Vodou religion is an Afro-American religion that formed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It developed by a syncretism between the customary religions of West Africa and the Roman Catholic form of Christianity.
Vodou (or Voodoo) is a monotheistic religion that is common in New Orleans and Haiti and is often misread. It forms a unique set of customs that include symbolic art and Voodoo dolls by merging Roman Catholic and African beliefs.
However, as with any beliefs, factions of Vodou cannot be taken into a single group. There are also many delusions, which are just as important to understand.
Haitian Vodou Religion (Voodoo)
The Vodou religion “covers a diversity of Haiti’s African-derived holy beliefs and observes”. It is a Haitian Creole word that was previously stated to only a small subgroup of Haitian rites.
It is originated from an Ayizo word denoting to secretive forces or rules that govern the realm and the lives of those who exist in it, but also a range of creative customs that work in union with these Vodun energies.
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Vodou Religious Beliefs emphasize on the worship of god known as lwa. These are often recognized both as Yoruban gods as well as Roman Catholic saints.
Various legends and lores are told about this lwa, which are observed as obedient to a supreme creator deity, Bondye.
Vodou Beliefs are mainly worshipped in Haiti, New Orleans, and other places within the Caribbean.
When the African slaves were traded to different parts of the world, they carried their traditions and beliefs with themselves that got merged with other major world religions.
However, they were usually prohibited from practicing their faith. To get around these limits, the slaves started to associate their gods with Catholic saints.
They also made their rites using the objects and images of the Catholic Church. If a Vodou expert ponders himself, Christian, he usually owns to be a Catholic Christian.
Many Vodou experts also cogitate themselves Catholics. Some see the saints and spirits to be the same. Others still hold that the Catholic accessories are mainly for presence.
Myths About Vodou Religion (Voodoo)
Major religions across the world have several misinterpretations and myths related to the Voodoo religions like;
- They worship evil or the devil.
- It involves cannibalism and torture.
- It is the practice of wicked magical workings.
These myths have been developed primarily due to confusions of the faith combined with the delusions of the history. The seeds of these fallacies began much earlier than anything seen in the movies.
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A famous event at Bois Caiman (in 1791) marked a crucial time in Haitian slave revolts. The exact facts and intent are a matter of antique discussion.
It’s thought that observers saw a Vodou rite and thought the members were making some sort of pact with the Devil to spoil their abductors.
Some folks even as recent as 2010 after the shocking earthquake have appealed that this pact has eternally cursed the Haitian people.
In the Vodou inclined areas such as Haiti, repression was very fierce and cruel; the uprisings of the slaves were equally as intense.
All of this led white colonists to link the Vodou religion with ferocity and also helped fuel many baseless stories about Vodouisants.
Basic Beliefs of Voodoo Religion
Vodou Religion has also been characterized as a monotheistic and a polytheistic religion. It imparts the reality of a wider range of gods, known as the lwa or loa, a word that can diversely be decoded into English as “gods”, “spirits”, or “geniuses”.
This lwa are also identified as the secrecies, seraphs, saints, and less invisible. The lwa can offer aid, defence, and advice to human beings, in return for a customary deal.
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Bondye, Lwa, and Vilokan
Vodou is a monotheistic faith whose followers are known as Vodouisants. These folks trust in a lone, ultimate godhead that can be likened with the Catholic God. This deity is recognized as Bondye, “the good god”.
Vodouisants also accept the reality of lesser beings, which they call loa or lwa. These are more closely tangled in day-to-day life than Bondye, who is a distant symbol. The lwa are separated into 3 families: Rada, Petro, and Ghede.
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The connection amid humans and lwa is a joint one. Advocates provide food and other items that plea to the lwa in the argument for their help.
The lwa are often invited to own a devotee during ceremonial so the public can directly network with them. Vilokan is the homegrown of the lwa as well as the dead.
It is usually defined as a flooded and woody island. It is protected by the lwa Legba, who must be pacified before experts can speak to any other Vilokan occupier.
Those devoted to the Gede spirits dress in a way connecting in with the Gede’s relations with death.
This comprises wearing a black and purple dress, funeral frock coats, black veils, top hats, and sunglasses.
Rites and Performs
There is no consistent code within Vodou. 2 temples within the same city might teach diverse myths and plea to the lwa in dissimilar ways.
As such, the data delivered in outlines of Vodou Religion (such as this one) cannot continuously imitate the opinions of all supporters.
For example, occasionally lwa are related to diverse folks, Roman Catholic saints, or veves. Some mutual differences are involved here.
- Veves Rites usually involve the sketch of assured cyphers known as veves with cornmeal or added ash. Each lwa has its mark and some have many symbols related to them.
- Animal Sacrifice A diversity of animals might be slew through a Vodou ceremonial, subject to the lwa being talked. It offers divine nutrition for the lwa, while the flesh of the animal is then heated and eaten by contributors.
- Voodoo Dolls The shared insight of Vodouisants stabbing pins into Voodoo dolls does not reflect customary Vodou. However, Vodouisants do bestow dolls to specific lwa and use them to entice a lwa’s impact.
Conclusion
Vodou, also signified Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a religion that is practised in Haiti.
Vodou Religion is a creolized faith made by progenies of Dahomean, Kongo, Yoruba, and other African cultural groups and Christianized by Roman Catholic missionaries in the 16th and 17th centuries.
These were those slaves that have been caged and then transported to foreign places like Saint-Domingue (as Haiti was known then).
The word Vodou means “spirit”, “soul” or “deity” in the Fon verbal of the African kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin).
People Also Ask (FAQs)
What God does voodoo pray?
Voudou instills credence in an ultimate power called Bondye, a mysterious and detached creator god. Voudou devotees worship many spirits (called loa), each one of whom is liable for a precise field or part of life.
What are the common theories of the Vodou religion?
The West African origins of Voodoo come from the early does of antecedent love and animism, which is the trust that spirits occupy all things, with faunas and floras. Voodoo experts believe in an ultimate god called Bondye who is supreme yet remains separate from social matters.
What religion is related to voodoo?
Voodoo is a religion that initiates in Africa. In the Americas and the Caribbean, it is thought to be a mixture of various African, Catholic and Native American customs.
What is the difference between Vodou and voodoo?
Vodou is another spelling for Voodoo. Both phrases originate from the Vodou religion practiced by some sets in West Africa. Vodun was taken to Haiti by African slaves. Though, the type of Voodoo that is practiced in Louisiana is spelt as “Voodoo” rather than “Vodou.”
Who is the voodoo devil?
Papa Legba is a loa in Haitian Vodou, who aids as the midway amid the loa and humanity. He views at a divine crossroads and gives (or denies) consent to speak with the spirits of Guinee, and is thought to state all human lingos.