This paper will discuss the history, development, and cultural significance of voodoo in the United States. Voodoo is a religious belief which is based primarily on practices which can be traced to West Africa. In fact, the word "voodoo" itself stems from the West African word vodu, which means "spirit" or "deity" (Brown 297). Practitioners of the voodoo religion believe in a supreme being as well as in a pantheon of lesser spiritual entities. A key element of the voodoo belief is that of spirit possession. As part of this belief, the followers of voodoo frequently participate in feverish rituals of drumming and dancing which are designed to create a deep trance state. Once the person enters into this trance state, he or she becomes a cheval, or horse, for one of the voodoo spirits, thus "providing the means for direct communication between human beings and the spirits" (297).
The origins of voodoo in the Western world are found in the days of the African slave trade which began in the early 16th century. Most slave trading during that time focused on the conquest of the tribes of Western Africa. Three West African groups were particularly targeted for the American slave trade: "The Yoruba of present-day Nigeria, the Fon of Dahomey (present-day Benin), and the Kongo of what are now Zaire and Angola" (Brown 297). These various tribes each had unique beliefs regarding the spiritual world. At the same time, however, "all these West Africans had certain basic beliefs in common: ancestor worship; the use of song, drums and dancing in the religious rituals; the possession of the worshipper by the god" (Deren 58). These common elements in the West African religions became the basis for the practice of voodoo as it subsequently developed in the New World.
The voodoo religion as it exists in America first took hold in the nation of Haiti. The West African slaves who were brought to the sugar plantations in Haiti soon adapt...