The Dark Sides of Voodoo

                Recently I saw a travel article giving tips on how to get out in the world and “experience” some voodoo. Voodoo sounds pretty cool, with interesting-looking artifacts, music and dance, and an ancient connection to African culture. But as a missionary, I have learned some things about voodoo that go beyond the curious, into a dark and destructive world.

It is difficult for a Westerner to discover many of the secrets of voodoo. Even after living in Benin, the birthplace of Voodoo, for a few years, I was not told very much about it. Westerners are not allowed to go to many voodoo ceremonies. I went to a zangbeto ceremony held in the center of my town, which was very interesting to see. I tried to ask a few questions, but people just smiled and shrugged a little. If I talked to my Christian African friends about voodoo, sometimes they would just shake their head and say, “It’s bad. You don’t even know. It’s dangerous. People hurt each other. It’s a horrible part of our country. You don’t even know.” As missionaries in Africa, our focus was on strengthening Christian believers, not so much on leading people away from voodoo. The Christians that we taught were actively involved in that. Our goals were to motivate and equip African believers to reach their own people, and they did it well. I learned a lot about African life and culture while living there, but not a whole lot about voodoo. However, there are a few things about voodoo that I have learned, from living there, from talking to people, that may not be found in a travel magazine article.

--Voodoo is not just about potions for health and happiness. A large part of it deals with revenge and curses. People want their enemies to suffer. Sometimes they want spells to kill their enemies. People are constantly thinking about how they can get back at someone, how they can use voodoo to teach someone a lesson. And that’s acceptable in voodoo. The witchdoctor will do it, for a price. There is no moral code in voodoo. African societies have moral codes, some that would be good for Western societies to learn from (like the way they take care of their elders), but none of that is written into voodoo. I know a lot of people would see that as a good thing; a religion without a moral code. I think that’s why voodoo appeals to Westerners who don’t like the moral codes that they’ve been taught. But a religion that says, “Go ahead and hurt people, as long as you appease the spirits” can lead people into a very dark place. In voodoo, the gods, or spirits, have no moral code themselves. They do as they please, good or bad. They do good if you pay them, and do bad if you don’t pay them, or if you pay them to do bad to someone else. They are selfish. With these kinds of gods, the people who follow this religion can also sometimes follow this attitude in their relationships with others.

--Human sacrifice and cannibalism have historically been a part of voodoo, and they still continue today. No, it is not prevalent. Most voodoo-worshippers today have never been involved in human sacrifice or cannibalism. Not everyone in voodoo approves of those things. Yes, it is illegal in Africa. But it does still exist. I was told that the marketplace in Lokossa, Benin, where we shopped had been consecrated with a human sacrifice. I think it happened sometime in the 1980s, but I am not sure. I do know that human body parts are still used to make potions and amulets for voodoo, although of course the sellers will try to keep those things secret so they don’t get arrested. Human body parts are considered to have magic that others desire and would pay high prices for. Consuming a part of another human is thought to give a person power. Albinos, black people who are born white, are especially desired for the voodoo magic they supposedly contain, and in parts of Africa they are hunted, kidnapped, and killed so that their body parts can be used for magic. This is a reality in voodoo. In some African societies twin babies are honored and admired, but in others twins are killed at birth, or one twin is kept and the other is murdered or is left in the forest to die. Twins are considered magical, in good ways or bad, depending on the particular beliefs of that area. The spiritual beliefs of voodoo have a direct effect on the physical lives of those babies.

--Some voodoo practices are unsanitary. Suppose someone has a gaping, bloody wound. What should they do about it? Some people will call a voodoo doctor, who may take a potion containing things such as animal dung, and rub it into the wound. That potion will help drive the evil spirits out of the wound, according to their beliefs. People have a right to their own beliefs about things, and we should be respectful when others disagree with us. However, some beliefs are dangerous, and we should try to help people see the truth. Yes, THE truth. Not his truth or my truth or her truth, but actual TRUTH that is true no matter what anyone believes. Truth, like the fact that the wounds heal better when they are cleaned than when they are smeared with poop. We can respect the good things that we learn from African people, but it is also important to remember that we as Westerners have learned good things that we can share with them. Like how to clean a wound.

--Slavery exists in voodoo. There are people who serve in voodoo temples who never had a choice in the matter. A child can be consecrated to voodoo when they are very young, and be forced to become a voodoo priest or priestess for life. The child is considered married to voodoo, and will never be allowed to marry anyone else. The child never has a say in how to live his or her life, what career to choose, where to live, what religion to follow. He or she is a slave for life. A friend of ours from Benin was almost taken to become a slave to voodoo. When he was a young man, his father was angry that he had converted to Christianity, and sent men to kidnap him and force him to serve in a voodoo temple. Our friend was able to run away and escape, but many others do not escape from this lifestyle.

