Vodou, Vodun, Voodoo Diasporic African

The ancient religions and divination systems that developed in West Africa among the Ewe, Fon, Kaye, and Tchamba people of Dahomey, Togo, and Benin, focusing on worship of the Loas (Lwa). Sevi Lwa is also called Vodun, Voodoo, Woodoo, Voudou, or Budu -- names that come from an African word for "spirit." Vodun's diaspora roots go back to the West African people who brought their religion with them when they were forcibly enslaved in Brazil, Haiti, Cuba, and other islands in the West Indies. Like most African Traditional Religions, Vodun is currently practiced under several names on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In the Western Hemisphere, Vodou has also been influenced by the Kongo and Bantu cultures of the Congo River Basin; by the indigenous Arawaks, Caribs and Tainos; and, to some extent, by the Roman Catholicism of the colonizing French.

• Top/Regional/Caribbean/Haiti/Society and Culture/Religion

• - "Online companion" to the exhibit hosted by the American Museum of Natural History, in New York, from October 1998 to January 1999. Dozens of full-color images.
  
• - Academic article by John Cussans about the misrepresentations of Vodou in the Western media. Originally presented as a lecture at the October Gallery, London, in fall 2000.
  
• - Homepage for Casa Alta Gracia, a house of Vodou headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana. Content of the site includes articles on contemporary Vodou practice in the US, links, annotated reading lists and descriptions of Vodou services.
  
• - FAQ page for this "Spiritual Supplier and Botanica for the African Diaspora, Latin American and Caribbean Religious traditions", based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Gives answers to questions such as, "What is Voodoo?", "How do I kno
  
• - Information on New Orleans Voodoo, with lots of original photos of New Orleans historic cemeteries. Includes extensive references with commentary and links to other New Orleans web sites.
  
• - Brief description of Vodoun as practiced in Benin, by a student of Martine de Souza [Research Manager of The Historic Museum of Ouidah, Benin]. Page also includes photos and artwork.
  
• - Introduction to Haitian Vodoun and New Orleans Voodoo by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance and the editors of the e-zine PorchNus.
  
• - Essay on respect for ancestors in Vodou, with information on the ceremony of "desounin" and related beliefs and practices.
  
• - Excellent educational resource about New Orleans Voodoo. Contains an extensive Voodoo Glossary,Vever Drawings, FAQ page, and a free service in which email questions are answered by Authentic practitioners.
  
• - Description of the Haitian Vodou tradition, including history, core beliefs, role of clergy, standards of conduct and ways of worship. Also full-color graphics.
  
• - Academic essay, with many photo illustrations, discussing the art and visuals of Vodou in Haiti.
  
• - Forum ["club"] for discussion on both Haitian Vodou and New Orleans Voodoo. Open membership, public archives.
  
• - Website of "New Orleans Voodoo" temple, run by Priestess Miriam Chamani. This temple is influenced by African-American Spiritualism, and Belizean Obeah, as well as by Haitian Vodou.
  
• - "New Orleans Voodoo" botanica run by a hounsi kanzo (initiated in Haiti). Wide assortment of books, music, ritual supplies, and art. This link takes one directly to the "What is Voodoo" FAQ, rather than the store entrance.
  
• - Website of Jean Kent, a Haitian houngan living in Florida.
  
• - Academic essay on Vodun practices of the Fon, Gun, Mina and Ewe peoples of South Benin.
  
• - Short, factual, well-illustrated introductory essay on Voodoo in the Caribbean and Louisiana, with a focus on Marie Laveau.
  
• - Collection of scholarly and informative documents, by various authors, on the history and practice of Vodun (Voodoo) in Haiti; part of an even larger site on Haitian history in general.
  
• - FAQ page for this online botanica. Answers to questions such as "What is prayer and how do we use it?" and "Is New Orleans Voodoo the same as Haitian or Dominican Vodou?"
  
• - Voodoo is a derivative of the world's oldest known religions which have been around in Africa since the beginning of human civilization. Some estimate these civilizations and religions to be over 10,000 years old. This page is part of the large and multif
  
• - "Sosyete de Marche, a Vodou society". Calendar of Vodou holidays in Haiti; articles; descriptions of a number of lwa; color photographs and images.
  
• - Small but well-designed site which features pages of information about some of the major Vodou lwa, and also reviews of books about Vodou.
  
• - The world's oldest Vodoun tradition alive in the diaspora.
  
• - Excerpts from the encyclopedic work on Haitian Vodoun compiled by Estelle Manuel. Vevers, langaj, samples of drum rhythms, and a catalogue of over 2000 songs.
  
• - Discussion group, mainly about Haitian Vodou, but sometimes covering African Vodun and New Orleans Voodoo as well. "Seekers, syncretists, mambos, houngans, longtime practitioners, and those who love us are all welcome!" Public message archives;
  
• - Subtitled "Haitian Spirits Adjust to Urban Life". Article by Lois Wilcken about Haitian-American Vodouisants in New York City. Black and white photos.
  
• - Historical and practical information on Vodoun, its panteon, and its rituals, from religioustolerance.org
  
• - Voodoo in Haiti. An look at the history of voodoo and its profound impact on this island nation. Also maps, photos, and a Creole dictionary.
  
• - Open (but moderated) discussion list to "to actively provide training in Vodou and to encourage the practice of Vodou religion and related magic."
  
• - Voodun in the Dominican Republic / Voodun en La Republica Dominicana
  
• - Hunter College student paper discussing the interaction between Catholicism and Vodou in Haiti, from colonial times to the present.
  
• - Essay by Dr. Marie-Jose Alcide Saint-Lot, a scholar of Haitian popular culture with graduate degrees from Brooklyn College and CUNY. This paper first presented at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
  
• - Open-membership forum for discussion of New Orleans Voodoo, "with occasional comparison to Caribbean and African traditions".
  
• - By Joseph J. Williams (1932), e-text from the Internet Sacred Text Archive.
  
• - Essay by Richard Hodges on the Vodou concept of "soul." Vodou recognizes three spiritual components which together with the physical body make up a man: the ti-bonanj (petit bon ange) "little angel," gwo-bonanj (gros bon ange) "bi
  
• - Discussion group "dedicated to the practice of (Haitian) Vodou in the NY/NJ/CT Tristate Area. All servants of God, Gineh and the Lwa, as well as those who would like to learn more about the religion, are welcome." Open membership.
  
• - "Guide" to Vodou as practiced in West Africa, Haiti, and Louisiana, USA.
  
• - Website for the Vodou temple, which is located in Washington D.C., and is an offshoot of Le Peristyle de Mariani, founded in 1974 in Mariani, Haiti, by Max-G. Beauvoir. Site includes much information about Caribbean herbology, as well as upcoming events a
  
• - Article about Vodoun in Ouidah, Benin. Also discusses the religion's ties to Haitian Vodou and other Afro-Caribbean traditions.
  
• - Article about the religion and practice of Voodoo [by whatever spelling] on the Web's free and open-edited encyclopedia.
  
• - Articles by Mambo Racine Sans Bout, a legitimately initiated and ordained priestess of Haitian Vodou.
  
  

Copyright © 1995-2008 Internet Advertising Solutions, Inc.
Copyright Notice | Privacy Policy | Site Map | APR