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Mah Vodou 101 Article
Jun. 30th, 2009 10:50 pm
I'm not an initiate and I currently do not practice but I've been studying Vodou and Santeria since I was 12. I don't go further than what I'm doing because honestly, the lwa have indicated to me that they would really like me to be more dedicated and I just don't have the kind of life where I can offer myself to them. If I'd stayed single, I would probably be an initiate, and maybe someday if I get a divorce or become a widow, I'll put myself out there. But in the meantime I can further the cause of Vodou by being a PR agent :D
This is just the most basic stuff, which is probably widely available online and in bookstores, but why crawl the internet when I can put it all in one handy-dandy location?
A Brief Introduction to Vodou
Vodou is probably the most well known religion that developed from the African Diaspora. The African Diaspora was the dispersion of African culture created by the slave trade, and the African Diasporic religions are the ones that developed from the traditional African religions as the people settled and integrated into their new locations. Many people classify the African Diaspora outside Paganism, and they are not widely understood or accepted. They seem so interlinked with Catholicism as to be some strange offshoot of Christianity. Some of the other African Diasporic religions include Santeria or Lukumi, (Cuba & South America), Candomble or Macumba (Brazil) and Obeah (Jamaican). Vodou in its original form is still alive and well throughout Africa and has been declared the official religion of Benin.
Even in our age of communication and rapid access to information, Vodou is glamorized beyond recognition in the media and feared by many people. Many people, especially animal-rights activists, are uncomfortable with the role of animal sacrifice in Vodou, and I’ve met many Wiccans who decry it for that same reason, quoting ‘an it harm none’ Vodou is a beautiful and living religion steeped in centuries of culture, tradition… and to be fair, blood - the blood of slaves.
Vodou is monotheistic, but the Creator God, known by many names, most commonly ‘Bon Dieu or Bondye, is distanced from His/Her/Its creations. It is up to the spirits of the ancestors and the lwa (also Vodu, loa or Les Mysteres as lwa means ‘mystery’) to be the intermediaries between God and humankind. It is a practical, down-to-earth religion, more concerned with solving problems than enlightenment and union with the Divine.
Most of the information available about Vodou in America is New Orleans Voodoo. N’Awlins Voodoo is distilled from traditional practices of Central & Western Africa, primarily the Fon, Benin and Yoruban people, during the 17 & 1800s, carried across the ocean to Haiti, where it became syncretized with Catholicism and the indigenous Haitian native practices, and finally dispersed into the teeming port city of New Orleans where it picked up practices found in European witchcraft, local folk magic and shamanic practices of the southeastern Native American tribes. Haitian and New Orleans Vodou are more focused on magic than their older African relatives.
Some of the more misunderstood aspects of Vodou include:
Possession
o Vodou is an ecstatic or ‘charismatic’ religion. The rituals involve extended drumming and dancing that induce altered states of consciousness. While in these states, the participants often play host to the spirits of ancestors and the lwa. During this time, it is said they are being ‘ridden’ by the lwa. It is usually full possession where the spirit subsumes the personality of their ‘horse’.
o Other participants will know which lwa is riding the horse by their mannerisms or by things they ask for – a lwa associated with love, romance and prostitution may mount a man & want to be doused in perfume and wear gold earrings and a dress – that’s Erzulie; the Ghede, a family of lwa also called the Barons, will want a top hat, a cane and make lewd jokes for they are the rulers of death and sex. The horse may display feats of unusual strength by lifting other participants into the air and tossing them around, placing hot coals in their mouths, firewalking, drinking strong rum (clairin) that’s had hot peppers steeping in it (sometimes, when possessed by certain lwa, the horse will pour this mixture into their eyes or onto their genitals). Generally, the lwa does not harm the horse, but may pass messages to other people to give to the horse when the ride is over.
