The cult of Voodoo (or Vodoun), reorganized today as a legitemate religion, bares little resemblance to the lurid snake-and-sex orgies, complete with pin-stuck dolls and zombielike folowers, depicted in the movies. An esitmated 50 million worshippers worldwide believe that the work of the gods appears in every facet of daily life and that pleasing the gods will gain the faithful health, wealth and spiritual contentment. The gods "speak" to their devotees through spirit posession, but only for a short time during ceremonies. Voodoo is almost synonymous with Haiti, but rites also flourinsh in New Orleans, New York, Houston and Charleston, South Carolina.
Etymologists trace the origins of the word vodoun to the term 'vodu', meaning 'spirit' or 'diety' in the Fon language of the West African kingdom of Dahomey, now part of Nigeria. Eighteenth-century Creoles (whites born in the New World, usually of Spanish or French ancestry but perahps having some mixed blood), masters of the Dahomean slaves, translated the word into vaudau. The Creole language derives from French, with definite African patterns of phonetics and grammar. Eventually, the word became voudou, voudoun, vodoun, voodoo or even hoodoo. Most current practitioners of the ancient rites regars the terms voodoo and hoodoo as pejorative, however, preferring one or the other spellings. To the faithful, Voodoo is not only a religion but also a way of life.
The Voodoo patheon of gods, called loas or mysteres, is enormousand can accomodate additional dieties or ancestral spirits as needs arise. Voodooists acknowledge an original Supreme Being, called 'Gran Met', who made the world but has long since finished his work and returned to the other worlds or perhaps eternal contemplation. His remoteness precludes active worship. Devotees are those "who serve the loa", and depending on the rites observed, the loas can be kind, beneficent, wise, violent, sexual, vindictive, generous or mean. True communion comes through divine posession. When summoned, the gods may enter a govi or "mount a horse" - assume a person's mind and body. The posessed loses all consciousness, totallt becoming the posessing loa with all his or her desires and eccentricies. Young women possesed by older spirits seem frail and decrepit, while the infirm posessed by young virile gods, dance and cavort with no thought to their disabilities. Even facial expressions change to resemble the god or godess. Although a sacred interaction between loa and devotee, posession can be frightening and even dangerous. Some worshippers, unable to control the loa, have gone insane or died. The loas manifest ot protect, punish, confer skills and talents, prophesy, cure illness, exorcise spirits, give counsel, assist with rituals, and take sacrificial offerings.
Magic, for both good and evil purposes, is an integral part of Voodoo. Unlike the dichotomy of good and evil expressed in Judeo-Christan philiosophy, evil in Voodoo is merely the mirror imag of good. The magic of the spirits is there to be used, and if that is for evil, then so be it. A priest/priestess (or houngan) more involved in black-magic sorcery than healing is known as a 'bokor' or 'boko', or "one who serves loa with both hands."
