Voodoo & Hoodoo – What are they really all about?

Voodoo in Benin
Voodoo in Benin

In the west, commonly when someone mentions Voodoo, it evokes ideas of black magic, devil worship, scary sorcery, and films tend to depict Voodoo as originating in Haiti.

But in fact this scary reputation mainly comes from Europeans and Christians from the past who sought to quash and dehumanise the people of Africa and their religions.

 

Where does Voodoo come from?

Some people believe that Voodoo is the world’s oldest religion.

The religion of Voodoo, (or Vodoun as it is also known, particularly by those who practice it), is thought by many to originate from Benin, a country in West Africa, but is also practiced on the West coast, including people from Togo, Angola, Nigeria and so on.  The slave trade in 16th-18th century meant that many Africans were shipped to places such as Cuba, Haiti, Brazil and the USA, spreading the religion.

However the religious aspects were often changed and lost in these places and much of Voodoo became Hoodoo, which is generally thought not to be a religion, instead mainly focused on the magic and medicinal aspects of Voodoo. I’ll be explaining more about Hoodoo in my next article.  The word Voodoo actually comes from Vodou, which is the name of the spirits that the people worship.

For many years Voodoo had to be practiced in secret, until 1996, January 10th which is now Nation Voodoo Day in Benin, and people celebrate with song, dance and sacrifices.  This suppression was due to the European colonial influence and also the zealous Christians, who generally tried to quash local religions, perhaps believing this was a good way to control people, and in colonial times fines, torture and death could be imposed upon people found to be practicing Voodoo. Today there are an estimated 50 million worshippers around the world.

So what is Voodoo all about?

Voodoo is an animistic religion, which means that the followers believe that god is in everything from the leaves of trees, to the wind that blows.  It’s a Polytheistic religion, like Paganism, meaning that there are many gods, and again similar to Paganism is the idea of revering nature.  Ancestor worship is also another very important aspect.

Ceremonies and Rituals of Vodoun

There are complex ceremonies and rituals in which the aim is usually to make contact with a spirit (the Vodou), perhaps an ancestor, or one of their lesser deities (called the Loa).  People try to gain their favour by offering animal sacrifices and gifts, in order to get help such as better health, luck or abundance.  The humans and the Loa are co-dependant in this way, with the Loa giving protection and good fortune and the people giving gifts.

Rituals are also held to celebrate lucky or important events, such to give thanks for rain, for marriages, births and deaths, and for healing.

Ceremonies often last all night and are an exciting affair, with singing, drumming and chanting.

The Sakpata Guardian Ritual

Let’s follow one girl – Ianthe (meaning violet flower) into her initiation and receiving of her guardian

First the oracles are consulted to see which divinity she will align with, who will become her supernatural guardian?  The god Sakpata is revealed – god of disease and protection.  He is at once feared and respected for his power.  To become his initiate is a long process.

For nine whole months Ianthe stays in a special temple where she learns the esoteric knowledge of Sakpata, including secret dances, words and language, and the secret name of Sakpata.  Her cheeks are scarified (ritual scarring) to indicate the change and knowledge she has received.

The initiation day

Today Ianthe is wearing a white bonnet, with a cowrie shell necklace, a bright print dress that looks like small pox!  Why? Because Sakpata is also the God of pox.

There is excitement in the air and everybody is anticipating the great feast to come, as well as a whole day and night of celebration and ceremony.  Everyone is dressed in fine clothes and jewellery. There are people with strange costumes.

We can hear the atmospheric shaking of rattles and rhythmic beating of drums.  The village is filled with the chanting and dancing of the priests, priestesses and students.

The dancing and chanting builds in intensity, with women cartwheeling and shimmying low to the ground, until one dancer becomes possessed by Sakpata. She flails and convulses until the god takes full control. This dancer now embodies the god and is treated with the respect that a god commands.

At this point an animal is sacrificed to the Sakpata, and he initiates Ianthe and then leaves.  Soon after the feast begins and people enthusiastically begin to eat and celebrate.

