Voodoo the Misunderstood Religion
Voodoo has been a misunderstood religion for as long as it has been around. The reputation of the Voodoo religion is that is a satanic religion, involves animal sacrifices, and utilizes black magic in order to benefit from the religion. Many Hollywood movies have portrayed Voodoo in this fashion. There have been songs written about Voodoo and black magic. All throughout history Voodoo has had a bad reputation. The Voodoo religion has been misinterpreted by its believers therefore the reputation has been tainted. According the article The Origins of Voodoo, the Misunderstood Religion, "images are the result of the misrepresentation of Voodoo by popular culture, and do not accurately represent Voodoo"(http://www.ancient-origins.net).
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Voudon is the religion that was practiced that involved several cultural elements to make up the religion. There are personal creeds and practices that make up the Voudon religion. Along with these creeds and practices, Voudon also involves folk medicine that is used to aide in the healing of the believers. The believers of the Voudon religion use songs, folklore, proverbs, and stories to pass down the beliefs of their religion to their future generations of believers. The Voudon religions origins are not exactly known but it is believed to have originated from West Africa. According to the article Voodoo a Legitimate Religion, Anthropologist Says "Voodoo beliefs spread from Africa's shores to America on slave ships"( http://news.nationalgeographic.com). As the Voudon religion grew and cross the seas it began to change. This change occurred because of different beliefs from the different people from different parts of the world. "Voodoo is a fusion of religious practices from Africa that often takes on different characteristics and emphases when practiced in various locations"(http://www.religionfacts.com). There many influences to include other religions like Christianity and Catholism that had some influence on the Voudon
Although the thought of being involved in such rituals is scary, I developed a deeper understanding and appreciation for the practices that Haitian voodoo participants, if it is appropriate to refer to such people as, engage in. The most impressive bit of information that I will keep with me is to be less judgmental of others; “people who practice voodoo believe in the same God as Christianity, but they also believe in communicating with other spirits, who serve various roles in healing, casting spells, and more” (Boudreaux, 2015a, p. 110). As a golden rule, I know that I should not be judgmental of others anyway, but I am human and am prone to quickly create stereotypes in my mind. I don’t always share those thoughts, but thinking makes me just as guilty as doing or saying. I am thankful for the reminder that all people are children of God, and I should research and learn about different beliefs before I make a judgmental decision, if I make that judgment at
It is amazing how two religions, such as Voodoo and Christianity, can be filled with so many awesome differences with respect to time eras, status, publicity, and language, and yet still have an almost identical core ideal. This also demonstrates that this core ideal of the use of humans as a mouthpiece of the divine has been a long lived concept which people, such as Mama Lola and her family, still believe in and practice today. Perhaps this proves there is some truth in the idea, and most likely, we will never know for sure, whether this concept, in it’s many different forms continues to live on, or if it dies out.
Gervel, David. "Island Magazine Discover the Creole Culture around the World : Louisiana Creole Culture & Voodoo Tradition." Island Magazine Discover the Creole Culture around the World : Louisiana Creole Culture & Voodoo Tradition. N.p., 26 Aug. 2012. 30 Apr. 2014. Web.
Vodou is a religion that is often misrepresented because of mainstream Hollywood movies. It is a religion that remains an enigma to outsiders, and as a consequence, many incorrect assumptions are made about its practices. To outsiders, Vodou may seem to be based on cursing others with voodoo dolls, sacrificing animals or people, and even being possessed by the devil. However, that is not the case in Mama Lola where an outsider, Karen McCarthy Brown is given an inside view on this secretive religion. Vodou is not as simple as popular culture insinuates, it is a complex religion that involves integrating magic, marriage, possession, and the role of women.
“Religion is a set of rituals, rationalized by myth, which mobilizes supernatural powers for the purpose of achieving or preventing transformations of state in man and nature” (107). When the Europeans colonized Haiti, they brought over African slaves with them. These slaves had already established African religious practices, prior to being brought to Haiti. As the French got acquainted with Haiti, they were also forcing Roman Catholic traditions upon the slaves. As a result, there was the birth of the religion Haitian Vodou. These enslaved Africans were not allowed to practice Haitian Vodou openly because it offended those that practiced Catholicism, the French wanted full control over the slaves in every aspect, and anyone outside of
When one first hears the word Vodou, immediately images of curses and little model dolls come to mind. We tend to synonymize it with words like sinister, evil and revenge. However, Vodou is nothing like what mainstream North American media has brainwashed people into believing. As best put by Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, “Vodou is far more than [a religion] it's a spiritual system” (Tippet and Bellegarde-Smith 145). Haitian Vodou is a spiritual system that syncretizes the practices of Roman Catholicism with West African spirituality. This paper will contextualize Vodou and give a brief history on what it is, explain how I came to gain an interest in Vodou and close off with an introduction to Chouk Bwa Libète a traditional Haitian Mizik Rasin—roots
Voodoo is a sensationalized popular culture distortion of voudon, an Afro-Caribbean religion that started in Haiti, however, supporters can be found in Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, the United States and elsewhere. The making of Voodoo dolls, poppets, interests, and custom representations has occurred since old circumstances. In spite of the fact that the training is old, their present utilize stays comparative. With a specific end goal to see how to utilize your Voodoo doll or poppet, it is helpful to comprehend them in their recorded setting. Much can be gained from concentrate the old societies and spiritualists who held the baffling information that structures the very establishment of current enchantment, Voodoo, and
1.) Intro: I decided to focus my Religious Ethnography on a friend whom I recently have become close with. Adhita Sahai is my friend’s name, which she later told me her first name meant “scholar.” I choose to observe and interview Adhita, after she invited me to her home after hearing about my assignment. I was very humbled that she was open to this, because not only was it a great opportunity for this paper, but it also helped me get to know Adhita better. I took a rather general approach to the religious questions that I proposed to the Sahai family because I didn’t want to push to deep, I could tell Hinduism is extremely important to this family. Because this family does not attend a religious site where they worship, I instead listened to how they do this at home as a family instead.
