The History of Voodoo

A Haitian professor, Leslie Desmangles who teaches at Hartford's Trinity College has written a book related to these practices named "The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal". He has said that "voudon" in Haiti refers to an assortment of many cultural elements that include folk medical practices, cult of ancestors, many traditional system of ethics, stories, songs, proverbs, folklores, personal beliefs and practices. It is more than a religion or belief; it is a way of life. The followers of this practice can be found in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, United States, Brazil and elsewhere.

In the 18th Century, voodoo originated in the French slave colony of Saint-Dominique. Keeping their traditional religious practices suppressed, the African slaves were forced to adopt Christian rituals. The quick conversion process gave birth of many spirits with combined identity: African spirits associated with Christian saints. For example, OGUN is the Nigerian spirit of ironsmith, OGOU is the spirit of hunting and warfare. The concept of Zombiism comes from Haitian Voodoo culture.

"Zombie" means 'spirit of the dead'--a West African deity. Haitian zombies are people brought back from dead, a corpse believed to be revived by a "Bokor" or sorcerer. The word "Zombies" in the present day suggests that it is a creature which is human in form but it is believed that its human force or soul has left the shell of the body; it is a body without self-awareness, intelligence and soul. It is mute and will-less. Haitian Zombies are victims; they are zombified through magical means or hypnotism and often used as slave labors in the agricultural plantation.

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Read more: Voodoo, Zombie, Religion, Voodoo Ceremony, Spirit, Erzulie Freda, Bondye, OGUN, OGOU, Bokor, Voodoo

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