New Orleans Voodoo Handbook

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Handwerk, Brian. "Voodoo a Legitimate Religion, Anthropologist Says." National Geographic News. 10/21/2002. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/ 1021_021021_taboovoodoo.html To find a voodoo practitioner willing to share the secrets of their magic is very rare. Because of their tough colonial history, Haitians are especially unlikely to share their knowledge with whites. So there aren’t many books on the topic of voodoo. But the slaves continued to practice in secret while attending masses. What emerged was a religion that the colonialists thought was Catholicism—but they were outfoxed. Hybrid Rituals

Voodoo is an important part in the day-to-day lives of many Haitians. Estimates vary, but in general anthropologists believe that 50 to 80 pecent of Haitians practice some form of Voodoo, often in concert with other religions [source: U.S. Dept. of State]. Voodoo has also played an important role in Haitian history. Nobody dies at a funeral. The dead arrive that way, and the living are supposed to leave that way. But the Rev Willie Maxwell walked into a funeral that he never left. It was 18 June, 1977, and Maxwell, a rural preacher living just outside Alexander City, Alabama, was at the House of Hutchinson Funeral Home – not to conduct a service, but to attend one for his 16-year-old stepdaughter, who had been murdered the week before. It was a stifling day, and with only one storey in the funeral home, there was nowhere for the heat to rise. Ceiling fans shuffled air around the chapel, and ushers offered paper fans to each of the 300 mourners as they made their way to the pews. Up in front of them, Shirley Ann Ellington’s slight body rested in an open casket.

The History of Voodoo

By the 70s, Lee’s friends worried about her drinking and her emotional volatility, while everyone worried about her struggles with writing. When she discussed her work, she sounded like some self-mortifying mystic, valorising suffering and solitude: “To be a serious writer requires discipline that is iron fisted,” she once said. “It’s sitting down and doing it whether you think you have it in you or not. Every day. Alone. Without interruption. Contrary to what most people think, there is no glamour in writing. In fact, it’s heartbreak most of the time.” Divination using the interpretation of physical activities, like tossing seed hulls or pulling a stone of a certain color from a tree I had a great time reading this book and it cleared many misconceptions that I had about voodoo in the past. Each religion also focuses its ceremonies around a center point—an altar in Catholicism, a pole or tree in voodoo. Their services include symbolic or actual rituals of sacrifice and consumption of flesh and blood, Corbett noted.

If you’re as fascinated by the history of voodoo, you’ll find this book incredibly interesting. You will learn about: Wall, Kim and Clerici, Caterina. "Vodou is elusive and endangered, but it remains the soul of the Haitian people." The Guardian. Nov. 7, 2015 (April 29, 2022) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/07/vodou-haiti-endangered-faith-soul-of-haitian-people These practices have been used for centuries, and the book was written by Denise Alvarado who grew up in a family of voodoo practitioners in New Orleans. BBC. "The Reality of Voodoo in Benin." Nov. 18 2011 (April 29, 2022) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-15792001Cussans, John. "Voodoo Terror: (mis)Representations of Voodoo and Western Cultural Anxieties. http://www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org/Cussans.html But fictional portrayals and public perceptions are only part of the sense that Voodoo is dark or disturbing. In addition, the practice of Voodoo includes activities that are taboo in other religions and cultures. Many ceremonies involve the sacrifice of live animals and the use of animal blood. Some also include the use of dried animal carcasses and animal parts [source: Guynup]. While animal sacrifice has been a part of major religions, including Judaism, it is not commonly practiced today.