This relentless campaign of maligning and actively suppressing African religions continued throughout the decades by the colonial [and later United States] government. Replete with its racist imagery, and demeaning Hollywood stereotypes, "Voodoo" became the universal standard by which Christian evangelicals, racist anthropologists, educators and the general public used to clump, classify and categorically dismiss all African religious systems under colorful pejorative labels as "evil, crazed, sex-frenzied, idolatrous, cannibals, primitive, fetish worshiping, superstitious, demonic cults"-devoid of any meaningful moral foundation, social structure or philosophical/esoteric content. Intentionally, mocked as "Voodoo", no clear distinctions were made between the ancestral religious traditions and its beneficent practices, and the "darker" maleficent traditions such as "sorcery, conjuration, and witchcraft." Tantamount to the spiritual-genocidal equivalency of blending Satanism with Christianity proper.
Because the African Diaspora welded no significant economic, or political clout, and most of what remained of its priesthood duly maligned and discredited, it became nearly impossible to present the true spiritual reality of what Vodoun actually is, and its profound importance to the spiritual sustenance of the African Diaspora. Ancestral and spirit "callings" that manifested in their traditional modes, went unheeded, many lacking the philosophical/ ritual knowledge and expertise to tend to them. This would often escalate and deteriorate into mental illness, family dysfunction, drug addiction, violent outbursts, alcoholism, suicide, and other forms of self-destructive behavior. Even today, much of the ongoing social malaise, psychic and mental confusion, and spiritual pathology that many in the Diaspora are experiencing, may be directly related to their dies-connectedness from the very gods and ancestors who are inextricably connected to their soul and psyche, but many have now, through centuries of conditioning, ignorance, fear and shame have learned to mock and avoid. Many try unsuccessfully to seek solace in other Western spiritual practices and Eastern traditions, with little understanding of the reasons why they have found no home or peace.
Madam Collins
I'm a spiritual doctor.
I know about this work.
I am a "doctor" that "tricks." The sacrifice that you offer up to "Jesus" [meaning Legba].
Removes the Trick. For he is the "trick" giver
And the Trick taker. You consecrate your altar with a prayer.
In that room I wear white robes. I wear a white cap-like hat. It just fits your head. . . That prevents the work from "dying" your head. It turns your hair gray. This work will age you. [I] get plenty of work from White people.
They can't get to a man [Episcopal Priest] like you. They come to some of us, who they think and heard is the best.
[priestess], Memphis, Tennessee
My life Story is that I am a Gifted Medium
I do a spiritual form of work. On this altar is a looking glass, and I must contact [the spirit] in a state of concentration . You must fast and pray and get in contact with a good spirit. Then I go before them and set my lights which my lights must be washed off with either holy water or blessed water in order to work.
Then I must close the door and go in to what you would call a concentration [trance], and I then contact my "individual" [spirit]. This chair is supposed to be consecrated and blessed by that individual [spirit] that uses this chair.
[Priestess], New Orleans, Louisiana
In America, though many of the traditional ritual and ceremonial practices of "Voodoo" were lost, most of its healing, divinatory, and spirit manifestational elements , were later forced to merge into the magico-botanical practices of what came to be known derisively as "Hoodoo."It is vitally important for the African-Diaspora to understand that absence of the public expression of a religion does not negate ones ancestral lineage nor birth-right. The "Voodoo" is still present in the blood of those whose ancestors are born from it. Thousands are still being born today carrying the Spiritual lineages of the ancestors. Many have lost the knowledge of what to look for.
Although derisively mocked as “superstition, witchcraft, and sorcery,” there remains a historical testament to some of the esoteric and magical lore of many African-American priestesses and priests who descend from the various known and obscure African religions that at one time doted the American landscape during their enslavement and post-Reconstruction era. More than five volumes of this powerful oral tradition exemplifies their spiritual mastery and God-given gifts, leaving a powerful legacy to their descendants. A legacy not borne from Haiti, nor any other region, but the United States of America. It is this author’s sincere belief that a resurrection of the spiritual heritage of African spirituality is a major key in re-aligning the Diaspora back to their true selves.
