Voodoo In Slave Religion

After the research on the history of Voodoo, I was curious as to what exactly Voodoo consists of. Voodoo contains several different spells, rituals, and ceremonies, most of which are kept at top secret. Radford wrote specifically about a supreme being that Voodooists worship known as Bondye, who is thought to be their god. They also believe in many different other spirits, known as Loa (Radford 1). The slave owners intended to Christianize the slaves, but the slaves ended up basically combining the two. Rabateau, the author of the book Slave Religion: The “Invisible Institution” in the Antebellum South, is one of the few authors who actually referred to Voodoo as a cult instead of a religion. He explained how Voodooists worship the god “Damballa …show more content…
She discussed how Voodooists worship who they call the almighty god “Li Grand Zombi”. She then went on to explain where the word “zombi” came from. She wrote, “The word Zombi derives etymologically from the Kongo Bantu term nzambi, which means ‘God’ in the Kikongo Language” (Fandrich 786). Saumya Arya Haas, the author of “What is Voodoo? Understanding a Misunderstood Religion,” wrote about how they believe there is an invisible world around us in addition to the visible world (Haas 2). Voodooists also believe that the spirits of our ancestors have an influence on our daily lives and they have their own deities. Some of Voodoo’s Catholic influence is shown through the clergy. Just like the Catholic church, Voodoo has priests and priestesses and the people who become Voodoo priests and priestesses commit themselves to their journey of faith.Haas discussed in her article why people are scared of Voodoo since it is just another religion. She blamed part of the fear of Voodoo on the racism that has existed since slavery was around. Another reason that she wrote about was how Hollywood has turned Voodoo into a horrific thriller