Also called vodun or vodou, voodoo is a religion originating from West Africa and combines an ancient belief system with the saints and rituals of the Catholic church. Saints from each belief system are often petitioned in pairs in order to tap to the powers of both heaven and the spirit world (1)
Voodoo Religious Practices
Voodoo cults worship a high god Bon Dieu, ancestors and spirits called loa or lwa, which are associated with Catholic saints (2). Worship of the pantheon of spirits called loa or lwa is central to voodoo. The loa act as intermediaries between devotees and the almighty offer protection and counsel in exchange for payment: devotees feed the spirits and perform sacrifices. The lwa’s energy must be replenished, so offerings of food must be provided prior to making a request for counsel or assistance (3).
Elements of Catholicism in voodoo include the use of candles, bells, crosses, prayers, baptism and making the sing of the cross (2). Devotees attend ceremonies at the hounfor (temple) led by a onungan/houngan (priest) during which they engage in a ritual and invoke the loa via singing, sacred drumming, dancing with the aim of entering a trancelike state and summoning loa to ride them, taking possession of their bodies and providing advice or healing. Other outward signs of spirit possession can include seizures, trembling and/or speaking in tongues. The spirit occupies the body and animates it, causing the possessed behaves in a manner characteristic of the spirit possessing him/her. People who are possessed may black out and are not aware of what is happening (4).
Is Voodoo Evil?
Most voodoo practitioners seek only healing and protection. However, there are voodoo practitioners of black magic, known as bokors (sorcerers or priests). Bokors are skilled in the use of poisons. Contrary to popular belief, zombification is not the process of raising someone from the dead. Rather, it is achieved by administering a form of poison which makes the person appear to be dead which results in him/her being buried and under the control of the bokor who disinters him/her (3). They petition petro-loa (demons), in order to invoke black magic. Bokors who practice necromancy (necromancers) or death conjure petition the loa Baron Samedi, in the cemetery at night by lighting a black candle as well as prayers and offering, to summon the dead or rectify infertility or to heal the sick (4).
- Alvarado, D. 2020. The Magic of Marie Laveau.
- Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia.
- Olmos, M. F. & Paravisini-Gebert, L. 2003. Creole Religions of the Carribean.
- Anderson, J.E. 2015. The Voodoo Encyclopedia.