African- Christian new religion born in Haiti, whose followers worship the "divine spirits" in life and rituals and accept possession by those spirits for healing and spiritual guidance. Originally a pejorative term -"Voodoo" is now acknowledged as the proper designation for the complex beliefs and practices among the majority of the populace of Haiti.
Voodoo began as the clandestine religion of enslaved African sugar-plantation workers in Haiti in the seventeenth century, but its early history is preserved only in scattered eighteenth-century colonial records and ordinance codes. The reports of covert meetings, dances, funeral practices, and even trance possession among enslaved and freed Africans indicate that they preserved ancient traditions in the face of enormous obstacles; the development of Voodoo is itself a tribute to the spirit and stamina of those early devotees. It is rooted in the West African Yoruba, Fon, and Angolan communities, as well as in French Roman Catholicism.
It has primarily continued African priestly roles, ritual themes, symbolism, and pantheons of named female spirits (especially Ezili) and male ones (Ogou, Damballah-Wedo, Legba). Voodoo theology parallels traditional medieval Christianity, for its followers acknowledge a high creator deity, Bondye (Bon dieu), but invoke the intermediary spirits for intercession in human affairs. It is only the intermediaries-identified individually with Christian saints or sacred places-who descend to "mount" their "horses," their followers, during possession rituals.
Roman Catholicism provides the ritual framework for the lives of Voodoo members as well, for they not only follow its traditional liturgical calendar for scheduling pilgrimages and lesser ceremonies but also participate in the common rituals of baptism, marriage, and the Mass. Roman Catholic prayers, some still in Latin, form a significant component of some Voodoo rituals, as do other lesser aspects and ritual objects from traditional Catholic festivals.
The divine spirits (loa or lwa) of Voodoo occupy separate pantheons or nations; two of these, the Rada, whose spirits are generous and benevolent, and the Petro, whose strong spirits evince terrible powers, dominate worship in urban centers. The higher powers (lemiste) are associated with natural dimensions or places, such as sacred springs or cemeteries, and are joined in the spirit world by souls of the dead and ancestral spirits (lemo) and sacred twins (lemarasa). Individual worshipers, drawn to individual spirits by necessity or similarities in personality or temperament, may choose among them for personal devotion but must not neglect those ancestors and spirits traditionally venerated in the family.
Voodoo rituals range from simple devotional acts, such as the lighting of candles with accompanying prayers, to family observances for the family dead to elaborate rituals enhanced by large meals, drumming and singing, and exuberant dance. The spiritual leaders in the Voodoo community are the male hungans and female mambos; in their religious roles, they perform divination and healing rituals for individual members, as well as oversee all training and calendrical ceremonies. As elders and teachers, they guide the possession trance dances, which allow the individual divine spirits to be present among their followers, to receive worship, and to offer healing and counsel.
In Haiti, rural communities continue Voodoo as a family-centered religion firmly tied to traditional agricultural life, while urban centers have interwoven a wider variety of practices, some structured and formal-including rituals of initiation, funeral rites, pilgrimage to Catholic shrines, and festivals-some less so, including not only divination, but also the making of amulets for luck and protection.
http://www.experiencefestival.com/african_spirituality
