Hoodoo vs. Other Religion Hoodoo

Hoodoo vs. other religion

Hoodoo and Zora Neale Hurston

The contemporary society is filled with customs and traditions coming from a variety of sources, given that globalization has made it possible for cultures to clash and generate a series of mixed practices. There is much controversy regarding the origins of hoodoo, especially given that it consists of a variety of customs, each of them coming from particular cultures. In its most basic form, hoodoo can be understood as having been strongly influenced by African-American folk-magic, but that also involves traditions identified as European and Native American. Hoodoo is rather new and can be recognized as a mixture of magic and religious practices gathered from several cultures most probably as a result of the globalization process.

The Haitians are mainly responsible for bringing the Voodoo religion to New Orleans, given that slave-owners had brought their slaves into the territory as they tried to escape the aftermath of the Haitian revolution. Voodoo is primarily a religion consisting out of a series of religious practices devised by black individuals in Haiti. The religion can be associated with spiritual matters and with the desire to connect with a higher power. Because slaves had little to no power to support the Voodoo religion, their masters rapidly destroyed its potential to become an organized religion. The religion was separated into several customs, one of the most notable of them being American hoodoo. "The word "hoodoo" appears to be at once a corruption of "Voodoo" and a variant of a Hausa word, huduba, meaning "to arouse resentment toward someone in someone else, " which in the Hausa cultural context signifies to bring bad luck upon someone -- hoodoo's best-known purpose" (Shafton, 2002, p. 139).

Hoodoo experienced some success among African-Americans, even with the fact that it never came to equal its source-Voodoo-in reputation. The tradition gradually abandoned its orientation toward religion and grew to be focused on occult spirituality. "The word "hoodoo" refers to a set of beliefs. It also refers to the practitioner of those beliefs, the "hoodoo" (or "hoodoo doctor") who "hoodoos" you. But there's an array of synonyms: you get "fixed, " "voodooed, " "conjured, " "hexed, " "poisoned, " "tricked, " "crossed, " "hurt, " "goofered, " or have "roots worked on" you." (Shafton, 2002, p. 140). In the opinion of some, hoodoo does not harm individuals, as its main purpose is to heal people. It is very difficult to determine the exact meaning of hoodoo, precisely because many practitioners put across different perspectives regarding the tradition.

Hoodoo is recognized to have its roots in Africa and it is believed that Africans have brought it to the New World at the time when they were brought on the American continent as slaves. Whereas many are likely to condemn certain practices performed in the hoodoo tradition, it would be absurd to do so, given that hoodoo practitioners are acting similar to everyone from around the world who simply embraces a particular tradition. As long as they are not breaking any law or as long as they do not commit immoral acts, hoodoo practitioners need to be appreciated and supported for their dedication to their culture. With customs and traditions in the contemporary society being negatively affected as a result of globalization, it is essential for people to hold on to their teachings and to be interested in preserving cultural values.

Many African-Americans are likely to put across confusion when coming across the topic of hoodoo whereas the majority of white Americans are most probably expected to consider it to be nothing more but superstitious material that has no actual basis and can be referred to as being absurd. Anthropologist Zora Neal Hurston's take on hoodoo was in regard to the differences between black individuals and white individuals in the U.S. Hurston was also engaged in writing short stories that were most probably inspired from the events that she came across during her studies in anthropology. Although her texts cannot actually be considered to reproduce the exact episodes in her life, it is very likely that most of her writings put across events that actually happened. "According to Hemenway, the tale, which was originally submitted for publication as a short story and later appeared as part of an ethnographic essay, is "20% fiction" and "80% folklore," originating within Hurston's memory and personal repertoire of folktales" (Hill, 1996, p. 73).

In spite of the fact that she is recognized for her work as an anthropologist and an ethnographer, it is difficult to determine the exact effect that her influence that this work had on her and on her writings. Given that she was coming from an environment that was somewhat similar to the hoodoo-related communities that she dealt with, it only seems normal for her to put across biased concepts at times. Her association with the Harlem Renaissance however makes her different from the people that she interviewed. Given her upbringing in the Harlem community and the fact that she was experienced in inter-human relations, her perspective in regard to hoodoo and magic practitioners must have been rather objective. To a certain degree, she was advantaged in communicating with African-Americans in the rural South as a result of her childhood experiences in the Eatonville community ("Zora Neale Hurston 1891-1960," 2000).

As emphasized by Hurston, while most Europeans think about "Veaudeau" or voodoo when they come across hoodoo practitioners, the African-American practitioner's "own name for his practices is hoodoo" (Hurston, 1931, p. 22). Part of her studies as an anthropologist was focused on analyzing folk culture from the American South. In order to do so, she interacted with hoodoo doctors and with practically everything related to the African-American rural South (Hurston, 1931, p. 22).

The hoodoo tradition had a deep impact on her, influencing her in writing about people and practices involved in performing hoodoo magic. Even with the fact that many people were at the time reluctant to come into contact with hoodoo-related matters and individuals, she did not hesitate to learn more about the hoodoo culture by listening sermons and songs and to understand the hoodoo dialect ("Zora Neale Hurston 1891-1960," 2000).

In spite of the fact that it can be considered to be pagan by some individuals, hoodoo actually borrowed many elements from foreign cultures and even from Christianity. Hoodoo practitioners are accustomed to using crosses, incenses, and candles during their rituals. Certain concepts in hoodoo are however very different from how they are in Christianity. Hoodoo supporters do not believe that God and the devil opposite forces, as they actually believe that the two are equivalent. "This is African. Elegbara (or Legba), the trickster god of crossroads, who is the closest African counterpart to the Christian devil, is more a reconciler of good and bad than an embodiment of pure evil"(Shafton, 2002, p. 141). In spite of the differences between Christianity and Hoodoo, there are also Christian hoodoo practitioners, this standing as proof that one does not necessarily have to abandon Christian convictions in order to perform hoodoo (Shafton, 2002, p. 141).