Voodoo dolls
o Voodoo dolls are not a part of Vodou at all. In some African traditions, a doll is kept as a pwen, nkisi or bocio, which is closer to a fetish or power object. A twin who has lost their brother or sister may also carry a doll as an effigy of the departed, since in many of those cultures it is bad luck to be separated from one’s twin, even by death. It is generally believed that Voodoo dolls became associated with Vodou after African slaves were exposed to poppets used in European folk magic. The dolls may also have been used to make threats towards or intimidate plantation slave owners but were not a normal part of magical practices.
Animal sacrifice
o Yes, there is a lot of animal sacrifice done at Vodou rituals. It is not a murderous destructive rampage, though – all the lwa are hungry and want to be fed. Once the lwa are fed, the community is fed. Animals are not left to rot – this is a religion from poor people who certainly would not waste food in this manner. The only exception might be if the animal was sacrificed to aid the curing of a bad disease or remove a particularly malignant hex, in which case it might not be spiritually safe for people to consume.
o The lwa are picky eaters. Damballah (he is the ‘Serpent’ of ‘The Serpent & the Rainbow’) is almost as old as Bondye, and very pure. He will accept only the cleanest, whitest foods like rice, pure white flour, a white egg, a pure white hen. Other lwa want black goats, or red chickens… Papa Legba, who is a child and an old man all at the same time, prefers candy. Almost all the lwa like a fine cigar and rum.
Bokors
o Bokors are the black magicians of Vodou. These are the people you pay to kill your enemies, dry up your rival businesses, harm your competition, make zombies out of your least favorite in-law… and yes, they do exist. In traditional Africa, the bokor had an important social role to play – the bokor could safely carry out revenge and justice, which often involved violating taboos, without worrying about becoming tainted. The bokor could freely speak with the recently deceased as well. As Vodou carried over to Haiti and politics invaded Vodou, the bokor’s role became less altruistic and the modern version of a bokor is that of a magical (and often not-so-magical) assassin.
Secret Societies
o There are numerous ‘societies’ associated with Haitian Vodou, not so much in New Orleans Voodoo or African Vodou. Most of these societies took the form of vigilante groups and gangs, and only had loose ties to the religion itself. The more benign societies acted as underground railroad stops for slaves and political prisoners escaping from Haiti, and mothers could use them as a threat to bring unruly children back into line. Some were also ‘neighborhood watch’ groups who used anonymity and social status to bring unruly community members back in line.
o The Ton Ton Macoute was a militant secret society that were most well known for their role as a corrupt public militia in the dictatorship of Francois ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier.
Zombies
o Probably some of the greatest misunderstanding has arisen over the creation of zombies (nzambi or zombi). Zombis are not people who have died and then been resurrected by a bokor. In more traditional areas, they are people who have committed a wrong against their community and are forced into servitude through careful use of social conditioning, drugs, torture and brainwashing. Sometimes these people are either forgotten by their families or forgiven, but they usually cannot reintegrate back into their communities once released from their servitude. In a strange twist of charity, some families will adopt a stranger who is possibly schizophrenic or otherwise mentally disabled & unable to care for themselves, claiming the person is a zombified relative who finally returned from the bokor.
o Two of the more famous zombies who ‘returned from the dead’ are Clairvius Narcisse & Ti Femme, popularized by Wade Davis’ Serpent & the Rainbow. Much of Davis’ research on the drugs used for zombification has been called into question but it is not the drugs alone that create the zombi.
