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Following is a list of articles and information that
I have either collected off of the internet or compiled and written myself. The
information
provides information about various
aspects of Voodoo, the origins of Voodoo, as well as different cosmologies,
cultures, mythologies, and related metaphysical issues.
"In any religion, there
is room for perversion of the religious doctrine"
- Wade Davis
About Yuletide
This page is a collection
of information, recipes, customs, traditions, legends, and crafts in
celebration of the Yuletide season.
Ananse the Spider
The story of the African trickster spider Spirit, Ananse,
from the Metropolitan Museum of Art podcast.
Away
With Obeah Laws Say Rastafarians
By Sam Pragg, IPS, 20
January 1999. Obeah is an ancient practice which is said to have been adopted
from Africa after the slaves from the West Coast of the continent came to the
Caribbean.
Benin-Voodoo About 60 percent of this West African nation's people follow
voodoo, which originated in the region, but the Marxist regime that came to
power in 1972 discouraged its practice.
Black Cat Folklore
By Denise Alvarado
Historically, black
cats were symbolically associated with witchcraft and evil. This article covers
black cat superstitions, deities, and folklore.
British psychiatry: from eugenics to assassination
By Anton Chaitkin, Executive Intelligence Review, V21 #40, [30 July 2002]
Chakras
By Denise Alvarado
An Integrated System of Healing that Reflects the Mind-Body Connection
Day of the Dead
By Denise Alvarado
This article discusses the ancient Mexican holiday Dia de
los Muertos or Day of the Dead. Included is a description of art characteristic
of Day of the Dead, such as papel picado, skull art, and free papel picado
patterns.
Dialog
on the Taino
The generally accepted view is that Petwo Voodoo is certainly
not African, featuring practices not found at all in Africa,
like zomibification and a much greater reliance on the violent side of the
spirits...
Dragons and Dragon Lore
By Denise Alvarado
The dragon is a mythical creature typically depicted as
a gigantic and powerful serpent or other reptile with magical or spiritual
qualities. On this page find dragon Classifications, Types of Dragons, European
Dragons, Asian Dragons, Egyptian Dragons, African Dragons, Babylonian Dragons,
Indian Dragons, the Ouroboros, Dragon Spells, Dragon Lore, and the Legend of St.
George and the Dragon.
The
seminal work by Zora Neale Hurston. This book focuses on a set of beliefs
and magical practices (some of which are today known as 'Hoodoo'), including
root doctoring, the existence of spirits, talismans, lucky and unlucky acts and
omens and more.
Educational Voodoo Videos
A list of
educational videos various
aspects of Voodoo, the origins of Voodoo, as well as different cosmologies,
cultures, mythologies, and related metaphysical issues.
 Faces
of Africa Photo Gallery
"A Voodoo devotee surrenders himself
to the spirit of his personal deity. His eyes roll upward and his pupils
disappear, leaving only the whites. Depending on which direction the eyes roll,
observers can tell what spirit has possessed him. This man, with his eyes rolled
toward the sky, is possessed by Hebioso—the thunder god." Photographers Carol
Beckwith and Angela Fisher, writing in the book
Faces of Africa
First
hand accounts of zombification
A dialogue on Bob Corbett's Haiti
List, December 1995. Sources for zombification. Wade Davis (brief).
Freya
Paying homage to
the Norse goddess.
Haiti: Possessed by Voodoo
In Haiti voodoo believers pray and perform animal
sacrifices to feed—and
beckon—the spirits.
The ceremony begins with a Roman Catholic
prayer. Then three drummers begin to play syncopated rhythms. The attendees
begin to dance around a tree in the center of the yard, moving faster and harder
with the rising pulse of the beat. The priest draws sacred symbols in the dust
with cornmeal, and rum is poured on the ground to honor the spirits.
Haiti-Spirit
Politics
By Paisley Dodds, AP, 30 October
2002. At a time of deepening poverty and despair, many people in this Caribbean
country see only one way out; Voodoo is Haiti's only hope. We have
nothing else—unless you're willing to risk your life to make it to the United
States.
Haiti
Voodoo
By Michael Norton, AP, 26 July 2003.
Although millions still practice Voodoo—now a state-sanctioned religion in
Haiti—some are turning their backs on the religion brought from Africa, testing
other faiths as their Caribbean nation grapples with growing instability and
poverty. A growing number, estimated at 30 percent, identify themselves as
Protestant, and adamantly oppose Voodoo.
The Haitian
Revolution: Part I: Prelude to the Revolution: 1760 to 1789
The shortest account which one
typically hears of the Haitian Revolution is that the slaves rose up in 1791 and
by 1803 had driven the whites out of Saint-Domingue declaring the independent
Republic of Haiti. This essay addresses the often overlooked complexities of the
Haitian revolution.
Haunted New Orleans Wish Spell
How to Conduct a Séance
Inside Voodoo: African Cult of Twins Marks Voodoo New Year
In his small village, Ameko shares a genetic
predisposition to produce twins and
a fervent belief in twins' special place in the vodun. Like other
indigenous peoples in this part of West Africa, Ameko believes twins are living
deities that symbolize fertility. He worships them as a member of what is known
as the Cult of the Twins.
Reporter Lorne Matalon's African
assignment was part of the National Geographic Society's ongoing Ethnosphere
Project, a five-year series of expeditions to study cultural diversity.
Nothing to lose but your chains, white slaves
Haiti Briefing extract, 27 August 1998. Review of press coverage of
two Vodou Nation performances of houngan Edgar Jean-Louis, and Boukman
Eksperyans in London and Liverpool in May. The enduring fascination Vodou holds
for westerners is based on old stereotypes. Cultural imperialism is at its worst
when religious discourse strays into ethnic comparisons.
On
Voodoo
Hugh B. Cave
There are ceremonies offered
in or near Port-au-Prince for tourists, which are little more than folklore
presentations staged for money. Real Voodoo is a religion, concerned not with
tourists but with the invocation and worship of gods and spirits.
Reexamining U.S. Slaves' Role in Their Emancipation
Hillary Mayell for National
Geographic News, December 6, 2002
The 13th Amendment abolishing slavery in the United States was ratified 137
years ago today, on December 6, 1865. Fittingly, today is also the start of a
conference at Yale University focusing on the often overlooked role that
enslaved Africans played in freeing themselves.
Religious Rituals
By Jeffrey B. Cohen, The New York Times, Sunday 19 January 2003.
Elizabeth McAlister, an assistant professor in the Religion Department at
Wesleyan University, discusses vodou and the Rara festival.
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