New Orleans Voodoo Handbook

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Nobody dies at a funeral. The dead arrive that way, and the living are supposed to leave that way. But the Rev Willie Maxwell walked into a funeral that he never left. It was 18 June, 1977, and Maxwell, a rural preacher living just outside Alexander City, Alabama, was at the House of Hutchinson Funeral Home – not to conduct a service, but to attend one for his 16-year-old stepdaughter, who had been murdered the week before. It was a stifling day, and with only one storey in the funeral home, there was nowhere for the heat to rise. Ceiling fans shuffled air around the chapel, and ushers offered paper fans to each of the 300 mourners as they made their way to the pews. Up in front of them, Shirley Ann Ellington’s slight body rested in an open casket. The idea of spiritual possession is troublesome to many people, but it also has a place in other religions. For example, in Tibetan Buddhism, gods can temporarily inhabit the bodies of oracles. According to Tibetan lore, the Nechung Oracle, or the protector deity Dorje Drak-den in the body of a Buddhist monk, successfully instructed the Dalai Lama on how to escape Chinese forces in Tibet 1959 [source: Pulitzer Center]. During ceremonies and observances, followers of Voodoo ask the spirits for advice, protection or assistance. The process is reciprocal; followers must look after the loa by performing rituals, which sometimes come in the form of animal sacrifice. Other rituals allow followers to thank the spirits for protection, blessings or good fortune. To maintain a good relationship with the loa, followers must also conduct themselves properly according to the customs of both the community and the religion. In this way, the practice of Voodoo can influence a person's day-to-day decisions and activities. Here is another voodoo classic from Denise Alvarado. Knowing full well that most people who are interested in voodoo have come to that conclusion by observing doll spells in movies and other forms of entertainment, she wrote an entire book explaining them in detail. One by one, two wives, a brother, a nephew, a neighbour, and finally a stepdaughter of Maxwell had died under circumstances that nearly everyone agreed were suspicious and some deemed supernatural, yet the criminal justice system had proved powerless to stop him. Lucrative life insurance payouts on the dead, combined with rumours that Maxwell was practising voodoo on the victims and on the law enforcement officers who should have been arresting him, left people worrying about who might be his next target. So widespread was the fear that nobody who came to Burns’s trial a few months later wondered why he had shot the preacher. They only wondered why no one had done it sooner.

In spite of their prevalence in most people's minds, many of these stereotypes have nothing to do with Voodoo. Others are related only tangentially. However, some of the stereotypes include a grain of truth, and one — spirit possession — is central to the Voodoo religion. At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exist countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained.

What are the Beliefs of Voodoo?

The Pluralism Project. "Vodou, Serving the Spirits." Harvard University (April 29, 2022) https://hwpi.harvard.edu/files/pluralism/files/vodou-serving_the_spirits_0.pdf But there are differences. Westerners tend to believe in free will and personal choice. Not so in voodoo. Historical Museum of South Florida. "Orishia Worship in Miami." http://www.hmsf.org/exhibits/orisha/english/orisha-e-4.htm

Wall, Kim and Clerici, Caterina. "Vodou is elusive and endangered, but it remains the soul of the Haitian people." The Guardian. Nov. 7, 2015 (April 29, 2022) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/07/vodou-haiti-endangered-faith-soul-of-haitian-people The association of colors, foods, plants and other items with specific loa and the use of these items to pay tribute to the loa A Roman Catholic priest collaborating with a voodoo priestess?" asked one of the tourists, mopping his brow with a handkerchief. There are hundreds of spells using a voodoo doll that are explained in this compendium with a lovely and precise writing style.

The History of Voodoo

Government of Tibet in Exile. "Nechung - The Oracle of Tibet." http://www.tibet.com/Buddhism/nechung_hh.html It is said that the Loa sometimes communicate prophecies, advice, or warnings while the believer is possessed. Other messages are sent through the priest or priestess, or sometimes come later in dreams. Okanla, Karim. "Benin Marks Voodoo Day." BBC. 11/1/2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1756057.stm