There are several types Voodoo (Vodou
in Haiti; Vodun in Benin; Santeria in Cuba). Although the roots of Voodoo begin in Africa with the beginning of the slave trade it quickly spread of to the Americas. There are noticeable differences between the geographically placed forms of Voodoo.
kigmatzomat said:
The basic core of the vodooan tradition is the belief in spirits, the loa. The Great Loa are the most powerful but there is no intrinsic difference between the Great and "common" loa except power. In theory, the weaker loa may become a great loa.
Haitian Vodoun, modeled after African traditions, teaches that there is one benevolent God called Bondye or "Good God". Bondye allows spirits (lwa or loa), mostly ancestors, to communicate directly with humans - usually through song or dance inspired possessory trance. As I understand it, and this may not be true, but all the loa are thought of as an expression of God or intermediaries. Either way, the loa are pretty extensive and depend on location and tradition. Rada are lwa that originated from Africa. Petro are loa that came about after the move to Americas by slavers.
Each voodoan practitioner, sometimes referred to as an houngan, has a main tete, an affiliated great loa one who is most similar in nature. (think a totem or spirit animal relationship) The houngans can still deal with the other great loa but their dealings are colored by the opinions of the main tete by the called loa. Lesser loa may include spirits of the dead or souls of those who may one day be born.
A houngan is a Vodoun priest. Priestesses are mambos. Haitian practitioners are called Vodouisants although this stems from the French occupation and most Haitians won't say "I am a Vodouisant". Louisiana practitioners are sometimes called Voodooiennes although I've heard this is more in reference to their race heritage. I'm not really sure. Mostly they are just referred to as Vodoun or Vodun as applied to the region. The affiliated loa is called a met tet or 'master of the head'. They're like a guardian angel.
Voodoo dolls and zombies are the two most publicized aspects of voodoan. Voodoo dolls are nothing particularly special as many forms of magic involve a representation of the target of a spell that has some form of material link (hair, nail clippings, blood, etc).
In Vodun, many times practitioners would have little statues of the loa called fetische. Slavers wouldn't allow them to carry their fetishes although many Africans realised that they could use 'poppets', from European folk magic, in a similar manner. It's an interesting note that Voodoo dolls actually have their roots in Europe.
There are two forms of zombies. One form is a drugged, mind-controlled individual that more than likely exists. This "living death" involves a series of drugs administered to the victim that remove all the free will and put them in a dream-like hypnotic state. It is rumored to have been used as a form of punishment for the worst individuals.
A variant of the drugged zombie includes very potent drugs that make the victim appear to be dead (heartbeat and respiration slow to minimum levels) and in the days before embalming would cause the victim's family to have a funeral and bury the zombie, who would be retrieved by the houngan. The zombie would then be used to serve the houngan and usually terrorize the family and the rest of the town.
A "true" zombie would be the result of a loa summoned into a host body that may or may not be alive. (Cheval are willing, zombies are not) There's not much said about loa zombies that isn't sensational but what else do you expect? If a loa is used to possess a living body that the displaced spirit may be moved to a govi for the duration.
In Vodoun there are two types of zombis - zombi astral and the zombi cadavre.
The zombi cadavre, the one mimicked in the media, is a result of different regional concoctions around some common elements. One of the major ingredients is tetrodotoxin. Found in types of pufferfish, tetrodotoxin is an incredibly potent neurotoxin capable of killing in under an hour with no known antivenin. Tetrodotoxin applied correctly in the right amounts mimics the death state. (In Haiti there may have been laws about waiting for several days before burials because of this. Possibly in Japan as well since fugu is considered a delicacy, anyone verify that?) While poisoned, the infected person is completely conscious and aware of their surroundings (hear, think) and yet they are unable to move, speak or make any sign of life.
The infected person endures this process of his family coming for his funeral as he's buried alive (The mental damage accrued here is important later on in the process). Within the next couple nights the bokor, Vodoun sorcerer, returns to the grave to dig up the victim. Timing is essence here as the tetrodotoxin eventually wears off. After being ritualistically dug up the victim is forced to ingest datura stramonium (Classified as a delerient, datura has been used in primitive rituals for thousands of years as it's ability to present actual hallucinations as opposed visual distortions (as on most 'psychedelics'). Plus it's posited to help maintain the zombi state at a non fatal level). Continuing the process, the victim is viciously beaten and given a new name.
From here he is taken to a predetermined destination where he will stay and usually be in forced labor. The damage to the psyche is an important psychological influence behind what constitutes the popular idea of a zombi. I think some zombis have been known to escape although usually they are socially/culturally rejected from their homes. Wade Davis, in the parallel books
Passage of Darkness and
The Serpent and the Rainbow (the more fictionalized account), extensively dialogues a large cultural phenomenon that surrounds the existence of zombis.
Zombi astral is the more feared of the two. According to Vodoun belief, after death one must remain undisturbed for eighteen months while the ti bon ange (soul) returns to God in the form of a reservoir whence he is restored into another body. A bokor of sufficient know can capture the ti bon ange. Obviously feared for good reason.
zombi astral = captured ti bon ange
zombi cadavre = body without ti bon ange
Davis explains that the process of creating a zombi cadavre is a form of capital punishment directed by the many secret societies present in Haiti and that creating massive flesh monster isn't quite what's on their agenda.
