Does voodoo support time commando1/5/2023 ![]() Though some voudon rituals involve animal sacrifices, it is hardly unique many other religious traditions involve animal bloodletting, including Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism. In the end, voudon has a largely undeserved reputation as a sinister religion. Of course, stripping sacred objects and rituals out of their original context for commercial exploitation is nothing new: witness Chinese-made Native American dream catchers for sale at dollar stores. ![]() Voodoo has become a prominent feature of the New Orleans tourism industry, with countless shops, tours, exhibits and museums capitalizing on that city's historic (and, some experts say, tenuous) connection to voudon. The voodoo popular in movies and fiction bears little resemblance to real voudon beliefs or practices. Sometimes, the zombification was done as punishment (striking fear in those who believed that they could be abused even after death), but often the zombies were said to have been used as slave labor on the island's farms and sugarcane plantations (though no evidence of the zombie-filled farms was ever found). Haitian zombies were said to be people brought back from the dead (and sometimes controlled) through magical means by priests called bokors. The original Haitian zombies were not villains but victims. The word later came to suggest the vital, human force leaving the shell of a body, and ultimately a creature human in form but lacking self-awareness, intelligence and a soul. Zombies are an especially good example of how a religious element can be taken out of context and become a global phenomenon.Īccording to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word "zombie" first appeared in English around 1810 when historian Robert Southey mentioned it in his book "History of Brazil." But this "zombi" was not the familiar brain-eating manlike monster but instead, like many voudon loa, a West African deity. ![]() The more sensational aspects of voudon, such as belief in zombies and animal sacrifice, have provided fodder for countless television shows and movies in the form of voodoo. Bush famously disparaged Ronald Reagan's monetary policies as "voodoo economics"). Even today "voodoo" is often used as an adjective to describe something that is unknowable, mysterious or simply unworkable (for example, in 1980 George H.W. Many fundamentalist Christians still regard voudon and voodoo with suspicion, associating it with the occult, black magic and Satanism. An 1889 book titled " Hayti, or the Black Republic (opens in new tab)" (Filiquarian, 2012) falsely attributed human sacrifices, cannibalism and other atrocities to voudon, further spreading fear of the religion. Though Haitian slavery ended in the early 1800s, followers of voudon were often persecuted by authorities who demonized their religion. In Haiti today, Ogou inspires many political revolutions that oust undesirable oppressive regimes." He became Ogou, the military leader who has led phalanxes into battle against oppression. Ogun, for instance, the Nigerian spirit of ironsmiths, hunting and warfare took on a new persona. In addition to helping (or impeding) human affairs, loa can also manifest themselves by possessing the bodies of their worshipers.įurthermore, Desmangles notes, "Many of the African spirits were adapted to their new milieu in the New World. 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. Voudon believers worship many spirits (called loa), each one of whom is responsible for a specific domain or part of life. Voudon teaches belief in a supreme being called Bondye, an unknowable and uninvolved creator god. 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 (opens in new tab)" (Prometheus Books, 1996). 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 proverbs, stories, songs, and folklore. ![]()
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