Vodou is the common name for the religion that is practiced by the majority of Haitian people. Often misrepresented in American media with images of witchcraft, black magic, voodoo doll, curses, and hexes, this portrayal is far from accurate. Vodou is a complex mixture of different religious backgrounds, and is referred to as a syncretic religion. Brown writes: “In Haiti, vodou originally referred to one ritual style among many in ...
Like Santeria, Voodoo is a syncretic religion that embodies the beliefs and practices of Christianity with those of traditional West African religions. Voodoo is also a monotheistic religion, with the God Bondye being the supreme creator. Bondye is similar to Olodumare in that he does not interfere with the lives of his believers, so Voodoo practitioners redirect their worship and rituals to spiritual deities known as lwa. Lwa are regularly contacted and worshipped through various forms of rituals; these rituals include altars, possession by spirits, and elaborate ceremonies. The purpose of the rituals is to appease the lwa to lend assistance to believers in times of need, or for general good faith measure, to prevent angering of the lwa and the possible dire consequences that may follow. As with Santeria, the syncretism of Catholic imagery and objects is inherent to the religion, and these objects are usually included in the rituals of Voodoo
Santeria is a religion that is also called Regla de Ocha or Lucumi Religion. Cuba was mostly dominated by Whites and once the Spanish brought the Africans a new race was developed which was Mestizos. By these blending and mix combinations these races were more integrated and many of their cultures got combine and that’s how Santeria got formed. Santeria was originated from the Yoruba, which was brought by the enslaved Africans from Nigeria and Benin, which the Africans slaves focused on the plantation owners of the Spanish by their Roman Catholic faith. This religion begins a thousand years older than Christianity and is being practice all over the world but it is specifically defined as Afro-Cuban. Santeria are African Gods hidden in Catholic faith. The strongest religion being practice in Cuba is Catholic and when the Africans got in Cuba, they combine both religions and became one, which is the Santeria religion. Santeria is still defining as Afro-Cuban because the Africans and Cubans have not found any contradictions between the two. The definition of Santeria is Saints or Santos which comes from Spanish which also can be translated as “worship of Saints.” Most of the practitioners would like to be call as Santos or Orichas, the concepts and the terminologies of
African-Inspired religions have also prevailed when they were forced to come to the Americas. Voodoo and Santería are some of the main religions practiced in Latin America.Voodoo is commonly practiced in Haiti and Santería is practiced throughout Cuba and Puerto Rico. Santería times their rituals to those of the Catholic church, such as Easter and Christmas.
Throughout our history, cults have become a prevalent part of our society. More and more cults are forming every day. Although not all of them are dangerous, some can perform practices that are toxic to their members. Cults use fear and control to gain more and more members. Once members join a cult, they are forced to perform the practices that the cult leaders require. It is through these practices that cult leaders convince their members to stay in the cult. Through mind control and scare tactics, cults have become a very powerful and dangerous part of our society.
Some people say they are born with the ability to see the dead and commutate with sprits and souls, these people are known as mediums. Voodoo is a religion that communicates with sprits. Voodoo formulated from Africa the literal meaning of voodoo is sprit (Practice of voodoo). Voodoo involves divination and possession. In voodoo mediums are called witchdoctors or preistes they connect with spirits using magick and rituals. Witchdoctors and persists connect with sprits to get guideanse for the future and different magick powers. Magick in voodoo could be good or dark. A lot of people go to a voodoo preistes and ask for help such as healing a disease or even ask help with fertility. Dark magic in voodoo is used mostly for some type of revenge. In Voodoo people show their respect to the sprits through rituals. Their rituals involve animal scarifies to show their application for all that the spirts have done for the community (Exploring Voodoo rituals). Sometimes rituals even involve a passion, a spirit takes over a human body. When a sprite enters a human body the human is not concisions the sprite controls them, the sprite make it self know by doing a special dance and by doing stunts such as eating glass and stabbing the body the are possessing, pain a human could not handle(Taboo-Voddo). People
“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.” According to Buddha, everyone needs some form of spirituality to define his or her life and existence. Webster Dictionary defines spiritualism as “a system of beliefs or religious practices based on supposed communication with the spirits of the dead, often times through mediums.” Though this is one general definition of spiritualism, this concept is one that does not hold a conclusive meaning. Each and every single person has the ability and right to create and practice their own idea of spiritualism. From ancient times to present day, the term and practice of spirituality has transformed, particularly from region to region. Despite the discrepancies in practices and overall understanding of this idea, spirituality has had an effect and impact upon all of humanity since the creation of time. This religion that is believed to have been established in the early eighteen hundreds, after two little girls claimed to have the ability to talk to spirits, sparked interest in this spiritual movement, allowing it to spread rather rapidly over many geographical locations. Aside from being recognized as a religion, spiritualism is also believed to be a form of philosophy and a science in which spiritualists believe that there is life after death and try to demonstrate this through the ability of attempting to communicate with those that have passed on. Spiritualism was socially different from other religions in existence at the time because it presented followers with a more tolerant belief system that assimilated the principles and facts from a selection the world's religions. Spiritualism also made it acceptable for women to play a disti...