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A Brief Introduction To Voodoo: 10 Facts

A Brief Introduction To Voodoo: 10 Facts

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Major Hollywood movies have been made about it, and its pin dolls are often sold as gag gifts to recent divorcees, but voodoo is, for the most part, a very mysterious tradition. Here is a brief insight into the eerie but perhaps powerful practice, from Listverse.com.

telegraph.co.uk
telegraph.co.uk

There are three different kinds

There are three places where people still largely practice voodoo: West Africa, Haiti and Louisiana. Nearly 30 million people practice African voodoo today.Louisiana voodoo was brought in from West Africa, but was shaped mostly by Spanish and French settlers. Haitian voodoo finds its influences from the French and in Christianity.

Christ_Church_Cathedral_Lagos

It’s similar to Christianity in many ways

Louisiana and Haitian voodoo incorporate several Christian figures, traditions, images and beliefs and many of the main voodoo figures sound remarkably similar to Christian figures. Aido Wedo is a virgin, and the guardian gatekeeper Legba bares a striking resemblance to St. Peter. Some places that practice voodoo call the spirits by the same names as Catholic saints.

patdollard.com
patdollard.com

The pope condones it

The similarities between Christianity and voodoo are so undeniable, that Christianity does not reject voodoo in the least, and in many places, practitioners of both religions live happily side-by-side. Pope John Paul II even spoke about his respect for voodoo, and attended a voodoo ceremony in 1993.

lovespells.me
lovespells.me

 

Voodoo dolls aren’t only used for bad

In mainstream films you see possessors of the doll stabbing it with a pin, in the hopes that that pain will transfer to the person the doll represents. In actuality, the pin is used to attach items closely affiliated with the person in question—like a lock of hair or patch of clothing belonging to them—and other items are added like garlic, flower, petals, perfumes and more depending on what the possessor of the doll would like the voodoo spirits to do to the person in question.

nationalartsprogram.org
nationalartsprogram.org

Marie Laveau

Laveau is something of a priestess with plenty of rumor surrounding her name. Some believe she may have killed her first husband, but many go to her for counseling and even a haircut. Her job as a hairdresser gained her access to some very big figures in New Orleans, who she would get lots of information from on other big figures in the area. Many wondered, when something very bad or very good happened to a person in power, whether or not Laveau was behind it. One thing was for certain; Laveau was a wonderful philanthropist who did a lot of work with the homeless, the hungry and the sick.

news.bbc.co.uk
news.bbc.co.uk

Practitioners are not the ones in power

Contrary to popular belief, those who practice voodoo do not possess some enormous power. Rather, they’re servants to voodoo spirits. Voodoo priests and priestesses have to go through extensive training before they can even try to communicate with spirits.

pbase.com
pbase.com

It’s mostly used for healing

You might have believed voodoo was mostly used to harm people, but actually its main use is to heal. Most practitioners use voodoo to summon spirits to aid in the healing of the sick and the injured.

hardrainproject.com
hardrainproject.com

There isn’t ‘good’ voodoo and ‘bad’ voodoo

There isn’t “black” magic as you may have heard, and in contrast there isn’t “white” magic. In fact, when someone conjures a voodoo spirit for ill doing, that’s called red magic and that’s because when someone conjures an evil spirit and is possessed by it, their eyes allegedly turn red. Legitimate practitioners work to stop red magic.

sorac.net
sorac.net

 

The trio of powers

Another thing voodoo has in common with Christianity is three main figures; the single God who is an obscure but all-knowing presence, the loa, which are spirits that interact with people, and the people themselves.

snake
National Geographic

Snakes

The reason you often see images of snakes in voodoo is because the religion believes Danballa, a serpent god, created earth out of his skin and coils. Danballa is a protector of the helpless, young children, the handicapped and the deformed and brings souls of the deceased to the afterlife.