New Orleans Voodoo Handbook

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So you can rest assured that the information presented in this book comes from a relevant and highly informed source. Things that are discussed in Haitian Vodou include:

In April 2003 an executive decree by then president Jean-Bertrand Aristide sanctioned voodoo as an officially recognized religion. There are hundreds of spells using a voodoo doll that are explained in this compendium with a lovely and precise writing style.

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. Bartholet, Jeffrey. "Tibet's National Spirit Advisor." Pulitzer Center. July 16, 2013 (April 29, 2022) https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/tibets-national-spirit-advisor 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]. Historical Museum of South Florida. "Orishia Worship in Miami." http://www.hmsf.org/exhibits/orisha/english/orisha-e-4.htm

It is an honor to be entered and "ridden" by a Loa, or spirit. In Haiti these rituals are commonplace: Voodoo is the dominant religion.

The Spread of Voodoo Practices

The Haitian people have a view of the world that is unimaginably different from ours," Corbett said. The Loa are believed to determine our lives to an astonishing degree, he explains, and they are always present in great numbers: There might be two people in a room, but there are also 20 Loa.