Originating from enslaved West Africans taken to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade, Voodoo is one of the world’s most misinterpreted religions.
Public DomainA previous nineteenth - century illustration of a Voodoo ritual .
In popular media , Voodoo is often limn as a sort of “ coloured magic . ” Some people even consider that Voodoo is inherently evil , thanks in part to figure involving Voodoo chick , subjectively macabre imagery , and rituals that differ greatly from those apply by more Abrahamic faith .
But Voodoo ( often spelled Vodou or Vodú ) is not an malevolent religion . Instead , it emphasizes a deep connection to the spectral world . And the smell summoned in Vodou ritual , lwa , are somewhat like to the Christian notion of saints . And despite claims that Vodou is Devil adoration , the Devil does not actually appear in most versions of Vodou cosmology .
Public DomainA late 19th-century illustration of a Voodoo ritual.
In fact , it might surprise some that Haitian Vodou is part inspired by Christianity and combines traditional West African faith with R.C. Catholic beliefs . As Vodou arise to protuberance amongst enslaved people in modern - sidereal day Haiti between the sixteenth and nineteenth century , a similar recitation also eventually made its elbow room to the United States .
Enslaved people who were take from West Africa to America in the former daytime of the land ’s founding also brought their traditional beliefs with them . Like in Haiti , the West Africans in modern - Clarence Shepard Day Jr. Louisiana also merged traditional West African religions with Roman Catholicism , leading to Louisiana Voodoo ( also known as New Orleans Voodoo ) . And after a 1791 slave revolt in Haiti , many following of Haitian Vodou fled the country and settled in Louisiana , bringing their influence to that neighborhood too .
Though many attempt to put a check to Haitian Vodou , Louisiana Voodoo , and other West African diasporic religion , they suffer to this 24-hour interval , specially in the Caribbean and New Orleans . Fortunately for practitioners , the oecumenical opinion of Voodoo ( or Vodou ) has started to modify , albeit a routine slowly .
Vodou practitioners in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in the mid-1970s.
The Fascinating Origins Of Haitian Vodou
Like this gallery?Share it :
Like with many religious belief , it ’s difficult to nail a specific time when Haitian Vodou emerge . broadly speaking , historians designate to the sixteenth and 17th 100 , as this is when it first rose to gibbosity among enslaved citizenry in Haiti — and when it was part Christianized by Roman Catholic missionaries .
The foundations of Vodou acquire from different traditional religions across West Africa . The word " Vodou " itself , in the Fon language of the African land Dahomey ( present - day Benin ) , translates to " spirit up " or " god . " As West African ethnic grouping were enslaved by European settler , they were forcibly taken to compound Saint - Domingue ( present - solar day Haiti ) , where Roman Catholic missionary began to teach them about Catholicism .
The enslave West Africans took these teachings and bug out to mix them with the feeling they had long hold , specially the West African Vodun organized religion . The resultant role , essentially , was Vodou , a feeling that everything is purport .
Public DomainA ritual dance in West Africa , shoot in the 1920s .
According to Vodou , human beingness are hard drink who live in the visible world , but many smell exist beyond that . Lwa(spirits),mysté(mysteries),anvizib(the invisibles ) , andzanj(angels ) all exist in an unobserved spiritual world , alongside the smell of those who have die . This religious world is called Ginen , and Vodou practician believe that this cosmos and everything else was created by God — the same God idolize by Christians .
This new religion became incredibly important to many enslaved people from West Africa . According to a theme from theUniversity of Delaware , it served as a way for these people to experience a sense of freedom despite their captivity and persevere through unthinkable hardships .
They were drive to keep their religious practices discreet , though , as slaveholders had baptized them as Catholic and threatened those who practiced Vodou openly . While the slaves did adopt some Catholic beliefs , they also continued to practice their traditional beliefs — albeit in mystery .
Vodou Rituals, Spirits, And Worship
Godong / Alamy Stock PhotoA depiction of Papa Legba , one of the most important lwa spirits in Vodou custom .
Unlike Christianity , there is no sacred book of Vodou adoration ( at least , not an official one , like theBible ) . It is primarily based on an unwritten tradition , passed down from genesis to generation . Rituals include prayer , songs , dances , gestures , and sometimes animal forfeiture , all with the object of restoring the remainder in relationships between people and between human beings and spirit .
Some life summoned by Vodou practician are ancestral look or feel of the deceased , but there are other prominent spiritual figures — such asPapa LegbaandBaron Samedi — who can also be summoned through specific rituals if people want to put across with them .
There is no central hierarchy within Vodou , and many character of the worship change from region to part . In most instances , though , there are smaller local hierarchies ofmanboandoungan(priestesses and priests),ounsi(“children of the spirits " ) , andountògi(ritual drummers ) who comprise more conventional congregations . Knowledge in these congregations is passed on through the ritual ofkanzo(initiation ) , in which it is believed that the human organic structure becomes the internet site of a profound unearthly transformation .
And like Roman Catholicism , Vodou worshippers have a yearly calendar of ritual feasts , which typically aline with standardized celebrations that are listed on the Roman Catholic Catholic calendar . Instead of the Christian saint , however , Vodou practitioners worship specific lwa spirits on these feast days .
