Hoodoo
A person or thing that brings bad luck, or even the bad luck itself.
Voodoo
Voodoo (or vodou) is a religious system with followers predominantly in Haiti in the West Indies, and in other countries to which Haitians have immigrated. Developed by African slaves brought to Haiti by the French between the 17th and 19th centuries, it combines features of African religion with the Roman Catholicism of the European settlers. Voodoo is similar in many ways to other Afro-American cults, such as Santeria in Cuba and Macumba in Brazil.
The term voodoo is thought to be derived from the word for "spirit" in the Fon language of West Africa. The voodoo religion involves belief in a supreme god (bon dieu) and a host of spirits called loa. Most voodoo practices involve the loa, which are often identified with Catholic saints. These spirits are closely related to African gods and may represent natural phenomena--such as fire, water, or wind--or dead persons, including eminent ancestors. They consist of two main groups: the rada, often mild and helping, and the petro, which may be dangerous and harmful.
Voodoo rites include special ceremonies in which the loa have the power to make their presence known. These are characterized by music and dancing that lead the participants into a trancelike state in which they are possessed by the loa. The spirit temporarily displaces the astral body of the possessed person and occupies his or her physical body. The individual thus possessed is said to be mounted by the loa and behaves and acts as the loa directs, usually in a manner characteristic of the loa itself. Priests called houngans or priestesses known as mambos preside over these ceremonies.
Other voodoo practices include animal sacrifices and pilgrimages. The focal point of a pilgrimage is usually a Christian church identified with a particular voodoo spirit. The most important of these pilgrimages take place in July and honor Ogou (Saint James) and Ezili Danto (Our Lady of Mount Carmel).
Another aspect of voodoo is called "work of the left hand," which includes belief in Zombies. A zombie, created by a priest known as a bocor, is said to be the soulless body of a dead person, which the bocor reanimates by causing it to be possessed by an elemental spirit and which then performs physical labour in the fields.
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