Mysteries and Secrets of Voodoo, Santeria, and Obeah

by Lionel

  Like most spells, the instructions emphasize that its power is greatly increased if it is repeated three times, or even seven times.

  Analysis of numerous love and sex spells of this type seems to suggest that they are intended as forms of sympathetic magic at its most direct and obvious level. The portraits or photographs represent the people, the loving sex partners, whom they depict. The sweetness of the honey carries the connotation of the sweetness of intimate affection. The removal of the petals represents the removal of clothing — and inhibitions. The throwing of the petals and other ingredients into the water symbolizes the lovers’ total immersion in physical passion. For this reason the flowing stream is preferred to the static indoor bath. The sympathetic magic of the flowing water carries the lovers along on a tide of passion into which everything has been thrown. Nothing matters to them now except their physical love. The jettisoned perfumes represent the warm, natural scents of amorous human lovers embracing passionately and energetically. Placing their picture in the bedroom puts them into the location where their love finds its fulfillment. The repeating of each other’s names focuses on their personal identities. This is not just any man having sex with any woman: these are not merely anonymous representatives of human maleness and femaleness personified. These Santerian lovers are real people, genuine and unique individuals. They have names. They truly matter to each other. Each cares deeply about the other. Each is concerned with the partner’s pleasure as well as his or her own. The repetition of the spell three times, or seven times, symbolizes the permanence of their love and the desire to repeat the ecstatic experience of physical love as often as they can.

  The syncretistic mystery religions with their honest and direct ancient African roots understand and accept the force of sexuality as a natural and very significant part of human life.

  Chapter 15

  CASE HISTORIES

  William Buehler Seabrook (1884–1945) was a fearless and effective member of the French army who was gassed during the action at Verdun and awarded the Croix de Guerre. He was a journalist on the New York Times and a world traveller specializing in strange, weird, bizarre, and paranormal phenomena. In the 1920s, he entertained Aleister Crowley for a week and wrote a book about the experience. In 1927 he went to Haiti and wrote about it in Magic Island, which was published in 1929. He married Marjorie Muir Worthington in 1935, but they were divorced in 1941. Seabrook died from a drug overdose in 1945.

  During his experiences in Haiti, Seabrook encountered several examples of zombiism. He described one of them as having a face that was incapable of registering expression. Its eyes, he said, were the worst part of that frighteningly emotionless face. They were like the eyes of a corpse. They stared at him without being focused. They were not blind, but they did not see. Seabrook went on to describe how the bokor (the Voodoo sorcerer) put his victims through the zombification process using a combination of drugs and spells. Once it was complete, the victim was to all effects dead to his or her past life, and could do nothing except obey the bokor.

  A great many case histories come out of the New Orleans area, and a significant percentage of these concern Voodoo practitioners who claim to be able to transform themselves into creatures. European shape-shifters are often credited with the ability to become wolves or bears. The Voodoo magicians are usually credited with the power to become big cats. This may well go back to their ancient African origins. Leopards were often associated with the Egyptian Osiris, and leopards were also thought to have the mystical power to guide the souls of the dead.

  An African leopard statue.

  An African leopard water pot.

  The Nigerian leopard cult has existed for many centuries, perhaps for millennia, and is also well known in Sierra Leone. Its members mutilate and murder their victims with steel claws that make it look as if a wild carnivore was responsible. It is a belief among the leopard men that a magical drink known as borfima enables them to transform themselves into leopards and bestows superhuman power on them.

  Other case histories from the New Orleans area tell how Voodoo magicians have terrified their victims into believing that they had been cursed by having magical animals inserted into their bodies. These Voodoo animal invaders included frogs, toads, snakes, lizards, slugs, and snails. In a number of cases, witnesses testified to seeing these strange creatures leaving the dying victim in much the same way that rats are known to leave a sinking ship.

  The magician setting out to curse someone in this way would use a spell that included powder made from the body of the creature that was to be inserted — or blood from that creature. This blood or powder would then be secreted into the intended victim’s food or drink, and an incantation would be recited.

  Other Voodoo magicians would be employed to neutralize the animal-internalizing spell and administer special purgative herbs and spices that would expel the dangerous animals from the intended victim.

  As a defence against these internalized animals and other forms of curse, many people in Voodoo areas such as New Orleans — including the intelligent and well-educated — carry what are known as gris-gris bags. These little leather or cloth pouches are filled with herbs and spices that are believed to have magical powers to ward off harm in all its forms.

  Knowing what went into the magical gris-gris bags was the domain of wise old masters of the Voodoo arts such as Jean Montanet, sometimes referred to as “the last real Voodoo priest.” Real he undoubtedly was — and a Voodoo expert he certainly was — but he was by no means the last of his kind.

  Jean Montanet died at the age of one hundred in 1885. He was also known as Jean la Ficelle (John the String), Jean Latinié, Jean Racine (John the Root), and Jean Macaque. His most lasting and memorable titles, however, were simply Dr. John and Voodoo John.