--Voodoo can waste people’s money. Many people in Africa are desperately poor. The little money that they earn could be spent on food and medicine that has been scientifically proven to be effective. If paying money for an ineffective voodoo “cure” was just a hobby that people indulged in, that would be one thing. But people spend money that they can’t afford to give on “cures” that do nothing for them.

--Voodoo is driven by fear. While Westerners might like to learn about voodoo out of curiosity, because it seems interesting, many people living in a voodoo culture follow it out of fear. They are afraid to leave voodoo because they fear it. They fear what could happen if they don’t wear an amulet or use a potion, if they disrespect a witchdoctor or a spirit. They fear what could happen if they fail to give sacrifices to idols or witchdoctors. They don’t pray to spirits because they love them, but because they are worried about what the spirits could do to them. This doesn’t mean that everyone in voodoo is unhappy, although some are. Some like it, because it gives them somewhere to turn when they are sick or in need. Some like it, because it connects them to their community and their heritage. I’m sure some just go through the motions and don’t even believe it. But for others, the fear of voodoo can drive them to depression and anxiety, overwhelming their lives as they are constantly looking over their shoulder, wondering if they will do something accidentally that will anger a spirit. Superstition can be a scary thing.

--Voodoo is driven by control. The voodoo witchdoctor has a great deal of power in his community, if the majority of people are voodoo worshippers. The power he supposedly has, connecting him to the spirit world, is also used to maintain power over people’s physical lives. It is similar to the power that the Pope in Catholicism has historically had concerning politics. The Pope is considered by many to be the true Mediator between God and man, and that position gives him a great deal of power. A voodoo witchdoctor is a mediator between people and the spirit world. He is considered a necessary connector to the spirit world. In voodoo, people do not believe that they can connect to the spirit world except through the witchdoctor. They need him. Therefore, they must obey him. This is a dangerous situation.

--Voodoo does not give people an individual spirituality. As I said, the witchdoctor is the mediator. Many people think of these “spirit religions,” like that of the Native Americans, as something where people can get in touch with the supernatural on their own, where they have some kind of divine energy that helps them commune with the Great Circle of Life. Westerners want to tap into this, to add it to their yoga and incense, to get some voodoo artifacts that can help them feel like they can channel into the spirit world. Voodoo is not like that. People don’t commune with spirits through voodoo; they must go through the witchdoctor. Otherwise, their lives can be just as materialistic and physical as ours.

--Voodoo is driven by desire. A desire for power, for control in your own life, for control over your health and wealth and relationships. Health, wealth, and relationships are not bad. Desiring good things for your life is not bad; it’s normal and healthy to want good things for your life. But at some point, people sometimes cross the line between trying to have good things and becoming obsessed with controlling things that are out of their control. Being obsessed with something can cause someone to want that thing at any cost, which is a dangerous thing. (Just ask Anakin Skywalker.) This is why poor people pour money that they can’t afford to give into voodoo spells that they think will help them. This is why murdering people for their body parts still continues today. This is why people put spells on their enemies, who are keeping them from reaching their goals.

--Voodoo isn’t all pretend. Some of it is. There is a lot of charlatanism in voodoo. Witchdoctors are often frauds, pretending things that they know are not true, doing tricks to get people to listen to them. That’s one reason they don’t like Westerners attending their ceremonies; they know that we can expose some of those frauds. I haven’t actually seen evidence of anything in voodoo being real; I haven’t seen anyone cured after using a voodoo potion, or seen evidence that someone was really possessed by a spirit, or seen someone levitate or anything. But my African Christian friends, some of whom are very intelligent and educated people, have said that real spiritual activity takes place sometimes. Some of them have seen unbelievable things with their own eyes. One friend insisted that he saw a man who held a bottle that had a man inside of it, shrunk to fit in the bottle. Another person said that they’ve seen someone levitate. I’m skeptical about things like that. I’d have to see it with my own eyes to really believe it, and if I did I’d probably try to figure out some logical explanation for it. But the spirit world is real. I know that. There are invisible forces at work in the world; some good and some evil. Voodoo tries to blur the distinction between good and evil; as I said, there is no moral code in voodoo. But people do evil things using voodoo, and some of those things are supernatural.

                There are a lot of things to respect in African culture. Their art, music, and clothing can be very beautiful. There are proverbs and stories in Africa that contain great universal wisdom, and some that are just plain fun. There are things we can learn about the way certain tribes run their societies, or about how they take care of themselves, their babies, their homes. Western civilization is not always “right;” many times there is not just one right answer or one right way to do things. It is foolish to enter Africa without a respect for the people and the many things they can teach us. With that said, you can’t really love someone without desiring to help them when they do destructive things. And that is why I wanted to point out the dark sides of voodoo.