Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd.
View your shopping cart Shopping Cart | My Account | Help | Become a Fan on Facebook Become a Fan | Follow Us on Twitter Follow Us | Watch Us on YouTube Watch Us | Subscribe to our RSS Feeds Subscribe
Browse ProductsAuthorsArticlesBlogsEncyclopediaNewslettersAffiliate ProgramContact UsBooksellers
Advanced Search
ENCYCLOPEDIA
Glossary
What's New
Most Popular
List of Articles

Email Exclusives
Sign up to receive special offers and promotions from Llewellyn.

Get the Latest Issue of New Worlds

New Worlds Spring/Summer 2013 Issue

New Worlds Catalog

Get the FREE app for your tablet and mobile device. Now available in the iTunes Store and the Google Play Store

Also available as a PDF File.

Click for more information about New Worlds or to receive issues via mail.


The Llewellyn Encyclopedia

Term: Voodoo

DEFINITIONS

Voodoo: Voodoo is both a corruption of the African Fon word 'Vodou' (which means 'spirit' or 'mystery') and now a powerful spiritual tradition in its own right, most associated with New Orleans and the American South.

Voodoo traveled from Africa in the hearts and souls of Africans who were transported to the Americas during the slave trade. There it became blended with the spiritual practices of the indigenous peoples, who often had a shamanic or animistic belief system, and with the Catholic religion of the slave owners. It recognizes one creator-god and a pantheon of angel-like spirits (called Loa) who work on his behalf. The ancestors are a third spiritual force.

All of these spirits may be appealed to for practical help, advice, and support, through prayer, divination, and magic. Herbalism also plays a major role in New Orleans Voodoo, where it is known as Hoodoo or root doctoring, and the Voodoo priest and priestess are often powerful healers, working with herbs and with more spiritual and magical healing tools. Famous names associated with New Orleans Voodoo include Marie Laveau and Dr. John.
source: Ross Heaven


ARTICLES

Witchcraft and Voodoo
Voodoo and Witchcraft are the two most misunderstood religions in the world. Each has a public image and an inner reality. Most frequently that public image has little to do with the private, inner and real religion. Voodoo Voodoo is a mixture of ...
Relevance:  73 % 73%


The Work of the Medsen Fey - the Leaf Doctors of Haiti
Loulou Prince is the medsen fey (leaf doctor/herbalist and shaman) for a Haitian community of around 1,500 people who live in the vicinity of Jacmel, a small town close to the border with the Dominican Republic. In his daily practice, he deals with ...
Relevance:  3 % 3%


Creating a rune amulet
Modern rune rituals are sometimes done entirely with visualization - the runes are made in the astral world and are never actually written down or carved on any material. This technique works fairly well, but it is not in harmony with the ancient ...
Relevance:  3 % 3%


Vodou - An African Shamanic Tradition
At first sight, shamanism and Vodou - what Hollywood has introduced into the popular imagination as "voodoo" - seem to have little in common. The former seems based on peaceful co-existence with nature and the elements, while the latter, in so far ...
Relevance:  3 % 3%


The Message from Stone: Stone & Rock Divination
The lessons of quantum physics and its new kid on the block, holographic theory, are that all things are connected through the energy that infuses the universe and all it contains. According to scientists, 90% of the universe is unknown - meaning ...
Relevance:  2 % 2%


The Shamanic Journey
Regardless of other specialities - which may include plant medicine, divination, or healing rituals - the key approach of all shamans both ancient and modern is the shamanic journey. This is a special state of trance consciousness that enables ...
Relevance:  2 % 2%


Shamanic Healing Through Soul Retrieval
Soul retrieval – a contemporary therapeutic practice rooted in the ancient spiritual tradition of shamanism - is attracting significant attention in the modern world as the holistic healthcare movement continues to gather force. Shamans believe ...
Relevance:  2 % 2%


Ayahuasca – the Vine of Souls, the Medicine of Love
Shamanic healing often employs plants to good effect, though it is rarely about herbalism, per se. Indeed, most shamans are explicit that the pharmacological properties of the plants they employ are of far less importance than the spirit which is ...
Relevance:  2 % 2%


Fet Gede - the Vodou Festival of the Ancestors
We carry the past around with us. It is in our memories, in the "ether" that surrounds us, in our family history - and, perhaps, in our cellular memory. Recent studies have shown that transplant patients inherit more than just organs when they take ...
Relevance:  2 % 2%


Enduring Beyond Oppression - The Truth About Vodou
Vodou is a religion born in slavery, which blends together a number of traditional African beliefs with elements from other faiths, notably Catholicism, the religion of the slave-owners, with which it has always been an uncomfortable bed-fellow. It ...
Relevance:  2 % 2%



Whatever your background is, it's bound to happen to you: the scary paranormal case. We're not talking about your run-of-the-mill haunting here. We're talking portal hauntings, negative entities, and bad earthbound spirits—in a nutshell, things that scare us! These cases usually start out as a seemingly routine investigation; then, somewhere... read this article
Evolutionary Astrology: How Our Nodal Axis Defines the Soul's Path
The Mibramig Magical Tarot
Cultivating Bliss: 4 Ways to Explore Your Inner Garden
Exercise: Asking for a Dream Visit from a Loved One in Spirit
The Final Secrets of Enochian Magick

Most recent posts:
Book Signing and Workshop In Minneapolis: June 5
I am very glad to be returning to the beautiful twin cities! I lived in St. Paul for six years, and I still miss many of my friends and the wonderful...

June 2 is My First Worldwide Webinar! Topic: Magickal Self-Defense
I have been very fortunate to be able to travel all over the U.S. and Europe giving workshops. I still do it! I have given workshops for a few people...

Fairy Lights Tarot
The Fairy Lights Tarot was created in an interesting way. The artist made paintings that were scenes containing two cards. The scenes were then split...


One of the questions I often receive is a request for contact with an occult group, order, coven, etc. As a policy, I don't recommend such...



Llewellyn's 2013 Moon Sign Book Llewellyn's 2013 Moon Sign Book
Conscious Living by the Cycles of the Moon

By: Llewellyn
Price: $10.99 $5.50 On Sale!
Llewellyn's 2013 Witches' Datebook Llewellyn's 2013 Witches' Datebook
By: Llewellyn
Price: $10.99 $5.50 On Sale!
Llewellyn's 2013 Witches' Calendar Llewellyn's 2013 Witches' Calendar
By: Llewellyn
Price: $13.99 $7.00 On Sale!
Llewellyn's 2013 Astrological Calendar Llewellyn's 2013 Astrological Calendar
Horoscopes for You Plus an Introduction to Astrology

By: Llewellyn
Price: $13.99 $7.00 On Sale!
Llewellyn's 2013 Magical Almanac Llewellyn's 2013 Magical Almanac
Practical Magic for Everyday Living

By: Llewellyn
Price: $10.99 $5.50 On Sale!