Voodoo

Benin,

formerly known as

Dahomey

"It is a religion in the same way Judaism or Christianity is. Voodoo doesn't have a sacred text, a church or hierarchical structure of leaders, but it is very similar culturally.”

Voodoo: Does Anybody

REALLY know what it is?

- Bob Corbett

Questions?

http://www.theweek.co.uk/pictures/29311/voodoo-alive-and-well-haiti/page/4/0#main-content-area

What is Voodoo

• Religion derived from African spiritual practices, influenced by French Catholicism
• 60 million practitioners Voodoo worldwide
• Roots in Benin go back 6,000 years
• State-sanctioned religion in Haiti – an estimated 70% of Haiti’s people practice Voodoo to some extent

Voodoo and

Roman Catholicism

Voodoo and the

City of

New Orleans

Voodoo in New Orleans

• Slaves were forced to convert to Roman Catholicism upon arrival
• Eventual secret melding of their indigenous African religions and Roman Catholicism
• Loa and Christian saints
• Catholic Church’s welcoming sentiments

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Princess and

the Frog

Basic Elements of

Voodoo

• Centrality of Ritual
• Catholic Saints and Voodoo Spirits and Ancestors
• Desire for an intimate experience with the divine
• One God – Mawa-Lisa
• Li Grand Zombi
• Disappeared from the public eye but still practiced.

• Loa = Spirit – comparable to Christian saints.
• Houngan or Mambo = priest or priestess

• 2009 Disney movie set in New Orleans
• Prince is turned into a frog by a voodoo man - the film's villain
• Tiana tries to turn him back by kissing him
• Their plan backfires and Tiana turns into a frog as well.
• Their solution: seek the aid of a voodoo priestess.

Marie LaVeau

• Free woman of color, born 1801, died 1881
• Raised as a practicing Catholic
• Outwardly practiced Voodoo simultaneously
• Developed a friendship with Cathedral rector, Pere Antoine
• “Saint Marie” or Evil Witch?
• Legacy

Lauren Rabalais

• Voodoo plays an important role in many Creole households
• "It was like having an extra set of prayers and an extra set of rules."
• "Swallow it, hurry up and swallow it while it's still beating ... Now you'll have a long life"

Voodoo and Creole Culture

Interview with Sybil Kein, published in The Carolina Quarterly

Voodoo in Louisiana

Voodoo in the Media

"Of the many interesting facts known about this city, its culture, and its people, one element of New Orleans remains clouded in mystery: the noticeable presence of Voodoo."

Journal of Religion and Society

"In the West, voodoo has been portrayed in zombie movies and popular books as dark and evil, a cult of devil worship dominated by black magic, human sacrifice, and pin-stuck voodoo dolls -

none of which exist in the voodoo practices that originated in Benin"

- National Geographic News

Objectives:

Origins of

Louisiana Voodoo

• Slave Trade
• Catholic Influence
• Le Code Noir

What do YOU think of when you hear of Voodoo?

What Isn't Voodoo?

• Provide a general definition of Voodoo, as a religion
• Discuss the role Voodoo has played in the Creole Communities of New Orleans
• Clear up misconceptions of Voodoo, as portrayed in the media, specifically tourist guidebooks and Disney’s The Princess and the Frog

• Exotic
• Mystical
• A religion at odds with western religion
• Just another way to make money

Where do you get that impression?