Where art, psychology and mythology collide

 

The Spiritual Art & Writings of Denise Alvarado

 

.: Articles

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.

 

Drums and Shadows

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

Sharon Guynup, National Geographic Channel, July 7, 2004

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.

 

 

.: New Projects

 

 

Hoodoo & Conjure Quarterly

The first magazine for today's rootworker

Hoodoo & Conjure Quarterly magazine shares historical and contemporary information about the conjure arts, including magico-religious practices, spiritual traditions, folk magic, hoodoo, and religions with their roots in the African Diaspora and indigenous herbology. We know you’re looking for a fresh, new source about hoodoo and conjure. Our sources come from a culmination of growing up in New Orleans absorbing the culture, lifelong learning from family, teachers, and other practitioners, sacred texts, folklore literature, and what speaks to us through Divine channels. When you read a copy of Hoodoo &Conjure Quarterly™, you can be confident that what you read is the real thing. Whether you are a beginner who is just intrigued by the notion of folk magic, want to pick up some techniques for your trick bag, want to learn about the African -derived and indigenous spiritual traditions, or want to keep up with the social world of today’s root worker, Hoodoo & Conjure Quarterly™ delivers!

Visit Planet Voodoo for details.


 

The Voodoo Doll Spellbook:

A Complete Compendium of Ancient & Contemporary Spells & Rituals by Denise Alvarado

How would you like to open Marie Laveau's trick bag of Voodoo Doll spells? The Great and Powerful Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, Marie Laveau, was known to create little dolls and place them on the doorsteps of enemies, or use them to win court cases, or to unite lovers. She had a veritable trick bag of brilliant methods for gaining the knowledge he needed for her spells to be effective. One ploy was to surreptitiously place a Voodoo doll near the front door of her victims, more often than not the house-servants of well-known New Orleans families. When the Voodoo doll was discovered, the victim was convinced they had been hexed by someone other than Marie, and would run to the Bosswoman (as Marie was known by the locals) for help. Marie would agree to render the doll harmless if the victim agreed to act as her spy and provide her with information about the affairs of the prominent family where the victim worked. Now that is one hell of a magickal manipulation!

Inside this book you will find countless secret spells that help you to bind your enemies, banish naysayers, bend people to do your will, and win court cases. Learn how to break up a couple, destroy all of your problems, get a job, cure sickness, call forth spirits, win in games of chance and attain success. Inside, you will find spells to make yourself irresistible, find a lover, make your lover faithful, and spice up your sex life. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Visit Planet Voodoo for details.

 


Books by Denise Alvarado

 

 

 

 

This site is © Copyright Mystic Voodoo 2005-2011, All rights reserved. Design by Denise Alvarado

 Revised: 05/25/12 05:42:38 -0500.

 

 

 

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