Voodoo Religion - The History
Voodoo is a religion that was brought to the Western coasts by slaves from Africa. It is believed to have started in in 1724 as a snake cult that worshipped many spirits pertaining to daily life experiences. The practices were intermingled with many Catholic rituals and saints. It was first brought to the area in 1804 by Cuban plantation owners who were displaced by revolution and brought their slaves with them.
Voodoo is spelled several ways: vodun, vaudin, voudoun, vodou, and vaudoux. It is an ancient religion practiced by 80 million people worldwide and is growing in numbers. With voodoo's countless deities, demonic possessions, animal sacrifices (human sacrifices in the Petro -- black magic form of voodoo); voodoo practitioners cannot understand why their religion is so misunderstood.
Voodoo rituals are elaborate, steeped in secret languages, spirit possessed dancing, and special diets eaten by the voodoo priests and priestesses. The ancestral dead are thought to walk among the living during the hooded dances. Touching the dancer during this spirit possessed trance is believed to be dangerous enough to kill the offender.
Talismans are bought and sold as fetishes. These could be statues representing voodoo gods, dried animal heads, or other body parts. They are sold for medicine and for the spiritual powers that these fetishes are believed to hold. The dark side of voodoo is used by participants to summon evil spirits and cast hexing spells upon adversaries.
Voodoo Religion - The Priesthood and Rituals
The priesthood of voodoo is held by both men and women. There are stages of initiation into its priestly duties. Their functions are primarily: healing, rituals, religious ceremonies to call or pacify the spirits, holding initiations for new priests or priestesses, telling fortunes, reading dreams, casting spells, invoking protections, and creating potions for various purposes. These potions are for anything from love spells to death spells; all for a hefty fee of course.
Key items are used in the many rituals of voodoo. The priest's geographical area of influence is called the parish. An eclectic array of items covers the altar in the temple or hounfort; a peristyle is a roofed or open space where the public voodoo ceremonies take place. The items on the altar would be used in its rituals and include objects that have symbolic meaning: candles, food, money, amulets, ritual necklaces, ceremonial rattles, pictures of Catholic saints, bottles of rum, bells, flags, drums, sacred stones, and knives.
Voodoo Religion - The Beliefs
Voodoo belief recognizes one Supreme Being who created the universe, but who is too far away for a personal relationship with its worshippers. Therefore, the cult followers serve the loa or lesser deities to gain guidance for their lives. The loa are the spirits of ancestors, animals, natural forces, and the spirits of good and evil.
An interesting concept of voodoo belief is the ritual that takes place one year and one day after the decease of a relative. Voodoo belief states that there are two parts of the human soul. The two parts consists of ti-bon-ange (little good angel) and gros-bon-ange (great good angel). The gros-bon-ange is the body's life force, and after death, the gros-bon-ange must return to the cosmos. To make sure that the ti-bon-ange is guaranteed a peaceful rest, the gros-bon-ange must be recalled through an elaborate expensive ritual involving the sacrifice of a large animal, like an ox, to appease the ti-bon-ange. If the ti-bon-ange spirit is not satisfied and given a peaceful rest, the spirit remains earthbound forever and brings illness or disasters on others.
Voodoo is a polytheistic religion, which practices African witchcraft. It originated in Benin.
Voodoo is a religion which believes in numerous deities & spirits, which are all under a chief deity called Bondye. It is an animistic religion, which practices African witchcraft.
1. Also, vodun. a polytheistic religion practiced chiefly by West Indians, deriving principally from African cult worship and containing elements borrowed from the Catholic religion. 2. a person who practices this religion. 3. a fetish or other object of voodoo worship. 4. a group of magical and ecstatic rites associated with voodoo.
Hatti practices voodoo as one of the main religions.
Voodoo has never been legally recognized in the U.S. as a religion.
To some, culture may indeed be an eminent factor in their religion and vice versa. For instance, your culture is something that you have grown up in, and by you learning from that you are also learning about what you believe in and your culture's practices (ie. religion).
There are is a direct relationship between culture and religion. In most societies, most cultural activities and beliefs are influenced by religious practices.
Like any other religion, Voodoo brings great benefits. Participation in Voodoo ritual reaffirms one's relationship with ancestoral history, community relationships and the cosmos. Voodoo is a way of life. For those it touches, it is impossible to define. Many would simply state "Voodoo is a beautiful religion" and, while true, it is far more than that. Voodoo is religion, culture, heritage, and philosophy. It is also art, dance, language, medicine, music, justice, power, storytelling and ritual.(see related link)
Voodoo is a mix of African faiths/practices, folk magic, and Catholicism.
used in voodoo religion to hurt someone
Voodoo originated in Benin. It is an animistic religion.
No. Voodoo is practiced only in the Western Hemisphere, though there are some similarities between Voodoo practices and traditional tribal religious practices from all over Africa.
Voodoo is not a religion, it's a form of black magic, it may b cultural but not religion related
Voodoo is not the official religion of any country. If somebody chooses to practice it they can do so anywhere. Just out of curiosity, why did you want to know? Voodoo originated in Haiti, it has a strong base in New Orleans, Louisiana. But as above stated it can be practiced by anyone, anywhere.
Haitian Voodoo Roman Catholicism is the official religion of Haiti, but voodoo may be considered the country's national religion. The majority of Haitians believe in and practice at least some aspects of voodoo. Most voodooists believe that their religion can coexist with Catholicism.
Voodoo is a mixture of African faiths/religions/practices/folk magics and Catholicism.
They have Voodoo there.
Voodoo was never founded. It is an amalgamation of practices mixed and matched between very different religions including traditional African/West Indies tribal beliefs, Catholicism and others. It is not a single set of beliefs and practices with a founder like you find with Christianity or any formal religion.
Personalized Voodoo Dolls are sometimes used in conjures in the Voodoo and Vodun religions.
No, Voodoo works the same way as faith healing if you truley belive it might work but it is not the voodoo or a god working it is the power of the mind.
Voodoo is one of the oldest religion in the world, it is impossible to know the exact date of the creation of this beautiful religion.
Buddhism originated in Nepal. Voodoo originated in Benin. Buddhism was founded by Gautama Buddha. Voodoo does not have any known founder. Buddhism is a Dharmic religion. Voodoo is an animistic religion.
Custom is cultural heritage or practices. Whereas culture is human activity, such as religion, language, food and music.
ArtHistoryClothingReligionFood / CuisineTraditionsEconomic / Trade Practices
No, such practices are forbidden in Judaism.