Voodoo

Modern Voodoo is a syncretic religion, formed from elements moulded together by time and necessity. Its beginnings lie in West Africa, where the supernatural is viewed an integral part of daily life. For members of these indigenous societies, their ancestors are linked with the living in an unbroken line connecting everyone to the homeland. The spirits of the dead, residing in tress, waterfalls, and ponds, exercise influence over the living. Health, fortune and success are all affected by relationships with ancestors, but they are at least accessible; it is possible to communicate with the spirits and thus have some power over one's destiny.

Above the individual ancestors are 'super-spirits' or loas, which are grouped into pantheons or vodu. There is a creator and overall deity, Gran Met, but such a god is too remote and inaccessible for humans to reach and it is to the loas that mortals must turn. Communication with the loas helps with difficulties and protects against the evil intent of others. Each follower identifies with a vodu and, with the help of its priests and priestesses, selects a suitable loa through which to influence the events of his or her own life. During ceremonies of drumming and dancing they help individuals achieve an ecstatic trance state in which they are taken over by the loas. The priests and priestesses remain detached from the trance and possession states sought by their charges, and interpret the action and wishes of the spirits.

Spirit possession is the ultimate communication between the living and the dead, and through this union the power of the spirits is directed toward the solving of human problems. But care is needed, because the loas themselves have a malevolent side, some more than others. The Guides, the gods of darkness and death and debauchery, also govern the preservation and renewal of life and growth of children. Their power is needed by humans, but they must be carefully approached if their dangerous side is to be controlled.

This was the belief system which West Africans took with them when they were transported to America and the Caribbean as slaves in the 17th and 18th centuries. They needed a supportive religion in their new life. Those who survived the nightmare voyage on overcrowded slave ships found themselves subjected to every kind of deprivation and hardship. Powerless in almost every areas of their lives, they were denied the mot basic human rights. their powerful, almost ecstatic religion was harshly suppressed by slave owners, who saw it as a threat to their control. Where West Africans were mixed with slaves from other societies their religion generally failed to survive, although pockets of voodoo practice survived around New Orleans and as far north as Detroit and Chicago.

Followers of voodoo believe that each person has two parts to their non-physical self. The first, the gros bon ange, is the spirit or essence with the breath and the shadow. The second the ti bon ange, is the spirit or essence of the person, the part that makes the personality. It is sometimes called the zombie, and this is the part which is most at risk from sorcerers. It lingers for about seven days after death, when it is at its most vulnerable. The popular notion of zombies derives from the belief that sorcerers who had captured a dead person's 'ti bon ange during the vulnerable week after death could bring the body back to life and use it as slave labour. But are they really resurrecting the dead? Voodoo sorcerers are well versed in herbalism and familiar with poisons. They can administer drugs which simulate death and enable the victim to be buried, then resurrected. Constantly drugged and intimidated, the victim himself can believe in his fate. Many modern voodoo adherents maintain that zombies are merely part of the myth.

Voodoo magick is reputed to be strong enough to kill. One of the most sensationalised features of the religion is the death curse. cases are on record of people whose death has occurred within days of discovering that have been cursed. With no apparent physical cause of death, these cases contradict scientific theories of illness in a puzzling way. But researchers have discovered that belief in the effectiveness of any kind of magick greatly enhances its effect. The power of suggestion can be so great that those brought up surrounded by effective use of magick will not question its power.

Followers everywhere accept that in all spirits there is good and bad, and that their power can be used in either way. Safeguards exist against misuses of voodoo power; such abuse is universally condemned, and it is considered extremely dangerous to manipulate the spirits in order to cause harm. Those to tempted to use the power of the invisible against others need to cast their magick carefully; the magick can be countered, and then rebounds upon its sender with more concentrated effect than ever (similar to three fold law of return).