What's Behind Voodoo

[NJCher]

This is a somewhat long article from New Scientist about how belief affects our health. It discusses numerous examples of people who thought they were going to die and subsequently did. In some cases they found that the doctors had made a mistake and they were in fact not in danger of dying.

It explains how voodoo works. Hint: cultural background has a lot to do with it.

Here is an excerpt:

Voodoo nouveau

You might think this sort of thing is increasingly rare, and limited to remote tribes. But according to Clifton Meador, a doctor at Vanderbilt School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee, who has documented cases like Vanders, the curse has taken on a new form.

Take Sam Shoeman, who was diagnosed with end-stage liver cancer in the 1970s and given just months to live. Shoeman duly died in the allotted time frame - yet the autopsy revealed that his doctors had got it wrong. The tumour was tiny and had not spread. "He didn't die from cancer, but from believing he was dying of cancer," says Meador. "If everyone treats you as if you are dying, you buy into it. Everything in your whole being becomes about dying."
He didn't die from cancer but from believing he was dying of cancer

Cases such as Shoeman's may be extreme examples of a far more widespread phenomenon. Many patients who suffer harmful side effects, for instance, may do so only because they have been told to expect them. What's more, people who believe they have a high risk of certain diseases are more likely to get them than people with the same risk factors who believe they have a low risk. It seems modern witch doctors wear white coats and carry stethoscopes.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227081.100-the-science-of-voodoo-when-mind-attacks-body.html?full=true

I know the mind can have an amazing effect on one's health and perceptions. In the summertime, I suffer terribly from insect bites. Sometimes I get so paranoid that I've been bitten that I will scratch the area and it will even get a raised bump, like a mosquito bite. But then I will forget about it and it will just go away and I know it was just my paranoia of bug bites. There was no bite there at all, but for some reason I imagined one.

In another example, early in my career I decided not to do the commuting and high-pressure job thing. Instead I opted for work that was satisfying to me, although much lower paying, and that allowed me to go out to my gardens and hang out with my kitty cats during the day.

I've always told myself this would pay dividends as I got older and that I would not have high blood pressure or cancer or any of the other diseases of aging. So far so good. I come from a healthy family, though, so maybe it's just good genes. I'd like to think my personal choices have played a role in my good health, though. And it sure didn't hurt when that research came out a few years ago that said that having a cat cut one's chances of cancer and heart disease by something like 35%.


Cher

[lisa58]

1. voodoo is the art of creating of a thought form - positive or negative - doesn't matter...

...everyone does it every day all day long either consciously or sub-consiously.

[Celebration]

4. you got that right!!

Voodoo is just a ceremony that formalizes the process (and possibly amplifies the affects of it).

I find it very weird how we demonize voodoo. Well, I guess it depends on the intention. We put out intentions every minute of every day. But as soon as someone makes any sort of effort to make them effective, many people go and hide their heads in the sand.

I say, embrace the power. And use it for good.

One thing, there is more than just "belief systems" at play here. Belief systems are important of course, but it isn't JUST belief systems.

[winyanstaz]

2. Thoughts are things...things are thoughts"...

"Where attention goes...energy flows"..."As it is in your heart...so is it with you."....."All things begin in the Spirit and end on Earth."
These are all saying the exact same thing.

Thought-forms are real and you can learn to see them, same way you can learn to see an aura.

My husband was sent home with 4-5 weeks to live...he was a six foot guy and his weight was down to 94 lbs when the Dr's. gave up on him.
To make a long story short, we changed the programing with mantra's, self-talk and a diet that was organic along with some lung excersize. (I bought him a flute.)
We shared another nine years as a family with many happy memories because we refused to accept the programming the Dr's had tried to give us.

"You can change the whole world...if you'll only change your mind." ~OmenZ

[NJCher]

3. that's an amazing story, winyanstaz

Nine years is a long time. You are a DU example of what belief and health have to do with each other.


Cher

[OneGrassRoot]

5. I second that. An amazing inspiration. :) n/t

[OneGrassRoot]

6. I learned so much about voodoo during the writing of a novel...

(I'm listed as consulting editor) :)

A manuscript draft found its way to me a couple of years ago. The core involved Voudou teachings, and I built a paranormal thriller storyline around the channeled text, after doing exhaustive research about the history of Voudou, originating in West Africa.

Fascinating stuff.

It's scheduled for publication in 2010. You can check it out here, and a link to the video I created is there, too. :) Oy. Forgot to give link: www (dot) bookofobeah (dot) com

(The Google picks up DU posts like crazy, and I prefer this not be one of the main hits when the book is searched)

I've been looking for earrings with the veve symbols. Has anyone found such a thing by any chance?

[lisa58]

7. That looks really interesting...

...as far as the earrings go - check over at the DU crafts group - there are some very talented people over there and maybe someone can make them for you.

[davsand]

8. In times like this I miss Kineta's input.

There used to be a poster here who embraced the Voodoo tradition and was well studied. I don't remember seeing her post here in a while, and it makes me feel sad. Her comments would be nice to see here.

-----

I think that the mind has an enormous impact on our body irrespective of our tradition, really. The power of suggestion is a biggie for anything if you stop to consider.

