Yikes! It seems as though Voodoo is probably even scarier and more sensasional than Hollywood makes it out to be. Based on my extensive "research" of reading part of one children's non-fiction book about Voodoo, I am officially creeped out.
There are spirits everywhere--spirits of nature and of the dead. The voodoo priest or priestess opens herself up to be possessed by these spirits (the snake is an especially powerful one) and speaks with the voice of the spirit. Scary---the main person thrashes around like the picture here--and then often everyone dances and spins around until they are in hypnotic trances themselves. Animals are sacrificed and the blood painted on or tasted by the people in the ritual.
Historically there's good reason for voodoo--the slaves brought it with them and clung to the practices--and small wonder, it was the only thing the white people couldn't take away from them and the only thing that gave them some sense of power over their own lives. Interestingly, voodoo has no problem incorporating some Christian beliefs--after all, what are saints other than their familiar ancestral spirits?
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