Voodooism Essay, Research Paper
Voodooism
When you mention the word voodoo to someone, the idea
immediately conjures up those images we all see on the
movies…spooky little black men wearing lots of grass, and poking
pins into ugly dolls. But there is quite a bit more to this group of
religious practices than this simple Hollywood notion. Voodoo as
a practice is obsessed with the occult, primarily the ideas of
possession and spiritualism; and functions quite often within the
parameters of a mainstream religion such as Catholicism. Many
people who practice it think voodoo augments, rather than
contradicts, their belief in God, and the practice of their religion.
The study of voodooism involves many components, and one
of these is the concept of ?animism?. A belief similar to ?mana?,
it is the concept that all objects, whether living or non-living, have
spirits and souls of their own. These spirits are an embodiment of
some vital element which gave the object life. It is a belief that the
soul can, and most usually does, have a purpose and feeling, and
one must always be careful to avoid offending these forces to
avoid some rather nasty consequences.
As with all beliefs, voodooism has its practices, customs, and
traditions. As we have discovered earlier, voodoo deeply involves
the occult and spiritism. Spiritualism is specifically the
communication with the ghosts or spirits of the dead, and more
specifically, any forces these spirits can exert on the world of the
living. In voodoo, magic is seen to draw its power from these
supernatural forces. A large part of spiritualism is the concept of
possession, that is to say the occupation of a living body by
another spirit, which fights for control over the body and manifest
its presence in all kinds of peculiar ways. Some voodoo
priests(esses) feel they can predict the future, by using
supernatural forces to allow their life force to travel around and see
visions of what it to come. These practitioners also believe in folk
medicine to cure illness, but beyond that the use of sometimes
bizarre rituals to prevent or cure ailments and other problems.
They provide charms and the like to ward off evil
us have heard of voodoo dolls. These practitioners are also very
concerned with death and dying, perhaps because it is seen as a
gateway into the supernatural.
Throughout history, Christianity has had a hard time with
voodooism. For instance the Catholics have made serious
attempts to stamp out voodoo , especially in Haiti. They have
attempted this at certain times by forbidding the beating of the
drums at any temple. But in some ways it is a lost cause.
Catholicism and voodooism are so closely interwoven in Haiti that
to most Haitians they are one and the same. To the average
Haitian, there is nothing wrong in being a good Catholic and a
believer in Voodoo. Voodoo enters the Catholic system because it
is believed that the Catholic religion does not give men and
women direct contact with God and his supernatural powers. It is
a unique integration between the religion that was in Haiti before
missionaries brought the Christian religions, and Catholicism.
After attending the seminar and researching the topic of
voodooism and other such animistic religions; I have come to
realize that there is more to voodoo than sticking pins in dolls and
what we see in the movies. Voodoo is a very complex and
comprehensive set of beliefs deeply rooted in tradition and loyalty
by those who practice it. It is one of those things in which you
become as involved as you want to. There are so many ways and
occasions in which a person can become involved in voodooism. I
have discovered that people who follow these beliefs also have
great respect for their bodies and other deeply-seated feelings
about their beliefs.
As for myself, I do not believe I could follow this religion
because some of the concepts and the foundations on which the
religion is based are not believable to me. They have really
strange ways of worshipping animals and spirits, they do bizarre
things to animals during rituals, and the concept of the
supernatural is to hard for me to accept to the degree that the
practitioners of voodooism seem to. I guess to each his own,
voodooism is an interesting religion, but not something that I
believe in.
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