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Thread: The Origins of Voodoo, the Misunderstood Religion

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    Default The Origins of Voodoo, the Misunderstood Religion

    The Origins of Voodoo, the Misunderstood Religion

    Source: http://www.ancient-origins.net/histo...eligion-002933



    In A.D. 64, a great fire broke out in Rome for six days, and devastated much of the city. According to the writer Tacitus, “Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace.” The “abominations” committed by the early Christians were said to be cannibalism and incest, based on rumours circulating in Rome at that time which stemmed from a misunderstanding of the Eucharist.

    This episode in the history of the Early Church shows how easily a religion, especially a relatively secretive one, can be misunderstood and misrepresented. A similar case can perhaps be seen in the religion known as Voodoo (also known as Vodou or Voudon). For many, the word ‘Voodoo’ conjures up images of magical dolls with pins stuck in them to inflict pain on one’s enemies and the resurrection of the dead as zombies. These images are the result of the misrepresentation of Voodoo by popular culture, and do not accurately represent Voodoo as understood by its practitioners.


    Most people associate Voodoo with pin-filled dolls, designed to inflict pain on a cursed individual.

    Voudon refers to "a whole assortment of cultural elements: personal creeds and practices, including an elaborate system of folk medical practices; a system of ethics transmitted across generations [including] proverbs, stories, songs, and folklore... voudon is more than belief; it is a way of life," wrote Leslie Desmangles, a Haitian professor at Hartford's Trinity College in "The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal" (Prometheus Books, 1996).

    “Voudon teaches belief in a supreme being called Bondye, an unknowable and uninvolved creator god,” reports Live Science. “Voudon believers worship many spirits (called loa or Iwa), each one of whom is responsible for a specific domain or part of life. So, for example, if you are a farmer you might give praise and offerings to the spirit of agriculture; if you are suffering from unrequited love, you would praise or leave offerings for Erzulie Freda, the spirit of love, and so on. In addition to helping (or impeding) human affairs, loa can also manifest themselves by possessing the bodies of their worshipers. Followers of voudon also believe in a universal energy and a soul that can leave the body during dreams and spirit possession.”


    Voodoo paraphernalia.

    Although the exact origins of Voodoo are unknown, it is generally agreed that this religion has its roots in West Africa. Modern day Benin is regarded as the birth place of this religion, and the name ‘Voodoo’ itself means ‘spirit’ in the local Fon language. It has been suggested that Voodoo in West Africa evolved from the ancient traditions of ancestor worship and animism. The forms of Voodoo practiced today, however, are the results of one of the most inhuman episodes in modern history – the African slave trade that took place between the 16th and 19th centuries.


    Zangbeto, a voodoo guardian of the peace under Yoruba religious belief. Zangbeto traditionally served as an informal police service to enforce the peace in rural Benin.

    When African slaves were brought to the Americas to work on plantations, they brought Voodoo with them. Their white masters, however, had other plans regarding the religious practice of their slaves. A 1685 law, for instance, prohibited the practice of African religions, and required all masters to Christianize their slaves within eight days of their arrival in Haiti. Although the slaves accepted Roman Catholicism, they did not give up their traditional beliefs either. Instead, the old and the new were syncretised, producing some unique results. Many of the Catholic saints were identified with traditional Voodoo lwas (spirits) or held a double meaning for the practitioners of Voodoo. For instance, in Haitian Voodoo, St. Peter is recognised as Papa Legba, the gatekeeper of the spirit world, whilst St. Patrick is associated with Dumballah, the snake lwa.

    Although African slaves were brought to Haiti and New Orleans about the same time, i.e. the 1720s, the development of Voodoo practice in each area is quite different. In Haiti, Voodoo became a force that gave strength to and sustained the slaves through their hardships and suffering. Between 1791 and 1804, a series of slave revolts inspired by Voodoo practice culminated in the expelling of the French from Haiti. The colonists who survived fled to New Orleans, some accompanied by their French-speaking slaves who were Voodoo practitioners. It is from these new arrivals that Voodoo began to grow in New Orleans. Although Voodoo was practiced in that part of the United States prior to 1791, it was not as strong a force as in Haiti, and was brutally suppressed each time it emerged. It was only in the 19th century that Voodoo practices in New Orleans were codified by the enigmatic Marie Laveau.



    Voodoo has since spread to other African nations, the Caribbean, as well as North and South America. In Benin and Haiti, Voodoo is now officially recognised as a religion. Nevertheless, Voodoo is still a rather misunderstood religion due to its inaccurate portrayal by the media. Instead of associating this religion with zombies and Voodoo dolls, we should perhaps take the time to better understand Voodoo, and view it as a way of life or a set of guiding principles held by its believers.

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    Started interesting but I have to laugh at 'media portrayal'. I have had some people try to get me into voodoo, I guess the media portrayal has fooled them as well.
    Out Of Africa Theory is a lie.
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    It was originally practiced by the Gbe-speaking ethnic groups of West Africa, it seems to stem from the cultural practices of the Akan and Dahomey from the Ghanian regions starting with the supreme creator goddess Nana Buluku.

    It was a comprehensive system of knowledge that has nothing to do with simplistic and erroneous images such as sticking pins into dolls, putting a hex on an adversary, or turning people into zombies as seen in Hollywood movies.

    The first zombie film ever made, White Zombie (1932), focuses on a white woman who was turned into a zombie through the influence of Voodoo. While these tales made great literature and film, most people who aren't directly familiar with the origins of Voodoo have a lot of misconceptions about what it truly is.

    Some anthropologists estimate that Voodoo's roots in West Africa may go back 6,000 years. The ancestral spirits that are served by Vodou practitioners are called Lwa (or Loa) and are considered to be subservient to Bondye, in a relationship that is analogous to that between Christian Saints and God.

    There are several different ways to classify and group the Lwa — by characteristics that they share in common or by their nation (or family). Three categories that are commonly used to classify the characteristics of the Lwa are the fwet (Lwa who are cool or soothing by nature), the cho (those with hot and abrasive personalities), and those Lwa who bridge these two extremes.

    The nations into which Lwa are grouped are called nanchon. These nations are usually associated with a particular culture of origin in Africa. Examples of nations include Rada, Nago, Djouba, Petwo (also written Petro), Kongo, Ibo, and Gède.

    In general their rituals focus on facilitating communication between the congregation and the spirit world. Through colourful and energetic ceremonies, Vodouisants attract the attention of the Lwa, summon them, and then entice them to cross through the gates between the spiritual and material worlds.

    When a Lwa is in attendance it will take possession of the priest. This is often described in terms of a divine horseman mounting a chwal (horse). Dolls are sometimes used on altars, but not in the malevolent stereotypical fashion we see in movies — they are not stuck with pins to magically harm others.

    Typically, someone acts as a channel for the spirit, using verbal or written communication to transmit its messages. In some Asian cultures they also tend to be "elevated beings," such as special orders or Tibetan masters.

    In Zimbabwe for instance, the Zezuru Shona people near Mazowe had their own ancestral spirit, Nehanda, who is thought to be a leader in war and maker of rain. Such ancestral spirits are thought to be of important chiefs and political rulers who have returned to protect their people. They act through mediums, who are men or women associated with the welfare of their community.
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