Why Voodoo can be scary

[newflorida]

Has anyone seen the movie Venom? Earlier this year, I decided to do some research on voodoo after I saw the movie. The movie is about a truck driver in Louisiana who died and came back alive with his body possessed by a bunch of bad spirits that were accidentally released by a voodoo priestess.

The reason for the research was to include a voodoo theme in a young adult novel that I was writing. I also wanted to know whether someone’s soul can really be captured by somebody else.

During my research, I discovered that there were different types of voodoo in Haiti. The main two types of voodoo are Rada and Petro. Rada is the most common form of voodoo and is practiced by more than 95% of voodoo priests. Petro voodoo, while it exists, it is practiced by very few voodoo priests

Why do you ask? Rada and Petro are like two different worlds. Each world has a bunch of spirits living in them. If you have seen voodoo ceremonies as I have, you know that these spirits make appearances in these ceremonies. For you to access a spirit in the Rada world, there is one spirit at the gate you have to ask to let you in. The same is true for the Petro world.

While Rada spirits are nice spirits who come to give you advice, they don't have much power. On the other hand, Petro spirits can be bad, mean and nasty. Dangerous things happen in Petro, because petro spirits know how to do death curses, make zombies, get someone’s soul, do black magic, etc. You can get access to pure evil if you wish to in Petro. A voodoo priest told me that one of the Petro spirits that he calls on sometime is so dangerous, that to greet him, you never touch him. Instead you get the leg of an animal and put it in his hand, pretending to be your hand. Otherwise, when he leaves, you might lose your hand. Let me repeat, Petro voodoo is very real.

If you ever watch a voodoo ceremony on television, if you see people dress in red, it is a Petro ceremony. If you see people dressed in white, it is a Rada ceremony. The question is: can someone capture a soul of someone else. In Petro voodoo, yes. In fact, a soul is kept in a type of bottle, made of some kind of clay, called Govi, which I have seen during my research.

I tried not to scare people in my novel since it is just a mystery and romance story for young adults, that happen to deal with voodoo. However, what I said in the book about which spirit to call to access Rada or Petro world is correct. The thing about soul selling is also real. I hope you will enjoy the book. It is called the Rada Girl and is issued under my pen name, Marsh Brooks, and will be available on October 1, on Amazon and Nook. You can see my promo at theradagirl.com or marshbrooks.com.

Please feel free to contact me for any questions or comments you might have regarding either Rada or Petro Voodoo. In my next post, I may write about zombification or the process of becoming a voodoo priest, if anyone is interested.

[iHaunt]

Nope. Never seen "Venom" movie. So is it any good?

By the way, I only know there are some voodoo people in New Orleans, Louisiana and some are in Jamaica.

[Murfreesboro]

I know very little about voodoo, not much more than iHaunt mentioned, but it does sound like an interesting premise for a novel.

I'm not sure what to make of the idea of "soul capture," but I guess it's not too different from the Christian concept of demonic possession. Although I have no personal experience with any of this stuff, I am inclined to believe there is a spirit realm out there, and that some of it may be very dark indeed.

Isn't there some kind of religion that uses chickens, either dead or alive? Is that the Petro form of voodoo?

[jadewik]

Everything I know about VooDoo (and some HooDoo) I learned from a computer game.

I know that HooDoo encompasses more GrisGris type magick and it's often confused with VooDoo. VooDoo is a little darker than HooDoo, but not quite so dark/evil a religion as people make it out to be (according to, apparently, the type of VooDoo that is being practiced). I also know that Marie Laveau was the VooDoo Queen of New Orleans and that her tomb is in Cemetery Number 1... and that you can leave an offering at her tomb in order to do some sort of VooDoo wish. (I've also heard Cemetery #1 is not safe to go alone during the day... )

Does Rada VooDoo really use a drum code to communicate secret messages about services? Do both Rada and Petro VooDoo sects meet in Hounfours (temples)?

[Pumpkin_Man]

Not to turn this into a discussion of religion, but I do not believe in the premises of Vodo, because it does not jive with what the Church teaches. It's my belief that when the body dies, the soul is released, and is either sent to Heaven, Purgatory or hell. The body can not be reinhabited by any other spirits, and it can not come back to life, until the General Judgement Day, when God brings back everyone from the dead.

Voodo does make for some great stories. Angelique from the tv show "Dark Shadows" used voodoo to do in her rivals and to cast all kinds of spells, but I simply don't believe in it.

Mike

[ramaries69]

With all due respect, just because one doesn't believe in something, does not mean is non-existent. I didn't believe in ghost / spirits, until I had my OWN paranormal experiences. Now, NO ONE, can tell me or convince me, different!

[Pumpkin_Man]

Like I said, I don't want to turn this into a religious debate. I gave my reasons, and I suppose that if you have faith in any belief system, be it good or evil, miracles can happen.

Voodoo does scare me, but not because I believe in it's magic per se. I believe that there is a satanic connection to it, likd there is in black magic. Again, please don't take this out of context,l as the topic of Religion is a slippery slope what I don't really want to tread.

Mike

[Midnight Witch]

I find this to be very intriguing. I had read a bit about the practice of voodoo and the religion, though I didn't learn about the rituals and the presenting of the animal's limb to the spirit. May I request that you write about the process of zombification? I happen to find this rather...interesting.

[Pumpkin_Man]

Again, according to vodoo mythology, a zombie is a dead body brought back to live to be a slave to the vodoo practicioner who brought it back. A more plausable theory, however, is that it's actualy caused by some kind of a drug, and the person never really dies at all.

I can't swear to any of that, however so don't quote me on it. As for the soul, again, the final destony of the soul, as I believe the case to be, is Heaven, or hell for all eternity, or Purgatory for a purfication before going on to Heaven for all eternity. No human being has the power to capture another person's soul.

Mike

[Midnight Witch]

Again, according to vodoo mythology, a zombie is a dead body brought back to live to be a slave to the vodoo practicioner who brought it back. A more plausable theory, however, is that it's actualy caused by some kind of a drug, and the person never really dies at all.

I can't swear to any of that, however so don't quote me on it. As for the soul, again, the final destony of the soul, as I believe the case to be, is Heaven, or hell for all eternity, or Purgatory for a purfication before going on to Heaven for all eternity. No human being has the power to capture another person's soul.

Mike

I remember reading that, as well. A king of herb is used...

[Midnight Witch]

I meant "KIND" of herb...

[Pumpkin_Man]

A lot of drugs used to sedate people in hospitals are derived from those same "herbs."

Mike