Voodoo consists of various African magical beliefs and rites that have become mixed with Catholic elements. It is commonly associated with witchcraft, with people dancing and singing anthems in strange languages and animals and human sacrifices. But what do we really know about it? Is it a practice as dark and macabre as it looks? Voodoo isn’t an old religion at all but a mix of different African and Christianity beliefs. It was created in America because of slave trade (who didn’t leave their beliefs and customs) in the New World, most of them from Africa. In Benin’s Fon language, voodoo means “spirit,” an invisible mysterious force that can intervene in human affairs. Voodoo is as interesting as complicated and its influence has propitiated the appearance of other beliefs like Santeria.

All in all voodoo is an ecstatic religion where spirits are invoked and come alive through you. Voodoo took place in Haiti, from where it was spread to New Orleans in the wake of the Haitian slave revolt (1791-1804). The refugee fled to Louisiana where slaves had previously worked under such repressive and inhuman circumstances. However, oppression reduced somewhat with American rule, following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, and with the influx of thousands of voodoo practitioners New Orleans began to “hear the beat of the drum”.