Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-06-01
SECRETS OF VOUDOO.
THE RITES HAVE BEEN WIT
MESSED BY WHITES.
secrecy Maintained by The Negroes i'll the
Performance of the Practices Re
lating to the Superstition.

general name Of voudoo, are without doubi
relics of savager7 brought by the ancestors
| of the civilized negroes from Africa. The
| vOudoo ceremonial has never been de
| scrlbed III detail by any writer Oh the SUB
Ject, BECAUSE, for the most part, there is nc
| regular routine or form of the rites which
! whatever they may have been in the be
! ginning, have dou Dtless become confused
! and mingled with various SuperStitiouS
| customs, some OF which were derived from
! the whites themselves, and were preserved
! from the medieval times when even the
most enlightened people of Europe believed
| in witchcraft and the practice OF magic.
FOudoO rites, a. pricticed in Louisiana
| nave usually been conducted In secret. but
j. hey are commonly believed 20 consist OF
! prolonged and violent dancing by persons
Of both sexes. sometimes with little or no
| clothing. Tales are told OF scenes of wild
| debauchery which occurred at these dances,
| and from the frequent statements that liv-
| ing snakes are used il some of these exer-
| cises 1t would appear that sort OF serpent
| worship makes up at least part of the
| groundwork upon which the rites are
| based
| Ii the West indies, but most particularly
| in Iayti, these survivalS of negro savagery
are quite common, and the rites are de
scrlbed as revolving IN the extreme EN-
braclng serpent worship, the most aban-
doned Gebauchery. with human sacrifices
and cannibalism. Sir Spencer st. John. in
his work on the BLACK Republics OF the
West Indies" has related at length ac-
counts OF these matters, which appear to
be established As facts by testimony en-
tlreIy credible. His narratives Of the YOU
doc practices IN Eayti are detailed and cir
cumsJantiai, and while all the testimony is
conclusive as to the African origin of these
super-titlons the writer's who have paid
most attention TO the subject have not been
able TO trace the myths to the particular
tribe and localities from which they were
derived
DERIVATION OF THE WORD.
The first writer TO give any apparent ac-
cUrate clrcumstantial account of the A fri
can superstitious rites is Major A B. Ellis.
British officer, who, il seems, has made L
study Of the negro tribes in their ancient
Africa. Ia The Popular Science Monthly
he prints an article in which we find some
interesting matter. He gives the follow
ing as TO the derivation and definition of
"voudoo:'
The word vodu belongs to the Eve ia1-
Guage, which Is spoken on She slave coast
OF West Africa, between the River Volta
on the west and the Kingdom OF Porto
Novo on the east, aud extends inland. as
far as It IS known, about 100 miles II IS
derived from the verb vo-:o inspire fear
AID Is used in just the same way As En-
gllsh speaking people used the word
fetch that IS TO say, it is used as
descriptive noun god" and also an ad-
iective in the sense OF sacred or belonging
to god.
Thus any native god may be described as
a yodu, and his image, paraphernaIia and
sacred tract Of bush called vOdu \ priest
IS termed vodu-no-"He VINO STAYS with
the vodu.' The word is not an epithet of
any particular god, it IS Il general term.
and 1t Is, therefore, incorrect to say that
1t IS the name OF an imaginary being of
vast supernatural powers residing in the
form of harmless snake"
No doubt the python god, worshiped by
the inhabitants Of thesoutheastern districts
of Eve territory, may very correctly be de-
scribed as a vodu, but it IS not more vodu
than khebioso, So, Legba, Bo, Hunt, WI
and other gods OF the Eve pantheon. The
expression ''vodu worship means then,
god worship which Is a rather compre-
sishsiye term.
AFRICAN AND AMERICAN vOUDoo. y
The Whydahs, people of the Eve ma
ton, are well known worshipers of a
python, or serpent god. and they, about
the year 1929, were wholly sUbjugated by
the DahOmeys and sold into slavery Many
OF them We're carried to the French West
Indies where they maintained their relir-
ion. Some of these Whydahs were brought ]
to Louisiana, and hence the snake cuit1
which is found here. But many more{
tribes which were net snake worshipers u
were also reduced to slavery, and some of
their number were brought to America, so
that their superstitons We're mingled with
those of the others.
The Whydahs had 4 very elabo rate ser
pent cult, maintaining temples where |
bands OF young girls ministered and took |
part IN the dances and other exercises. |
These female attendants were organized as |
a sisterhood, known as kosio. The name |
of their snake god is Danh-g Obi. Says the |
writer quoted above:
The kosio of Danh-gbi usually appears |
with the bosom smeared with palm oil, but |
their distinguishing mark is neck!et call |
ed adunka, made of the twisted tilaments OF |
a SprOutlng palm leaf On ceremonial oc-
rasions they wear fillet OF the same ma
terial, with anklets, armlets and neck |
strings OF cowries.
As is the case with The women attached
to temples in India, this life is not consid-
cred dishonorahle, because it is regarded
rs Il part of the service of the religion.
The kosio are, indeed, not considered as re-
'ponsible for their actions. 1t is the god.
,ay the people, who inspires them at such
times.
The voodoo rites as practiced in Louisi-
ana are far less brutal and gtrocious than
elose in use in Hayti. but they are savage
and demoraliZing. There is no statute
sguinst them here, but the dances have
been stopped when characterized Us disor-
ierly assemblages. 1t has been supposed
hat these superstitions will be exterrni-
lated by civilization, but such a result has
lot YET been attained. 1t Is to be doubted
{ superstition is ever eradicated from hu-
nan nature. it is claimed even that the
negroes are returning to their savage
myths. This Is an interesting question:
New Orleans Picayune.