This sort of " Christianisation " of Vodou get down in Haiti , but it also come about after on in Louisiana , as enslaved group of mass there also merge traditional West African religions with Roman Catholicism , make New Orleans Voodoo ( or Louisiana Voodoo ) . The history of slavery is intrinsically linked to how Vodou ( or Voodoo ) spring up , and as tragical as that is , it ca n’t be understated how big of a function enslavement played in Vodou ’s evolution .
How The Brutality Of Slavery Led To The Evolution Of The Vodou Religion
Public DomainTheAffaire de Bizotonof 1864 , when the alleged slaying and cannibalization of a child by eight Vodou devotees caused a worldwide scandal , go some to take that this incident served as " trial impression " of the evil nature of Vodou .
In the French - make Saint - Domingue , Vodou first began to produce in present - day Haiti . In the modern - day United States , further developing of Voodoo later on hap in a French - controlled dominion : Louisiana . Amidst the slave trade , condition for enslaved people were horrifically roughshod , as they were forced to work morning until nighttime . Slaveholders whip and abused slave , and even tried to prevent people who follow from the same ethnic groups from spending too much meter together and maybe consolidative .
Despite this , many slaves still bring together over their shared distress , and their ties to religious practices from their mother country offered some sensory faculty of protection and peace . It ’s no wonderment why Vodou became so crucial to them .
As theOpen Encyclopedia of Anthropologyput it : " If the hard worker trade is a procedure of deportation that tore the individual away from his or her family , lineage , and clan , it is only to be expected that when a hard worker dies , every possible step must be taken in rescript to turn on the restoration of link with the native land … The religious and cultural inheritance of Africa was bit by bit restored through this semantic chain , which represent the link between the stagnant person and his or her root and their divinities . "
In hear to snuff out African religious practices , white slaveholders inadvertently strengthened some slaves ' ties to those beliefs and rituals . As such , those ties never really went out , and this roiled period in time lead greatly to the Vodou ( or Voodoo ) of today .
regrettably , many citizenry today still have misconceptions about Vodou , and it remain one of the cosmos ’s most misunderstood religious belief . late days have seen a strong rehabilitation of Vodou in sealed community .
How Modern Worshippers Are Reclaiming Vodou
Aliceba / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY - SA 4.0A modern Vodou ceremony in New York City .
Ever since the daytime of thrall on Saint - Domingue , people have tried to stoke fear and concern over Vodou adoration . Of course , this was ab initio done as a manner of convincing West Africans to convert to Catholicism and cease the praxis of other religions like Vodou , but the unfortunate side effect of this is that even today , 100 subsequently , sure misconceptions have stuck .
allot toThe Atlantic , for example , a slaver by the name of Médéric Louis Élie Moreau de Saint - Méry once wrote , " In a word , nothing is more dangerous , fit in to all the accounts , than this fad of Vaudoux . It is founded on the profligate idea , which can be made into a severe weapon system , that the ministers of the said being acknowledge and can do anything . "
Some still see Vodou as severe today , especially due to the common presence of " Voodoo dolly " in papa acculturation . In horror movies and thriller motion-picture show , these dolls are often depicted as unearthly weapon system , which can harm another person if they ’re simply poked with a needle . But in reality , these dolls are n’t salient in Haitian Vodou or Louisiana Voodoo . And when they have been used , they ’ve mostly been use for healing purposes rather than retaliation .
Most Vodou practitioners say the religion should not be considered " drear thaumaturgy " or evil in any mode — if anything , it be a hope and a connection to the spiritual world that has helped many people through turbulent times . As one worshipper , Alain Pierre - Louis , toldThe Atlantic , " Vodou is very big on respect nature , remembering the ascendent , and the rhythm and vibration through saltation , Sung dynasty , and the drum . Vodou is zip . "
Wikimedia CommonsComposer Frisner Augustin drumming during a Haitian Vodou terpsichore in Brooklyn .
Today , many refer to Vodou as the " interior faith " of Haiti , though the Haitian government does not formally state this . But Haiti did adjudge Vodou an official religion in 2003 , and grant the country ’s Vodou communities the rightfield to issue prescribed document . And there is a popular saying that Haiti is " 70 percent Catholic , 30 percent Protestant , and 100 pct Vodou . "
It ’s clear that Vodou is a culturally significant religion , one that endured brutal conditions , much like its worshipper . Every twelvemonth , newfangled practitioner wrench to Vodou , determine an accepting and vibrant spiritual community .
As anthropologist Ira Lowenthal once remarked toThe Guardianin 2015 , Vodou represents an unbreakable revolutionary spirit .
" These people will never be conquered again , " Lowenthal said . " They will be tap , they will be downtrodden , they will be impoverished — but you may differentiate not a single Haitian walks around with his head down . "
After find out about Voodoo , read aboutMarie Laveau , the " Voodoo Queen " of 19th - hundred New Orleans , andher famous tomb , where some believe she continue to work her conjuring trick from beyond the grave .
Public DomainA ritual dance in West Africa, photographed in the 1920s.
Godong/Alamy Stock PhotoA depiction of Papa Legba, one of the most important lwa spirits in Vodou tradition.
Public DomainTheAffaire de Bizotonof 1864, when the alleged murder and cannibalization of a child by eight Vodou devotees caused a worldwide scandal, leading some to claim that this incident served as “proof” of the evil nature of Vodou.
Aliceba/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0A modern Vodou ceremony in New York City.
Wikimedia CommonsComposer Frisner Augustin drumming during a Haitian Vodou dance in Brooklyn.
