Curiosity and the Occult

I originally thought I would write about the voodoo religion and its practices in this post. Others commented both on the value of that, and of the dangers inherent. Upon reflection, what I will write is more of a treatise on how to research and satisfy the curiosity about this kind of thing, and the obstacles you will encounter.

I will also touch on parts of the practice of voodoo, but not delve too deeply. If, however, you don’t want to associate yourself or read any of it, I don’t blame you. There is a warning below for when I get into some detail.

One must be very careful when researching ANY of the occult religions in this day and time. Sadly, there has been such a fascination with them over the past couple of decades that good factual information can be hard to find. There is a lot of pure bullshit being passed off as real. As an example, I will cite the Druids.

We actually know very little about the Druids, except for the fact that they existed, and that they were scary. Druids kept no written records or history; most of what we know comes from Julius Caesar, who had his own reasons for branding the Druids the way he did.

https://latinitium.com/latin-book-club-julius-caesar-and-the-druids

We know little to nothing about the actual rites, rituals and religious practices of the Druids, however there are groups today who claim to be practicing Druids, with all kinds of rituals and rites they have essentially made up. This has “poisoned the well” of knowledge, so to speak, when looking for good information, because you will find all this made up crap. And since WE know that many so-called “credible” sources have ulterior motivations, even the “scholarly” sources are suspect.

This fascination and reverence for tribal religions also spills over onto things like voodoo and Santeria, another animal-sacrifice religion. There appears to be a sort of “glossy magazine cover” version of these. So, when the researcher goes after real facts, they can be hard to uncover. I have personally seen this in people I know; they become enthralled with the New Orleans voodoo culture, for example, and the scarier parts of it fade to the background. They see the “lighter side,” and ignore the darkness.

I write this only as a warning to you all about digging into this subject. Because it is being “sugar-coated,” it can appear harmless, or at least not nearly as scary as it is.

STOP READING HERE IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ SOME SCARY PARTS.

For me, the most frightening aspect of voodoo isn’t the animal sacrifice. It is the vacating of the human body to allow for possession by a loa/lwa spirit. This is common in voodoo. They consider the person thus inhabited as the chwal (“horse”) of the loa spirit, that it is “riding.” This kind of thing happens all the time; special ritual or sacrifice is not necessary for the possession to occur.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/j.ctv2t4d7f.16.pdf%3Frefreqid%3Dexcelsior%253A9a59400679b2fb871c3dd74fbe145b44&ved=2ahUKEwjWmML14cCIAxW_weYEHQPIKjUQFnoECBcQAw&usg=AOvVaw1jZKtnNiscQlxJeUIcckXx

The reason why I find this particularly disturbing is, what will happen in our liberal courts when someone claims to have been “possessed” by a loa during the commission of some crime or another? For example, one of the results of loa possession:

“Simpson has noted that in normal, everyday life, there is “considerable sexual modesty among the peasants.”³⁷ The picture changes radically during possession experiences. Huxley writes of the “sexual megalomania” that characterizes many possessions.³⁸ Possessed persons often have to be restrained from taking off their clothes to go naked. Courlander writes of the contempt for proprieties and of the lascivious and lurid behavior and speech of some loa.³⁹ Behavior that would be quite unacceptable to the community and even to the possessed person himself is excused because the loa — not the person being possessed — is responsible for unacceptable behavior and speech.”

https://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/voodoo.htm

This is a religious avenue for irresponsibility for one’s actions. America was founded on freedom of religion, but I doubt if this is what the Founders had in mind.

SCARY PART OVER

If you choose to delve into research of any occult religion, be aware that many so-called “Neopagans” have co-opted and bastardized real practices into their own forms. Our society is currently very, very sick with what seems like “cult fever” to me. So many people have rejected Christianity for some flavor of tribal religion that they know very little about. They just make it up as they go along, and it all ends up posted somewhere on the internet.

I am going to sign off with this:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

Amen.