How Voodoo (Vodou) Works

Voodoo originated in the African kingdoms of Fon and Kongo as many as 6,000 years ago. The word "voodoo" comes from the Fon language, in which it means "sacred," "spirit" or "deity." Other words used in Voodoo also come from the Fon and Kongo languages. For example, a Voodoo priestess is often referred to as a mambo or manbo. This is a combination of the Fon word for "mother" or "magical charm" and the Kongo word for "healer."

The Fon kingdom was located in what is now southern Benin, a region some anthropologists refer to as the "cradle of Voodoo." Voodoo is an official religion in Benin, where as many as 40 percent of the people are followers [source: BBC]. An estimated 60 million people practice Voodoo worldwide [source: Guynup].

Since Voodoo is primarily an oral tradition, the names of gods, as well as the specifics of different rituals, can change in different regions or from generation to generation. However, African Voodoo has several consistent qualities no matter where people practice it. Along with the belief in multiple gods and spiritual possession, these include:

Many of these traits, particularly ancestor worship, polytheism, and the importance of music and dance, are also important in other African religions. So, in practice, Voodoo looks a lot like other traditional African religions. Many observances appear to be part celebration, part religious service incorporating rhythmic music, dancing and songs. Many rituals take advantage of the natural landscape, such as rivers, mountains or trees. Through decoration and consecration, ordinary objects, like pots, bottles or parts of slaughtered animals, become sacred objects for use in rituals.

In parts of Africa, people who want to become spiritual leaders in the Voodoo community can enter religious centers, which are much like convents or monasteries. In some communities, initiates symbolically die, spending three days and nights in complete seclusion before being returned to the outside world. Initiates learn the rituals, colors, foods and objects associated with different deities, as well as how to communicate with the loa. The spirits have different personalities and different requirements of their followers, much like the gods in Greek and Roman myths.

Some people associate Voodoo with evil, but many of its rituals, even those that include the sacrifice of live animals, focus on respect and peace. Its religious leaders become community leaders, providing guidance and settling disputes. Leaders also frequently provide medical care in the form of folk medicine. Priests, priestesses and other practitioners typically dedicate their work to helping and caring for others [source: Visit Haiti].

Curses, witchcraft and spells designed to do harm fall instead into a separate religious practice known as bo in Africa or Makaya and Bizango in Haiti. These are "secret societies" outside of traditional Voodoo that blend ancient native dark magic with European necromancy and deal in curses, zombies and shape-shifting. In the U.S., sometimes this black magic is called "hoodoo" [source: Visit Haiti].

The regions of Africa where Voodoo has thrived are also areas that were heavily trafficked during the slave trade. Slavery brought Voodoo to the Americas. Next, we'll look at the changes to Voodoo that took place on the other side of the Atlantic.

In the American colonies, African Voodoo became what is known as Haitian Voodoo today. In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on an island known to its indigenous Taino inhabitants as Ayiti, or "Land of the Mountains." Columbus re-named this island Hispaniola, or "Little Spain" [source: Black History Month]. Colonists arrived, building plantations that became rich sources of crops like sugar, coffee and indigo. To make these plantations profitable, colonists relied heavily on slave labor. Eventually, Hispaniola became the countries known as Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Many of the enslaved people brought to Hispaniola from northern and central Africa in the 16th to 18th centuries practiced Voodoo. But the colony's slave code required all slaves to be baptized as Christians [source: The Pluralism Project]. This forced conversion had a big influence on Voodoo. Since enslaved people could not practice their religion openly, they borrowed many elements from Catholicism to protect their own spiritual practice. This process, known as syncretization, strongly influenced Voodoo in Haiti:

Several other influences affected Voodoo as well, including the traditions of the local Taino tribes.

The resulting form of Voodoo is a creolized religion, made up of influences from many other religions [source: Dialogue Institute]. But in spite of these additions, Haitian Voodoo strongly resembles African Voodoo. Priestesses, known as manbos and priests, known as oungans, conduct religious services and provide traditional folk remedies [source: Visit Haiti]. People who wish to become manbos or oungans often enter an apprenticeship as initiates with other leaders rather than joining a large-scale worship center. Many ceremonies take place in a structure called a hounfour, which serves as a temple or sanctuary.

As in Africa, possession is an important part of Voodoo in Haiti [source: Visit Haiti]. The person being possessed is often called a horse who is ridden by the possessing loa. The possessed person may move unnaturally, speak in unknown languages or make clear, direct statements to the other followers. Sacrifice is also important, and many ceremonies involve sacrificing goats, chickens or other animals. In many cases, the combination of possession, animal sacrifice and the ritual dancing and music that accompany them can seem dramatic or even frightening to outside observers.

Haitian Voodoo also incorporates clothing, objects and decorations to invoke or show respect for the loa. Kongo packets, or medicine packets, hold healing or medicinal herbs and items. Worshippers carry flags called drapo through areas used for worship to show respect for the spirits. To call to and invoke the loa, people play a variety of drums, bells and rattles. Altars hold numerous ritual objects, such as decorated bottles, dolls and kwi, or calabashes full of food offerings. Worshippers use the dolls as mediums to contact specific loa or the spirit world in general, not to inflict pain or suffering on others [source: Visit Haiti].

Today, many of the objects have become part of Haitian artwork and crafts. Some Haitian artists, for example, focus on creating depictions of different loa, elaborate drapo or ornately decorated ritual objects.

As in African Voodoo, manbos and oungans in Haitian Voodoo do not typically curse or harm other people. However, some followers believe that bokors, or sorcerers, have the ability to use magic to cause misfortune or injury. Bokors are also part of zombie lore — some believe that a bokor can use poisons and capture a person's soul to create a zombie [source: NPR].

