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When many people hear the word Voodoo, they think of an old Creole woman sitting in her home with pins and a doll constructed of her victim’s hair and other personal articles, Voodoo classifies as more than just dolls, pins, and candles; it represents a way of life for many practitioners and serves as a religion spanning numerous cultures.
African religions had many deities that varied from one tribal culture to another. Although called by different names, all deities preformed basically the same tasks. Each tribe had its own set of rules centered around the deities’ likes and dislikes so that the tribe would not bring about the deities’ animosity and wrath. If a tribe did not have a good crop that year, or the tribe lost unmercifully in war with another tribe, the tribe would blame the failure on angered deities. The people would perform rituals, sacrifices of humans or animals, fasting, and songs that sang the praises of the gods in hopes that the tribe would regain the guidance of that particular deity. In African homes, people worshipped ancestors and performed grand ceremonies to the dead as funeral rites with the hopes that the dead loved one would watch over the house and its occupants. If an ancestor had died disgracefully, however, he or she would receive no ceremony; instead, the dead would be placed in a hollowed out tree and left for the animals. Putting the disgraced dead in the ground was classified as a crime against the earth god or goddess, and many tribes feared the wrath and failed crops that would follow as a result of the crime. The slave traders who came to Africa, or the “Dark Continent”, brought the Africans to Haiti, which is now called the birthplace of Voodoo. Many of the slave owners did not believe that their slaves’ seemingly “harmless” religion would prove a problem, so these particular owners allowed them to keep their traditions as long as they did not interfere with the working schedule. Seeing many different cultural tongues has given the religion many different spellings Voudou, Vodun, and Vodou. Many scholars see today’s spelling of Voodoo as derogatory and inaccurate.
Roman Catholicism dominated as a religion in Haiti during the slave trade. As the slaves adopted their new language, they also adopted the new religion. Saints took on new roles as they found their way into the Voodoo pantheons. Saint Patrick, originally the patron saint of animals, became associated with Dumballah, the snake god. Erzulie, the earth mother, most closely relates to the Virgin Mary. The Haitians saw nothing odd about practicing Voodoo and Catholicism side by side and usually remained devout to both religions. Although many slave traders allowed their slaves to practice their “savage” religions, many French owners forbade it. Under the guise of occasional dances allowed on the weekends, Voodoo practitioners held their ceremonies.
Many of the Voodoo terms have survived the test of time. In Voodoo the only major god, Bondye, seems similar to the God of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. The Loa represent the various spirits of family members and the spirits of the various forces in the universe good, evil, reproduction, health, and all aspects of daily life. The Loa interact with the people on earth and can “mount”, or possess, practitioners during a ceremony. The Loa are considered to be some of the most important spirits in the Voodoo religion, and massive, elaborate shrines were built to honor each and every one. Dishonored Loa became enraged and would cause catastrophes. The Twins, a curious and rather mysterious set of contradictory forces, represented good and evil, happy and sad, dark and light, and so on. When The Twins are honored in religious ceremonies, they can seem helpful and allow one to have the better side of life. The Dead represent the souls of one’s own family members who have died but have not yet been reclaimed by the family; however, if the family ignores the Dead, they become dangerous. Honored and cared for family Dead prove helpful and provide insight and wisdom to those who ask for it.
Cheap College Papers on Voodoo: From Africa to New Orleans
When the slave traders and their slaves came to Louisiana, the slaves brought their traditions with them, just as they had on the trip from Africa to Haiti. As the strict African bloodlines became thinner, the babies born in Southern Louisiana became known as Creole. The mothers of these Creole babies raised them to know about the owner’s Christianity and their own heritage with Voodoo. Since the beginning of Voodoo in New Orleans, the hierarchy appeared obviously female-dominated. The Mambo, or Voodoo Priestess, would head up the ceremonies, though the Hougan, or Voodoo Priest, was not considered inferior to the Mambo. Although the Priests and Priestesses seem equally associated, the outside viewer would think that the women possessed supreme authority.
Many songs have been written by Voodoo practitioners about some of the great Voodoo Queens such as Sanite Dede, Marie Saloppe, and Marie LaVeau. Marie LaVeau, considered one of the most powerful and influential Voodoo Queens of her time, seemed to have a knack for holding a cult together, and no other Priest or Priestess has gained the same amount of fame since. Marie Laveau was a skilled Hoodoo practitioner as well. “To Hoodoo someone” means to make an individual do something against his or her will; the practice was often used to protect against evil or impending danger. She did not start out in life as a Voodoo priestess, though; she married a freeman of color in New Orleans named Jacques Paris, but after several years of marriage, he mysteriously disappeared. After a year of searching with no success, Paris was presumed dead. Laveau became a hairdresser and quickly established herself as well known and well liked by her powerful white clients. Soon after beginning her career as a hairdresser, Laveau met and married Christopher Glapion, and together they had fifteen children. When Laveau had secured her job as a hairdresser, she began to devote herself to Voodoo. By listening to her clients’ gossip, she was able to “foresee the future” and tell her clients about their future using her “powers”. Through the gossip, Laveau was able to build up a network of informants; these “spies” were able to “cure” the cheating husbands of her clients. Many people came to Laveau asking for help with an assortment of problems spanning from court cases, to love, sickness, and even to curses. Laveau died in 1881 at the age of 87, but her legend still lives.
Voodoo remains as serious a religion today as it was more than a hundred years ago. Practitioners today still look towards the original gods and spirits for help and guidance. Today about 15 percent of the population of New Orleans practices Voodoo; however, modern Voodoo has taken several directions Spiritualist Reverends and Mothers who have their own churches, Hoodoos who integrate and work spells and superstitions, elements of European witchcraft, and the traditionalists for whom the practice of Voodoo seems a most natural and important part of their daily lives. The practice of Voodoo involves the search for higher levels of consciousness in the belief that it is we who must open the way towards the Gods.
Voodoo shops are as abound in New Orleans, Louisiana as Surf shops do in Miami, Florida. Many people operate Voodoo shops as purely a tourist attraction, under the belief that most tourists will only use a shrunken head as a rear-view mirror decoration. Some shops do offer magical services, however, and accredited Voodoo Priests or Priestesses usually own those that do. Tourist shops will rarely infringe on this aspect of the business for fear of being sued for fraudulency either by the tourists or by the authentic Voodoo practitioners. Within these shops, one will find an assortment of candles, charms, dolls, books, and even herbs for whatever service one might need.
Voodoo has been given a bad reputation by the Catholic Church in the years since Marie Laveau; in fact, 14 the Catholic Church waged a holy war against Voodoo, burning Voodoo shrines, beating and occasionally killing Hougans and Mambos, and demanding their ostracism from society. Voodoo went underground, to an extent, but it grew in popularity because of its oppression. In the early 150s the Catholic hierarchy halted the war, dismissed the priest warriors, and made their peace with Voodoo. Voodoo drums and melodies became incorporated into Catholic Church services. The Catholics took the position of If you can’t defeat them, co-opt them. Relative peace has existed between the Catholics and Voodoo practitioners ever since.
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