  He was descended from the noble Bambaras people of Senegal, and was believed to be the son of one of their princes. Strong, muscular, and broad-shouldered, John had a commanding voice and a dominant, charismatic personality. His adventures began at the end of the eighteenth century when Spanish slavers abducted him and sold him in Spain. He was then transported to Cuba, where he became an outstandingly good cook, and a grateful owner appreciated John’s talents so much that he rewarded him by giving him his freedom. John left the sea to work as a cotton-roller, where his immense physical strength was a great asset and singled him out from the other workers. His employers soon noticed that he had other more subtle powers that made him a natural choice as foreman and overseer.

  It was also recognized that John had strange psychic abilities and claimed to be able to read the future from the random markings that occurred on bales of cotton. No two bales would be exactly identical, and John would gain meanings from them in the way that others would read Tarot cards, the I-Ching, or tea leaves! This fortune-telling ability made John rich, and he bought land on Bayou Road extending as far as Prieur Street. As well as telling fortunes and making psychic predictions, John became famous as a magical healer and caster of spells.

  He sold potions that made hair grow; that protected his clients from spells and curses cast against them; that helped people to recover stolen property; and that helped them to win love and, having won it, to demonstrate a high degree of virility and potency.

  John’s “consulting rooms” contained his table and chair, pictures of the saints, Santerian cowry shells for reading the future, an elephant’s tusk, and packs of magical cards with holes burnt in them. During his ceremonies and consultations, Dr. John burnt large quantities of candles of various colours. His own special gris-gris pouch contained bones wrapped in black string — which is, perhaps, where his title of Ficelle came from.

  His ancestry as a Bambaras prince led to his acquiring a harem of nearly twenty black wives whom he bought as slaves and by whom he had numerous sons and daughters. The queen of his harem, however, was a lively and attractive white girl, who was in charge of his other wives and also gave birth to several of John’s children.

&n
bsp; To give John his due, he was a caring and generous man. Having been a slave himself, he was a kind and considerate master — and a generous benefactor to those in need. He gave food to the poor continually — even cooking it himself on occasion.

  As a case history of an outstandingly successful Voodoo magician, Dr. John clearly combined the two paradoxical strands of the syncretistic mystery religions: he was dominant, powerful, charismatic, and full of genuine, ancient African secrets. His ethical beliefs made him loving and companionable to his many wives and kind to his servants and slaves. Yet he laughingly boasted that some of the so-called spells and remedies that he sold to the rich at exorbitant prices were nothing more than water in which he had stewed a few harmless herbs. On the other hand, he took parts of his spell-casting and fortune-telling very seriously indeed — and seemed to believe in it himself.

  Dr. John was also a paradoxical character insofar as he had his weaknesses as well as his strengths. He was often out of his depths where money was concerned: he had no confidence in banks or other investment institutions. He would go to great lengths to hide his money by burying cash — and then forgetting where he had concealed it. Towards the end of his colourful career, he was dependent on the loyal support and charity of his many children — and it says much both for them and for him that he was properly looked after.

  It was, of course, assumed by followers of Santeria and the other syncretistic mystery religions that powerful enemies — presumably bokors whom Dr. John had defeated in his heyday — had levelled curses at him and cast spells against him to destroy his previous prosperity.

  As a twenty-first-century comparison, one of the many practising Voodoo priestesses is Miriam Chamani, who is described as a servant of the Orisha or Loa named Ayizan, the ruler of the marketplace and the bringer of mysteries to the ordinary human world. Her name in the original Fon language is derived from “earth” and “sacredness,” so she is also regarded as a benign earth goddess. Among her many other duties, Ayizan is the Loa who guides and guards priests and priestesses of the syncretistic mystery religions and supervises their initiation ceremonies. She also protects her followers against curses, negative spells, and evil magic. A great healer-goddess, she works alongside her husband, Loco, who is the foremost Loa expert in the use of healing herbs. Ayizan is thought of overall as the bringer of health, power, and energy.

  As a servant of Ayizan, the priestess Miriam Chamani is totally dedicated to healing and helping those who consult her. Miriam looks after those who consult her by giving African bone readings, arranging Voodoo weddings, and consulting Damballah and Erzulie for her clients.

  A stark contrast with the good side of Voodoo as represented by the positive priestess Miriam Chamani and her faith in the benign Loa Ayizan is the case of what happened to David St. Clair, the Voodoo author and researcher. Many of his strange experiences are included in Drum and Candle (1971). David had moved to Brazil, where he apparently came under attack from a Quimbanda technique referred to as “closing the paths.”

  Quimbanda itself is based on very ancient African religio-magical traditions, and is currently popular in Brazilian cities including Rio de Janeiro, Pernambuco, and Maranhão. Although related in some ways to the more conventional Umbanda, Quimbanda is becoming increasingly distinct from it. The name is derived from the old Kimbundu language of Angola and carries the basic idea of the work of a healer and seer.

  Quimbandan practitioners are often interested in making amulets, talismans, and magical concoctions, and in receiving advice from various Orishas, Loas, and spirit guides.

  David’s problems in Brazil began when his girlfriend left him and a substantial amount of money that was due to him did not materialize. He became ill with malaria and was then involved in litigation concerning an inheritance. As a sensible, pragmatic realist, David thought of these difficulties and problems as nothing more than chance, or a run of bad luck.

