Voodoo?

[Rayne]

Being a native of Louisiana, there is a frequent touch of many things pagan or Pagan right along with the CJI influences. In fact, it's a sort of running joke that the little Catholic church ladies (no disrespect intended) in New Orleans and other cities have been known to finger their rosary with one hand and their gris gris with the other.

So what I'm asking is does anyone else have a Voodoo influence or flair to their practices and paths?

Or perhaps an experience with it from the past?

Or even experiences with the pagan/Pagan/non-CJI influences in local culture?

[Annie Roonie]

Being a native of Louisiana, there is a frequent touch of many things pagan or Pagan right along with the CJI influences. In fact, it's a sort of running joke that the little Catholic church ladies (no disrespect intended) in New Orleans and other cities have been known to finger their rosary with one hand and their gris gris with the other.

So what I'm asking is does anyone else have a Voodoo influence or flair to their practices and paths?

Or perhaps an experience with it from the past?

Or even experiences with the pagan/Pagan/non-CJI influences in local culture?

 
I do have some of the influence. I didn't really know it until I began reading though. My grandmother and her twin were very folksy and I think must have taken bits and pieces from anywhere they could. The only other knowledge I have is from reading round the web and visiting one shop sometimes. It's pretty far away so I don't get there often, but I'd like to learn more. The problem is that I feel it may be offensive to want to learn of Voodoo from an actual practitioner and not hold the same faith. I do not want to be exploitive just because I have a fancy. That being said, if it came to pass that someone would take me on anyway, I'd do my best to learn.

It doesn't surprise me that there would be a rosary in one hand and gris gris in another. Just before she passed, my grandmother was baptized. She spent a life being her own thing and teaching me simply by living. And while her "just in case" philosophy might have irritated me when I was younger concerning the baptism, I can understand it. (I don't idolize her, but she lived closer to the Christian ideals than many who'd gone to church for a lifetime. I think she'd be one that Jesus would accept.) I can also understand her wanting to fit in. Many of the ladies like her would claim nothing other than Christianity because that was what was done socially, but at home things were not exactly that.

My natural inclinations magically are influenced by my grandmother, so it might look and feel like a Voodoo eclectic mix at times. I've met a couple of root women at a shop and while waiting to be helped, they got the idea I was a seer and I think felt comfortable enough to ask me if I was because we had similar to-buy lists. Ha! Still, it is a far way from counter conversation to actual learning and I don't plan to test those boundaries unless invited to do so.

Locally, there is talk of a Voodoo influence but only guesses. Lots of grandmas have their quirks that kids talk about, but I get the idea that many of them are like my gram, a bit of this and that.

[Maps]

Being a native of Louisiana, there is a frequent touch of many things pagan or Pagan right along with the CJI influences. In fact, it's a sort of running joke that the little Catholic church ladies (no disrespect intended) in New Orleans and other cities have been known to finger their rosary with one hand and their gris gris with the other.

So what I'm asking is does anyone else have a Voodoo influence or flair to their practices and paths?

Or perhaps an experience with it from the past?

Or even experiences with the pagan/Pagan/non-CJI influences in local culture?

 
Mexican Catholicism is sometimes peppered a lot with very vague hints of the old indigenous religions, but that depends on the family and the area. Day of the Dead is probably the most obvious and known example of this sort of thing, but in some areas the worship of saints, many local saints being far from canonized too I might add, does closely resemble the same in some of the African Diaspora religions.

[Rayne]

The problem is that I feel it may be offensive to want to learn of Voodoo from an actual practitioner and not hold the same faith. I do not want to be exploitive just because I have a fancy. That being said, if it came to pass that someone would take me on anyway, I'd do my best to learn.

 
I've had the opposite experience actually. Maybe it's the tourist value of Voodoo in New Orleans, but there is a Voodoo Museum/Cultural area near Congo Square that does a lot to educate people and try to show that it's not all evil hexes and highlight the religious/spiritual aspects.

Their drum circle attends a lot of area Pagan events and have even done some basic open rituals. I really enjoyed one from last fall with the full drum circle, bonfire, dancing, blessings and the presentation beforehand.

The local witchcraft/voodoo shops (numerous in New Orleans) are also fairly happy to discuss things and answer questions as long as the asker is respectful and seems honestly curious.

[Annie Roonie]

I've had the opposite experience actually. Maybe it's the tourist value of Voodoo in New Orleans, but there is a Voodoo Museum/Cultural area near Congo Square that does a lot to educate people and try to show that it's not all evil hexes and highlight the religious/spiritual aspects.

Their drum circle attends a lot of area Pagan events and have even done some basic open rituals. I really enjoyed one from last fall with the full drum circle, bonfire, dancing, blessings and the presentation beforehand.

The local witchcraft/voodoo shops (numerous in New Orleans) are also fairly happy to discuss things and answer questions as long as the asker is respectful and seems honestly curious.

Every time I read or hear of New Orleans in regards to this it sounds wonderful. So open.  Here, I do not know of a shop solely dedicated to Voodoo. The one I sometimes go to also services Santeria and various other traditions.

[Lorien35]

Being a native of Louisiana, there is a frequent touch of many things pagan or Pagan right along with the CJI influences. In fact, it's a sort of running joke that the little Catholic church ladies (no disrespect intended) in New Orleans and other cities have been known to finger their rosary with one hand and their gris gris with the other.

So what I'm asking is does anyone else have a Voodoo influence or flair to their practices and paths?

Or perhaps an experience with it from the past?

Or even experiences with the pagan/Pagan/non-CJI influences in local culture?

 
Hi, I'm of mixed heritage, born in the Carribean and my practises are heavily influenced by voodoo -that is to say, a mix of voodoo, santeria and condomble that we call pyaye. The country is French Guyana, by the way, and it's extreemely folksy, the clearest references of it I found in literatures are in tales, so the foremost literature people who want to practise it is from Brazil next door and Lousiana, because more stuff from there is actually translated in French.

It's probably not exactly what you're looking for but if you have a question there's a very big chance I'll have read about it. So if you have anything in particular about the religion or the experiences within it that you'd like to ask...