New Orleans Voodoo

Voodoo came to New Orleans in the early 1700s, through slaves brought from Africa's western “slave coast.” 

Like so many things New Orleans, Voodoo was then infused with the city's dominant religion, Catholicism, and became a Voodoo-Catholicism hybrid sometimes referred to as New Orleans Voodoo.

Voodoo is a fusion of religious practices from Africa that is a derivative of the world’s oldest known religions. 

It has been around since the beginning of human civilization. 

There is no single founder of Voodoo and there is no approximate date for the origin of Voodoo spirituality. 

According to the beliefs of Voodoo, and much like Shinto, there are thousands of Spirits that interact with humanity. 

These Spirits, called Lwa were once human.

Voodoo vs Hoodoo-Are they the same thing or totally different?

Both Voodoo and Hoodoo are a melting pot of different beliefs, practices and religious elements; both have roots in Africa with aspects of ancient worship. 

This is where their similarities end.

Voodoo vs Hoodoo – Differences 

Voodoo is a religion that has two markedly different branches – New Orleans/Louisiana Vodou and Haitan Vodou. Voodoo is a religion that’s practices by thousands if not millions of people.

Hoodoo is not a religion, rather a set of practices that draw heavily from folk magic, especially that which originated on West Africa and tends to be practiced in Louisiana, though it’s practice is not exclusive to that region.

As Voodoo is an established and recognised religion that has set and established practices and traditions. 

It has it’s own leaders, teachers, representatives, services and rituals. 

It’s this organization that makes Voodoo and Hoodoo different. 

Hoodoo has it’s base in folk magic and folk traditions calling on Loas using the saints from Roman Catholicism; where as Voodoo invoke Loas using African deities. 

Voodoo practitioners don’t worship through the Catholic Saints.

Many Hoodoo practitioners are often drawn to other spiritual practices or traditions too. 

Many who are practitioners of Hoodoo are known as Root Doctors or Root Healers. 

For some who practice Hoodoo see it as a form of personal power to either help themselves or to help others. 

Hoodoo practitioners help or guide others with their knowledge of herbs, roots, crystals, animal parts and sometimes a range of bodily fluids. 

Hoodoo is practiced based on the person’s inclinations, desires and intentions. 

With access to the Loas the Hoodoo practitioner can access the knowledge of the God’s and other supernatural beings to help in a wide range of areas in your life – from love, abundance and luck to banishing, protection and wading.

Voodoo is essentially the root from which Hoodoo grew because of the persecution of followers, but for those who are followers of Voodoo it’s more than just a religion, it’s a way of life, a core facet of their daily lives. 

Voodoo is very popular in areas like Mississippi and Louisiana, being most notable in New Orleans. Voodoo was brought to the USA via Haiti which was a former French colony. 

Hoodoo however was brought by those who were bound into servitude from Africa.

Voodoo is sometimes considered to be purer than Hoodoo, but Hoodoo is actually a denomination of Voodoo – like Catholicism is a denomination of Christianity. 

Voodoo influences so many areas of society from music and art to justice and language and from medicine to spirituality. 

It reaches far and deep into people’s lives whereas Hoodoo is only a small facet of the truth that’s held in voodoo and tends to focus on the spiritual aspect more than anything else.

Let the Spirits of the Earth, Sun and Moon Guide you.

Shinto

Shinto literally means “the way of the gods” and it is Japan’s native belief system.  Shinto is a nature-based religion and for the most part, it’s ancient spiritual reverence for nature has not diminished among the population.  

Shinto has remained an important piece of cultural heart of Japan.

The many practices, attitudes, and institutions that have developed to make up Shinto revolve around the Japanese land and seasons and their relation with the human inhabitants.

The traditional religion of Japan, nearly 80% of the country’s population take part in Shinto practices or rituals. Shinto is Japan’s major religion alongside Buddhism and the country is home to over 80,000 Shinto shrines.

So what is Shinto?

What are the beliefs and rituals?

Shinto is deeply rooted in the Japanese people and their cultural activities. 

Unlike many religions, Shinto does not have a founder nor does it honor a single god. There is also no sacred book such as the Bible or holy place to pray to.

