Voodoo In Africa Research Paper
July 29th, 2012 Sociology 300
“What Is the Significance of Voodoo to African Science and Philosophy”
Voodoo (Vodun) is a derivative of the world's oldest known religions which have been around in Africa since the beginning of human civilization. Some conservative estimates these civilizations and religions to be over 10 000 years old. This then identify Voodoo as probably the best example of African syncretism in the Americas. Although its essential wisdom originated in different parts of Africa long before the Europeans started the slave trade, the structure of Voodoo, as we know it today, was born in Haiti during the European colonization of Hispaniola.
Voodoo originated in the African kingdoms of Fon and Kongo as many as 6,000 years ago. The word "voodoo" comes from the Fon language, in which it means "sacred," "spirit" or "deity." Other words used in Voodoo today also …show more content…
come from the Fon and Kongo languages. For example, a Voodoo priestess is often referred to as a mambo or manbo. This is a combination of the Fon word for "mother" or "magical charm" and the Kongo word for "healer."
Drummers and singers are an integral part of voodoo ceremonies, acting as the conduit for the spirits to journey into the ceremony like this Gelede mask ceremony you’ll see in Benin, West Africa.
The powerful sound evokes the deity to visit voodoo mask dances.
The Fon kingdom was located in what is now southern Benin, a region some anthropologists refer to as the "cradle of Voodoo." People also practice Voodoo in Togo, Ghana and other countries in northwestern Africa. Approximately 30 million people in Togo, Ghana and Benin practice Voodoo today.
Voodoo is also an official religion in Benin, where as many as 60 percent of the people are followers.
Voodoo masks are an integral part of African dance ceremonies. The mask dance in Africa is charged with the responsibility of keeping the balance of life between humans and the gods. The mask becomes the living manifestation of the gods, both good and evil. Drummers and singers, who often wear these masks, are a crucial part of voodoo ceremonies, acting as the conduit for the spirits to journey into the
ceremony.
African masks are thought of as the resting place for spirits of any kind. The appearance of the mask and the way it is made indicates what type of spirit resides in it. Masks are very highly respected because of this. There are many different types of spirits and each has a different value, and some are even more important than others.
Some Africans believe that masks are actually made by spirits that want to live in them, and that masks materialized overnight. Yet, most know that masks are made by human hands. On a side note, masks are made only by certain male carvers and only men are allowed to wear them.
Travelers come from as far afield as Haiti, the United States and Europe. Libations and prayers are an important part of voodoo. Ouidah, a former slave port on the Atlantic Ocean, some 40 kilometers from Cotonou, Benin's capital city, is known by many as the birthplace of voodoo.
Even well-educated Beninois such as Cyrille Sagbo, a Western-trained English teacher, believe in voodoo and attend the festival. He says "Sacrificing a goat is a good way to receive the blessings of the ancestors and keep diseases away from the entire population of Benin, not just the voodoo followers," he told me. The voodoo leader, wearing golden earrings and a black-and-white head scarf, crowned by a conical hat, sits next to his senior priestess, draped in a hand-woven attire.
People who practice the tradition believe that life derives from the natural forces of earth, water, fire and air.
In parts of Africa, people who want to become spiritual leaders in the Voodoo community can enter religious centers, which are much like convents or monasteries. In some communities, initiates symbolically die, spending three days and nights in complete seclusion before being returned to the outside world. Initiates learn the rituals, colors, foods and objects associated with different deities, as well as how to communicate with the loa. The spirits have different personalities and different requirements of their followers, much like the gods in Greek and Roman myths.
Some people associate Voodoo with evil, but many of its rituals, even those that include the sacrifice of live animals, focus on respect and peace. Its religious leaders become community leaders, providing guidance and settling disputes. Leaders also frequently provide medical care in the form of folk medicine. Priests, priestesses and other practitioners typically dedicate their work to helping and caring for others.
Curses, witchcraft and spells designed to do harm fall instead into the category of bo. However, most anthropologists agree that Voodoo leaders have a working knowledge of bo, which is separate from Voodoo, believing that understanding how it works is necessary to fighting it. Sorcerers known as botono, rather than Voodoo priests and priestesses, are said to control more sinister spells. In some cases, though, people act as both priests and botono, depending on the situation.
Within the voodoo society, there are no accidents. Practitioners believe that nothing and no event has a life of its own. That is why "vous deux", you two, you too. The universe is all one. Each thing affects something else. Scientists know that. Nature knows it. Many spiritualists agree that we are not separate; we all serve as parts of one. So, in essence, what you do unto another, you do unto you, because you ARE the other. Voodoo. View you. We are mirrors of each other’s souls. God is manifest through the spirits of ancestors who can bring good or harm and must be honored in ceremonies. There is a sacred cycle between the living and the dead. Believers ask for their misery to end. Rituals include prayers, drumming, dancing, singing and animal sacrifice.
