By Scheeler Devis, Heritagekonpa Magazine

November is considered an important month in the Vodou religious calendar, including the celebration of Guede, meaning guardian of the dead. This week article features the Haitian voodoo spirit, Guede, as well as certain aspects of the Voodoo Religion.

The Spirit Guede as depicted by the french ( BD Shadis) Link: Could the modern mind be wrong about voodoo

Vodou ( not Voodoo) is a spiritual African word, meaning "force" and "mystery". Anthropologists estimate the religion to be between 6-10,000 years old, but followers in Benin, the epicenter of Vodou, located in West Africa, believe that the religion pre-dates Christianity. According to an History Channel documentary, "Vodou Secret ", 60 million people practice the religion world wide.

Vodou exists in different forms and variations. It is practiced throughout the Caribbean, Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Columbia, Mexico, and many other countries in Latin America. Whether it is referred to as Obeah, Santeria, Regla de Ocha, Umbada, Lukumi, Candomble, La Regla Lucum or Orisha, it is still Vodou.

Vodou spirits or gods (if you prefer) are represented by different symbols; Guede, the lord of the dead, is represented by the cross, Damballah ( God Of Wisdom ) is represented by the iconography of St Patrick; the loa associated with water and love, Erzulie, is represented by the iconography of the Virgin Mary; loa Legba, who holds the keys to the gate between the worlds is represented by the iconography of St Peter.

Western Civilizations do not regard Vodoo as a religion. While Vodou is no different than any other organized religion, its practitioners believe in GOD who manifests himself or herself in different spirits and form of energy. Indeed, imperialist ideologies, the church, Hollywood, and some scholars have purposely maligned Vodou.

Humans have come a long way in the course of evolution, however many of us still retain our beastlike like nature. A small percentage of Vodouists do practice medieval black magic, but the religion itself is not a system of harmful magic nor does it involve the worship of the devil as many uneducated westerners believe. All religions have a dark side, whether it is Judaism, Christianity, Buddhist, Muslum, or the free mason. This World has experienced two World Wars, many religious crusades, plague and widespread diseases, and other unspeakable terrors and today the World continues to darken around us, but it is certainly not because of Vodou.

Vodou is feared because it is not well understood and remains a mystery to scholars; so it therefore must be bad according to Western standards.

Vdou Ceremony by MICHEL ROUANEZ (above)

Vodou has always been associated with the Haitian Revolution. After Haiti became the first Independent Black nation in the Western Hemisphere in 1803, Vodou became an even more fearful entity. The French and other powerful colonial powers had a vital interest in suppressing the growth of Vodou. They did not want Haiti and its Vodou religion to become an instrumental tool of deliberation for slaves across the Atlantic. For more than 300 years, colonial institutions have devised a successful public campaign to satanize the religion. It was feared that Vodou could be used as a powerful tool to deter the slave trade. The top 20 percent of the World's richest countries could hardly afford to have those able bodies from Africa not work the plantation right before the industrial revolution.

Vodou has its roots in African traditions and culture. Just like many religions, Vodou is based on faith and its practitioners believe that GOD doest not work directly with humans. They believe GOD manifests himself or herself through spirits in a capacity similar to angels or saints in Christian beliefs. In Vodou the spirits are often referred to as loa, a popular word in the Haitian language, Creole.

Many of the Vodou loas' names and famous Haitian dances have their roots in African dialect, tribe, and or cities. For example – Ginen, a beloved loa in the Vodou religion, refers to the ancestral spirit in Africa from the country Guinea; Ibo is another common Vodou dance, the word itself refers to a tribe in Nigeria. In fact most of the Haitian Vodou spirits (Loa) are ancestrally in natural, e.g. Guede, and many others are referring to older beings from Africa (e.g. Rada) .

The Vodou religion involves many rituals and it is practiced in family plantations and at home with altars, candles and incense. Vodouists often make offerings, pray, and sing and dance in the honor of a specific spirit. Vodou spirits connect with its servants through possession or trance, usually induced by ritual singing and dancing and the complex rhythms of the accompanying drums.

Vodou has long been entrenched in Haiti with the arrival of African slaves in the Island of Hispaniola in the sixteen century. Despite centuries of oppression, today millions of Haitians continue to practice the religion in Haiti.

In the Voodou religion, its practitioners believe that the soul departed from the physical body, where upon judgment, the soul will either go to heaven or hell. Vodouists believe the departed soul crosses the flame of purgatory waiting for purification before entering the so-called heaven. Vodouists also believe the same soul can be re-incarnated at least seven times depending on the mission of that particular soul. At the final stage of re-incarnation, that soul upon purification, will become an eternal spirit and manifest its presence in human beings usually in the form of Guede... next page 1-2