Every wonder if spirits lurk around us? Voodoo is an ancient West African American religion that believes that the world of humans is shared by the world of the spirits. When a person dies, his spirit passed to the world of the unseen but is still able to see the human world. Voodoo was created by African slaves who were brought to the Americas from West Africa and is based on their traditional African beliefs.
There are 3 main varieties of Voodoo, Haitian Vodou, Louisiana Voodoo, and West African Voodoo. Haitian Vodou (Vodou also means Voodoo) is a syncretic religion, meaning it is a combination of multiple types of Vodou. Haitian Vodou originates in the Caribbean country of Haiti and is the result of combining beliefs and practices from the West African religion, Arawakian beliefs, and Roman Catholic Christianity.
The basic belief of Haitian vodou is that spirits or deities called Lwa, can do and interact with the human world and can affect change beyond the spirit world in which they live. Bondye the supreme being of the Vodou religion does not interfere with human affairs, so most prayers and communication are directed towards the Lwa.
Louisiana Voodoo was developed among the French, Spanish, and creole speaking Africans of the state of Louisiana. Louisiana voodoo is different in the sense that it puts a lot of emphasis on Gris-gris (voodoo amulet), voodoo queens, the use of occult paraphernalia, and the snake deity called Li Grand Zombi. It was through Louisiana Voodoo that voodoo dolls were introduced into America.
Last but not least West African vodun (also meaning voodoo), is a religion of coastal West Africa as well as Nigeria, Togo, Benin and Ghana. Vodun beliefs are built around spirits and other elements of divine origin which govern the human world. The hierarchy of the beings range from major gods governing things such as the human society, to vodun that deal with more minor things such as streams, trees, rocks.
