Voodoo and Hoodoo Beliefs and Magick Around the World

Voodoo is an ancient art of magick, healing and meditation coming from Africa.

In my previous article (Voodoo and Hoodoo – what are they really all about?), I explained how West Africa is the cradle of Voodoo, and talked about the nature of the religion there, as well as giving you a look into a young initiates ceremony.  In this second part of the article you can find out more about Voodoo in different parts of the world, and learn about the magick and practices of Hoodoo

Voodoo in Haiti

As I explained the previous article, Voodoo traveled to countries such as the US and Haiti, through African people being sent into slavery, and the religion became different things in different places.  The Voodoo (or Vodou) of Haiti is close to that of Benin, although has absorbed many religious elements from Christianity.

Voodoo in Louisiana and New Orleans

Like the Voodoo of Haiti and the Hoodoo of the US, Christianity has been a large influence upon the beliefs of this religion, whilst at the same time keeping much from the Voodoo of Benin.  The flexibility and adaptability of Voodoo is no doubt a lot to do with the face that there is no formal doctrine or sacred book, and knowledge is passed orally.

Like Paganism, the religion can mean different things to different people, but a core belief is that the main God does not interfere in the everyday lives of people, instead it is spiritual forces which affect everyday life.  Just like the Voodoo of Benin, communication with the spirits is achieved through dancing, chanting, drumming and so on, and ancestor worship is also important.

Louisiana Voodoo is commonly used to help people with sicknesses, addictions and other ailments, and also to help the hungry and poor.  Rituals tend to be conducted behind closed doors.

Jesus Christ and Mary are important figures in the religion and reciting the Hail Mary and the Lord’s Prayer is part of Louisiana Hoodoo practice.

Superstitions, Spells and Voodoo dolls

If you lay a broom across the doorway at night, a witch can’t come in and hurt you.

Here are some spells and superstitions from Louisiana Voodoo

  • A lock of a girls hair brings good luck.
  • If you lay a broom across the doorway at night, a witch can’t come in and hurt you.
  • Having a woman visit you the first thing on Monday mornings is bad luck for the rest of the week.
  • If you sweep trash out of the house after dark you will sweep away your luck.
  • Don’t shake a tablecloth outside after dark or someone in your family will die.
  • If a woman sprinkles some salt from her house to yours, it will give you bad luck until you clean the salt away and put pepper over your door sill.
  • If a woman wants her husband to stay away from other woman, she can do so by putting a little of her blood in his coffee, and he will never quit her.
  • If a woman’s husband dies and you don’t want her to marry again, cut all of her husband’s shoes all in little pieces, just as soon as he is dead, and she will never marry again.
  • You can give someone a headache by taking and turning their picture upside down.
  • You can harm a person in whatever way you want to by getting a lock of his hair and burning some and throwing the rest away.

Whilst Voodoo dolls are usually thought in Western culture to be a way of harming people, this is incorrect, they are to bless people.  Pins are stuck in the dolls to attach a picture of the person to the doll, thus creating a magical link, and then a magical cure is performed using a special recipe (the cure is known as a gris gris), and is usually either for love, power, luck and finance or removing a curse.

What is Hoodoo?

Hoodoo Lucky Hand Root Orchid
Hoodoo Lucky Hand Root Orchid

Hoodoo can be called folk magic is better understood as a collection of magical practices rather than a religion, and this is made clear by changing the name from Voodoo to Hoodoo.  Hoodoo’s magick focuses on using roots, herbs and natural elements for magical and medicinal use.

However there is still worship of deities, and like the Haiti Voodoo, (in fact perhaps more so) many Christian elements have been absorbed into the religion.  Christian figures such as Moses are worshiped, and the Bible is seen as a source for spells, particularly the Psalsms.  The bible itself can be carried as a talisman to keep people safe.  Hoodoo also absorbed certain Native American practices as well.  Like Paganism there is no formal doctrine, or structured hierarchy, and knowledge tends to be passed on orally.

 

Some Magickal Items of Hoodoo

Goofers Dust To Defeat Enemies
Goofers Dust To Defeat Enemies

Hoodoo magick items have become popular with people from all around the world, and from all traditions. I have tried Goofers Dust To Defeat Enemies.  This green dust can be thrown on the land of someone that means you harm, to bring confusion and bad luck to their household.

This works well in tandem with Hot Foot Powder Incense, which can be sprinkled around your home to keep away enemies and troublemakers and to bring peace to your household.

Lucky Root Hand
Lucky Root Hand

Another popular Hoodoo item is the Lucky Hand Root for Protection and Good Fortune, so called because it resembles a small withered hand (but it’s only an orchid root!).  This root is known for bringing good luck and safety, and is particularly used for bringing luck to gamblers.

Cobra Black Snake Pellets can be used in rituals of protection, and are also a great magickal aid for spiritual healing rituals, cleansing such as cleansing a space for an altar, or a new home, and to assist in removing curses or jinxes.

Finally another popular Hoodoo ingredient is the Adam and Eve Roots for Love and Marriage proposals.  This can be used in two ways, firstly a charm to encourage that special someone to propose, or for good luck to encourage the person to say yes!  Secondly it can be used by lovers to help discourage rivals and prevent temptation.  The woman carries the round white seed and the man the long bud.

Want to know even more about Voodoo and Hoodoo?

Here is a great site full of interesting information, written by a Voodoo practitioner.  A page I found particularly interesting was this one which goes into more detail about what Hoodoo is and where it came from.

Are you interested in Voodoo and Hoodoo? Have you or would you try Hoodoo Magick?  Comment below and feel free to ask me any questions beliefs or practices, or contact me privately through my website if you prefer.

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