The Voodoo term and concept has its origins in Africa in the eighteenth century. It means spirit . Many people have heard of this religion because of the media but most of the evil image promoted is untrue. Actually it is just a cult that worships some gods, the practices associated with it come from other cult named Hoodoo and people are mistaking them as Voodoo…
In the colonial times many of the priests were murdered and tortured for keeping their beliefs, despite that many tribes and groups have kept them is secret and traveled to other continents.
In the eighteenth century originates the misconception that human sacrifice is used in the rituals, a fake thing brought by a book of that time. Killing humans is totally contrary to the teachings of this religion that says: don’t make any harm to other people.
The real name of this belief is Vodun, and it’s much alike to other religions like the Christian because it has many traditions and tells about afterlife, guardian angels, personal soul etc. most of the rituals involves sacrificing animals, specially to feed the spirits.
The voodoo dolls are just a myth also, the original doll come from Europe and was used in witchcraft, this misconception comes from a writer. The real purpose of this object in the Vodun cult is to be used on the ritual altars to represent deities. Also, sticking a puppet to cause pain to a remote human is against their moral teachings.
This African belief uses magic, both white and black meaning positive and negative. A priest could use both depending on the situation and the requirements of the ritual.
These facts can tell you that many things we learn from media about voodoo are wrong or superficial, it is best to research for ourselves before we catalog anything. How many things are stereotypes like this? The only way to know is by information, and its full of it in these days…
Top Photo Credit: Antonio Goya