to the uninitiated, Voodoo has long been thought of as a primitive form of magic and belief in ghosts. Most of what the average nonprofessional knows of Voodoo comes only from misleading use of it in Hollywood horror movies and emphasize “witch doctors” or the sticking of pins in “Voodoo dolls”. (RIGAUD, Milo. 1985. Secrets of Voodoo, San Francisco, City Lights Books, p. 6-7)
Voodoo is a way of life, a way of life that is wrapped in a culture. A spiritual core that goes back to the divine itself at the very beginning of human time. It is a way of life that everyone else - meaning all the monotheist religions - have a fragment of and used to organize their theologies around the world, while at the same time denying the parent people (Africans; specifically Egyptians) that gave them the very foundation for their theology. I am talking about everything from Buddhism to Islam, from Christianity to Judaism, all of them are nothing more than fragments from the periphery of the African spiritual system, which we call Voodoo. Widely known to be practiced in Haiti, this complexed religion traces its sources from ancient civilization of West Africa. When we talk about religion, Voodoo is not a religion nor is a theocracy; it is a total way of life (cultural point of view), that involves, the social, the spiritual, the psychology, the medicine, all these things are interrelated into one system that we call Voodoo and involved many different elements of priesthood with different functions. In the early days, a priest would be called and was the equivalent of a scientist who was a practitioner and specialist in one area or another.
http://radioteleespoir.net/haiti-le-tambour
We can even take it back to the Egyptian system, which is essentially the same system as Voodoo. The Ntr of Egypt, the Loas of Haiti and the Orisha of Nigeria are all about the manifestation aspect of the divine power and essence in all other living things. Like most religions, spirituality involves ritual, which is simply how you play it out; dance is a ritual, a musical piece is a ritual, a drama is a ritual. Therefore, a ritual is the method you use to interpret your mystery, which is the body of knowledge that you are trying to explain through various forms of rituals. Drumming and dancing are the most prevalent forms of rituals, drumming emulates the human heartbeat at certain segments of a pulse. Drumming is essential, it represents the different pulses in the human body, which gives rhythm to our dance, song and music and all come together to create and form a partnership.
to be continued…