Voodoo is a religion Hun. A true bonfire religion. It has its own belief system and everything. Everyone is mystified at the magi ck part of it (sigh we vicunas get the same deal) but there is truly much more to it.
The magi ck of voodoo all comes down to the rules of all magi ck, what the intent of the caster was. What the spell was. How much belief was placed into the spell. And how experienced the person had that cast the spell. Hope it helped.
From a scientific perspective, voodoo makes a heavy use of a placebo effect. The placebo effect works like this:
It has been observed that if the PATIENT believes that he is receiving medicine, he will often experience many of the same medical benefits as if he actually had. This is one reason why placebos are used to compare tests of new drugs, and also the reason why the FDA requires better than a 33% success rate for a medicine.
And if you can heal yourself about a third of the time by just thinking that you can, it stands to reason that the reverse can be true too. In fact, there have been researchers who have studied the negative physiological effects of just a doctor telling someone that they have a fatal cancer - it would seem that a pronouncement of death from someone who knows is enough to make matters far worse at times.
To top things off, many voodoo priests are also VERY familiar with horology and can certainly help (or harm) people in this manner. In fact, some pharmaceutical companies themselves have learned from how voodoo priests prepare their medicines to obtain valuable medicines (the book 'Serpent and the Rainbow' is one account of this).
So not only can voodoo produce just about any possible effect with psychology, in some cases it can actually produce drugs and poisons as well. But that's just from a scientific viewpoint. I'll leave the religious merits up to you. ( :
Effective, yes.
For more information about Vodou, try WNW.members.aol.com/racine125. I recently asked someone about this religion; I was given this website. I find it very informative!
Blessings on you! :-)
Not sure what you mean by art but I can tell you that Vodou is a beautiful religion. Aifrica gave you a great website to check out the religion. That is information for a house in Jacmel, Haiti.
Through song, dance, and drumming we connect with the Law during service (feats). We honor our ancestors, serve the Law, and honor Bondye (God).
Effective to me would mean we are able to make that connection with the Law. The Law perform magic, healing, and bless all of us that are present. I was healing by the Law. I have been blessed by the Law. I serve the lwa and the lwa serve me. It is a beautiful and rewarding path. I can I will be on this path for the rest of my life.
How effective is the "art" of "voodoo"?
