voodoo and mourning

[wanderingwidget]

Hello all, I have a question about voodoo.

I think I saw on some 80's tv show that white was worn for mourning in the voodoo religion, but I don't know if that was a fact or a fudged fact.

Any other interesting little bits of obscuria on the subject would be appreciated also ^^

Comments

[gal_montag]

I dunno about wearing white, but I do know that voodoo is a combination of the Catholicism brought there by Europeans and the pagan/animist (slips my mind which it was...) religion of the people already living there.

[wanderingwidget]

thank you, and I <3 your icon ^^

[wppb]

You could call it Pagan, although it wasn't a combination of Catholicism and the religion African slaves, so neither of them were from the regions vodoun took its strongest hold.

[furikku]

White is worn by female vodun initiates at Rada ceremonies. I don't think I've run into whether it's worn for mourning, although I know white is the colour of death in many African cultures.

I recommend you check out the Complete Idiot's Guide to Voodoo. It's very good reference.

Are you looking into mourning specifically, or also death/funerary customs? I could give a bit of info (mostly gleaned from the above book) on those, if you like.

[wanderingwidget]

death and funerary customs are also welcome, though in this particular situation it's more a matter of mourning within a multi-cultural family (father is voudoun or whatever the word is and children follow his views mostly. Mother was generic christian american who didn't go to church except for easter and x-mas ^^;)

[wanderingwidget]

also thank you ^^, will check library for book, though I doubt it's there ^^

[telophase]

Interlibrary loan ought to be able to get it for you, in that case.

[stinksap]

I can't tell you about Voodoo, but at nearly *all* Santeria ceremonies, including Itutu, white is the color of choice

[wanderingwidget]

YAY! thank you for all of this information @_@ it makes me happy ^^ and the family in question would be in the southest of the USA in the present, thanks again!