Voodoo

Voodoo and It’s Misinterpretation in America Voodoo is a religion rich in heiratage and founded in faith and community. The religion has been villianized by western culture and has been wrongly protrayed as malignant and dangerous. The religion is not founded in any of the “black magics” or fear popularized by Hollywood films, but rather it is based on balance and tradition. The religion is not something which should be encountered with inhibition or fear induced from childhood horror stories, but embraced for it’s strength and history. Voodoo (also known as Vodun, Vodou, Umbanda, Quimbanda, and Candomble) originated as an amalgam of African religions during the slave trade. As slaves were shipped from Africa to the Carribean and America, groups of slaves sharing a similier heretage were broken apart to prevent any since of community or bond between them. With no connection beyond the tortures of slavery, the slaves had little chance to establish any relationship to thier fellow captives. Hailing from lifestyles and cultures far removed from each other, the only opportunity for a common bond came from sharing their deep faiths. Though different religions, the intense faiths allowed an intellectual exchange and

The mystique of voodoo has remained though action to dispell the negative connotations has made great advancements. In the poorly industrialized areas where voodoo emerged, medical utilities were scarce and of poor quality. Any affiliation with the occult has occured only recently with the "Gothic" movement in pop culture, and is not related with any orthadox Voodoo practices. Once "resurrected" by barely sublethal amounts of strong drugs, the individual would possess enormous strength and resistance to injury equivalent to that of a man on PCP. Former slave owners quickly found themselves duped into the beliefs of Voodoo dolls and hexes. This new religion gave the slaves a since of alliance with their nieghboring slaves and, with that alliance, a since of community. This revolution was spurred by Voodoo priest and priestesses who had worked in secracy and organized the slaves into an army. The afterlife is believed to be one of learning and of understanding. A common word association with voodoo yields; Haiti, voodoo dolls, zombies, and tools often associated with "black magic. They are worshipped in ways similier to the treatment of Catholic saints. James also used the written statements from the deposed plantation masters as accurate accounts as to why voodoo practicers were being executed. As the American film industry emerged in the 1930"tms, a wealth of horror stories pictured voodoo as a menacing culture. It was not until the 1950"tms that any information from legitimate studies emerged.