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WHAT IS VOODOO? When the slaves from various part of Africa were brought together in the Caribbean and American South, aspects of each tribe’s African religion blended together with Christian Catholicism to form what many black southern American people today would recognise as Cajun voodoo. Over the years, it has evolved into something quite different from how it started, totally absorbing its many influences from around the world. Power and respect has been accorded these beliefs just as over the years various people have feared or discredited it. Yet Voodoo is a powerful force in Louisiana and its surrounding States even in the twenty-first century. Question : How do you think this opera represents Voodoo? Where do you think the influences come from?  |
If one looks at the dictionary, Voodoo is likely to be defined as an ancient religion from Africa that involves the cult of Ancestors, of various animistic spirits, and the use of trances to communicate with such spirits and Voodoo was an ancient religion originating in several West African nations such as Ghana and Burkina Faso. Unlike Christianity or Islam (but like Hinduism and the religions of the ancient Greeks and Romans), Voodoo included different gods for different aspects of life. Its rituals included dance and songs. Its priests were also viewed as medicine men and used spells and herbs for curing illness.