Why Voodoo can be scary
Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 6:42 am
Has anyone seen the movie Venom? Earlier this year, I decided to do some research on voodoo after I saw the movie. The movie is about a truck driver in Louisiana who died and came back alive with his body possessed by a bunch of bad spirits that were accidentally released by a voodoo priestess.
The reason for the research was to include a voodoo theme in a young adult novel that I was writing. I also wanted to know whether someone’s soul can really be captured by somebody else.
During my research, I discovered that there were different types of voodoo in Haiti. The main two types of voodoo are Rada and Petro. Rada is the most common form of voodoo and is practiced by more than 95% of voodoo priests. Petro voodoo, while it exists, it is practiced by very few voodoo priests
Why do you ask? Rada and Petro are like two different worlds. Each world has a bunch of spirits living in them. If you have seen voodoo ceremonies as I have, you know that these spirits make appearances in these ceremonies. For you to access a spirit in the Rada world, there is one spirit at the gate you have to ask to let you in. The same is true for the Petro world.
While Rada spirits are nice spirits who come to give you advice, they don't have much power. On the other hand, Petro spirits can be bad, mean and nasty. Dangerous things happen in Petro, because petro spirits know how to do death curses, make zombies, get someone’s soul, do black magic, etc. You can get access to pure evil if you wish to in Petro. A voodoo priest told me that one of the Petro spirits that he calls on sometime is so dangerous, that to greet him, you never touch him. Instead you get the leg of an animal and put it in his hand, pretending to be your hand. Otherwise, when he leaves, you might lose your hand. Let me repeat, Petro voodoo is very real.
If you ever watch a voodoo ceremony on television, if you see people dress in red, it is a Petro ceremony. If you see people dressed in white, it is a Rada ceremony. The question is: can someone capture a soul of someone else. In Petro voodoo, yes. In fact, a soul is kept in a type of bottle, made of some kind of clay, called Govi, which I have seen during my research.
I tried not to scare people in my novel since it is just a mystery and romance story for young adults, that happen to deal with voodoo. However, what I said in the book about which spirit to call to access Rada or Petro world is correct. The thing about soul selling is also real. I hope you will enjoy the book. It is called the Rada Girl and is issued under my pen name, Marsh Brooks, and will be available on October 1, on Amazon and Nook. You can see my promo at theradagirl.com or marshbrooks.com.
Please feel free to contact me for any questions or comments you might have regarding either Rada or Petro Voodoo. In my next post, I may write about zombification or the process of becoming a voodoo priest, if anyone is interested.
The reason for the research was to include a voodoo theme in a young adult novel that I was writing. I also wanted to know whether someone’s soul can really be captured by somebody else.
During my research, I discovered that there were different types of voodoo in Haiti. The main two types of voodoo are Rada and Petro. Rada is the most common form of voodoo and is practiced by more than 95% of voodoo priests. Petro voodoo, while it exists, it is practiced by very few voodoo priests
Why do you ask? Rada and Petro are like two different worlds. Each world has a bunch of spirits living in them. If you have seen voodoo ceremonies as I have, you know that these spirits make appearances in these ceremonies. For you to access a spirit in the Rada world, there is one spirit at the gate you have to ask to let you in. The same is true for the Petro world.
While Rada spirits are nice spirits who come to give you advice, they don't have much power. On the other hand, Petro spirits can be bad, mean and nasty. Dangerous things happen in Petro, because petro spirits know how to do death curses, make zombies, get someone’s soul, do black magic, etc. You can get access to pure evil if you wish to in Petro. A voodoo priest told me that one of the Petro spirits that he calls on sometime is so dangerous, that to greet him, you never touch him. Instead you get the leg of an animal and put it in his hand, pretending to be your hand. Otherwise, when he leaves, you might lose your hand. Let me repeat, Petro voodoo is very real.
If you ever watch a voodoo ceremony on television, if you see people dress in red, it is a Petro ceremony. If you see people dressed in white, it is a Rada ceremony. The question is: can someone capture a soul of someone else. In Petro voodoo, yes. In fact, a soul is kept in a type of bottle, made of some kind of clay, called Govi, which I have seen during my research.
I tried not to scare people in my novel since it is just a mystery and romance story for young adults, that happen to deal with voodoo. However, what I said in the book about which spirit to call to access Rada or Petro world is correct. The thing about soul selling is also real. I hope you will enjoy the book. It is called the Rada Girl and is issued under my pen name, Marsh Brooks, and will be available on October 1, on Amazon and Nook. You can see my promo at theradagirl.com or marshbrooks.com.
Please feel free to contact me for any questions or comments you might have regarding either Rada or Petro Voodoo. In my next post, I may write about zombification or the process of becoming a voodoo priest, if anyone is interested.
