The Truth About Voodoo

Voodoo (also spelled Vodou, Vodoo, Vudou, Vudu, Vodu, or Vodum) is an Afrikan Diasporic Religious Tradition found in North amerikkka, South amerikkka, and the Caribbean. The most well-known expressions of this Tradition are Haitian Vodou and Louisiana Voodoo (also known as New Orleans Voodoo.) Other expressions include Brazilian Vodum (known as Jeje), Cuban Vodu (known as Arara), Dominican Vodou [known as Las 21 Divisiones (The 21 Divisions)], and Puerto Rican Vodou (known as Sanse.) The Mother Culture of all expressions of “Voodoo” is the Afrikan Religious Tradition called Vodun. Vodun came to the western hemisphere from the Kingdom of Dahomey, which constitutes the present day countries of Togo and Benin, along with portions of Eastern Ghana and Western Nigeria. Vodun is primarily practiced by the Fon and Ewe people, but it is also practiced by the Kabye people, the Mina people, and some of the Gun people. All of these Blood Circles belong to the Gbe language group.

The term “Vodun” is composed of two words: “vo” which means “to rest” and “dun” which means “to draw water.” This is a reference to a particular form of Divination in Vodun called Water-Gazing. During Water-Gazing Divination, the Diviner must “rest” before possession in order to balance the possessing spirit, which is to be drawn into their head, the same way a woman must rest after she has traveled to a water source before she balances the pail of water she has drawn by placing it on top of her head. The Goddesses and Gods are known as the Vodou (which is the name of this Afrikan Religious Tradition in the West), and the Honorable Ancestresses and Ancestors are known as the Kuvito. The Great Mother is known as Mawu, and The Great Father is known as Lisa. Mawu and Lisa are also collectively referred to as The Supreme Being,

“Voodoo” has become a blanket term for Afrikan Religions in areas where Fon and Ewe people were the majority of Afrikans under enslavement. In louisiana, the first group of enslaved Afrikans to arrive were from the Bambara (also spelled Bambana) tribe, from the Sene-Gambia region. They left Afrika on July 4, 1718, and they arrived in louisiana in 1719. The Bambara Religion in north amerikkka is known as “Gris-Gris.” The term “Gris-Gris” comes from the name of the bag used by the Bambara to carry their talismans, charms, or medicine, as well the Bambara word for the ritual use of medicine. Between 1719 and 1731, the majority of enslaved Afrikans brought to louisiana were from Dahomey. As a result, “Voodoo” became the most prominent term used when the europeans referenced Afrikan Religion. This heavy presence of “Voodoo” in louisiana was before the Haitian Migration to louisiana began in 1793. Eventually the enslaved Afrikans lost their tribal identities, and they also began to refer to all Afrikan Religion in louisiana as “Voodoo.” That is why, in modern times, people in Louisiana associate the term “Gris-Gris” with “Voodoo”, although they are two separate Afrikan Religious Traditions.

In the various expressions of Vodun in the Western Hemisphere, there is a concept of the being “21 Nations” which are families of Goddesses and Gods. The truth of the matter is that while some these families do consist of the Vodou, many of the families are actually the Goddesses and Gods of other Afrikan Religious Traditions. An example would be the Nago Nation in Haitian Vodou and other expressions, which is really the Orisha of the Yoruba people. The Orisha are not separate deities from the Vodou, or the Abosom, or the Ntorou and Ntorotu, but the way they are addressed by each Afrikan Blood Circle is different. The only difference between each Afrikan Religious Tradition is the difference of the relationship they have with each Afrikan Blood Circle. A particular Blood Location’s language, location, and history are the determining factors of they address the Goddesses and Gods.

The assimilation of pseudo-cultures into different Afrikan Religious Traditions has been taking place for thousands of years in Afrika. In the Western Hemisphere, the same thing has taken place. The concept of equating the Goddesses and Gods to catholic “saints”, angels, or mary and jesus is blatant disrespect to the Deities and the Ancestresses and Ancestors. Using bible verses to do “spiritual work” is just as bad. These perversions of our Afrikan Religious Traditions can be seen throughout North and South amerikkka and in the Caribbean, candomble, and santeria have emerged as pseudo-Afrikan Religious Traditions that fuse Afrikan Religion with christianity. This is why you will hear the name for “god” in “Voodoo” is “bondye.” “bondye actually comes from the French term “bon dieu” which means “good god”, which reaffirms the christian concept of a single male godhead. People who practice these pseudo-religions will often refer to Authentic Afrikan Religion as “pagan”, “witchcraft” or “black magic.” These pseudo-religions and their practitioners are rejected by the Goddesses and Gods as well as the Honorable Ancestresses and Ancestors.

The popularity “Voodoo” has created a big business industry. In louisiana alone, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of shops that sell “Voodoo” merchandise. There are hundreds of thousands of “Voodoo Queens” and “Voodoo Kings” who charge people money in return for “spiritual work”, “potions” and “charms.” There are also people who charge boat loads of money for ‘spiritual training” and/or initiation into a “Voodoo priesthood”, some of which are operating solely through the internet. These so-called “priesthoods” then turn around and charge boat loads of money to people in their communities to “do work.” “Voodoo” has been perverted by many people into a hustle with no connections to the Goddesses and Gods or the Afrikan Ancestors. The Authentic “Voodoo” practitioners went underground to avoid persecution by white people and the Afrikans who accepted white culture and rejected Afrikan Culture. Real Afrikan Religion is NOT something you can pay your way into being initiated as a priest or priestess. Nor is it something that requires you can be initiated into. You were “initiated” into you Afrikan Religious Tradition the day your Mother gave birth to you. You are given a Matrilineal Inheritance from you Ancestresses that does not require permission from any “priesthood’, not even the ones in Afrika. The only true “Voodoo” practitioners are the ones who are Matrilineal Descendants of Vodun practitioners from Afrika. And it will be those Afrikans who Matrilineally Inherited the Vodun Religious Tradition, and them alone, who reestablish and purify “Voodoo” as an Authentic Afrikan Religious Tradition.

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