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 Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 9:17 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 9:21 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 9:31 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 9:44 am
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Namikikyo Mitsh "Vodou" is usually used in regards to the Haitian "branch" of the religion; "Voodoo" is either mocked as being the way those with no knowledge of the religion refer to it, or to refer to the Louisiana "branch" of the religion. "Hoodoo" refers to the folks practices that are divorced from religious ideas (such as floor washes, baths, and other things that could be considered, with a very liberal use of the term, "kitchen witchcraft"). Perchance are you watching "Scariest Places on Earth", where someone's made an altar to Ghede? That's a shame, I had very high hopes for the information about the three. But anyways..
Why yes, Yes I am. I just happened to flip the channel and saw something of my interests.
Let me guess, That wasn't voodoo. D:
Surprise! No! : D
I'm kidding - it's been so long since I saw that episode (it was the first time I'd seen anything remotely authentic-voodo-related on TV) that I can't remember what it was like. I just remember a pretty looking altar with tonnes of candles. They at least got something right, though - Ghede is/are the god(s) of the dead.
I can definitely give you information, but the majority of it is related to Haitian Vodou, and from what I've heard, Louisiana Voodoo's a fair bit different. Besides that, there are a lot of different traditions, and a lot of variety within those traditions - it's not entirely unlike the numerous sects of Christianity you get (a particularly good comparison, since Voodoo (which I'm using as a blanket term here) often subsumes a lot of Christian imagery).
I haven't used many sites to find out about Voodoo (just using that as a blanket term here), and I got the majority of my knowledge from books - a particularly /awesome/ one is Kenaz Filan's aptly-named book "Haitian Vodou". It's hard to tell what sites are legit and what aren't, because as I mentioned, there's a lot of variation - names are spelled differently, veves drawn with different symbols here and there, and some of the rituals used within particular traditions are oathbound. Some sites I've found that're at least moderately useful are this'n and this'n.
If there's anything you specifically want to know about, I'll do my best to answer. |
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:05 am
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Mitsh Namikikyo Mitsh "Vodou" is usually used in regards to the Haitian "branch" of the religion; "Voodoo" is either mocked as being the way those with no knowledge of the religion refer to it, or to refer to the Louisiana "branch" of the religion. "Hoodoo" refers to the folks practices that are divorced from religious ideas (such as floor washes, baths, and other things that could be considered, with a very liberal use of the term, "kitchen witchcraft"). Perchance are you watching "Scariest Places on Earth", where someone's made an altar to Ghede? That's a shame, I had very high hopes for the information about the three. But anyways..
Why yes, Yes I am. I just happened to flip the channel and saw something of my interests.
Let me guess, That wasn't voodoo. D: Surprise! No! : D I'm kidding - it's been so long since I saw that episode (it was the first time I'd seen anything remotely authentic-voodo-related on TV) that I can't remember what it was like. I just remember a pretty looking altar with tonnes of candles. They at least got something right, though - Ghede is/are the god(s) of the dead. I can definitely give you information, but the majority of it is related to Haitian Vodou, and from what I've heard, Louisiana Voodoo's a fair bit different. Besides that, there are a lot of different traditions, and a lot of variety within those traditions - it's not entirely unlike the numerous sects of Christianity you get (a particularly good comparison, since Voodoo (which I'm using as a blanket term here) often subsumes a lot of Christian imagery). I haven't used many sites to find out about Voodoo (just using that as a blanket term here), and I got the majority of my knowledge from books - a particularly /awesome/ one is Kenaz Filan's aptly-named book "Haitian Vodou". It's hard to tell what sites are legit and what aren't, because as I mentioned, there's a lot of variation - names are spelled differently, veves drawn with different symbols here and there, and some of the rituals used within particular traditions are oathbound. Some sites I've found that're at least moderately useful are this'n and this'n. If there's anything you specifically want to know about, I'll do my best to answer.
Ah! I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw "No!" I should really learn to read everything before reacting to the first line. gonk
But that's good, I saw that pretty alter too. It's for that reason I damn my low a** budget. I've always wanted a big lovely alter like that. You know how hard it is to get a human skull? You practically have to kill someone to get it.
Anyways, the show reminds me of "Scare tactics" more then an actual paranormal show. I can't tell if it's real or not.
I really like this information! I've been wanting for a long time to incorperate voodoo {Just using your umbrella term.} into my usual crafting. If it's any different, of course. Thank you for your help!
Any information is great, Mitsh! But you've got me wondering about Hoodo. So it's the practice without the religion? Like witchcraft? |
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:37 am
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Y'know the adage that goes "You can be spiritual without being religious"? That's kind of the sentiment behind Hoodoo (which is also known as Rootwork). There's no sense of "religious politics", by which I mean that there are no priests, popes or anything - there's no kind of heirarcy - and no dogma, commandments or the like (but, given the way the belief system rose up, i.e. under another opressive belief system, there are strong Christian sentiments within). It's essentially just a term to cover the "folk magic" that was brought over from Africa and merged with local beliefs.
Most of what hoodoo entails will be familiar to anyone who's read books on "low magick" in western occult theory - for example, preparing candles with particular oils, with particular words, to get a particular result, and the like - but there are some innovations that perhaps aren't as recognisable - hoodoo utilises "floor washes", that is, a "potion" that the floor is washed in, the infamous "voodoo dolls", and rather esoteric uses of images of Catholic Saints. Hoodoo also doesn't always involve the loa (Voodoo "gods").
Hoodoo is pretty damn compatible with Voodoo (given that, at one time, most of the beliefs would have been part of the same system), but Voodoo has a more rigid system to it. Voodoo has clergy of a sort, an initiatory-based system and what have you, but is still pretty accessible to outsiders.
One word of warning, though, is that because of the kitschy reputation Voodoo had until recently (from the "slaves conducting Voodoo orgies with white women" all the way up to "Hex your lover with a Voodoo Doll!"), a lot of books and websites will contain watered-down dross. There's no way to tell for sure, but if a book or site says anything along the lines of Erzulie/Ezili Freda being "just the same" as Aphrodite, or that the Ghede are grim, evil death gods, drop it like it's hot. Ezili Freda is said to be jealous, melodramatic and vain, and the Ghede, while being death gods, are also emblematic of fertility - put simply, they're really vulgar. Really.
EDIT: I just rediscovered the Hoodoo site I'd forgotten the name of: it's Lucky Mojo.
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