and sacred objects.
In 1986, following the fall of Jean-Claude Duvalier's dictatorship, hundreds of voodoo practitioners were killed on the pretext that they had been accomplices to Duvalier's abuses.
Priest at Voodoo Healing Hospital, Togo
At a Voodoo hospital in Togo, this priest acts as an intermediary between a deity and patient. The highest state of being for a Voodoo believer involves complete abandonment to the spirit of a particular deity. When a worshipper enters this ecstatic state, his or her body is possessed by the deity, who then speaks and acts through that individual.
Once every three years, in a palm grove by the sea, on the border of Ghana and Togo, thousands of Voodoo followers gather for a spectacular seven-day celebration called Kokuzahn, honoring their deity, Flimani Koku, the ancient warrior god. In the past, Koku guaranteed protection in combat and invincibility in battle, but today he provides defense against witchcraft and evil. The festival begins with pulsating Voodoo drum rhythms that send dancers spinning into intense states of possession. In these altered states they exhibit strength and endurance beyond normal capacity, oblivious to what they are doing and who they are. Considered miracles, these superhuman feats defy credibility and demonstrate the extraordinary power of their deity.
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