Shinto believes in the kami, a divine power that can be found in all things. 

Shinto believes in many gods and animistic since it regards animals and natural objects as deities.

It’s safe to say that Shinto is less like a religion and more like a way of life or way of looking at the world.

Shinto involves the worship of kami. 

Kami can take the form of animals or natural objects such plants, mountains, or rivers. 

They are said to be responsive of human energy and have the ability to influence the course of natural forces.

Once a human dies, they are said to become a kami themselves and are memorialized by their living descendants. 

Not all Kami are thought to be good, however, and the goal is to ward off evil kami.

Both men and women are allowed to become priests and they may choose to marry and have a family as well.

Today Shinto is one of the most widely practiced religions in Japan. Nearly every aspect of Japanese culture is influenced by Shinto beliefs whether its politics, ethics, the arts, sports, or spirituality.

So… is Shinto Pagan?  

In the sense that it is a nature-based religion consisting of multiple deities, the easy answer would be yes.

Because Shinto is a nature based religion and not Christian, in that way, it’s much like Paganism.

But most likely, Shinto practitioners would like their religion to be viewed as their own belief, not necessarily part of wider pagan movement. 

Sound and Vibration

We were watching and listening to this frog and we were reminded, “everything is vibrations.”

Sound Can Be a Powerful Healer

Sound moves in waves through the air and is measured in cycles per second. 

Sound Healing uses the power of sound and vibration to restore one's body, mind and spirit to a sense of balance and harmony.  

Imagine receiving a gentle bath of sounds. 

Your relaxation deepens as your body feels the subtle vibrations of singing bowls, bells, chimes, tuning forks, music.

Indigenous cultures understand this and have used some form of sound healing since the beginning of time. 

Sound Healing has begun to resurface in the modern world and is rapidly finding its way into hospitals, clinics and hospice centers as a powerful means of promoting health and well-being.  

Sound Healing techniques vary but all involve the application of sound waves and harmonic vibrations to the physical and subtle bodies through the use of instruments.

Everything is vibration. 

Every atom, cell, tissue, organ and bone in our bodies is vibrating and that vibration produces sound, whether or not the sound is audible to the human ear. 

Really we are a symphony of sounds and vib and are connected to nature through these rhythms and beats.  

It makes sense then that if we are all vibrating with sound, we can use sound to promote health in our lives.  

Through sound, we can change the rhythms of our brain waves, our heart beat and our respiration affecting our overall health not just on a physical level, but emotionally and spiritually as well.

Principles of Sound Healing:

• Vibrational frequency
• Resonance
• Entrainment (the interaction between circadian rhythms and the environment.)
• Harmony
• Sacred Sound
• Everything vibrates at a certain frequency.  

The frequency of wave forms is measured in cycles per second or hertz (hz).

Resonance is the rate at which an object vibrates.  When two objects of similar frequency come together, they are resonating.  When you meet someone and feel like you "click" you are resonating at a similar vibrational frequency.

Harmony is created through forced resonance.  Forced Resonance is when you apply a powerful harmonic sound vibration to a person or object and that person begins to resonate or entrain at the cellular level to the harmonic sound.  If someone is out of balance, out of sync and you apply a strong harmonic sound as in a sacred sound healing session, they will begin to synchronize in harmony and return to balance.

Salem Witch Trials

The Salem witch trials have been discussed and re-discussed many times over, but we do so because we never want to forget.

The whole thing began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. 

As the hysteria spread throughout colonial Massachusetts, a special court convened in Salem to hear the cases; the first convicted witch, Bridget Bishop, was hanged that June.

Eighteen others followed Bishop to Salem’s Gallows Hill, while some 150 more men, women and children were accused over the next several months. 

By September 1692, the hysteria had begun to fade and public opinion turned against the trials. 

Though the Massachusetts General Court later annulled guilty verdicts against accused witches and granted indemnities to their families, the damage was already done and the painful legacy of the Salem witch trials would endure, even until now.

ORIGINS OF THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS

Belief in the devil’s practice of giving certain humans (witches) the power to harm others had started in Europe in the 14th century, and was widespread in colonial New England. 

