Vodou - Revision history

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-{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin:0 0 1em 1em; width:320px;"
+= Vodou =
-'''Vodou''' is vodou is an African diaspora religion associated especially with Haiti, centered on Bondye, the lwa, ancestor reverence, ritual service, healing, music, dance, and community obligation.
+'''Vodou''' is an Afro-diasporic religious tradition with roots in West African, Haitian, Catholic, and local ritual worlds.
-== Overview ==
+== Related pages ==
 * [[Religion]]
-* [[Theology]]
+* [[Theism]]
-* [[Philosophy of religion]]
+* [[Religious concepts and ideals]]
-* [[New Religious Movements]]
+* [[List of religions and worldviews]]
-[[Category:Religions]]
+[[Category:African and Afro-diasporic religions]]

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{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin:0 0 1em 1em; width:320px;"
! colspan="2" | Vodou
|-
! Family
| African diaspora
|-
! Origin region
| Haiti, from West and Central African, Catholic, and Caribbean contexts
|-
! Founding period
| Developed during the colonial and enslaved African experience in the Caribbean
|-
! Estimated adherents
| Practiced by Haitian and diaspora communities; exact numbers vary by definition and region.
|}

'''Vodou''' is vodou is an African diaspora religion associated especially with Haiti, centered on Bondye, the lwa, ancestor reverence, ritual service, healing, music, dance, and community obligation.

== Overview ==

Vodou formed in the context of slavery, colonialism, African religious memory, Catholic imagery, and Caribbean community life. It is often misunderstood in popular media. Practitioners commonly distinguish the distant supreme God, Bondye, from the lwa, spiritual beings who interact with human communities through ritual service.

== Key beliefs ==

* Bondye as the supreme God
* Lwa as powerful spirits connected with families, nations, powers, and histories
* Ancestors and the dead as part of religious and communal life
* Reciprocity through service, offerings, song, and ritual obligation
* Healing, protection, moral order, and community continuity

== Practices ==

* Ceremonies with drumming, song, dance, and spirit possession
* Offerings to lwa and ancestors
* Healing and protective rites
* Feasts for spirits
* Initiation in some lineages

== Places of worship ==

* Peristyle or Vodou temple space
* Home altar
* Cemetery and ancestral spaces
* Sacred trees, crossroads, and ritual sites

== Sacred texts ==

* Primarily oral tradition
* Songs, prayers, ritual knowledge, and lineage teachings

== Holidays and observances ==

* Fet Gede
* Feasts for specific lwa
* Catholic calendar days adapted in some Vodou communities

== Branches and related traditions ==

* [[African diaspora religions]] - A broad family of traditions formed through African, Indigenous, European, and American histories.
* [[Santería]] - A related but distinct African diaspora religion with Yoruba roots.
* [[Candomblé]] - A related but distinct Afro-Brazilian religious tradition.

== See also ==

* [[Religion]]
* [[Theology]]
* [[Philosophy of religion]]
* [[New Religious Movements]]
* [[Indigenous and Traditional Religions]]

[[Category:Religions]]
[[Category:African diaspora religions]]
[[Category:Indigenous and traditional religions]]