By way f example, If you find a penny on the sidewalk and pick it up believing it will bring you good fortune that day, most likely, you WILL have a good day. Similarly, if you believe that someone has wished you ill, it is a pretty good bet that SOMEWHERE along the line something unpleasant will happen and you will associate it with that person's ill wish.

It isn't that either scenario is terribly powerful in most cases, but it is a belief that is supported by circumstance, and THAT can carry a lot of weight. Some folks call it manifesting, some call it the power of prayer, some call it magic--but it all really hangs completely on the faith you carry in the object or your belief in the action's power to impact you.

I have always kind of figured that the science guys can only REALLY tell you about how a small portion of our brain is used. There is a huge amount of gray matter hanging out there in our skulls that they simply have NO idea what it is there to do. While I do not pretend to be a neuro specialist, I do feel pretty confident in saying there is just not too much of the human body that is there for NO reason.

Maybe this is an example of how the brain works and they just haven't figured it out yet.


:shrug:


Laura

[Celebration]

9. kineta, etc.

Well, I bet she is somewhere here under a different name, but that is just a guess. She stopped posting around the time everyone was changing their names. Now she is not listed as a member.

I don't remember about Kineta and voodoo, but that is interesting.

There are some Russian scientists who feel that our DNA are actually receptors tuning into fields that are not within the brain or the body. For sure intention works and is very powerful. Mostly people in our modern world would use something like radionics or psychotronics rather than voodoo. I'm not even sure of a definition of voodoo. Most people would probably call their distance work something different from voodoo if only because of the negative connotations associated with the word.

I posted something in Health about a state using acupuncture for addictions, and some person answered derisively "what next, voodoo?" An acupuncturist answered talking about its efficacy and saying something about voodoo (?) and I just answered that some people use the term "voodoo" to mean anything they don't like, in the same manner that right wingers throw around the word "socialism" or "Communism". If they don't like something, they use a fear based word to try to propagandize people against it. Voodoo has become such a word. Very few people now would outwardly call themselves socialists now. There is too much baggages associated with the word in this country. Likewise most people would not say that they engage in voodoo.

I'm sure a lot of people would call what I do "voodoo." Never mind that I know next to nothing about voodoo. Whatever.

[Cleita]

11. Found her name on an old post.

It seems like her new name is Matariki.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x38758#38878

Her post is the last one on the list under Kineta, but when you go to the actual post it's by Matariki.

[Celebration]

15. delete

I see she found us!

[davsand]

18. I will refer you to Religious Tolerance dot Org:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/voodoo.htm

An excerpt that I think important:

"...Today over 60 million people practice Vodun worldwide. Religions similar to Vodun can be found in South America where they are called Umbanda, Quimbanda or Candomble.

Today, there are two virtually unrelated forms of the religion:

An actual religion, Vodun practiced in Benin, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Haiti, Togo and various centers in the US - largely where Haitian refuges have settled.

An evil, imaginary religion, which we will call Voodoo. It has been created for Hollywood movies, complete with violence, bizarre rituals, etc. It does not exist in reality..."


I have to admit, I start with this organization whenever I need to learn about a religion or its practices.



Laura

[Matariki]

10. Thanks! I'm still here

Changed my screen name. :-)

I was going to comment, but realized the OP was using the term as a more generic thing rather than the religion I'm a priestess of.

[Cleita]

12. Hey there we must have both posted at the same time.

:hi:

[Matariki]

14. Hi Cleita!

:hi:

I'm flattered people remembered me.

[davsand]

17. I am so very happy to see you are still here!

I feel the loss of your perspective would diminish our group. You follow a tradition that is not well represented here, and you do an excellent job of making it understandable. I do see you as a gift to us all. Thank you!

:hug:

Glad to hear from you!



Laura

[Matariki]

13. Here is a photo

of my 'Papa Kanzo', the Haitian man who initiated me. He is biting the red hot embers of a stick he pulled out of a fire. Not just a pass over his tongue, but he was full on eating the thing. I was there and saw it, and much else besides that I would say is normally 'impossible'. I've been told of things that I've done too, but don't remember doing.

I think you are right to a certain extent - our minds are unexplored and can do powerful things. But I'm firmly convinced that everything like this can't be simply explained by mere belief. I know for a fact that magic can effect people who have NO idea that magic has been directed toward them and wouldn't believe in it if they did know. I think that it's a bit of a Western, materialistic conceit to dismiss every miracle and act of magic as nothing more than belief.



And a photo of my Godfather - also possessed by the same spririt, who happens to love fire:

[Matariki]

16. Another thought on this

I have a friend who was diagnosed with a type of cancer that had a high mortality rate. She's a magician and has many friends who are as well. When she got the diagnosis, her doctors wanted to operate and she'd be on a catheter for the rest of her short life.

Well, she went to work healing herself, as did her many friends, before allowing them to operate on her. When she went back a few months later she was completely better and they decided they had misdiagnosed her.

The thing is, we don't really know how magic works. Was it that her doctors could only explain such a miracle as a misdiagnosis - or perhaps magic isn't confined by time and her 'healing' was to make the disease NOT TRUE from the start?

[NJCher]

19. this link just appeared

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3890582

NY Times story on how women are exploited using voodoo.


Cher