Hello Internet,
When I say the word Voodoo, what do you think of?
You might think of eerie magic, witch-doctors, dolls of your enemies, or even zombies.
I’m going to dispel the myths here and talk about not only this very misunderstood religion, but also how it’s a cool example of when religions...mix.
The Caribbean is a fascinating melting pot of cultures.
It was the first region colonized by Europeans, and has been the place for numerous cultures of European, Native American, and important for today African people to mix.
Europeans brought over Africans as slaves, and tried to convert them to Christianity.
African people, however, already had a form of religion.
While it didn’t have popes, and books of rules, the rituals and beliefs of all sorts of traditions were already there.
This is when interesting stuff happens.
Their spirituality was more flexible than the strict Abrahamic faiths, and so instead of abandoning their beliefs for the new ones, they merged together.
This is what we call syncretism.
This might sound weird to us. How can people follow more than one religion?
Well, that comes from the point of view of the Abrahamic religions, which are actually kinda weird.
Religions like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are considered exclusivist religions, meaning that they believe they have the monopoly on truth, without openness to other practices.
They might be tolerant of other faiths, but the point to them is that they have the right way.
It’s this kind of thinking that shows why the Abrahamic faiths are so split into a billion tiny sects.
This isn’t the case with most faiths.
If I have my god, gods, demigods, spirits, or rituals, and I come in contact with others, we might simply exchange ideas.
If they have a god we like, we might adapt it.
Sometimes if one religion conquers another, adopting some of their religion might be part of the conquest, or they might do it for diplomatic reasons.
This is why the Greeks worships Egyptian gods, Romans worshiped renamed Greek Gods, and why Santa is about 2 saints and a Norse god mashed together.
Now let’s talk about Voodoo.
Voodoo is actually multiple faiths under the umbrella of the Afro-American religions.
The main varieties are based mostly on location.
The main flavor of Voodoo are Dominican, Louisiana, and Haitian.
Let’s begin with Haitian Voodoo.
Arguably, the most recognizable sect.
Practitioners are typically called Voodooists.
They believe in a god, but it’s a distant, unknowable being called Bondye, which comes from the French “Bon Dieu”.
Since this god doesn’t involve itself in human affairs, worship is directed to subservient deities called loa.
There are different loa for different domains of life.
In their lives, voodooists try to maintain personal relationships with the loa.
This can be done by giving offerings, making altars, creating small devotional items, or by doing elaborate songs, dances, or spiritual possession.
Their practices are mostly borrowed from a variety of African religious traditions such as Vodun, and the practices of Fon and Ewe.
They also incorporate Catholicism, European mysticism, and Freemasonry.
The Vodun influence also arrived on the shores of America.
In Louisiana where West African, French, Spanish, and Creole cultures overlapped for centuries a different Voodoo took hold.
It’s very much a product of the cultural mixing of the Atlantic slave trade.
It’s distinct, but not completely separate from American Hoodoo, and Haitian voodoo, but is unique.
They use talismans called Gris-Gris, borrowed from west Africa.
The Gris-Gris actually incorporate parts of the Quran, and are used as birth control.
They also put more emphasis on famous female practitioners called Voodoo Queens.
Most famous of those is Marie Laveau, who might be a great candidate for Bad-ass women of history.
Dominican Vudu, spelled like this actually has its own subgroups based on which spirits they honor.
These can be either Native American, African, or European spirits.
It’s the indigenous ones that make Dominican Vudu different.
It has many of the trappings of Catholicism, but with a few extra gods.
These deities, are Anaisa Pye, the deity of love and happiness, Belie Belcan of Justice and protection from demons, Filomena of dominance over men, Ogun Balendjo of warriors of and soldiers, Baron of Death, and Metresili of love beauty and wealth.
These deities are also mixed with various Catholic saints and popular Christian figures.
So Voodoo is not scary, eerie stuff, but a diverse set of religious beliefs created by the huge movement of people around the Caribbean world.
Their religion is somewhere between the African traditions slaves brought with them, and the Catholicism of their masters.
Do you know any cool instances of syncretism?
When cultures melded instead of clashed?
Let me know down below, and of course to find more History videos every 2 weeks, subscribe for more Step Back.