Hoodoo
o Hoodoo is the folk magic practices of Voodoo – at least here in America. Hoodoo usually involves the use of charms and fetish items like herbs, stones, feathers, etc. & pouches imbued with energy or ‘power’ called gris gris (gree-gree) bags. Juju is beneficial, mojo is generally self-serving or malignant. Both juju and mojo is the power driving the spell or enchantment that the gris gris holds. Another word for hoodoo is ‘conjure’ – there are conjure men or conjure women, and also ‘those who work the root’. Having your mojo working is a good thing; if someone puts the mojo on you, it is a bad thing.
o In American & Haitian Voodoo, anyone can work hoodoo because it does not involve any of the lwa. In the Vodou religion, eclecticism is a good way to piss someone off – you can only really work with the lwa who adopt you and become your patrons. Some people only have one, others may have quite a few. Some of the lwa are jealous of one another and fight over their ‘children’.
o In Africa, hudu is an integral part of traditional Vodu worship and cannot be separated from the spirits and ancestors who are called upon for healing, protection, fruitful harvests, healthy cattle and babies, vanquished foes or luck in gambling or love.
A priestess is a Mambo and a priest is a Houngan (in New Orleans, they are Kings or Queens, and men are also referred to as Doctors). The assistants are hounsis and the temple (which may be simply a pole erected in someone’s yard) is the hounfor. There is no strict hierarchy in Vodou, and it is not matriarchal or patriarchal (Santeria, by comparison, has a very strict hierarchy and is generally patriarchal). A man or a woman can serve the lwa, and most followers of Vodou are not initiates, as initiations are elaborate and expensive affairs. Most adherents will go through the necessary divinations to determine which lwa ‘rules their head’. Even though a child of the lwa only pays heed to their patrons, worship given to one lwa is seen as worship and energy given to them all.
Decent Beginner Resources:
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Voodoo by Shannon Turlington
The Serpent & the Rainbow & Passage of Darkness by Wade Davis
Tell My Horse – Zora Neale Hurston
Vodou: Visions and Voices of Haiti – Phyllis Galembo
Mama Lola – Karen McCarthy Brown
Divine Horsemen – Maya Deren
This is just the most basic stuff, which is probably widely available online and in bookstores, but why crawl the internet when I can put it all in one handy-dandy location?
A Brief Introduction to Vodou
Vodou is probably the most well known religion that developed from the African Diaspora. The African Diaspora was the dispersion of African culture created by the slave trade, and the African Diasporic religions are the ones that developed from the traditional African religions as the people settled and integrated into their new locations. Many people classify the African Diaspora outside Paganism, and they are not widely understood or accepted. They seem so interlinked with Catholicism as to be some strange offshoot of Christianity. Some of the other African Diasporic religions include Santeria or Lukumi, (Cuba & South America), Candomble or Macumba (Brazil) and Obeah (Jamaican). Vodou in its original form is still alive and well throughout Africa and has been declared the official religion of Benin.
Even in our age of communication and rapid access to information, Vodou is glamorized beyond recognition in the media and feared by many people. Many people, especially animal-rights activists, are uncomfortable with the role of animal sacrifice in Vodou, and I’ve met many Wiccans who decry it for that same reason, quoting ‘an it harm none’ Vodou is a beautiful and living religion steeped in centuries of culture, tradition… and to be fair, blood - the blood of slaves.
Vodou is monotheistic, but the Creator God, known by many names, most commonly ‘Bon Dieu or Bondye, is distanced from His/Her/Its creations. It is up to the spirits of the ancestors and the lwa (also Vodu, loa or Les Mysteres as lwa means ‘mystery’) to be the intermediaries between God and humankind. It is a practical, down-to-earth religion, more concerned with solving problems than enlightenment and union with the Divine.
Most of the information available about Vodou in America is New Orleans Voodoo. N’Awlins Voodoo is distilled from traditional practices of Central & Western Africa, primarily the Fon, Benin and Yoruban people, during the 17 & 1800s, carried across the ocean to Haiti, where it became syncretized with Catholicism and the indigenous Haitian native practices, and finally dispersed into the teeming port city of New Orleans where it picked up practices found in European witchcraft, local folk magic and shamanic practices of the southeastern Native American tribes. Haitian and New Orleans Vodou are more focused on magic than their older African relatives.
