...zombie come from the Vodou religion and Afro-Haitian culture. The practice of the Vodou religion originates in Africa. The name comes from Vodun, the God of the Yoruba people, who occupied the African kingdom of Dahomey in the 18th and 19th centuries. Vodou spread west in the early 19th century, when African slaves were forcefully shipped to Haiti and other islands of the West Indies. When the slaves arrived, they were baptized into Roman Catholicism, but it was difficult to maintain their faith due to the lack of Christian infrastructure at the time. The slaves reverted to their roots and secretly practiced Vodou while still attending mass. The Roman Catholic influence still remains present today and it is not uncommon for a person who practices Vodou to worship the Christian God. The Vodou religion has managed to gain a bad reputation through inaccurate publications and various media sources. These sources portray it as an evil religion that engages in human sacrifice, cannibalism, and torture. However, these descriptions are actually false. Vodou is considered a cult religion, which simply refers to their system of ritual worship and possession. “Rituals of animal sacrifice as well as trance dances forge and maintain a bond with the gods” (Van Voorst, 2013, p. 55). These rituals are performed are performed by current members as well as initiates who are first being introduced. It is estimated that 80-90% of Haitians practice Vodou. Vodou also has a dark side...
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...Haitian Culture ORIGINS OF CULTURE The Republic of Haiti is a Caribbean country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. It is approximately 500 miles from Key West, Florida. It was first settled by the Spanish in the late 1400s, during the era of Columbus. After the entrance of Europeans, Hispaniola's indigenous population endured near-extinction, in what is perhaps the worst case of depopulation in the Americas. A generally believed hypothesis indicates the high mortality of this colony in part to Old World diseases to which the native people had no immunity due to a lack of exposure to the European diseases. A small number of Taínos, the natives to the island, were able to stay alive and set up villages elsewhere. Spanish attentiveness in Hispaniola began to diminish in the 1520s, as more profitable gold and silver deposits were found in Mexico and South America. It was the decreasing interest in Hispaniola that allowed the French to create a colony in the early 1600s. French buccaneers created a settlement on the island of Tortuga in 1625, and were soon united with like-minded English and Dutch privateers and pirates, who formed a anarchistic international community that survived by marauding Spanish ships and hunting wild cattle. Before the Seven Years' War (1756–63), the economy of Hispaniola slowly expanded, with sugar and coffee becoming important export crops. After the war the colony underwent rapid expansion. In 1767, it exported 72 million...
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...Mina people, and Fon people of southern and central Togo, southern and central Benin. It is also practiced by some Gun people of Lagos and Ogun in southwest Nigeria. It is distinct from the various African traditional religions in the interiors of these countries and is the main source of religions with similar names found among the African Diaspora in the New World such as Haitian Vodou; Puerto Rican Vodú; Cuban Vodú; Dominican Vudú; Brazilian Vodum; and Louisiana Voodoo. All of these closely related faiths are syncretized with Christianity to various degrees and with the traditional beliefs of the Kongo people and Indigenous American traditions. Theology and practice Vodun cosmology centers around the vodun spirits and other elements of divine essence that govern the Earth, a hierarchy that range in power from major deities governing the forces of nature and human society to the spirits of individual streams, trees, and rocks, as well as dozens of ethnic vodun, defenders of a certain clan, tribe, or nation. The vodun are the center of religious life, similar in many ways to doctrines such as the intercession of saints and angels that made Vodun appear compatible with Christianity, especially Catholicism, and produced syncretic religions such as Haitian Vodou. Adherents also emphasize ancestor worship and hold that the spirits of the dead live side by side with the world of the living, each family of spirits having its own female priesthood, sometimes hereditary when it's...
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...Voodoo is the most understood of all African-inspired religions in the Americas and it is also one of its most complex religion (Murphy 117). Voodoo is revolving around a pantheon of spirits known as Lwa or loa who represent a fusion of African and Creole gods, the spirits of deified ancestors and syncretized manifestations of Catholic saints (Murphy 117). The Lwa’s are the African/Creole spirits. According to Bellegarde-Smith he explains that the Lwa represents the cosmic forces that are integral to the Haitian experience and yet transcend it (Michel 25). The Lwa offer help, protection, and counsel their devotees offer ritual service in return, which includes a variety of individual and communal rituals. However,the Lwa communicates with...
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...aspect of the Voodoo religion it is important to know where Voodoo is popular. Voodoo is practiced in three main regions throughout the world, those including: Louisiana, Haiti and West Africa. Louisiana is located in the United States and the city where Voodoo is most popular is New Orleans. Though New Orleans’ poverty issue is diminishing, 39% of children still live in poverty (Catalanello). The poverty does not affect the number of New Orleans children from attending school. In Haiti, where Voodoo is very popular, Haitians who are 25 years old and older have reportedly received an average of 4.9 years of education (“Education”). This number clearly reflects the outstanding number of individuals...
