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http://www.swagga.com/voodoo.htm-Voodoo
Hoodoo-Hoodoo refers to African-American traditional folk magic. A rich magical tradition which was (for thousands of years), indigenous to all of ancient African botanical, Magoo-religious practices and folk cultures. Its practice was imported when mainly West Africans were brought to the United States and enslaved.
Hoodoo is used as a noun and is derived from the Ewe word "Hudu," which is still ex ant today. Hoodoo is often used in African-American vernacular to describe a magic "spell" or potion, or as a descriptor for a practitioner (hoodoo doctor, hoodoo man or hoodoo woman), or as an adjective or verb depending upon context. The word can be dated at least as early as 1891.* Some prefer the term hoodoo ism, but this has mostly fallen out of use. Some "New Age" non-Diaspora practitioners who have taken up Hoodoo as a hobby employ synonyms to include conjuration, conjure, witchcraft, or root work, The latter demonstrates the importance of various roots in the making of charms and casting spells. It is important to note that in traditional African religious culture, the concept of "spells" is not used. Here again, this Afro-botanical practice has been heavily used by the New Age, and Wiccan communities who have little understanding of "Hoodoo's" spiritual significance as it is traditionally used in Africa. An amulet characteristic of hoodoo is the Moho, often called a Moho bag, Moho hand, conjure bag, trick bag, or Toby; this is a small sack filled with herbs, roots, coins, sometimes a lodestone, and various other objects of magical power.
Vodou-What is Vodou and where does it come from?
Vodou (also spelled Voodoo, Vaudoux, and Vodun), commonly known as Sevis Ginea or ?Ginea (African) service?, is the traditional religion and culture of the Haitian people. Some people use the term ?Voodoo? to include any and all African-based diasporic religious traditions as they have survived in the West (such as Santeria/Lukumi in Cuba, Candomble and Umbanda in Brazil, etc.), but this is can be inaccurate and misleading. The word Vodou identifies a very specific set of similarly related traditional practices. In addition to Vodou as it is practiced in Haiti, there is also Vodun in Africa, which remains the ?parent? or root religion of Haitian Vodou, though its contemporary form is no longer what it was during the time of the Atlantic slave trade. The two traditions have evolved independent of each other for the past 250 years. There is also Voodoo or Hoodoo (a variant form of Afro-based magical practice) as it exists in the Southern United States. For our purposes, we will briefly define Vodou as it is practiced in Haiti, for this is the focus of this web site.
The word Vodou comes from the Fon language of Dahomey (present day Benin) and translates roughly as ?Spirit?. The Vodou religion is an amalgamation of several African traditions that arrived in the hearts and minds of the slaves beginning around the year 1522, continuing up to the revolution in 1791, and continuing to evolve in almost complete isolation until 1860. Its geographic origins come from three separate sources: The first and greatest source is Mother Africa, principally the Fon traditions of old Dahomey, to a lesser degree, the neighboring Nago traditions from present day Yoruba-Land or Nigeria, and the traditions of the Bantu speaking peoples of the Kongo basin. The second source are those traditions of Native America, principally the Taino/Arawak Indians of the island we now know as called Haiti and elsewhere in the Caribbean. The last influences are European which include Catholicism, the principal liturgical and artistic influence, French Martinist Kabbalism, Spiritualism, and the traditional mysticism of the French Gypsies.
Vodou is a monotheistic religion and traditional culture whose faithful believe in a single creator God who in Haiti is commonly called Bondje (from the French Bon Dieux, or ?Good God?). Beneath this Ultimate source of creation is a host of lesser divinities called lwa, a Kreyolized word of dubious etymology. It probably arrives from any one of several Ewe dialects all denoting similar ideas such as ?mystery?, ?law?, or the like. Vodou believes that Bondje is a remote and largely impersonal force, too remote to concern Himself with the daily problems of mankind. It is the lwa who intercede in the life of the living, healing and protecting the people. The power of the lwa is great, but it is also finite. Only God is all-powerful. For example, the lwa can protect a garden giving it a better chance to grow, but they are not responsible for the germination of the seed; that is God. The lwa may bring rain, but they are not responsible for water being in the sky; that is God. A few lwa are embodiments of natural forces such as the forest, or the sea, fire, or storm. Many lwa are deified ancestors. Some lwa represent natural forces, which historically incarnated in the flesh, died, and then became deified ancestors.
The Vodou is not just a religion, but also a culture, a way of life. In fact, it is far more appropriate and accurate to speak of ?Vodou Culture?, than of the ?Vodou Religion?. This is a complete socio-cultural system inseparable from the way of life for its faithful, one capable of answering any and all questions we might face in life. It is a familial oriented tradition, a joyous and celebratory tradition. Outsiders come to the Vodou for all manner of issues. Vodou heals; Vodou protects; Vodou solves problems, and binds people in strong, healthy family units. The Vodou is a living tradition evolving to meet the needs of its faithful, having survived for a millennia in one form or another.
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What's the difference between voodoo/vodou and hoodoo?