Some of the more misunderstood aspects of Vodou include:
Possession
o Vodou is an ecstatic or ‘charismatic’ religion. The rituals involve extended drumming and dancing that induce altered states of consciousness. While in these states, the participants often play host to the spirits of ancestors and the lwa. During this time, it is said they are being ‘ridden’ by the lwa. It is usually full possession where the spirit subsumes the personality of their ‘horse’.
o Other participants will know which lwa is riding the horse by their mannerisms or by things they ask for – a lwa associated with love, romance and prostitution may mount a man & want to be doused in perfume and wear gold earrings and a dress – that’s Erzulie; the Ghede, a family of lwa also called the Barons, will want a top hat, a cane and make lewd jokes for they are the rulers of death and sex. The horse may display feats of unusual strength by lifting other participants into the air and tossing them around, placing hot coals in their mouths, firewalking, drinking strong rum (clairin) that’s had hot peppers steeping in it (sometimes, when possessed by certain lwa, the horse will pour this mixture into their eyes or onto their genitals). Generally, the lwa does not harm the horse, but may pass messages to other people to give to the horse when the ride is over.
Voodoo dolls
o Voodoo dolls are not a part of Vodou at all. In some African traditions, a doll is kept as a pwen, nkisi or bocio, which is closer to a fetish or power object. A twin who has lost their brother or sister may also carry a doll as an effigy of the departed, since in many of those cultures it is bad luck to be separated from one’s twin, even by death. It is generally believed that Voodoo dolls became associated with Vodou after African slaves were exposed to poppets used in European folk magic. The dolls may also have been used to make threats towards or intimidate plantation slave owners but were not a normal part of magical practices.
Animal sacrifice
o Yes, there is a lot of animal sacrifice done at Vodou rituals. It is not a murderous destructive rampage, though – all the lwa are hungry and want to be fed. Once the lwa are fed, the community is fed. Animals are not left to rot – this is a religion from poor people who certainly would not waste food in this manner. The only exception might be if the animal was sacrificed to aid the curing of a bad disease or remove a particularly malignant hex, in which case it might not be spiritually safe for people to consume.
o The lwa are picky eaters. Damballah (he is the ‘Serpent’ of ‘The Serpent & the Rainbow’) is almost as old as Bondye, and very pure. He will accept only the cleanest, whitest foods like rice, pure white flour, a white egg, a pure white hen. Other lwa want black goats, or red chickens… Papa Legba, who is a child and an old man all at the same time, prefers candy. Almost all the lwa like a fine cigar and rum.
Bokors
o Bokors are the black magicians of Vodou. These are the people you pay to kill your enemies, dry up your rival businesses, harm your competition, make zombies out of your least favorite in-law… and yes, they do exist. In traditional Africa, the bokor had an important social role to play – the bokor could safely carry out revenge and justice, which often involved violating taboos, without worrying about becoming tainted. The bokor could freely speak with the recently deceased as well. As Vodou carried over to Haiti and politics invaded Vodou, the bokor’s role became less altruistic and the modern version of a bokor is that of a magical (and often not-so-magical) assassin.
Secret Societies
o There are numerous ‘societies’ associated with Haitian Vodou, not so much in New Orleans Voodoo or African Vodou. Most of these societies took the form of vigilante groups and gangs, and only had loose ties to the religion itself. The more benign societies acted as underground railroad stops for slaves and political prisoners escaping from Haiti, and mothers could use them as a threat to bring unruly children back into line. Some were also ‘neighborhood watch’ groups who used anonymity and social status to bring unruly community members back in line.
o The Ton Ton Macoute was a militant secret society that were most well known for their role as a corrupt public militia in the dictatorship of Francois ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier.
