Story Views
Now:
Last Hour:
Last 24 Hours:
Total:

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.

No. 6: Blessing of the Cemeteries.

This ritual usually takes place in the dark month of November. After the Day of the Dead celebrations, there are specific rituals designed to invoke the powerful Lwas who protect the Cities of the Dead; these Lwas include Manmam Brigit, again, but also the powerful Santeria spirit Oya who dances about the tombs and guards the entrance to graveyards. The ritual is a procession through the cemetery with offerings left at significant crossways and tombs as indicated by the Mambo. This will ensure the safety and sanctity of this last resting place and will honor the powerful protectress who guards the sleeping dead. Offerings to Oya include deep purple eggplants, orange and purple candles, pumpkins and squash (cooked or raw), rum and whiskey, cowrie shells and cigars.

No. 7: Crime Protection Ritual

This voodoo ritual, held in to honor and ask protection of the powerful Lwa Ogun La Flambo, is held at least once a year, but will be held more frequently if there is need. Designed to seek the intervention of Ogun in stopping the spread of violent crime and in keeping the hearth and home safe, the ritual is a powerful reminder that devotees of vodoun seldom go unrewarded. Entire neighborhoods have been offered for protection from Ogun, who is syncretized with St. George and is often depicted on horseback, carrying a spear. Invoked by the Mambo, Ogun is a powerful advocate; he is appeased with offerings that include 151 proof rum, iron nails, cauldrons, horse shoes and farming implements, and machetes that have been painted or marked with his veve. Ogun is said to leave no request unanswered and those who put their house under his protection have nothing to fear.

No. 8: Voodoo Wedding Ceremony

Voodoo weddings are growing in popularity in New Orleans and couples have come from as far away as Canada and Australia to be joined in one of the most meaningful rituals in all vodoun. Priestesses and priests who perform the rituals insist that the couple approach the union soberly, meaning having meditated not only on the meaning of the union but on the which of the powerful Lwas will most closely associate with the newly-married. Usually, the priestess is closely involved in this process, guiding the couple and interpreting the signs from spirit. Voodoo weddings seem to bring extreme joy to Erzulie Freda, the Rada Lwa of True Love, and she always seems to respond to wedding invocations. La Sirene, another aspect of Erzulie, also likes to lend blessings to wedding unions, and Gede likes to show up because there’s a party involved, but also because his role as the Lwa of regeneration is important to the process of starting new life together. Once the couple has achieved this awareness, the priestess will guide them and invoke not only the Lwas but also the ancestors for blessings on the union and the couple’s new life. Similar to pagan handfastings, Voodoo weddings invite the couple to revel in the joy of togetherness by jumping over the ritual broom; the broom is then presented to the couple as their first wedding gift, to be displayed in a place of honor in the new home. Gris-gris bags containing appropriate herbs and object links, such as hair or fingernails, from the couple, are created and consecrated; these are also presented to the couple. Invoking the Gran Zombi is another voodoo wedding ritual: Gran Zombi, the snake, represents the great creator spirit of the Universe and is invoked to bless the union. The couple joins hands and the snake is placed over their arms to ritually coil upon them and bind them together in spirit. Voodoo weddings, with their significant ancient rituals, drumming trance dances, and wide-open connection to the spirit realm are occasions for great celebration among vodusi and devotees; this is part of their growing popularity among people from all walks of life. 

No. 9: Blessing of the Mardi Gras.

This unique ritual is generally held at or around midnight of Lundi Gras, or the Monday prior to Fat Tuesday in New Orleans. In this festive ritual the blessing of all the Lwas and ancestors is asked for a happy and safe Mardi Gras day. Usually performed separately by each sosyete or Ounfo, drumming and colorful clothing distinguish this ritual from others of more serious intent. Gede again finds honor in this ritual, as he is the patron of the unexpected, but there are other trickster spirits honored and called upon as well, and these vary with the whim of the Mambo each year. All in all this is a ritual designed to bless the party and direct that a good time will be had by all. Offerings include a mix of New Orleans delicacies including gumbo, red beans and rice, and the real Food of Mardi Gras, the King Cake! Often, necklaces of little King Cake babies are made throughout the previous year to be offered to the Lwas at this festive time. So far, they have never failed to reward the faithful as a good time is had by all!

No. 10: Bianca’s Annual Drumming Ritual

The highly secret Sosyete of Bianca the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans conducts regular drumming rituals in secret locations throughout the New Orleans area. In the face of Hurricane Katrina, Bianca and her vodusi undertook a marathon drumming ritual, maintaining it through the very worst of the hurricane’s fury. Even the winds and floodwaters of Katrina could not drown out the drums, and in the end, despite the devastation, the storm turned and spared New Orleans it’s very worst. Under normal circumstances, that is pre-Katrina, Queen Bianca regularly called her Sosyete together, usually around the middle of August, for an annual ceremony to propitiate the Lwas and the ancestors, thanking them for their unceasing attention to the faithful. These drumming rituals are the direct descendants of the “bamboula” that Marie Laveau hosted during her reign as Queen of Voodoo, and, in fact, Queen Bianca still refers to the ritual by that popular name today. With the displacement of many members of her ultra-secret sect, it will be some time before Queen Bianca will host another “bamboula;” but she asked that the drumming rituals continue to take place in absentia until the Sosyete is once again reunited in its New Orleans home.  1-5 Here @ Source