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...revenge, which is not correct. Some believe it is derived from Voudon. Voudon is an afro-Caribbean religion that started in Haiti. Voodoo and Voudon aren't based around voodoo dolls or zombies. The meaning of "Loa" in voodoo is a god that practitioner look up to; they are individually responsible for a certain part of our lives. The teachings of Voodoo is based around a higher being, like the Bondye, a creator god. The Bondye is said to be the good god, although there is no evil god in Voodoo. Bindye is far beyond human intelligence, it shows its existence through the loa, and ceremonies are based around the loa rather than the Bondye. The manifestation of loa occurs when they posses their worshipers bodies...
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...,Le’Vitria Burnett ENG 1301 Crystal Guillory October 09, 2012 Behind the Mountains Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracey Kidder describes Dr. Farmer, an accomplished anthropologist, as hardworking, dedicated and ambitious. He tries to conquer an illness plaguing a village located in Haiti. After the success of curing the catchment area of Cange and the villages surrounding it, he spreads his treatment in other underprivileged places around the world. There is no book with the exception of perhaps Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson, the story of an American author who decides to build schools in Pakistan, that has as an influential an effect on the American contribution to cater to impoverished societies internationally. While Mortenson wrote about his intense need to reach out to the community of Korphe, Kidder gives an accurate account of Dr. Farmer’s relentless efforts to cure an entire village as well as those around it by following him through his struggles and annotating for the world to see. This book interprets and gives a great illustration on the determination and its processes of purpose and action, as well as incorporates information on things outside of Western ideology. Generally, determination is described as “to settle or decide (a dispute, question, etc.) by an authoritative or conclusive decision” (http://dictionary.reference.com). It is also consistent with the fortitude to be compelled...
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...Voodoo beliefs and culture Have you ever wondered about the beliefs and practices of Voodoo, pertaining to the death and the afterlife? Voodoo is a popular religion practiced throughout the Carribean, and mostly countries like Haiti. The followers of Voodo believe in the spirit world that is influenced by the pathenon of gods. The followers of Voodoo believe in the after life and that death is the passage to cosmic community of ancestral spirits. The Voodoo religion can be directly traced to the West African,Yourba people. These people lived in the 18th and 19th century, Dahomey. The roots of Voodoo can go back to 6,000 years in Africa. The religion of voodoo spread to many parts of the world, during the African slave trade. Voodoo later become composed of being an African religion, that also had Christian followers. The Voodoo religion has spread from Africa to the Carribean islands and North America. The city of New Orleans has many people that practice modern day voodoo rituals. There are about 50,000,000 Voodoo believers world wide. The followers of Voodoo worship many gods, known as the Loas. The followers of Voodoo strongly believe that Loas and humans depend on each other. The Loas depend on humans for food and praise. Humans depend on the Loas for daily help and protection. These Loas all play a crucial part in human lives, according to Vodouisants. There are various supernatural characters that Vodouisants believe in. One of these...
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...Zombicide is a cooperative zombie game in which each player takes the role of a survivor in a post-apocalyptic world. Each round in broken into three phases; The movement phase, the zombie phase, and the end phase. The movement phase is where players can use their three default actions to move around the board collecting items, murdering zombies or escaping a grizzly death. During this phase players can also generate sound, a sound is created by actions such as shooting and knocking down doors. The zombie phase begins with everyone receiving a card, these cards determine the zombies that will spawn for the phase. Zombies spawn on spawn slots placed on the map, and can be one of four different types; Walkers, Runners, Fatties and The Abomination....
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...Religion and Science REL 212 October 11, 2013 Professor Richardson Religion and Science When viewing Chapter 1’s podcast titled “Scholar Says Religion and Science Can Co-exist”, I agree with the notion that both can coexist. As mentioned by Michel Martin from the Faith Matters show, “religion is about the why. Science may be about the how” (NPR News, 2010). In my opinion, this makes perfect sense. I feel that when a child is born, they are automatically placed in a religion in which their parents believe. At that time, no one could tell the child anything different because that is all they know. As the child experience life as an adolescent, their fate and belief, will be tested giving room for questions to be asked and applied to science. Guest speaker Professor Francisco Ayala mentioned that, “the world is one and the same but what we see through those windows is different” (NPR News, 2010). In the early stages in life, what a person is groomed to believe is what they will continue to believe. Through experiences, a person is given a chance to determine if they will continue to believe what has been instilled in them or take another view in life and see what can be proven through science. People who are open-minded can see many different spectrums of the world. Closed-minded people are not willing to accept the fact that there may be more to what they have been told to believe. When viewing the Chapter 2’s podcast titled “Living Vodou”, I again,...
