Voodoo

The word Vodou, also known as Voodoo, means “spirit” or “deity” in the languages of West Africa. It is a religion that encompasses philosophy, medicine, and justice. The creator of both the universe and the spirits is understood to be the God of the Christian Bible; however, because the religion was established before people were able to read or write; therefore, there is no sacred text or central authority. Spanning centuries and continents the religion has morphed into hundreds of incarnations and practices. One such incarnation of the religion is Louisiana voodoo, also known as New Orleans Voodoo, a unique form of voodoo religion practiced-- as its name suggests--mainly in Louisiana and the southeastern United States. The historical…

Questlove (mostly known as the drummer of The Roots) talked about how he recorded drums for D’ Angelo’s “Voodoo” album during an interview at Red Bull Music Academy. In the recording session, he was told to emulate D’ Angelo programming the drum without quantizing it, which then accidentally created a raw, dragging and uneven drumming style that fits D’ Angelo’s music perfectly. It is very impressive to see Questlove in the interview deliberately play every drum beat behind but still being able…

The topic of my presentation is on how Voodoo and Obeah are used to empower the characters in Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. I choose this topic because I found it to be essential when analyzing Wide Sargasso Sea. Having A full understanding of Obeah allows the reader to truly understand the characters of Christophine and Antoinette. Personally, I find the topic of magic and Voodoo to be very interesting as it is something humans will never truly understand. There is a lot of room for subtopics…

Similar to Shamanism, Voodoo has received a negative connotation in the United States (Brown, p. 4). Like shamanism, this negativity arises from misunderstanding and the fear of such misunderstanding. In Hatian Voodoo a regular practice is the possession performance, or trance state in which the priestess becomes a vessel for the spirit world. In such instances, the followers at the ritual interact and feel the spirits presence (Brown, p. 6). This act shares inherent similarities with that of…

When one thinks of the word Vodu it is usually accompanied with negativity such as; black magic, voodoo dolls and possession. The word alone is “enough to conjure up exotic, bewitching images: zombies shuffling through a graveyard at night; pins stuck in crudely fashioned dolls as an enemy many miles away experiences agonizing pains; priests cutting the throats of chickens and drinking the blood; assembled worshippers dressed in white dancing around a roaring bonfire.” (University Of Vienna).…

Voodoo Dolls Introduction I. (Attention Getter) A specific dream or an urgent desire all fulfilled by a simple doll. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful doll to have? Although Voodoo Dolls can seem very dark demonic, magical, and superstitious, have you ever thought about voodoo dolls being created to fulfill an individual’s specific purpose of life? Created to fulfill romance, financial gain, or increase their luck. II. (Specific Purpose) Today I’m going to inform you about the voodoo doll. I will…

On February 9th I attended “African Diasporic Religions: Hearing, Resistance, and Weaponry.” The talk mentioned a lot of material concerning African customs such African Ceremonies or spiritual attire; however, the one piece that stood out to me the most was the use of Voodoo. Through this talk I learned the true form and purpose of Voodoo in African religion, which was completely unlike anything I have witnessed before. In America and many other places in the world, individuals like myself…

Voodoo is believed to be one of the world’s oldest religion based on ancestral and nature-honoring traditions. The religion began in Dahomey, present day Benin, in West Africa around 6,000 years ago. What began as an “underground practice” became a recognized religion in April of 2003 by Haiti’s first elceted president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide (Guynup 1). Currently close to 60 percent of the population of Benin, Africa practice and worldwide over 600 million people practice Voodoo (Robinson).…

the research on the history of Voodoo, I was curious as to what exactly Voodoo consists of. Voodoo contains several different spells, rituals, and ceremonies, most of which are kept at top secret. Radford wrote specifically about a supreme being that Voodooists worship known as Bondye, who is thought to be their god. They also believe in many different other spirits, known as Loa (Radford 1). The slave owners intended to Christianize the slaves, but the slaves ended up basically combining the…

The Voodoo religion has a rich history. It has survived oppressive times and now flourish in both Haiti and the United State. (the place) In the 1600’s, every slave was baptized upon arrival to the new land and was educated in the Catholic faith. They were forced to practice their religion in secret. The African priest, known as “doctor feuilles”, or medicine men and makers of charms, were now slaves and practiced in secret. Some of the slaves wore talismans as protection. Some nights the slaves…