Property of Sekhmet

I borrowed the above DVD from the library - it's available for purchase in the US from Insight Media. The filmmaker was permitted to video a number of commmunity Vodun ceremonies, and her narration explains the complex action.

What struck me was that if you don't know what's taking place, it looks like chaos: a large group of people dancing strangely, singing incomprehensibly, and waving objects around, apparently entirely at random. This is the popular view of a "voodoo" ceremony - basically, a wild, primitive orgy. But with the narrator's help, you realise that it's all actually extremely organised. A trained and respected leader (or leaders) is running the ritual, everyone knows their role, every dance move and song has a specific purpose and is part of a long-standing, well-known tradition. As an event rich with cultural tradition that involves the whole community, it is in fact the height of civilisation.

I'm just starting to read about Vodou and similar Caribbean religions. This is very different to my usual religious researches. I feel comfortable in studying, and worshipping, the gods of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia; these cultures are ancestors of my own culture, and moreover, those cultures no longer survive. Vodou and related religions derive from an entirely different cultural background, are active and alive, and have an important political dimension. Plus, not only have they been appropriated by the dominant Western culture, they've been slandered by it. So, as interested as I am, there's no way I'm stealing bits of Vodou and incorporating them into my own faith or practice. Nor will I be able to study the religions without studying the history and politics of the Caribbean. (I'm also reading up on the Trickster; much of what I've said about Vodou also applies. I'm suddenly reading about living cultures which have been stolen from and misrepresented, often by my fellow Neo-Pagans.)

That said, I'm especially interested in the personalities of the lwa, or spirits, some of whom sound as though they may have distant parallels in the ancient gods I'm familiar with.

For my own reference and for anyone who's interested, I'll keep a little bibliography here.

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