Voodoo, also spelled Vodou, Vodun, Vodon, Voudou, Vudu, etc., is a religion practiced by the Aja, Ewe, and Fon peoples of Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria. Elements of the West African religion have survived and evolved into the current forms of religions with similar names that are found in the New World among the African diaspora in the Americas, such as Haitian Vodou, Louisiana Voodoo, Cuban Vodú, Dominican Vudú, Venezuelan Yuyu, and Brazilian Vodum (Candomblé Jejé and Tambor de Mina) .
Voodoo is a worldview encompassing philosophy, medicine, justice, and religion. Its fundamental principle is that everything is spirit. Humans are spirits who inhabit the visible world. The unseen world is populated by lwa (spirits), mystè (mysteries), anvizib (the invisibles), zanj (angels), and the spirits of ancestors and the recently deceased. Vodou teaches belief in a supreme being called Bondye, an unknowable and uninvolved creator god. Vodou believers worship many spirits (called loa), each one of whom is responsible for a specific domain or part of life.
Voodoo first came to Louisiana with enslaved West Africans, who merged their religious rituals and practices with those of the local Catholic population. New Orleans Voodoo is also known as Voodoo-Catholicism. It is a religion connected to nature, spirits, and ancestors. Today, gris-gris dolls, potions, and talismans are still found in stores and homes throughout the city – a reminder of the New Orleans fascination with spirits, magic, and mystery.
Voodoo is often misunderstood and has been sensationalized in popular culture. It has very little to do with so-called voodoo dolls or zombies. Over two centuries of hostile propaganda have morphed Voodoo into a deeply racialized form of witchcraft in the popular imagination.
