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Message: <blockquote data-quote="merztrumpet" data-source="post: 2304177" data-attributes="member: 30262">There are several types Voodoo (Vodou<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f44e.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt="(n)" title="Thumbs down    (n)"  data-smilie="23"data-shortname="(n)" /> 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.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.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.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.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 angezombi cadavre = body without ti bon angeDavis 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.</blockquote>

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