Voodoo and its connection with Christianity.

Thanks to its popularization in Hollywood movies, the voodoo cult has started to be perceived as one of the most terrifying and incomprehensible of all the religions. Most of the voodoo stories tell us about the dark and cryptic religion that includes animal sacrifices, cursing and harm to others with the help of voodoo dolls, which makes this cult an obvious enemy of Christianity. However it is so far away from the truth.

It appears to be that Louisiana voodoo, or New Orleans voodoo, is one of the brightest examples in support of the aforesaid. It represents a unique syncretic form of the Afro-American beliefs in the Loa (the spirits) and magic, Catholic saints and altars. To begin with a historical background, one of the founders of Louisiana voodoo - Maria Laveau – despite of the hatred of the Christian clergy changed the common opinion amongst the white people about voodoo as a “Satanic cult” by the implantation of some Christian symbols into the cult, such as the crucifix and statues of saints.

The center element of New Orleans voodoo practices is based on the pantheon of the Lao, where many of the main figures have Christian analogues. For example: Aida Webo is the image of the Virgin Mary and Papa Legba is the specular reflection of Saint Peter. Furthermore, there is the Supreme God in voodoo magic who rules the world which is unquestionably a Christian concept.

Exhibiting a remarkable similarity with Christianity, the pantheon of voodoo spirits has three fundamental levels. At the highest level there is the only God who is unknowable for a person to the extent that he cannot be described.  At the next level there are spirits who constantly interact with the mortals. The deceased relatives are rather important in a spiritual life of the voodoo followers, which is why ancestor veneration has a vital role in the voodoo religion. At the last level of the pantheon are mortals themselves.

So it can be seen that voodoo and Christianity are so strongly intertwined that there is no feud between these two religions and even more – in some spheres they peacefully coexist.