Voodoo is an interesting religion, but no less weird than any of the more popular religions. It is often cartoonishly depicted in movies as tricky dark magic used by devilish witches and warlocks of the bog. To help you better understand Voodoo, we present these weird, yet interesting facts about it that will make you less afraid to traverse the deep swamps of the South.
The Kingdom of Oyotunji is a traditional West African voodoo village near Sheldon, South Carolina. It is technically not a part of the United States.
The point of animal sacrifice in voodoo is to combine the life force of the animal with the chosen voodoo spirit they wish to call. The animal is then cooked and eaten as part of the ritual.
Snakes aren’t used in Voodoo just to freak you out. They are an important symbol of their creator figure, Damballa.
Due to various similarities, Voodoo is accepted by the Catholic church.
Voodoo is less about inflicting pain on enemies and more to do with healing.
There are three types of Voodoo: West African, Louisiana, and Haitian Voodoo.
Aside from being the most famous Voodoo queen of all time, Mary Laveau was a famous hairdresser. Her clients were some of the most powerful people in New Orleans.
Voodoo dolls are often depicted with pins supposedly meant to harm their target. In reality, the only point to the pins are to attach a picture of a person to the doll.
Most Voodoo doll rituals are intended to inflict positive change on the target. For example, pinning money to the doll asks the spirits to bring that person good fortune.
Voodoo incorporates a lot of figures from Christianity in its mythology. For example, the virginal Aida Wedo is essentially Mary.
I don’t know about you, but this really makes Voodoo less scary and more cool. I’m not going to go out and Voodoo doll my friends and family, but it’s still nice to know the bad guy in that Princess and the Frog movie isn’t based on a real dude.
