Voodoo is a religion created by has been created for Hollywood movies, complete with "voodoo dolls", violence, bizarre rituals, cannibalism etc.  The real religion, commonly called Vodou to differentiate from the “Hollywood” religion is practiced by over 60 million people worldwide and religions similar to Vodou can be found in South America.  

To understand the religion you must understand the history of Haitai, where the religion began. Slaves from South Africa brought their religion with them when they were forcibly shipped to islands in the West Indies. Vodun was actively suppressed during colonial times. Many Priests were either killed or imprisoned, and their shrines destroyed, because of the threat they posed to Euro-Christian/Muslim dominion. This forced some of the slaves to form Vodou Orders and to create underground societies.

Vodou played a major part in the revolution against the French in Haitai.

Vodun was again suppressed during the Marxist regime. However, it has been freely practiced in Benin since a democratic government was installed there in 1989. Vodun was formally recognized as Benin's official religion in 1996 and it is also followed by most of the adults in Haiti.

 An inaccurate and sensational book (S. St. John, "Haiti or the Black Republic") was written in 1884. It described Vodun as a profoundly evil religion, and included lurid descriptions of human sacrifice, cannibalism, etc, some of which had been extracted from Vodun priests by torture.  This book caught the imagination of people outside the West Indies, and was responsible for much of the misunderstanding and fear that is present today.

 It is only since the late 1950's that accurate studies by anthropologists have been published.

VODOU AS A RELIGION

The word Vodou can be traced back to mean “spirit”, which is an accurate description of the religion.

 Vodun, like Christianity, is a religion of many traditions. Each group follows a different spiritual path and worships a slightly different pantheon of spirits, called Loa. The word means "mystery" in the Yoruba language.  Yoruba traditional belief included a chief God Olorun, who is remote and unknowable. He authorized a lesser God Obatala to create the earth and all life forms. A battle between the two Gods led to Obatala's temporary banishment.

There are hundreds of minor spirits. Those which originated from Dahomey are called Rada; those who were added later are often deceased leaders in the new world and are called Petro.

 Some spirits include:

Vodun priests can be male (houngan), or female (mambo). A Vodun temple is called a hounfour. At its center is a poteau-mitan, a pole where the God and spirits communicate with the people. An altar will be elaborately decorated with candles, pictures of Christian saints, symbolic items related to the Loa, etc. Rituals consist of some of the following components: Feast, veve, rythmic drum beats, chanting, possession and animal sacrifice.

LEFT HAND/RIGHT HAND

 The houngan and mambos confine their activities to "white" magic which is used to bring good fortune and healing, and is more centred around asking the loa’s for aid. This is called the right hand path.  However caplatas perform acts of evil sorcery or black magic, sometimes called "left-handed Vodun". Rarely, a houngan will engage in such sorcery; a few alternate between white and dark magic, this is called using both hands.

 One belief unique to Vodun is that a dead person can be revived after having been buried. After resurrection, the zombie has no will of their own, but remains under the control of others.  In reality, a zombie is a living person who has never died, but is under the influence of powerful drugs administered by an evil sorcerer. The reason becoming a zombie is so feared because it is another form of slavery, which played a major part in the evolution of vodou as a religion.

 THE WANGA

 Voodoo dolls have been used by as a method of cursing an individual by some followers of Vodun in New Orleans; this practice continues occasionally in South America.   A more common form of cursing involved the wanga, a box prepared with special materials, which will curse a person who opens it. Some of the materials used in its construction are actually poisons.