The religious side of Voodoo has a complex spiritual arrangement. In Haiti this has been greatly influenced by its roots in the spiritual practices of West African slaves combining with the beliefs of the Tanio people who were indigenous to Haiti. An overlay of Catholic Christianity was added to make it fit in with the beliefs of plantation owners so that the slaves could practice it without persecution. This worked very well leading to it being a key social and spiritual implement to enable the subservient population to have a distinctive way of relating to the Divine, and as a way of attaining and maintaining social justice. Today Voodoo in Haiti is on an equal footing with Christianity and other mainstream religions.

This is partly due to Pope John Paul II’s visit to Benin where he met with several Voodoo practitioners and was quoted as saying to one of them “You are strongly attached to the traditions which your ancestors transmitted to you. It is legitimate to be grateful to the ancestors who transmitted to you the sense of the sacral, faith in a one and good God, the taste for celebrations, and consideration for moral life and harmony in society.”. This was seen as giving legitimacy to Voodoo as a positive spiritual path particularly amongst the majority Catholic population.

The Voodoo worldview may well have contributed to the Pope making this statement because it appears to parallel that of the Catholic one. Bondeye, the head of this Pantheon is similar in status to Zeus, although more removed and remote than many of the heads of other more well-known ones. His name is a corruption of the French term “Bon Dieu” meaning “Good God”. Like the popular versions of the Christian Deity He does not intercede in human affairs, so prayers, rituals, and spells are directed towards beings closer to the Earth Plane. These are referred to as Deities in some practices, and Loa, or ‘Laws’ in others. In both cases they usually manifest themselves to their devotees by possessing one of them. Either by invitation or as part of the devotions or ritual happening at the time.

People who wish to be ‘ridden’ by a particular Deity/Loa by choice for spellwork, ritual, or to develop a closer relationship between themselves and that being can attract its attention in a number of ways. Two of the most popular are to dress and act like the Loa they want to attract, and using special designs called Veve drawn in flour, powdered brick, gunpowder, or other substances depending on the Loa. Of the two dressing like the Loa is perhaps the easiest and most practical. Dressing like a Loa requires far fewer ‘props’ than Ritual Magick or those used in many Pagan ceremonies. In many cases the rituals are held at a temple or regular worshipping area where a table holding items associated with the different Loas can be found. It is used by people wanting to attract them, and by those who have been possessed, to pick up items to show which Loa is “Riding” them. In the case of Baron Samdi the costume can be an elaborate one of top hat, black tail coat, dark glasses, glass of rum, a cigar and the face made up like a skull; but is frequently just accomplished by wearing a top hat from the props table ‘acquiring’ a bottle of rum plus a cigar from some of the other worshippers and keeping up a supply of salacious comments and rude jokes to all and sundry, something Baron Samdi is known for.

Like the props the dances to attract, or express, a Loa can be complex but are more likely to be simple but meaningful instead. The Dance associated with Damballah, the Snake Loa who is associated with power, mind, intellect, and cosmic equilibrium is a simple one involving stepping and bowing in a swaying, snake-like manner that, if the person is not possessed, induces a trance that enables an easier possession should the Loa want to. In the case of Dumballah some worshipers marry Him, making themselves available for possession at any time the Loa wishes. In return they are assured of wealth, luck, and respect from the rest of the Voodoo community.

Veve, the designs drawn with various powders are designed to attune the minds and energies of the worshippers to the specific Loa they want to be possessed by. This is done in conjunction with other ‘props’ including colours incense and drum rhythms in a similar approach to European and Middle Eastern Magic. In rituals involving several Loa elements may be combined into one Veve or the individual ones overlapped at the congruent points to achieve the same aim. During the ritual itself the design is obliterated as part of the invocation to the Loa.

In the next article we will look in more detail at the various Loa/Deities and their various areas of influence. As with most pantheons they have their own skills, but also work well with some of their colleagues, but not so much with others. The areas where the practice is held is also a major influence. Louisiana Voodoo and its variants is vastly different from Haitian Voodoo, but there are also several intersecting points that practitioners can use as power nexuses to work within both systems. Although these paths are unfamiliar to many Pagans currently reading this you will learn enough to be able to converse and learn from fellow Mages who do follow Voodoo to your mutual advantage.