Ianthe is now a fully fledged initiate and will have to follow certain rules and laws in her life (specific to her new guardian Sakpata), for instance she may not eat gineau fowl or have sex on market day.

The ritual and process has been very costly to her family, but to not have such a ritual would be unthinkable, as everybody must have a spiritual guardian that they can call on for help.

Take a look at part of a Vodoun ceremony here. This is a ritual to honour one of the gods.

 

 

 

The Magick of Voodoo

So I’ve written a lot about the rituals and ceremonies, but does Voodoo use magic?  Yes, and this is most obvious to visitors of Benin at the Fetish Markets, where items of power and potions can be bought, such as parts from dead animals, love and money potions.  Part of the scary reputation of Voodoo may come from these markets where things like cured apes heads can be bought (said to aid memory) or dead owls and vultures which are used to counter a curse.

Some people argue that all religions have a dark and a light side, and others say that the bad stuff you can buy at these fetish markets is not actually Voodoo but Bokors (sorcerer) items.

Is Voodoo Cruel to Animals?

I don’t know whether these animals are dead already before they are changed to fetish items, but I have mentioned a lot about animal sacrifice.  It’s important to remember that the sacrificed animals are always eaten, and that the conditions animals are kept in are far preferable to those found in the mass farming of the west.

Morals

The morals of Voodoo focus on love and support of your family and community, and it is highly valued to be able to protect yourself and those around you when needed.  Dishonour and greed are highly frowned upon.

Find out more about Voodoo and Hoodoo around the world, in part 2 of this article, coming soon!

Image Credit: Vodoun.fr

Healing – How does it work? My Thoughts

Crystals for Healing

As I write this I am recovering from a seriously nasty virus, so have been thinking a lot about healing (well I was thinking about it before but have had even more time now!) and what it is that makes it work, be it reiki, acupuncture, crystal healing, qi gung, self hypnosis or any one of the many other types of alternative and holistic healing.

First off I’d just like to point out that I’m by no means a healing expert or guru, but have a small amount of experience in that I have taken the first level of reiki training, have received different types of healing, and have been working with meditation and energy work for many years.

The first thing that all these types of practices have in common is the use of energy (or Qi, or Chi or life force, or vital energy or whatever you prefer to call it/think of it as.

Practices such as reflexology and acupuncture work (as my basic understanding of it goes) by realigning the energy pathways, or meridians that flow through your body.  In common with so many alternative healing practices, these systems believe that many things (including physical and emotional events) can cause blockages in your energy lines, leading to illness and disease.

I once spent some time listening to a Paul Mckenna self-hypnosis CD which aimed to help you keep your immune system strong and healthy by learning to give yourself an endorphine boost.  He sescribes how the place where endorphines are released can be different for different people, but for me it was the heart chakra, the same place as the reiki energy fills up first before going on to heal the rest of me, interesting I thought….

The plot thickened the other day when I read that certain people believe that acupuncture works by stimulating your endorphins.

Things continued to get more confusing when I practiced a relaxation meditation that involves following the path of energy around your body, common in things like mindfulness, yoga, and also in Robert Bruce’s New Energy Ways.  I felt the energy course around my body, particularly in my hands and feet – very similar to what I have felt when practicing the tarot, but also when trying out QiGong.

Reiki, unlike say reflexology or acupuncture, is a passive form of healing in that the healer is merely a channel for a an energy source that exists outside (but also inside!) of our bodies.  My reiki healer would often say how much she liked giving reiki treatments since it was also a treatment for her.  Yet I began to wonder, since the feelings of energy, the burst of pleasure associated with endorphins, was pretty much the same as what I had experienced from all these other metaphysical practices.  Was reiki just a self delusion?  Tricking yourself that there is something greater when it’s all within you?

But then I realised the (perhaps obvious) answer – This energy, this Qi, Life Force, Love, Divine Light, Mother Nature, God even if you are religious, whatever you call it, is not only within us, but also powers the universe.  It is the thing that I think I have always believed makes the world go round so to speak.  And importantly, it’s all the same thing!  Whatever you call it, however you manipulate it – drawing it in from the world or redistributing it in your body, it’s the same, all is one!

