Anna Beahm (Michigan Live) writes, “Zombies, potions, and puppets? Nope! Here’s what Voodoo REALLY is (and why we should celebrate it).” [Many thanks to Peter Jordens for bringing this item to our attention.]
When the transatlantic slave trade took Africans to America, they brought with them their powerful ancestral practices and spiritual traditions, collectively known as Voodoo. These traditions continue to offer modern-day Black Americans a source of strength and solace today.
Despite spooky stories, the religious practice is deeply focused on justice and community, which doesn’t include “turning the other cheek.” This religious focus on justice and harmony followers to use their knowledge to protect themselves, which had real-world political consequences. But slave owners and lawmakers systematically tried to snuff out the practice.
The demonization of Voodoo in America started in the 19th century, when white slave owners in America labeled Voodoo as a pagan practice, which fueled the fervor of white Christians seeking to cleanse the nation of pagan influences. While the religion was never banned, states instituted slave codes–laws restricting how slaves could gather and limitations on their education. These laws, like the 1848 Georgia Slave code, prevented an enslaved person from teaching any religion–regardless of its origin–unless there were seven or fewer enslaved people present.
Later, it was affirmed for decades in Hollywood depictions where Voodoo was only shown as a scary, ritualistic and sometimes violent religion instead of the community and family-based practice modern-day followers practice. “Vodoou was painted as bad because it was used for the Haitian Revolution, and the powers that be didn’t want other Caribbean and Latin countries using Voodoo to become free,” said Sandra Calixte, a Chicago-based Haitian-American Voodoo healer.
A new study by the Public Religion Research Institute reveals that the African-rooted religion is still deeply misunderstood in America. The August 2023 study involving 1,000 Americans was the first time the research institute included questions about Voodoo and Santeria in its section about perceptions of other religions in the American Values Survey, which the organization has held annually for 14 years.
Proponents estimate there are some 1.5 million adherents of Voodoo in the United States, where its main centers are New Orleans, Chicago, Philadelphia and Brooklyn, according to reporting from Chicago Tribune in 2001. These were the latest numbers Reckon was able to find on US adherents. Around the world, around 60 million people practice Voodoo, with about half of practitioners living in West Africa, where the religion originated, according to 2004 estimates by the National Geographic.
The PRRI study also examined how these stereotypes, decades of media misinformation and a lack of accurate, up-to-date data on the practice continue to plague the American understanding of these centuries-old spiritual practices. What they found was evidence of the continued impact of racism and misinformation on Americans’ perceptions of Voodoo.
Both PRRI and Calixte said it’s important for people to understand the origins of Voodoo stigma and to get accurate information about the practice. “Our survey suggests that scholarly research about the racist origins of the stereotypes against these religions is not reaching the public and/or is not changing public opinions. Many continue to associate African diaspora religions with black magic or witchcraft, and most would not consider them religions at all,” authors of the public religion institute study said in its brief on the survey.
What is Voodoo? 3 fast facts
1. It’s rooted in resilience
Enslaved Africans, ripped from their homeland and stripped of their cultural identity, clung to the whispers of their ancestors, their spiritual beliefs that remained a deep part of their identity despite hardship.
This ancestral tapestry, known as Voodoo or Vodou in its Haitian form, became a source of solace, strength, and hope in the face of abuse in a new, unfamiliar place. Like during the Haitian Revolution, African slaves used their knowledge of the earth gained through herbalist Voodoo practice to poison their white owners–a practice that started on slave ships before Africans made it to America.
2. It’s not dark magic
Voodoo is not about curses, zombies, or dark magic. It’s a celebration of life, a connection to the spirits (loas) who guide and protect, and a pathway to healing and balance.
The survey found 64% of respondents believed people who follow the Voodoo religion are more likely than the average person to practice black magic. [. . .] This association of Voodoo and evil has deeper, more racist roots than a fear of black magic. Calixte said it’s been part of her practice to remove the stigma surrounding African religions and help people understand why Voodoo became taboo. “At the end of the day, it was a Black country (to) use spiritualism to become free. And that’s very, very dangerous,” Calixte said. “Other governments didn’t want other Caribbean and Latin countries, using Voodoo as well, to become free.”
3. It’s a tapestry of traditions
Brought by enslaved Africans to the Americas, Voodoo blended with Catholicism and indigenous practices in places like Louisiana to create a unique spiritual expression. This practice of blending Christianity with Voodoo was common, and was practiced by well-known spiritual leaders like Marie Laveau, who is also known as the “Voodoo Queen of New Orleans.”
In Cuba, Santeria, another vibrant Afro-Cuban religion, shares some similarities with Voodoo, but also has its own distinct practices and rituals. Around 10 million people practice Santeria worldwide, with an estimated up to 5 million in the United States, according to data from the Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. [. . .]
For full article, see https://www.mlive.com/reckon/2024/01/zombies-potions-and-puppets-nope-heres-what-voodoo-really-is-and-why-we-should-celebrate-it.html
[Photo above (Getty Images): Haitians who have left their country due to poverty or political repression celebrate a voodoo ceremony in 1995 in their apartment in Brooklyn, New York. There’s a long history of oppressing Voodoo and Santeria in the US. Here’s how anti-Black racism is fueling misconceptions and attacks on the African-rooted religions.]
Anna Beahm (Michigan Live) writes, “Zombies, potions, and puppets? Nope! Here’s what Voodoo REALLY is (and why we should celebrate it).” [Many thanks to Peter Jordens for bringing this item to our attention.] When the transatlantic slave trade took Africans to America, they brought with them their powerful ancestral practices and spiritual traditions, collectively known as Voodoo.
