I had a great time reading this book and it cleared many misconceptions that I had about voodoo in the past. Divination using the interpretation of physical activities, like tossing seed hulls or pulling a stone of a certain color from a tree

In real Voodoo religious practice, dolls can be used to communicate with the departed spirits of loved ones. A doll might be placed on a grave or hung from a Kapok tree in the cemetery. Similar to how a loa might possess the body of a living person to communicate, Voodoo practitioners might use a doll as a medium to speak with the spirits, just as they would use drums and dancing [source: The Tempest]. Catholic religious holidays became Voodoo holidays for the corresponding loa. For instance, celebrations for a family of spirits called the Gedes, who are personifications of dead ancestors, take place on All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Correspondence tables, Kreyol glossary, supplemental prayer texts, and an extensive list of reference books and online resources Our view is dominated by physical, touchable reality. In Haiti the spirits are as real as your wife or your dog," Corbett said.Some people associate Voodoo with evil, but many of its rituals, even those that include the sacrifice of live animals, focus on respect and peace. Its religious leaders become community leaders, providing guidance and settling disputes. Leaders also frequently provide medical care in the form of folk medicine. Priests, priestesses and other practitioners typically dedicate their work to helping and caring for others [source: Visit Haiti]. American Museum of Natural History: Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/vodou/ An item called a pwen is filled with objects to attract a loa and gain some kind of influence over a person. A pwen can come in many forms, one of which happens to be a doll [source: Learn Religions]. All of the recommended books bring something different to the table. If you want a comprehensive overview of the general history and practice, then get The New Orleans Voodoo Handbook. Other books deal with specific topics like the Haitian Voodoo, doll spells, herbs and other matters in more detail. Around the same time, hoodoo became more commonplace in parts of the United States, including New Orleans. Previously, New Orleans had had a thriving Voodoo community led by Voodoo queens, including the inimitable Marie Laveau [source: Women's History Blog]. Under their successors, the Voodoo community eventually splintered and became less publicly visible. At the same time, vendors began selling hoodoo charms and trinkets throughout New Orleans. Eventually, hoodoo, along with its curses and spells, became synonymous with Voodoo in New Orleans and other parts of the South.

According to the Voodoo tradition — also known as Vodou — there is one supreme God, who is known by different names in different parts of the world. In Haiti, for example, he is called Bondye, which comes from the French phrase bon Dieu, meaning "good God." Regardless of which name people use, the primary god is immensely powerful and beyond the reach of ordinary followers. For this reason, Voodoo practitioners must rely on hundreds or thousands of other spirits to communicate with God. If you're ready to learn the ways of Voodoo and finally take control of your own destiny, then this book is for you! The sound of the pistol sent the mourners stampeding through the doors and diving out of windows, but the man who fired it, Robert Burns, stayed inside, and when two police officers showed up to arrest him, he promptly confessed. “I had to do it,” he said on the way to the police station, “and if I had to do it over, I’d do it again.” Burns was related to Ellington, and like a lot of people around that part of Alabama, he’d grown increasingly afraid of Maxwell.These spells can be used for good or bad. For example, inflicting harm on your enemies or healing your friends, making people fall in love with you or bringing other people together. As I mentioned in the introduction, Haiti is well known for its voodoo culture. It’s also an impenetrable culture for most foreigners because the locals refuse to share information. Government of Tibet in Exile. "Nechung - The Oracle of Tibet." http://www.tibet.com/Buddhism/nechung_hh.html Get the book here. 3. The Voodoo Doll Spellbook: A Compendium of Ancient and Contemporary Spells and Rituals By the 70s, Lee’s friends worried about her drinking and her emotional volatility, while everyone worried about her struggles with writing. When she discussed her work, she sounded like some self-mortifying mystic, valorising suffering and solitude: “To be a serious writer requires discipline that is iron fisted,” she once said. “It’s sitting down and doing it whether you think you have it in you or not. Every day. Alone. Without interruption. Contrary to what most people think, there is no glamour in writing. In fact, it’s heartbreak most of the time.”