The feeling of endorphins being triggered is a sign of us connecting to that universal force. love, whatever, and is a very healing thing.  Even before I connected all this I began to intuitively feel that whenever I triggered that feeling, I was getting some strong healing.

We love to be in love as that triggers that feeling, but a relationship can also bring negatives, but if, as someone once suggested to me, we can hang on to that feeling of love, regardless of there being a single object of it, we can be happy and healthy.

You probably know the way that when you start thinking of something it keeps coming up in new ways, (some people call this synchronicity) and having just started QiGong, the first exercise I am learning is called ‘Butterfly Dancing in Front of Flowers’ and is all about opening your heart to the universal energy – what a great time and place to start this journey!

What are your thoughts on this?  Was this obvious to you all along or has it made you think?  Do you have other ideas on the way healing (and energy) works?  Get involved below!!

Qi Gong – What is it and why do it?

Learn Qi Gong
Learn Qi Gong

A while ago a friend showed me some QiGong (aka Chi Kung) and manipulation of energy and I was very impressed and excited by what I had seen, particularly as I have been looking to add an active meditation to my range of meditations.  Qi Gong has been a very powerful influence in his life, helping him to beat a downward spiral of drug addiction, and also helping him to attain new levels of spiritual understanding and awareness.  Unfortunately there are no Qi Gong teachers local to me, so when I found an online course by a well respected QiGong teacher I decided to give it a go!

It’s 22 week online course that I’m very enthusiastic about, so I thought I’d write a little blog post about it and keep you updated as the course progresses!

So what is QiGong?

QiGong is an ancient Chinese form of active meditation. It is very similar to practices such as Tai Chi (although much easier to learn!).  It is part of Chinese medicine, other aspects including Chinese herbs and Acupuncture.

Literally translated:

Qi = Energy (and you may know this by the name Chi, but also Mana, Aura or many words depending on what part of the world you are familiar with)

Gong = Work

So put that together and you have Energy Work.  What does that achieve?  Well I’ll go into more detail shortly, but first, why practice something like QiGong?

 

If you read my blog regularly you will know that I am very keen on meditation and energy practices for a range of reasons, here are some of the main ones:

  1. Relieves stress and anxiety
  2. Deepens spiritual awareness
  3. Improves psychic & healing ability
  4. Keeps you both mentally and physically healthy

QiGong brings extra benefits, as explained by Marcus, my online teacher for the next 22 weeks – a sincere seeming guy who has been taught by masters in China and practicing for over 10 years.

So what are the extra and specific benefits of practicing Qi Gong?

  1. To improve your health and vitality
  2. To increase your longevity, in other words to help you live a longer and happier life
  3. To increase your internal force – this will help provide you with amazing stamina and endurance and can also assist you in practices that require energy manipulation such as healing and psychic ability
  4. To expand your mind – like with any good meditation practice, it can help improve your memory, creativity, intelligence, awareness and your ability to articulate your thoughts.
  5. To take you further on your spiritual journey – meaning to help get you in touch with your inner self, but also with the universe, other people, and understanding and enjoying your place within that.

 

Energy Work and Health

Chinese and Japanese medicine and in fact most alternative forms of medicine believe that we have energy lines or meridians flowing through our bodies.  If these flows of energy become blocked, many unfortunate things can result, from emotional conditions such as depression, to physical illnesses and dis-eases.  Energy work keeps us healthy and happy and is the key to almost all alternative forms of medicine I have come across, including Reiki, a form of healing I am passionate about.

Ok well that’s enough for now, so far I’m really impressed by the info and explanations that Marcus has provided about Qi Gung (there’s written material and videos for each week) and I’m off to practice the first form of the course which is called, most poetically ‘Butterfly dancing in front of Flowers’.  This form is all about opening your heart and body.

Do you or have you practiced QiGong?  Is is it something you are thinking about?  Why not join me on my journey and we can learn together!  If you are keen to learn more about the course Marcus is offering, you can try a two week trial of QiGong and see what you think!