Return to the top. A mixture of Roman Catholicism and African polytheistic magic, it includes belief in loa , spirits that interact with humans, some of which are identified with Catholic saints. At ceremonies, the priest or priestess invokes the loa who may seemingly possess members of the vodou congregation. The altar of a vodou temple is typically a stepped structure loaded with such varied objects as a cross, candles, a skull, sacred stones, a magic rattle, a picture of the Virgin, dolls, a little coffin, offerings of food and bottles of rum, and other items that give it baroquely ornate character. Smaller home altars are similarly bedecked.
Decorated bottles are common to vodou, being a combination of magic and folk art.
Sometimes the coffins, invariably bearing crosses, are lodged in bottles like the example shown here. Return to the top. The horseshoe is possibly the best-known lucky charm or amulet that is supposed to keep harm away. Some folklore holds that good fortune awaits one who discovers an old horseshoe, the number of nails in it indicating the years that good luck will prevail. Return to the top.