In a little distributed publicized speech, Pope John ll apologized to Africans and the Diaspora for centuries of demonizing and suppressing African religions. Today, African Traditional Religions with over 50 million open adherents, world-wide, are becoming the fastest growing religions in the world. Religious traditions that harbor no history of violent inquisitions, persecution of others, nor coercive proselytizing. This is so because they are at their fundamental and cosmological core ancestral religions, of spiritual growth and transformation thru the guidance, wisdom and earned power of ones immediate and divine African Ancestors and their appointed divinities. Today, it is up to all to lift centuries of racist labeling, stereotypes and mistruths, and cultural vulturism still effecting these powerfully transforming spiritual systems. As long as the world learns about African spiritual systems through those who have oppressed and suppressed its
practice and proliferation, their esoteric truths may never be known.
I Am A Shield Man
I'm a Shield Man. Nothing can hurt [hoodoo] me but a lick (punch)A Brickbat-A Pistol-or a Knife. I can take a deck of cards and tell anybody more than they want to know. Not only take a deck of cards I can take a cup and tell anybody anything they want to know I can walk along the street and look at a person and tell whether they are "hurt" [hoodoo-ed] or not I Am Your Black Jesus. Lindsay-
"Voodoo" priest, Richmond, Virginia (1970?) 3. See Islam & African Traditional Religion4. See: A Slave In Brooklyn: Archeologists Uncover Ritual
I Am Your Black Jesus.
NOTES
1. See Prof. Terry Matthews "The Religion of the Slaves"
2. "Except for the Society of Friends, all religious groups in America supported slavery. In the South black people were not usually allowed to attend church services. Those churches that did accept them would segregate them from white worshipers. One of the main reasons why masters did not want their slaves to become Christians involved the Bible. They feared that slaves might interpret the teachings of Jesus Christ as being in favor of equality.
Simkinn, John. Slavery: An Illustrated History of Black Resistance (1988).
See also: Slavery and Religion in America: A Time Line 1440-1866
3. See Islam & African Traditional Religion
4. See: A Slave In Brooklyn: Archeologists Uncover Ritual Artifacts
See also: Prof. Cora Agatucci Syllabus links to slave narratives from burial to worship using African Traditional rituals.
5."This was one of the main reasons why most plantation owners did what they could to stop their slaves from learning to read. Slaves were also forbidden from continuing with African religious rituals. Drums were also banned as overseers worried that they would be used to send messages. They were particularly concerned that they would be used to signal a slave uprising" (Simkinn 1988).
6. Hurston, Zora (1991). Moses, Man of the Mountain. xxiv. HarperPerennial. New York.
See also: Jewish Roots in Africa
Fig 1. Eveerett, Susanne. (1978). History of Slavery. London.
Fig 2. Paraphrased quote taken from Middleton, H. Hyatt. (1973) pg. 2154- 2155. Vol Three. Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork. Alama Egan Hyatt Foundation. Ill.
Fig. 3. Ibid. pg. 933.
Fig 4. Ibid. pg. 993.
Fig.5 Ibid. pg. 950.
Fig 6. "African [American] Grave". Century Magazine 41, no. 6 (April 1891): 827.
LINKS ON THIS WEBSITE
The Ancestral Slave Tradition of Amengansie in America!
Ewe Slaves & Voodoo: America's Hidden Heritage
The African Origins of "Voodoo": About.com Interview with Mama Zogbé
Common Misconceptions About "Voodoo"
"Voodo" Comes Alive in the African-American Diaspora
Slavery & American Restitution
Pope Apologizes for Centuries of Demonizing African Religions
Jewish Roots in Africa
Invisible Culture: Hoodoo Culture in Georgia and South Carolina
The African Origins of Hoodoo: About.com Interview: with Mama Zogbé
Superstitions & Folklore of the South
The Religion of the Slaves
Dahomean Vodoun Culture of the Ewe & Fon
Library of Congress Changes the Way it Classifys African Religions
Slavery and Religion in America: A Time Line 1440-1866
Excerpts from Slave Narratives
Slave Narratives from Across the South
A Slave In Brooklyn: Archeologists Uncover Ritual Artifacts
Plates in Graves: An Africanism?
GENEAOLOGICAL RESOURCES
Howard University geneticist working on DNA tests to trace African heritage
Howard University - National Human Genome Center
Genealogy.com: African-American Research
Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society
Christine's Genealogy Website
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