Have you ever wondered about the beliefs and practices of Voodoo, pertaining to the death and the afterlife? Voodoo is a popular religion practiced throughout the Carribean, and mostly countries like Haiti. The followers of Voodo believe in the spirit world that is influenced by the pathenon of gods. The followers of Voodoo believe in the after life and that death is the passage to cosmic community of ancestral spirits. The Voodoo religion can be directly traced to the West African,Yourba people. These people lived in the 18th and 19th century, Dahomey. The roots of Voodoo can go back to 6,000 years in Africa. The religion of voodoo spread to many parts of the world, during the African slave trade. Voodoo later become composed of being an African religion, that also had Christian followers. The Voodoo religion has spread from Africa to the Carribean islands and North America. The city of New Orleans has many people that practice modern day voodoo rituals. There are about 50,000,000 Voodoo believers world wide. The followers of Voodoo worship many gods, known as the Loas. The followers of Voodoo strongly believe that Loas and humans depend on each other. The Loas depend on humans for food and praise. Humans depend on the Loas for daily help and protection. These Loas all play a crucial part in human lives, according to Vodouisants. There are various supernatural characters that Vodouisants believe in. One of these character’s is Legba, who is the gate keeper. His role is to open the gates to the supernatural world and is a messanger of Gods. If he possesses a person, they will act like a horse. One of the important Loas to the Vodouisants is Damballah. This character represents life and wisdom to the Vodouisants. If this character possesses a person, they will act like a snake. Damballah is also referred to as the great sky serpent and father of all the Loas. He is responsible for creating all the waters of the Earth. His movemont of 7,000 coils formed hills and valleys on Earth and brought forth stars and planets in the cosmos. He forged metals from his heat and sent forth lighting bolts to form the sacred rocks and stones of the world. When he shed his skin in the sun, releasing all the waters over the land, the reflection in the waters made a rainbow. Damballah fell in love with the rainbow, and made it his wife, Aida Wedo. The Loa descended upon the first faithful in the legendary city of Ife. This is located in Nigeria, where all life and spiritual strength came from, according the Voodoo practioners. Voodoo practitioners use dances to channel ancestral spirits. They often spin in a type of trance while adorned with various sacred voodoo symbols, such as masks and fetishes. Men with stickes keep the dancer from getting close to others during the festival. This is done due to the believe that a touch from a dance could kill. During dance ceremonies a veve will be made. A veve is made of powder drawn horizontally from the pinched fingers of a skilled practitioner. The practitioner is standing during this time with his legs spread, that is for invoking specific spirits. Voodoo worship is organized around ounfos. The word ounfos refers to temples where voodoo practitioners worship. Voodoo believes may be tied to a temple through blood or simply neigbors being drawn to them.There is no formal representation of religious hierachy as there is in other religions. The Voodoo faith believes that there is life after death. The voodoo faith believes that a human’s soul is composed of two parts. These parts are known as the Gros Bon Ange, and the Ti Bon Ange. The Gros Bon Ange is known as the big good angel. This part of a human’s soul is the enduring or immortal soul. The Ti Bon Ange is known as the small good angel. This part of a human’s soul is the animating force or consciousness and stops exsisting at death. This part of the soul leaves the body, when being possessed by the Loas. Vodouisants believe that when people die, their soul remains near the corpse. The soul remains near the corpse for about a week long. During this seven day period, the Ti bon ange is vulnerable and may be capturedd and converted into a spiritual zombie. This is done by a sorcerer summoning the spirit of the deceased person. Priests perform rituals so that the soul may live in dark waters for a year and a day. During this point the relatives of the deceased spirit raise the soul, by performing rituals. The spirits that they also summon are fed, clothed, and treated divine. These spirits are later set free and live among rocks and trees until rebirth. Vodouisants believe that sixteen embodiments after, the spirits merge into the comsic energy. .
