New Orleans Voodoo Handbook

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In real Voodoo religious practice, dolls can be used to communicate with the departed spirits of loved ones. A doll might be placed on a grave or hung from a Kapok tree in the cemetery. Similar to how a loa might possess the body of a living person to communicate, Voodoo practitioners might use a doll as a medium to speak with the spirits, just as they would use drums and dancing [source: The Tempest]. In parts of Africa, people who want to become spiritual leaders in the Voodoo community can enter religious centers, which are much like convents or monasteries. In some communities, initiates symbolically die, spending three days and nights in complete seclusion before being returned to the outside world. Initiates learn the rituals, colors, foods and objects associated with different deities, as well as how to communicate with the loa. The spirits have different personalities and different requirements of their followers, much like the gods in Greek and Roman myths.

Here is another voodoo classic from Denise Alvarado. Knowing full well that most people who are interested in voodoo have come to that conclusion by observing doll spells in movies and other forms of entertainment, she wrote an entire book explaining them in detail.The names of Catholic saints became the names of loa. In many cases, the loa's role reflected that of the corresponding saint. For example, Saint Peter holds the keys to the kingdom of Heaven and corresponds to the loa Papa Legba, who is the spirit world's gatekeeper [source: Dialogue Institute]. Voodoo is an important part in the day-to-day lives of many Haitians. Estimates vary, but in general anthropologists believe that 50 to 80 pecent of Haitians practice some form of Voodoo, often in concert with other religions [source: U.S. Dept. of State]. Voodoo has also played an important role in Haitian history.

Visit Haiti. "Haitian Vodou Revealed" (April 29, 2022) https://visithaiti.com/haiti-up-close/haitian-vodou-revealed/ Government of Tibet in Exile. "Nechung - The Oracle of Tibet." http://www.tibet.com/Buddhism/nechung_hh.html Okanla, Karim. "Benin Marks Voodoo Day." BBC. 11/1/2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1756057.stm But all of that was long in the past by the time Burns shot and killed Maxwell. At the time, Lee was living, as she had been for most of her adult life, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, hiding in plain sight so successfully that her building’s door buzzer could read “Lee-H” without causing anyone to ring it. Her novel had won the Pulitzer prize, sold millions of copies, and made her extravagantly wealthy, but success did not suit Lee. She lived as frugally as if she were still a starving artist, was allergic to the press and publicity, chafed at the ongoing interest in her private life, and struggled to live up to the critical and popular expectations for her work. In one forlorn letter, she told a friend that “Harper Lee thrives, but at the expense of Nelle” – the name she had gone by as a child, and that those closest to her still used. Falkner nodded. "They had more in common than you may think. They both had a desire to heal, sooth, and do good works. They were both very spiritual people. Marie Laveau blended voodoo with Catholicism, especially regarding the saints.”To find a voodoo practitioner willing to share the secrets of their magic is very rare. Because of their tough colonial history, Haitians are especially unlikely to share their knowledge with whites. So there aren’t many books on the topic of voodoo. Guynup, Sharon. "Haiti: Possessed by Voodoo." National Geographic. July 6, 2004 (April 29, 2022) https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/haiti-ancient-traditions-voodoo There are hundreds of spells using a voodoo doll that are explained in this compendium with a lovely and precise writing style. Catholic religious holidays became Voodoo holidays for the corresponding loa. For instance, celebrations for a family of spirits called the Gedes, who are personifications of dead ancestors, take place on All Saints Day and All Souls Day. The sound of the pistol sent the mourners stampeding through the doors and diving out of windows, but the man who fired it, Robert Burns, stayed inside, and when two police officers showed up to arrest him, he promptly confessed. “I had to do it,” he said on the way to the police station, “and if I had to do it over, I’d do it again.” Burns was related to Ellington, and like a lot of people around that part of Alabama, he’d grown increasingly afraid of Maxwell.