By the way, a scientific study published in Science magazine in 1976 cited the fungus ergot (found in rye, wheat and other cereals), which toxicologists say can cause symptoms such as delusions, vomiting and muscle spasms.

So maybe that could explain a few things, who know?

In January 1692, 9-year-old Elizabeth (Betty) Parris and 11-year-old Abigail Williams (the daughter and niece of Samuel Parris, minister of Salem Village) began having fits, including violent contortions and uncontrollable outbursts of screaming.

A local doctor, William Griggs, diagnosed bewitchment as the only explanation, other young girls in the community began to exhibit similar symptoms, including Ann Putnam Jr., Mercy Lewis, Elizabeth Hubbard, Mary Walcott and Mary Warren.

SALEM WITCH TRIALS ARE OUT OF CONTROL

The three accused witches were brought before the magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne and questioned, even as their accusers appeared in the courtroom in a grand display of spasms, contortions, screaming and writhing. 

Though Good and Osborn denied their guilt, Tituba confessed. 

Likely seeking to save herself from certain conviction as an informer, she claimed there were other witches working with the devil against the Puritans. 

As hysteria spread through the community and beyond into the rest of Massachusetts, a number of others were accused, including Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse–both regarded as upstanding members of church and community–and the four-year-old daughter of Sarah Good.

Like Tituba, several accused “witches” confessed and threw others under the bus, and the trials overwhelmed the local justice system.

In May 1692, the newly appointed governor of Massachusetts, William Phips, ordered the establishment of a special Court of Oyer (to hear) and Terminer (to decide) on witchcraft cases for Suffolk, Essex and Middlesex counties. 

The judges including Hathorne, Samuel Sewall and William Stoughton handed down its first conviction, against Bridget Bishop, on June 2; she was hanged eight days later.

Five more people were hanged that July; five in August and eight more in September. In addition, seven other accused witches died in jail, while the elderly Giles Corey (Martha’s husband) was pressed to death by stones after he refused to enter a plea at his arraignment

SALEM LEGACY

In January 1697, the Massachusetts General Court declared a day of fasting for the tragedy of the Salem witch trials; the court later deemed the trials unlawful, and the leading justice Samuel Sewall publicly apologized for his role in the process. 

The damage to the community was already done however, even after Massachusetts Colony passed legislation restoring the good names of the condemned and providing financial restitution to their heirs in 1711. 

The church was the cornerstone of 17th century life in New England. Most people in Massachusetts were Puritans—colonists who had left England seeking religious tolerance.

But the strict Puritan code was far from tolerant.

It was against the law not to attend church—where men and women sat on opposite sides through long services. The Puritan lifestyle was restrained and rigid: People were expected to work hard and keep their emotions or opinions to themselves.

Individual differences were frowned upon. 

Even the dark, somber Puritan dress was dictated by the church.

Since Puritans believed that all sins should be punished they also believed God would punish sinful behavior. 

When a neighbor would suffer misfortune, such as a sick child or a failed crop, Puritans saw it as God’s will and did not help.

Puritans also believed the Devil was as real as God.

Even though everyone was faced with the struggle between the powers of good and evil, Satan would select the weakest individuals—women, children, the insane—to carry out his devilish work. 

Those who followed Satan were considered witches. 

Witchcraft was one of the greatest crimes a person could commit, and as we know, punishable by death.

In keeping with the Puritan code of conformity, the first women to be accused of witchcraft in Salem were seen as different and that God had abandoned them.

As a result, the church was extremely instrumental in the manifestation of the witch trials. “Ministers were looked to for guidance by the judges, who were generally without legal training, on matters of witchcraft.

The trials would continue for as long or as short as the ministers wanted them to. 

Evidence like hearsay, gossip, stories, unsupported assertions were generally admitted.

The church and the court had the people to a point where they would do anything to avoid getting on the wrong side of the powers including accusing their own friends. “

Fear of magic and witchcraft was common in New England, as it had been in Europe for centuries. 

Over 100 alleged witches had been tried and hanged in New England during the 1600s. 

But the hangings in 1692 Salem would be the last ones in America.

The painful legacy of the Salem witch trials has endured and ought to be a lesson to warn of the dangers of intolerance and religious extremism.