What is Voodoo?

Voodoo is a diverse term, used to describe the magical traditions that developed in Haiti, the southern US state of Louisiana, and in Africa. While all Voodoo originates from Africa, transported to the Western hemisphere as a result of the slave trade, the types of Voodoo practiced around the world may vary widely in belief and practice. However, when Voodoo is depicted in popular culture or otherwise it is typically a reference to Haitian or Louisiana Voodoo.

Haitian Voodoo is both a religious and spiritual practice that encompasses not only magical rituals and spells, but also devotion to an assortment of deities, or Lwa. These Lwa are not proper gods in and of themselves but do invoke parallels with angels, demons, and other spiritual beings that intercede between men and God. Haitian Voodoo also embraces the idea of a supreme God, or Bondye, that is not directly accessible by man but only through the intervention of Lwa.

It is these Lwa who are primary instruments in the casting of Voodoo spells. While not all Voodoo spells involve invoking a Lwa, the most powerful certainly do. Each Lwa, or multiple overlapping Lwa, are in charge of various domains. For example, the Lwa Erzulie would be invoked during rituals for love while the one of the Lwa Samhedi’s forms might be invoked during a protection spell or alternately, during a curse.

Much like the early distinctions between Myalism and Obi in the magical traditions of Obeah, Voodoo also has divisions. A Houngan is a Voodoo Priest, one who handles the rituals and spells necessary to serve his community. Conversely, a Bokur is a Voodoo Priest who specializes in the dark arts. This draws parallels to the Obi man or woman, who was early on associated with the casting of harmful spells, and the Myal man or woman, whose job was to protect individuals from Obeah. And just like in Obeah, these lines are blurred; it was typically an Obi man or woman who acted as a Myalist, while it is almost always a Houngan who does back room work as a Bokur.

A common association with Voodoo is that of the zombi. Zombi refers to two things – a specific Lwa, Damballah, and the undead corporeal being as depicted in Hollywood. While there are no Hollywood-style zombi in real life, there are real zombi. Using a mixture of poisons and incantations, the experienced Bokur is able to create a zombi by poisoning an individual to the point of death and stealing his soul.

The book and subsequent movie The Serpent and the Rainbow depicts the research of Harvard ethnobotanist Wade Davis and his findings that the zombi is largely a result of the tetrodotoxin poison. Similarly, the historical account of one zombi, Clairvius Narcisse, sheds more light on the issue; this individual was made into a zombi, forced to work on a plantation, and then wandered back into the city unexpectedly to be discovered by his relatives. The whole point of this story is that, strangely enough, zombi appear to be real, just not as they are depicted in Hollywood popular culture.

This discussion of zombi gives a clean transition into the other next branch of Voodoo we will discuss, Louisiana Voodoo. In Louisiana Voodoo, there is special emphasis on Le Grand Zombi, a snake deity. This is not entirely unique, however, as it parallels the symbolism of Zombi as Damballah the snake in Haitian Voodoo. Nonetheless, the place of Le Grand Zombie in Louisiana Voodoo is unique and has few significant parallels in Haitian or West African Voodoo.

Another distinction between Haitian Voodoo and Louisiana Voodoo is the inclusion of Voodoo Queens as religious leaders. Marie Leveau is the arguably the best known of these. While leadership roles in Haitian Voodoo were assigned to Houngan and Mambo, in Louisiana Voodoo the Voodoo Queens took legendary status that would surpass that of the average Mambo. The rise of Voodoo Queens in Louisiana as spiritual and ritual leaders was due largely to the fact that they were very successful in the spells they cast and were able to provide relief to many of their clients.

Gris-gris bags – magical amulets and talismans for an assortment of purposes – as well as Voodoo Dolls, were also the domain of Louisiana Voodoo. Although Voodoo Dolls, or poppets, existed in Haitian Voodoo they were truly popularized and refined in Louisiana Voodoo. Regardless of the source, both gris-gris bags and Voodoo Dolls have proven highly effective as magical items.

Although Voodoo has been given a bad rap – the term is often perceived as synonymous with curses – Voodoo is really a beautifully diverse set of beliefs and practices for every aspect of life.