If I Had My Way…

…This would be a tv show, movie, book series, etc. Any takers? From Myisha on Palace of Funk Antoinette “Toni” Batiste, occult detective. I choose to design a detective from Louisiana who works specifically with the occult, particularly Voodoo (or rather the stuff people get up to when practicing Voodoo maliciously, rude). She’s also a […]

Haiti, Voodoo and Rebuilding…

Black Public Media released a video about the historical and present-day misconceptions about Voodoo. A voodoo priest, or hougan, Ati, gives a more accurate description of what voodoo is and its place in the rebuilding of Haiti after the earthquake. To learn more about the Haitian culture, please visit ZOE Magazine/Defend Haiti.

Modern Griots: Exuma

Junkanoo Obeah consists of folk magical practices that are performed in Caribbean islands, such as in my parents’ islands of Barbados and Dominica. It is also practiced in the Bahamas where singer Macfarlane Gregory Anthony McKay (Tony McKay) was born in 1942, and he later adopted the name of one of its islands, Exuma. Active during […]

The Mambos

I have mentioned mambo a few times on this blog and this will be another one. Did you know that the word for the high priestess in Haitian Voodoo is mambo? Mambo, which means “important words, matters, etc” or “conversation with the gods,” in the Central African language of Kikongo, is also used for the […]

The Orixas

via Gira Gira Bambola “Orixas. I took a picture of these paintings in the market across the Elevador Lacerda in Salvador, Brazil. If anyone knows the name of the artist I would love to give him/her credit. What I love about the Orixas is the subversive nature of their presence in Latin American culture. Imagine […]

Yo Flo, I Have Some Words About Your Video…

For the past couple of years, I have gained an interest in studying Vodun and all the other religious systems that stemmed from it. So, I have become sensitive to portrayals of those religions (they are not cults), especially when they are put in binary to Christianity. I watched Florence and the Machine‘s video for […]

Lose Control!

via The Ase Fountain “AfroFutures. Postmodern Ancients. Spoek Mathambo – Control This is such a great video, it can be read on so many levels. A South African cover version of an English tune (Joy Division – She’s Lost Control) to me it plays with the kinds of images that signal a terrible, fearful ‘voodoo’ to the […]