The serpent figures heavily in the Voodoo faith. The word Voodoo has been translated as "the snake under whose auspices gather all who share the faith". The high priest and/or priestess of the faith (often called Papa or Maman) are the vehicles for the expression of the serpent's power. The supreme deity is Bon Dieu. There are hundreds of spirits called Loa who control nature, health, wealth and happiness of mortals. The Loa form a pantheon of deities that include Damballah, Ezili, Ogu, Agwe, Legba and others.
During Voodoo ceremonies these Loa can possess the bodies of the ceremony participants. Loa appear by "possessing" the faithful, who in turn become the Loa, relaying advice, warnings and desires. Voodoo is an animist faith. That is, objects and natural phenomena are believed to possess holy significance, to possess a soul. Thus the Loa Agwe is the divine presence behind the hurricane.
Music and dance are key elements to Voodoo ceremonies. Ceremonies were often termed by whites "Night Dancing" or "Voodoo Dancing". This dancing is not simply a prelude to sexual frenzy, as it has often been portrayed. The dance is an expression of spirituality, of connection with divinity and the spirit world.
Voodoo is a practical religion, playing an important role in the family and the community. One's ancestors, for instance, are believed to be a part of the world of the spirits, of the Loas, and this is one way that Voodoo serves to root its participants in their own history and tradition. Another practical aspect of Voodoo ceremonies is that participants often come before the priest or priestess to seek advice, spiritual guidance, or help with their problems. The priest or priestess then, through divine aid, offer help such as healing through the use of herbs or medicines (using knowledge that has been passed down within the religion itself), or healing through faith itself as is common in other religions. Voodoo teaches a respect for the natural world.
Unfortunately, the public's perception of voodoo rites and rituals seems often to point to the evil or malicious side of things. There are healing spells, nature spells, love spells, purification spells, and joyous celebration spells. Spirits may be invoked to bring harmony and peace, birth and rebirth, increased abundance of luck, material happiness, and renewed health. The fact is, for those who believe it, voodoo is powerful. It is also empowering to the person who practices it.
Credit Page
(National Public Radio; Radio Expeditions)
BBC; BBC News
Cyrille Sagbo; Native Benninois English Teacher
National Geographic; National Geographic Society
Tracy V. Wilson
“What Is the Significance of Voodoo to African Science and Philosophy”
Voodoo (Vodun) is a derivative of the world's oldest known religions which have been around in Africa since the beginning of human civilization. Some conservative estimates these civilizations and religions to be over 10 000 years old. This then identify Voodoo as probably the best example of African syncretism in the Americas. Although its essential wisdom originated in different parts of Africa long before the Europeans started the slave trade, the structure of Voodoo, as we know it today, was born in Haiti during the European colonization of Hispaniola.
Voodoo originated in the African kingdoms of Fon and Kongo as many as 6,000 years ago. The word "voodoo" comes from the Fon language, in which it means "sacred," "spirit" or "deity." Other words used in Voodoo today also …show more content…
come from the Fon and Kongo languages. For example, a Voodoo priestess is often referred to as a mambo or manbo. This is a combination of the Fon word for "mother" or "magical charm" and the Kongo word for "healer."
Drummers and singers are an integral part of voodoo ceremonies, acting as the conduit for the spirits to journey into the ceremony like this Gelede mask ceremony you’ll see in Benin, West Africa.
The powerful sound evokes the deity to visit voodoo mask dances.
The Fon kingdom was located in what is now southern Benin, a region some anthropologists refer to as the "cradle of Voodoo." People also practice Voodoo in Togo, Ghana and other countries in northwestern Africa. Approximately 30 million people in Togo, Ghana and Benin practice Voodoo today.
Voodoo is also an official religion in Benin, where as many as 60 percent of the people are followers.
Voodoo masks are an integral part of African dance ceremonies. The mask dance in Africa is charged with the responsibility of keeping the balance of life between humans and the gods. The mask becomes the living manifestation of the gods, both good and evil. Drummers and singers, who often wear these masks, are a crucial part of voodoo ceremonies, acting as the conduit for the spirits to journey into the
ceremony.
African masks are thought of as the resting place for spirits of any kind. The appearance of the mask and the way it is made indicates what type of spirit resides in it. Masks are very highly respected because of this. There are many different types of spirits and each has a different value, and some are even more important than others.
Some Africans believe that masks are actually made by spirits that want to live in them, and that masks materialized overnight. Yet, most know that masks are made by human hands. On a side note, masks are made only by certain male carvers and only men are allowed to wear them.