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.

The French Revolution in 1789 sparked revolutions elsewhere in the world, including in several colonies in the Americas. In 1797, a Voodoo priest performed a ceremony at Bois Caiman in the Haitian mountains, which gave the slaves otherworldly strength. This ceremony prefaced a slave revolt that lasted until 1804, and the people of Haiti fought armies from Spain, France and Britain [source: The Guardian]. Eventually, Haiti became the first free, Black colony in the Americas. This ceremony and its importance are somewhat controversial, but they have become part of Haitian lore.

Voodoo is widely and openly practiced in Haiti. It also exists in various forms in New Orleans and the southeastern United States. In some cases, the Voodoo practiced in other parts of the Western hemisphere is mixed with other, similar traditions, pagan practices or other customs. However, in some regions, folk magical practices known as hoodoo have overtaken Voodoo in the public eye. Love spells, curses and methods of revenge generally fall under the umbrella of hoodoo and are not Voodoo practices at all.

Since its growth in Haiti, Haitian Voodoo has spread to other parts of the world. Slaves transported from Haiti to the Mississippi Delta carried their traditions with them, and Voodoo expanded from there. Today, people practice various forms of Haitian voodoo openly in Haiti. In other parts of the world, people often practice more covertly.

In many parts of the Western world, people view Voodoo with suspicion. Some people believe it is outright evil or that it encourages worship of the devil. In some countries, missionaries make a deliberate effort to convert people from Voodoo practice to Christianity. There are a number of reasons for these views.

As we mentioned, from 1915 to 1935, the United States Marine Corps (USMC) occupied Haiti. During and after this period, Haiti became the setting for books and movies, which often depicted Voodoo as sinister, cruel and bloody. Movies like "White Zombie," released in 1932, portrayed Voodoo priests as evildoers who made innocent people into zombies [source: Visit Haiti].

Around the same time, hoodoo became more commonplace in parts of the United States, including New Orleans. Previously, New Orleans had had a thriving Voodoo community led by Voodoo queens, including the inimitable Marie Laveau [source: Women's History Blog]. Under their successors, the Voodoo community eventually splintered and became less publicly visible. At the same time, vendors began selling hoodoo charms and trinkets throughout New Orleans. Eventually, hoodoo, along with its curses and spells, became synonymous with Voodoo in New Orleans and other parts of the South.

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.

Snakes, which many people find frightening, also play a part in some Voodoo ceremonies and Voodoo symbolism. For example, in Haiti, snakes are associated with one of the most powerful loa, known as Damballah. For this reason, followers often use images of the Catholic St. Patrick that incorporate snakes to represent Damballah [source: Dorsey].

The idea of spiritual possession is troublesome to many people, but it also has a place in other religions. For example, in Tibetan Buddhism, gods can temporarily inhabit the bodies of oracles. According to Tibetan lore, the Nechung Oracle, or the protector deity Dorje Drak-den in the body of a Buddhist monk, successfully instructed the Dalai Lama on how to escape Chinese forces in Tibet 1959 [source: Pulitzer Center].

One practical concern about Voodoo practice involves public health. In some Voodoo ceremonies, followers may injure themselves as a show of faith or as a demonstration of a loa's power. Followers may bleed freely or may bleed onto altars or sacred objects. Public health officials state that this may encourage the spread of disease. In addition, many Voodoo leaders, especially in rural areas, offer medical advice and folk remedies. Sometimes, this advice runs contrary to established medical thought concerning the spread of illnesses, especially HIV and other diseases spread through contact with infected blood [source: BBC].

Finally, death is a substantial part of the Voodoo religion. The spirits of dead ancestors, leaders and other important people are central to the Voodoo practice. Critics argue that the emphasis on appeasing dead ancestors creates a culture of fear. Supporters counter that many other religions have placed the same emphasis on appeasing gods. In addition, since death is a topic that makes many people inherently uncomfortable, it is logical that a religious tradition that embraces death may make people uncomfortable, too.

While Voodoo has little to do with many of the nefarious aspects people associate with it, some of the stereotypes that surround it have some basis in real Voodoo practice. So what about voodoo dolls?

If you visit the French Quarter in New Orleans or a tourist market in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, you'll find countless souvenir vendors hawking "authentic" voodoo dolls. According to legend, voodoo dolls are conduits for black magic, allowing the owner to inflict pain on an unwitting victim by sticking the crude little effigies with pins.

The truth is that there is nothing authentic about voodoo dolls. While dolls can play a role in Voodoo rituals, they are not used to exact revenge or for any other malicious purpose. It's a shame that the voodoo doll, a fake object dreamed up in order to discredit Voodoo as witchcraft, is one of the things most closely associated with Voodoo in our collective imagination [source: Visit Haiti].

In real Voodoo religious practice, dolls can be used to communicate with the departed spirits of loved ones. A doll might be placed on a grave or hung from a Kapok tree in the cemetery. Similar to how a loa might possess the body of a living person to communicate, Voodoo practitioners might use a doll as a medium to speak with the spirits, just as they would use drums and dancing [source: The Tempest].

An item called a pwen is filled with objects to attract a loa and gain some kind of influence over a person. A pwen can come in many forms, one of which happens to be a doll [source: Learn Religions].

But how did voodoo dolls with pins become so prevalent in the West? According to the website Learn Religions, it may have originated in the 1950s "when thousands of 'cashew dolls' were imported to the United States from Haiti. These were made of cashew shells, and had eyes made of the jequirity bean, a form of castor bean which when swallowed by young children can cause serious injury or death. The U.S. government issued a public health warning in 1958, which said that the dolls were 'lethal.'"

From there it's a short trip to pin-cushion puppets and cheap souvenirs.