Zombies
o Probably some of the greatest misunderstanding has arisen over the creation of zombies (nzambi or zombi). Zombis are not people who have died and then been resurrected by a bokor. In more traditional areas, they are people who have committed a wrong against their community and are forced into servitude through careful use of social conditioning, drugs, torture and brainwashing. Sometimes these people are either forgotten by their families or forgiven, but they usually cannot reintegrate back into their communities once released from their servitude. In a strange twist of charity, some families will adopt a stranger who is possibly schizophrenic or otherwise mentally disabled & unable to care for themselves, claiming the person is a zombified relative who finally returned from the bokor.
o Two of the more famous zombies who ‘returned from the dead’ are Clairvius Narcisse & Ti Femme, popularized by Wade Davis’ Serpent & the Rainbow. Much of Davis’ research on the drugs used for zombification has been called into question but it is not the drugs alone that create the zombi.
Hoodoo
o Hoodoo is the folk magic practices of Voodoo – at least here in America. Hoodoo usually involves the use of charms and fetish items like herbs, stones, feathers, etc. & pouches imbued with energy or ‘power’ called gris gris (gree-gree) bags. Juju is beneficial, mojo is generally self-serving or malignant. Both juju and mojo is the power driving the spell or enchantment that the gris gris holds. Another word for hoodoo is ‘conjure’ – there are conjure men or conjure women, and also ‘those who work the root’. Having your mojo working is a good thing; if someone puts the mojo on you, it is a bad thing.
o In American & Haitian Voodoo, anyone can work hoodoo because it does not involve any of the lwa. In the Vodou religion, eclecticism is a good way to piss someone off – you can only really work with the lwa who adopt you and become your patrons. Some people only have one, others may have quite a few. Some of the lwa are jealous of one another and fight over their ‘children’.
o In Africa, hudu is an integral part of traditional Vodu worship and cannot be separated from the spirits and ancestors who are called upon for healing, protection, fruitful harvests, healthy cattle and babies, vanquished foes or luck in gambling or love.
A priestess is a Mambo and a priest is a Houngan (in New Orleans, they are Kings or Queens, and men are also referred to as Doctors). The assistants are hounsis and the temple (which may be simply a pole erected in someone’s yard) is the hounfor. There is no strict hierarchy in Vodou, and it is not matriarchal or patriarchal (Santeria, by comparison, has a very strict hierarchy and is generally patriarchal). A man or a woman can serve the lwa, and most followers of Vodou are not initiates, as initiations are elaborate and expensive affairs. Most adherents will go through the necessary divinations to determine which lwa ‘rules their head’. Even though a child of the lwa only pays heed to their patrons, worship given to one lwa is seen as worship and energy given to them all.
Decent Beginner Resources:
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Voodoo by Shannon Turlington
The Serpent & the Rainbow & Passage of Darkness by Wade Davis
Tell My Horse – Zora Neale Hurston
Vodou: Visions and Voices of Haiti – Phyllis Galembo
Mama Lola – Karen McCarthy Brown
Divine Horsemen – Maya Deren
I Stepped In It Now
Jun. 28th, 2009 10:45 am
I started thinking about my teaching post, and how I should be more willing to share my experiences and things I've learned.
So, on the pagan forum I frequent...
I pm'd a mod & volunteered to start an 'Ask a Student of Vodou' thread.
She said 'go for it!'
Now I've got to like, write an introduction and whip out my resources.
Crap.
So, on the pagan forum I frequent...
I pm'd a mod & volunteered to start an 'Ask a Student of Vodou' thread.
She said 'go for it!'
Now I've got to like, write an introduction and whip out my resources.
Crap.
http://www.brains4zombies.com/
I just finished reading The Complete Idiot's Guide to Voodoo, and it wasn't half bad. Sort of fluffy, but I didn't expect a defense of Karmically-Challenged-Magical-Practices (aka 'Black Magic'). I've got enough research under my belt to be able to tell bullshit from political correctness, and the CIGtV erred only in trying to be acceptable & palatable to the masses. Anyway, it's got a great list of zombie movies & had a blurb or two about virtual voodoo dolls & the above site, serving all your zombie appetites.