Travelers come from as far afield as Haiti, the United States and Europe. Libations and prayers are an important part of voodoo. Ouidah, a former slave port on the Atlantic Ocean, some 40 kilometers from Cotonou, Benin's capital city, is known by many as the birthplace of voodoo.
Even well-educated Beninois such as Cyrille Sagbo, a Western-trained English teacher, believe in voodoo and attend the festival. He says "Sacrificing a goat is a good way to receive the blessings of the ancestors and keep diseases away from the entire population of Benin, not just the voodoo followers," he told me. The voodoo leader, wearing golden earrings and a black-and-white head scarf, crowned by a conical hat, sits next to his senior priestess, draped in a hand-woven attire.
People who practice the tradition believe that life derives from the natural forces of earth, water, fire and air.
In parts of Africa, people who want to become spiritual leaders in the Voodoo community can enter religious centers, which are much like convents or monasteries. In some communities, initiates symbolically die, spending three days and nights in complete seclusion before being returned to the outside world. Initiates learn the rituals, colors, foods and objects associated with different deities, as well as how to communicate with the loa. The spirits have different personalities and different requirements of their followers, much like the gods in Greek and Roman myths.
Some people associate Voodoo with evil, but many of its rituals, even those that include the sacrifice of live animals, focus on respect and peace. Its religious leaders become community leaders, providing guidance and settling disputes. Leaders also frequently provide medical care in the form of folk medicine. Priests, priestesses and other practitioners typically dedicate their work to helping and caring for others.
Curses, witchcraft and spells designed to do harm fall instead into the category of bo. However, most anthropologists agree that Voodoo leaders have a working knowledge of bo, which is separate from Voodoo, believing that understanding how it works is necessary to fighting it. Sorcerers known as botono, rather than Voodoo priests and priestesses, are said to control more sinister spells. In some cases, though, people act as both priests and botono, depending on the situation.
Within the voodoo society, there are no accidents. Practitioners believe that nothing and no event has a life of its own. That is why "vous deux", you two, you too. The universe is all one. Each thing affects something else. Scientists know that. Nature knows it. Many spiritualists agree that we are not separate; we all serve as parts of one. So, in essence, what you do unto another, you do unto you, because you ARE the other. Voodoo. View you. We are mirrors of each other’s souls. God is manifest through the spirits of ancestors who can bring good or harm and must be honored in ceremonies. There is a sacred cycle between the living and the dead. Believers ask for their misery to end. Rituals include prayers, drumming, dancing, singing and animal sacrifice.
The serpent figures heavily in the Voodoo faith. The word Voodoo has been translated as "the snake under whose auspices gather all who share the faith". The high priest and/or priestess of the faith (often called Papa or Maman) are the vehicles for the expression of the serpent's power. The supreme deity is Bon Dieu. There are hundreds of spirits called Loa who control nature, health, wealth and happiness of mortals. The Loa form a pantheon of deities that include Damballah, Ezili, Ogu, Agwe, Legba and others.
During Voodoo ceremonies these Loa can possess the bodies of the ceremony participants. Loa appear by "possessing" the faithful, who in turn become the Loa, relaying advice, warnings and desires. Voodoo is an animist faith. That is, objects and natural phenomena are believed to possess holy significance, to possess a soul. Thus the Loa Agwe is the divine presence behind the hurricane.
Music and dance are key elements to Voodoo ceremonies. Ceremonies were often termed by whites "Night Dancing" or "Voodoo Dancing". This dancing is not simply a prelude to sexual frenzy, as it has often been portrayed. The dance is an expression of spirituality, of connection with divinity and the spirit world.
Voodoo is a practical religion, playing an important role in the family and the community. One's ancestors, for instance, are believed to be a part of the world of the spirits, of the Loas, and this is one way that Voodoo serves to root its participants in their own history and tradition. Another practical aspect of Voodoo ceremonies is that participants often come before the priest or priestess to seek advice, spiritual guidance, or help with their problems. The priest or priestess then, through divine aid, offer help such as healing through the use of herbs or medicines (using knowledge that has been passed down within the religion itself), or healing through faith itself as is common in other religions. Voodoo teaches a respect for the natural world.
Unfortunately, the public's perception of voodoo rites and rituals seems often to point to the evil or malicious side of things. There are healing spells, nature spells, love spells, purification spells, and joyous celebration spells. Spirits may be invoked to bring harmony and peace, birth and rebirth, increased abundance of luck, material happiness, and renewed health. The fact is, for those who believe it, voodoo is powerful. It is also empowering to the person who practices it.
Credit Page
(National Public Radio; Radio Expeditions)
BBC; BBC News
Cyrille Sagbo; Native Benninois English Teacher
National Geographic; National Geographic Society
Tracy V. Wilson