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Voodoo
Also Vodou, Vodoun or Vodun.
A religious system with followers predominantly in Haiti in the West Indies, and in other countries to which Haitians have immigrated.
Developed by African slaves brought to Haiti by the French between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, Voodoo combines features of African religion with the Roman Catholicism of the European settlers.
The term voodoo is thought to be derived from the word for 'spirit' in the Fon language of Dahomey, now part of Nigeria.
The voodoo religion involves belief in a supreme god (bon dieu) and a host of spirits called loa. Most voodoo practices involve the loa, which are often identified with Catholic saints. These spirits are closely related to African gods and may represent natural phenomena — such as fire, water, or wind — or dead persons, including eminent ancestors. They consist of two main groups: the rada, often mild and helping, and the petro, which may be dangerous and harmful.
Voodoo rites include special ceremonies in which the loa have the power to make their presence known. These are characterized by music and dancing that lead the participants into a trancelike state in which they are possessed by the loa. The spirit temporarily displaces the astral body of the possessed person and occupies his or her physical body. The individual thus possessed is said to be mounted by the loa and behaves and acts as the loa directs, usually in a man ner characteristic of the loa itself. Priests called houngans or priestesses known as mambos preside over these ceremonies.
Other voodoo practices include animal sacrifices and pilgrimages. The focal point of a pilgrimage is usually a Christian church identified with a particular voodoo spirit. The most important of these pilgrimages take place in July and honor Ogou (Saint James) and Ezili Danto (Our Lady of Mount Carmel).
Another aspect of voodoo is called 'work of the left hand', which includes belief in zombies.
Today, Voodoo is still practiced in Haiti, as well as in some of the southern states of the USA.
See Psychic Readings, Heptameron, Demonology, Demonomancy, Grimoires, Rootwork and Voodoo in Mental Health, Ve-Ve Diagrammes Rituels Du Voudou: Ritual Voodoo Diagrams, Voodoo Charms and Talismans, Voodoo Fire In Haiti, Voodoo Handbook of Cult Secrets, Weird Science: An Expert Explains Ghosts, Voodoo, the Ufo Conspiracy, and Other Paranormal Phenomena, The Chakra Store, Casting Black Magic Spells, Commanding Spirits, The Tarot Store, Divination & Scrying Tools and Supplies, and The Pyramid Collection.
Sources: (1) Dictionary of the Occult, Caxton Publishing; (2) Turner and Coulter, Patricia and Charles R., Dictionary of Ancient Deities, Oxford University Press; (3) Spence, Lewis, An Encyclopedia of Occultism, Carol Publishing Group.
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 | | | | | Suggested Software:
|  | | Courses on New Age and Alternative Beliefs:
| | -- Dream Interpreter CD-ROM
Spiritual, Psychological and Traditional Interpretations of Dreams.
-- Horoscope Interpreter CD-ROM
Generate and Analyze Horoscopes.
-- Ultimate Divination 4 CD-ROM Set: Astrology, Tarot, Palmistry, I Ching.
-- Click HERE for more related software.
-- Click HERE for the best prices on top-selling software titles.
-- Contagion: The Macabre World of the Zombie Hunter (Amazon Instant Video).
-- Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti: A Film by Maya Deren (DVD).
-- Haunted Histories Collection: Dracula, Witches, Voodoo, and Exorcism DVD.
-- Haunted Histories Collection, Vol. 2: Hauntings, Zombies, and Voodoo Rituals (DVD).
-- History's Mysteries: Fear Files - Zombies (DVD).
-- National Geographic: Taboo - The Complete First Season DVD Set.
-- Tales Of The Unexplained DVD.
-- The Unexplained Boxed Set DVD.
-- The Unexplained: Voodoo Rituals DVD.
-- The Unexplained: Zombies DVD.
-- Voodoo Secrets (DVD).
-- Werewolves, Vampires and Zombies DVD.
-- Witches, Vampires and Zombies (Amazon Instant Video).
-- Witches, Vampires and Zombies DVD.
-- Click HERE for more related videos.
-- Click HERE for the best prices on top-selling DVD titles. | | | -- Angels 101 .
-- Metaphysics 101.
-- Psychic Powers 101.
-- Intermediate and Advanced Spiritual Counseling.
-- Auras: Viewing, Identifying, and Understanding.
-- Understanding Parapsychology and the Paranormal.
-- Click HERE for more new age and alternative beliefs learning.
Suggested Art prints and Posters:
-- Click HERE for more related art prints and posters. | | | Suggested Books: -- Dr. Snake's Voodoo Spellbook.
-- Hoodoo, Voodoo, and Conjure: A Handbook (Greenwood Folklore Handbooks).
-- New Orleans Superstitions [Illustrated].
-- Passage of Darkness: The Ethnobiology of the Haitian Zombie.
-- Rootwork and Voodoo in Mental Health.
-- Secrets of Voodoo.
-- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Voodoo.
-- The Mammoth Book of Zombies.
-- The New Orleans Voodoo Handbook.
-- The Serpent and the Rainbow: A Harvard Scientist's Astonishing Journey into the Secret Societies of Haitian Voodoo, Zombis, and Magic.
-- The Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook.
-- The Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook.
-- The Voodoo Doll Spellbook: A Compendium of Ancient and Contemporary Spells and Rituals.
-- Ve-Ve Diagrammes Rituels Du Voudou: Ritual Voodoo Diagrams.
-- Voodoo and Hoodoo: The Craft as Revealed by Traditional Practitioners.
-- Voodoo Charms and Talismans.
-- Voodoo Dolls In Magick And Ritual.
-- Voodoo Fire In Haiti.
-- Voodoo Handbook of Cult Secrets.
-- Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of Marie Laveau.
-- Voodoo Planet.
-- Weird Science: An Expert Explains Ghosts, Voodoo, the Ufo Conspiracy, and Other Paranormal Phenomena.
-- Click HERE for more Voodoo related books.
-- Click HERE for more Zombies related books.
-- Click HERE for the best prices on top-selling book titles. |
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