  He had a Brazilian friend, a practising Macumban with psychic powers, who told David that Quimbandans were working against him and had “closed his paths.” St. Clair’s first reaction was to dismiss this warning as Brazilian religious superstition. He changed his mind when he was informed via other psychic messages that his maid was a practising Quimbandan and was performing negative magic against him. According to the information that David was given, it was alleged that this girl was systematically purloining items of his clothing and taking them to a Quimbandan ceremony.

  He was informed that the stolen clothing — identified with him via sympathetic magic — was buried. Spells were chanted over the place and candles were lit in ceremonial patterns around it. David’s psychic informants also warned him that the girl was adding curious magical powders to his food to strengthen and reinforce what was being done to his clothing.

  Although he was not yet convinced of the effectiveness of the magical closing spells that were supposedly being used against him, David decided to attend a Macumba service and enlist the help of a priest or priestess there.

  The opening parts of the service followed the normal lines of music, drumming, and exotic dancing, and several of the worshippers became possessed by Loas or Orishas. At this stage, the priestess in charge was wearing the conventional Macumba costume, including a white blouse and a golden cross around her neck. To David’s surprise, the priestess left the temple for a few minutes, and when she came back, David could scarcely believe the transformation in her. She was now wearing badly torn and stained red satin clothing; the golden cross was gone and she had a small human skull suspended around her neck instead. There was a dead snake hanging from the eye sockets of this skull, and the jaws were fastened together with macabre black tape.

  As David watched in amazement, the dramatically transformed priestess gulped down half a bottle of powerful local rum and shouted ecstatically that she was now possessed by Exu, that for the time being she was Exu. He is a particularly difficult Loa or Orisha to understand, even by long-standing practitioners of the faith. He is associated with St. Peter when saints are syncretized with Orishas and Loas.

  It may be argued that without an untamed streak, a wild, irrational, unpredictable component to the human personality, life would be monotonous, dull, boring, repetitive, and scarcely worth living. Exu is the Orisha that supports this element of humanity. He is said to have a tendency to do things that are requested of him in reverse order — or in ways that are totally different from what his worshippers had expected. Exu is opposed to unthinking, unswerving obedience to authority or to any accepted and established traditions. For his followers, ritual and liturgy obscure meaning. Exu teaches his worshippers to be constantly on the lookout for fresh ways of doing things, to experiment and to try out new ideas.

  Symbols of Exu.

  His traditional location is the crossroads, and his worshippers gather there to meet him and learn from him. Crossroads are symbolic meeting places of new and old ideas. Crossroads are scenes of interaction: places where things happen. In a sense they represent the reactions of different chemicals. Sodium comes down one road. Chlorine travels along another. The metaphorical crossroads where they meet is the birthplace of sodium chloride. Fresh directions can be taken when life-roads cross other life-roads.

  Exu is seen as the ruler of intelligence, knowledge, and the means of manipulating it advantageously. He is also said to be the guardian of the bottomless well of wisdom. He is the ultimate cosmic chess master — and it is interesting to note that Aleister Crowley was a world-class chess player. Among his many other psychic interests, Crowley may well have been an Exu worshipper.

  The demon of Rennes who once held a trident.

  Like the strange figure of the demon — often thought to be Asmodeus — immediately inside the church at Rennes-le-Château, Exu carries a symbolic trident. The three prongs are supposed to represent the future, the present, and the past — as well as negative, neutral, and positive states of morality and ethics.

  Exu is regarded as the interp
reter, the message-carrier and spokesperson of the gods — in this aspect he is rather like Hermes Trismegistus, or Thoth, scribe of the ancient Egyptian pantheon. Unlike the other Orishas and Loas, each of whom works in one or two specific areas, Exu is free to travel anywhere and to exert his influence in every sphere of activity. He can concern himself with thunder, lightning, the sun, the desert, the mountains, the sea, and the rivers. He can help his worshippers with sex, love, human relationships, financial success, and worldly power. There is another aspect of Exu worship in which he is seen by Umbandists as the great enabler — a sort of power cable enabling Orishas and Loas to communicate with their people on earth.

  Despite Exu’s vast powers, unfathomable knowledge, and lightning fast intelligence, there is a strange sense in which his human devotees can mould him into their ideas of him. Those who regard him as evil will find that he manifests himself to them in a negative way. Those who regard him as benign and supportive will encounter him as an ally and sponsor. Those who conceive of him as something non-aligned — like the laws of natural science — will find him to be neutral.

  He also has a female consort known as Pomba-Gira, who is the essence of female beauty, irresistible allure, and insatiable desire. Like Exu, she has access to unlimited wisdom and unfathomable knowledge.

  In David St. Clair’s case, the priestess was possessed by Exu in a benign phase. Speaking through her, he told David that he was lifting the closed path curse that had been put on him by the maid and her Quimbandan associates. He also announced that those who had directed it against St. Clair would find that it was rebounding on them with quadrupled fury.

  According to David’s own account of events, from that moment onwards, things seemed to go back to normal. His depression lifted. His confidence returned. He began a happy new love relationship, and his financial affairs improved spectacularly.