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(#3) It Takes a Full Year for a Spirit to Transfer to the Afterlife
In a heartbreaking article about the Haitian earthquake in 2011, Edwidge Danticat explained the most important Haitian Voodoo death belief. According to Danticat, it's believed that when a person’s spirit leaves the body after death it becomes trapped in whatever nature is surrounding the place of death (rivers, mountains, trees, etc.). After a full year and a day, the family has a ceremonial celebration to commemorate the deceased being released into the world to live again.
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(#11) Voodoo Has a Complicated Relationship with Sex
While it's true that many cultures which practice Voodoo are totally okay with male polygamy and their priestesses "marrying" a deity, they're completely against sex being used in a ritualistic fashion. Prior to a ceremony, Voodoo practitioners often abstain from sex. And in some cultures, some initiates are tasked with staying celibate for up to 41 days after they're initiated into a Voodoo circle.
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(#6) Voodoo Priestesses and Priests Handle Everything
The concept of voodoo queens as bone-shaking, chicken blood-spraying wild women is such a far cry from the actual role played by a modern priestess or priest. A modern day voodoo priestess or priest not only performs sacred rituals but is also known as a community leader and someone who can consult on a wide range of topics.
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(#9) They're Serious About Their Death Rituals
In Voodoo lore, the soul is split into two parts, the gros-bon-ange and the ti-bon-ange. The gros-bon-ange reflects the part of the cosmic energy that turns into life force and the ti-bon-ange reflects the person's knowledge and experience and it shapes the type of person you become. Unfortunately, this part of the soul is also the most malleable to sorcery, and it can cause the most trouble after death. If the ritual of the nine nights isn't performed correctly to make sure that the ti-bon-ange stays buried, it's believed that it walks the earth to "cause misfortune" to others.
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(#14) Voodoo Is About Community
The most important role of a modern-day Voodoo "church" is that of keeping their community together and thriving. After Hurricane Katrina, about 350 members of New Orleans' Voodoo community came together, crossing the once-monumental barrier of Haitian and New Orleans Voodoo, in order to help rebuild their city. In African Voodoo communities, the priest or priestess is known to act as not only a religious leader but as someone who can aid in solving familial disputes and as a local doctor.
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(#5) You'll Never Memorize All the Loas
Because practitioners of Voodoo can't deal with Bondye directly, they have to chat with a vast collection of demigods, or "les lois" (which translates to "the laws" in English), who are responsible for a specific domain or part of life. For example, if you are a farmer, you would give praise and offerings to the spirit of agriculture, Azacca.
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Voodoo originated in West Africa and is a primitive and mysterious religion that combines ancestor worship, natural belief, and spiritism. Voodoo is also the state religion of Benin. It is believed by 60% of the people and about 4.5 million people. Voodoo is also a part of the black sex movement and the foundation of Haitian culture. The origin of voodoo can be traced back to the 16th century.
The voodoo ceremony mainly includes the initiation ceremony and the sacrifice ceremony. Followers believed that they can communicate with the sacred power through various life forms, and can get divine metaphors. The random tool explained 15 interesting facts about the Voodoo religion that may change your stereotypical minds of the mysterious religion.
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