Voudon

[Fer]

Do you believe that voodoo is evil? Why so many people give voodoo such a bad reputation?  Do they not realize that its a actual religion with roots older than Christianity or they are just buying into Hollywoods perception of it?

[katia]

ha ha ha no, i don't think it's evil. hollywood did have a lot to do with voodoo being seen as an evil practice. voodoo dolls, zombies, etc.  also, voodoo was practiced mainly by slaves, so it got a very bad rap from the beginning. anything associated with black people was dubbed ignorant, evil, ungodly, and profane. it's very unfortunate but it's a stigma that will probably never be completely removed.

[Pysgod]

Do you believe that voodoo is evil? Why so many people give voodoo such a bad reputation?  Do they not realize that its a actual religion with roots older than Christianity or they are just buying into Hollywoods perception of it?

Actually it's based off of older African practices with a bit of Christianity thrown in. The Orishas are African Gods that people remembered and spread. While the ritual practices have Catholicism and some other stuff mixed.

[David W. Shelton]

I'm curious... there was an episode of Dresden which talked about voodoo dolls. Of course, it was the usual "evil" dribble...

Since that's unquestionably "hollywood," what would you consider to be the genuine article?

[tinkerbell]

Voodoo is a very well-respected religion in some African and a few Latin American countries.  Pesonally I believe that it can be used for good and evil.  However, like everything else in this glorious world of ours, it seems to be that things have been blown out way out of proportion due to Hollwood movies and the ignorance of some people.

tink

[Jeannette]

Voodoo is a religion that came from European folk magic but has nothing to do with Satanism, which comes from Abrahamic traditions. When a person from voodoo talks about satanism, he is referring to the social pain that comes from racism and not the devil.  I agree with you, Fer, on your statement that the dark reputation does not come from reality but rather from Hollywood movies.

[Fer]

Voodoo is a religion that came from European folk magic but has nothing to do with Satanism, which comes from Abrahamic traditions.

Yes it not only exists, it thrives. I practice Haitian based Voudon. Voudon is, in fact, an afro-caribean based religion that is an ancient and viable spiritual belief system. It has many adherents and is a far cry from Hollywoods misleading and usually inaccurate interpretations. There are, in fact, positive and powerful aspects within its mysteries.  Datura, for instance, is a herb used in some of the darker aspects of voudoun in Haiti and when a topical powder is introduced into or onto the skin of a zombie it brings about death like corpse like symptoms.  So, we do have a ritual of Zombification, however it is not the bringing back of the dead in the horror films, but a way to enslave a man by holding his soul after poisoning him with herbs such as datura.

Voodoo dolls are a form of sympathetic magic. the doll or poppet would represent a person. it was mainly used to help heal someone. They are, however, not part of the Voodoo religion at all.  The idea of the dolls goes way back further to the older religions especially the European ones where the Witch would use the image of a person as a substitute for the person to cause pain or to control them. It still continues, but is classed more as Black Magic than Voodoo.

[Pysgod]

Voodoo is a religion that came from European folk magic but has nothing to do with Satanism, which comes from Abrahamic traditions.

Yes it not only exists, it thrives. I practice Haitian based Voudon. Voudon is, in fact, an afro-caribean based religion that is an ancient and viable spiritual belief system. It has many adherents and is a far cry from Hollywoods misleading and usually inaccurate interpretations. There are, in fact, positive and powerful aspects within its mysteries.  Datura, for instance, is a herb used in some of the darker aspects of voudoun in Haiti and when a topical powder is introduced into or onto the skin of a zombie it brings about death like corpse like symptoms.  So, we do have a ritual of Zombification, however it is not the bringing back of the dead in the horror films, but a way to enslave a man by holding his soul after poisoning him with herbs such as datura.

Voodoo dolls are a form of sympathetic magic. the doll or poppet would represent a person. it was mainly used to help heal someone. They are, however, not part of the Voodoo religion at all.  The idea of the dolls goes way back further to the older religions especially the European ones where the Witch would use the image of a person as a substitute for the person to cause pain or to control them. It still continues, but is classed more as Black Magic than Voodoo.

I somehow get the feeling your from New Orleans possibly. Or at least somewhere in that area. Anyways I was always under the impression that the drug used made it seem like the person was dead. The relatives would bury them and then they would be dug up later and revived. Except the drug made them lose memory and basically put them in a zombie like state.

[Fer]

No, I am originally from Denmark but live in the UK.  I have been to the States a couple of times in the past, not precisely New Orleans though.

[Intertween]

I agree that voodoo is not evil.

Wasn't the fear of voodoo (at least partly) responsible for the overthrow of slavery in Haiti? Can't be all bad.

-- Sue

[Lokaeign]

This is an article by a practitioner based in the UK, where he adresses some of the prejudices against Vodou in Western culture, especially in the context of Western occultism.  (Contains profanity, and generally rather strongly worded.)

http://www.key64.net/feature/738-live-and-let-die-fear-of-a-voodoo-planet/

[tekla]

I like it just fine.  Its very interesting.  A unique mixture of different deals.  But I don't believe its base tenant any more than I believe the base tenant of every religious system.

Its not that I think the human religious experience does not exist, I know it does, I just think its causes are not supernatural but biological and chemical.

[Lokaeign]

I think that's fair enough though.  This kind of thing is so personal, it would be ridiculous to expect everyone to just buy into it.  I regard the Lwa (the Vodou deities) as having some kind of objective reality and probably being a lot like my own Gods.  However I would still be an atheist if I hadn't had certain experiences which convinced me otherwise--and someone else, having had the same experiences, might parse them completely differently and have a completely different response. 

[Fer]

I think that's fair enough though.  This kind of thing is so personal, it would be ridiculous to expect everyone to just buy into it.  I regard the Lwa (the Vodou deities) as having some kind of objective reality and probably being a lot like my own Gods.   

Thats good enough for me

A piece of a paper I'm writing:

https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,31656.0.html

[Lokaeign]

Cool!  Did you take a look at the article I linked to?