Voodoo Magic

The spelling "Voodoo" denotes the religion of Haiti.

people.

VOODOO is a way of life. For those it touches, it is
impossible to define. Many would simply state, "Voodoo is a

beautiful religion". But, while true it is far more than
that. Voodoo is religion, culture, heritage, and philosophy.

an attempt to keep their beliefs alive, the Africans began
to not only invoke their own Spirits but to practice the

It is also art, dance, language, medicine, music, justice,
power, storytelling & ritual.

rites of other African nations. Colonists thought that by
separating tribe members individuals would not come together

The Voodoo is a way of looking at and dealing with life. It

as a community. However, in the misery of slavery, the
transplanted Africans found a common thread in their faith.

heals and destroys - Is both good and bad; simple in concept
and complex in practice. Voodoo is seen in daily life and

These mixed, intermingled religions are the basis of Voodoo.
Those nations most prevalent are the Fon of the ancient West

every detail of life has meaning in Voodoo. The Voodoo is
open to all yet holds many secrets & mysteries to those who

African kingdom of the Dahomey, now Benin & Togo; the Yoruba
of what is now Nigeria and parts of Benin; and the BaKongo

are uninitiated.

from the Central African nations of Angola and the
Democratic Republic of Kongo. Also evident were the Nago,

To fully understand Haitian Voodoo you must study the
people, the language and culture of Haiti. You must realize

the Ibo, Senegalese, Haussar, Caplaou, Mondungue, Mandinge,
Libyan, Ethiopian, and the Malgache nations. 4

the history of Haiti's children and the stories of their
Spirits. You must examine Voodoo at its roots in Africa and

Christianity and European influence also played a role (to

some extent) in the development of Voodoo. During the French
occupation of Haiti, the rulers of France answered to the

immerse yourself in it. Voodoo must be lived.
A history of voodoo in haiti

Roman Catholic Church, which recognized African slaves as
human beings. A set of laws called the Code Noir or Black

VOODOO history belongs to the millions of people, whose

Codes spelled out not only how slaves would be treated, but
stipulated that all should be baptized and instructed in the

ancestors were brought from Africa to the Caribbean in
bondage. Although its essence originated in distinct regions

Catholic Faith. 5 Over time, the Africans began using
Catholicism as a means to mask their religious practices.

of Africa long before the Europeans started the slave trade,
Haitian Voodoo, as we know it today, was born in Haiti

This is how the syncretism or perceived assimilation of
African deities with Catholic saints developed. The Africans

during the European colonization of Hispaniola. Ironically,
it was the forced immigration of African slaves from

incorporated Catholic prayers into their services and used
images of Catholic Saints as representations of their

different tribes that provided the circumstances for its
development. 1 These stories of African roots, enslavement

Spirits.

and hard fought freedom comprise the history of Voodoo.

The Voodoo went underground to some extent, but it grew in
popularity, in large measure because of the oppression. By

Christopher Columbus planted the seeds of Voodoo when he
landed in Hispaniola ("Little Spain") in 1492. Within two

the early 1950s the Catholic Church shut down this war, got
rid of the warmonger priests and made their peace with

decades the Spanish had all but eradicated the native
inhabitants, the Taino (Arawak) Indians in an attempt to

Voodoo. African drums and melodies were even incorporated
into Catholic church services. 10

force them into slavery. 2 The "native peoples unable to
withstand enforced labor and European diseases, died in

appalling numbers, and the use of European indentured
servants proved to be uneconomical." This set up the cycle

Protestant missionaries flocked to Haiti. These missionaries
were bitter enemies of Voodoo and deemed it "Satanism". Many

of slave trade with West and Central Africa that began in
1517. 3

of these people claimed that Haiti's misery is because she
is being punished by God for the sins of her Voodoo

In 1697 the French acquired the western third of the island

serviteurs.

of Hispaniola. Over the next century a plantation economy
developed and African slave labor made Saint-Domingue

As a new, shaky government develops in Haiti, Voodoo is
again emerging from the underground and being accepted as an

(Haiti) the wealthiest colony in all the world. The prime
source of this wealth was sugar, but coffee, cotton and

established "religion". The Constitution of 1987 guarantees
the protection of all religious practices, including

indigo were also grown and exported. Slavery on these
Haitian plantations was so brutal that the Africans only

Voodoo.

survived an average of ten years, and the workforce had to
be continually replenished with new arrivals. In the course

It is this story of how African culture crossed, survived
and creatively adapted itself to a new land that makes up

of a century, the slave population swelled from a few
thousand to nearly half a million. This growing slave

the history of Voodoo. It is also the lessons of Haitian
history that make up Voodoo culture - as Haitians have

population became very diverse and many African nations,
languages and belief systems were represented within its

become accustomed to revolution, poverty, oppression;
promise & betrayal by its own political advocates.