I've been having an anxiety attack tonight. I'm twitchy as fuck all, my ribs & head itch - not due to any kind of rash, but because my skin is crawling, and my ulcer has flared up. Everybody always tells me, "Oh, you shouldn't keep your worries inside, express yourself and it'll all feel better". This is pure bullshit. It doesn't seem to matter whether I keep my worries, doubts & fears inside or whether I calmly explain my problems to someone or whether I spend a good three hours yelling "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!?" at my math problems, I am still suffering intensely at the moment. I try to keep my good humor up, but sometimes it's tough.
Life's little practical joke: Valium & its herbal counterpart, Valerian, have absolutely no effect on me whatsoever. Except for once when I was 3 - Granny left her Valium on the coffee table when she went to go get her blackberry brandy. I apparently thought it was Pez. According to my parental units, I slept for 3 days & then proceeded to eat everything in the house.
Now That's Out of My System...
Oct. 12th, 2006 06:55 am
I originally logged on because Rob was telling me about a new ghost-hunter show involving a panel of experts like a psychologist, a scientist, a skeptic & a few more. These folk went to N'Awlins & were invited to a closed Voodoo ceremony, and they all became horses. Rob said that even the skeptic had no explanation for the experiences they had - no rational, explainable, scientific excuse or anything. One of them said something to the effect of "You can't understand it unless you experience it for yourself."
I wish Rob had the foresight to tape it for me, but oh well. It's only topical because I'm currently reading 'Urban Voodoo', a book written by some guy who makes Aleister Crowley seem politically correct and humble. He pretty much said the same thing - also that more & more, the African Diasporic spirits are calling people cross-culturally, not just because Their pool of potentials has broadened, but because They are getting desperate for the attention. (He mentioned a book, one of the original cyber-punk novels called 'Count Zero' by William Gibson(?) that's about a time in the future when the lwas get into the internet and start wreaking Their own special brand of havoc... I'm gonna have to get ahold of it - I've been delving into cyber punk more & more thanks to Neal Stephens' 'Snow Crash') Anyway, I'm one of those typical white folk who heard the call... and ignored it. Mainly because, well, They want more from me than I can give. I probably will never have a time in this life where I can give myself over to the life of the spirit, especially not a public life of the spirit. The whole reason I even pulled Urban Voodoo off my shelf is because I'm weaning out my collection of Ars Magicka to sell off or give to Jody. It's been at least moderately entertaining, if nothing else.
Anyway, it's just that time of year - Autumn, Samhain rolling around. I start thinking to myself that I could answer the call, bring the spirits back into my life, complete the prophecy... but then again, maybe I should just let sleeping Gods lie.
I wish Rob had the foresight to tape it for me, but oh well. It's only topical because I'm currently reading 'Urban Voodoo', a book written by some guy who makes Aleister Crowley seem politically correct and humble. He pretty much said the same thing - also that more & more, the African Diasporic spirits are calling people cross-culturally, not just because Their pool of potentials has broadened, but because They are getting desperate for the attention. (He mentioned a book, one of the original cyber-punk novels called 'Count Zero' by William Gibson(?) that's about a time in the future when the lwas get into the internet and start wreaking Their own special brand of havoc... I'm gonna have to get ahold of it - I've been delving into cyber punk more & more thanks to Neal Stephens' 'Snow Crash') Anyway, I'm one of those typical white folk who heard the call... and ignored it. Mainly because, well, They want more from me than I can give. I probably will never have a time in this life where I can give myself over to the life of the spirit, especially not a public life of the spirit. The whole reason I even pulled Urban Voodoo off my shelf is because I'm weaning out my collection of Ars Magicka to sell off or give to Jody. It's been at least moderately entertaining, if nothing else.
Anyway, it's just that time of year - Autumn, Samhain rolling around. I start thinking to myself that I could answer the call, bring the spirits back into my life, complete the prophecy... but then again, maybe I should just let sleeping Gods lie.