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...Santeria| | | When people think of chicken bones, dolls, love potion and spells they tend to think of “Black Magic”/Witches. At least that is how it has been depicted in many movies, and TV shows for many, many years. What people don’t realize is that “black magic” also known as Voodoo and the Santeria religion, which has been around way before television was even invited and way back into slavery days. In this paper I plan to show the differences and similarities between the two religions so one may get a better understanding of this so called “black magic. ORGINS: Both Voodoo and Santeria originated from the Yoruba people of West Africa. When abducted from their homes and made slaves in the Americas and the Caribbean, without regards to their beliefs and faith. They brought their beliefs with them, but were forbidden to be practice. Being forbidden, these people were forced to keep their beliefs hidden and behind closed doors. During the days of slavery the Roman Catholic faith were forced upon those that were made slaves. But some slaves were smart and resourceful; they decided to hide their native religion of either Voodoo or Santeria in the very same Catholic religion that was being forced upon them. BELIEFS: according to Wikipedia, “Voodoo combines the elements of European and African beliefs and Roman Catholicism.” Those who believe in Voodoo “believe that spiritual forces, which can be kind or mischievous, shape daily life through and intercede in the lives of their...
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...Amanda Gutierrez Voodoo which means “spirit” in Fon, was born in the West African country of Benin and is practiced by more than 4 million believers. The origins are not well known but it is thought to have evolved from ancestor worship and animism. ‘While practitioners believe in only one true God they communicate with him through thousands of different spirits and shrines.” It is practiced in many different countries and although they all have for the most part the same beliefs some of their practices are different. Spirit possession occurs in the “Birth of Voodoo” when the daughter of a Voodoo priest is chosen to be a spirit medium. She is claimed by the Earth spirit, Sakpata, and is thought to be dead; she lies for three days without food or water. The villagers prepare for her to be reborn; they spread of path of cornmeal to rid it of evil. “To signal the pass from the world of the dead to the world of the spirit, the body must come feet first into the village.” The villagers touch her with open palms which invoke the spirit inviting it to return and touch her with a chicken with purifies the body. When she awakens from the world of the dead she now has the spirit in her. She will now be able to communicate with the Spirits which will still take much practice. She will be able to heal those that are ill and help with other problems like money. In “Haitian Voodoo” spirit possession occurs to heal people and to guide believers. Haiti is a Catholic dominant country but Voodoo...
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...you dearly. No matter what you want, it’s yours. Beyond money and weapons. Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Book One: Understanding Mainstream and Organised Religion.............................................................. 5 Christianity ............................................................................................................................................ 6 Islam ...................................................................................................................................................... 9 Hinduism.............................................................................................................................................. 12 Buddhism ........................................................................................................................................... 155 Chinese traditional religions ................................................................................................................ 18 African traditional religions (& African diasporic religions) .............................................................. 21 Sikhism ................................................................................................................................................ 24...
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...About Santeria 1. Santeria (Way of the Saints) is an Afro-Caribbean religion based on Yoruba beliefs and traditions, with some Roman Catholic elements added. The religion is also known as La Regla Lucumi and the Rule of Osha.Santeria is a syncretic religion that grew out of the slave trade in Cuba. Origin: Santería is a system of beliefs that merges aspects of Yoruba mythology, which were brought to the New World by Yoruba slaves, with Christianity and Indigenous American traditions.[2] The slaves carried with them various religious customs, including a trance and divination system for communicating with their ancestors and deities, animal sacrifice, and sacred drumming and dance.[3][4] Upon its arrival in the Americas, this religious tradition evolved into what we now recognize as Santería. The colonial period from the standpoint of African slaves may be defined as a time of perseverance. Their world quickly changed. Tribal kings and their families, politicians, business and community leaders all were enslaved and taken to a foreign region of the world. Religious leaders, their relatives and their followers were now slaves. Colonial laws criminalized their religion. They were forced to become baptized and worship a god their ancestors had not known who was surrounded by a pantheon of saints. The early concerns during this period seem to have necessitated a need for individual survival under harsh plantation conditions. A sense of hope was sustaining the internal essence...
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...Christianity developed from the Jewish faith in the person and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. The Christian religion, as with the ancient Greek religion, was first generated through the oral tradition. Jesus was believed to be the only Son of God by the early Christians, and this belief has endured in the modern Christian world. The Holy Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testament, is the basic scripture for Christians, and although Christianity and Greek Mythology are very distinct, they are similar in many interesting ways. Statement of Purpose I am a Christian, and in writing this piece I am in no way saying that Christianity is a myth. It is my intention to point out how Greek mythology and Christianity are similar, and nothing more. It is interesting to learn how ancient people lived and worshiped, and psychology finds mythology useful in classifying modern modes of action. Three Major Ways Greek Mythology and Christianity are Similar Although the gods and heroes of Ancient Greece are not worshiped today, this ancient religion is still comparable to modern Christianity. Greek mythology and Christianity are similar in that they: (1) teach a moral way of life; (2) teach that a woman (Pandora or Eve) caused the downfall of mankind; (3) and both have a savior figure. Although Greek mythology and Christianity are similar, they differ in their concept of sacrifice, punishment, and doctrine, and I will discuss this in a separate piece. A Moral Way of Life To begin, Greek...
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