Voodoo

The word itself evokes darkness, mystery and death, but also of primitive and ancestral belief. And yet, today over one million people practice Vodou as their religion and way of life. Whilst originating from the West African coast running from Ghana to Nigeria, it was carried to the Americas during the slave trade where the practice took root as an enduring link with home. Practitioners see our tangible world as being intrinsically linked with the world of the spirits; from the all-embracing forces of nature to individual trees, streams and rocks, each element has a spiritual body with whom it is possible to communicate. The infamous mediators between the two worlds are the voodoo dolls, the Bocio (Bo meaning empowered, Cio meaning Cadaver). These figurines are constructed from wood, clay and gourds, within which are confined secret combinations of herbs, tree barks and animal remains. The statuette is then adorned with bones, shells, feathers and beads to strengthen the link of the physical with the spiritual. 

Taken from the Institut Cartier's current exhibition: Vaudou

 

The adornation and combination of herbs relate to the message to be conveyed, whether to ward off sickness, poverty, ill-feeling, to encourage fertility in the fields or at home. Binding twine represents anger and a feeling of imprisonment, piercing the Bocio with metal spikes, or stakes of wood representing a desire to strike to the root of the problem. Breaching the void between the two worlds, and activating the Bocio requires animal sacrifice, and the spilling of blood which is then anointed on both the communicator and the doll.

To address human relationships with nature, it is not enough only to consider western scientific understanding, since this neglects the viewpoints of traditional practitioners. It is also dangerous to dismiss the power that spirituality holds over believers, and an attitude of ignorance will make any trans-cultural dialogue flawed.