Voodoo originated from the Animist beliefs of the Yoruba tribes in Benin , but it developed in Haiti during the 18th century among the West Africans slaves who were being evangelized under the French Colonial power. Instead of abandoning their animist beliefs altogether, the slaves chose to affiliate their own traditional representations to the closest personal figures in the Roman Catholic faith for more meaningful purposes. The Bondye, or “Bon-Dieu” in French, represents the Supreme monotheist God, the Creator and most importantly, the Unreachable. According to the Animist belief, the only way possible to reach the Bondye and trigger change in society is by imploring a connection or relationship with the Spirits of the late ancestors which are called Loas. Voodoo Ritual There are in total 180 Loas in the Voodoo religion, each of them carrying a name and, a specific and exclusive function. For instance, "Guede" is the spirit of life and death who is assigned to separate the souls and bodies of people when the time comes and also to watch over their graveyards . Through ceremonies of dance and singing, the Haitian Voodoo practitioners invoke these same spirits that in return will possess their bodies and dictate to the people the solution to their social preoccupations. Myths of the Haitian Independence from the French Colonial forces even suggest that this same Spirit, "Guede" entered the body of one of the slaves and cultivated the roots of the Haitian Revolutionary ideologies. This is one of the reasons why Voodoists consider their faith as a way of escape not only from Slavery but also from their personal issues .
Voodoo originated from the Animist beliefs of the Yoruba tribes in Benin . Voodoo Ritual There are in total 180 Loas in the Voodoo religion, each of them carrying a name and, a specific and exclusive function. For instance, "Guede" is the spirit of life and death who is assigned to separate the souls and bodies of people when the time comes and also to watch over their graveyards .
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, but it developed in Haiti during the 18th century among the West Africans slaves who were being evangelized under the French Colonial power. Instead of abandoning their animist beliefs altogether, the slaves chose to affiliate their own traditional representations to the closest personal figures in the Roman Catholic faith for more meaningful purposes. The Bondye, or “Bon-Dieu” in French, represents the Supreme monotheist God, the Creator and most importantly, the Unreachable. According to the Animist belief, the only way possible to reach the Bondye and trigger change in society is by imploring a connection or relationship with the Spirits of the late ancestors which are called Loas.
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. Through ceremonies of dance and singing, the Haitian Voodoo practitioners invoke these same spirits that in return will possess their bodies and dictate to the people the solution to their social preoccupations. Myths of the Haitian Independence from the French Colonial forces even suggest that this same Spirit, "Guede" entered the body of one of the slaves and cultivated the roots of the Haitian Revolutionary ideologies. This is one of the reasons why Voodoists consider their faith as a way of escape not only from Slavery but also from their personal issues