Untitled. Etymology[edit] Kālī is the feminine form of kālam ("black, dark coloured").[3] Kāla primarily means "time" but also means "black" in honor of being the first creation before light itself. Kālī means "the black one" and refers to her being the entity of "time" or "beyond time. " Kāli is strongly associated with Shiva, and Shaivas derive the masculine Kāla (an epithet of Shiva) to come from her feminine name. A nineteenth-century Sanskrit dictionary, the Shabdakalpadrum, states: कालः शिवः ।
तस्य पत्नीति - काली । Kālaḥ śivaḥ । Other names include Kālarātri ("black night"), as described above, and Kālikā ("relating to time"). Kāli's association with darkness stands in contrast to her consort, Shiva, who manifested after her in creation, and who symbolises the rest of creation after Time is created.
Origins[edit] Worship and mantra[edit] Kali could be considered a general concept, like Durga, and is mostly worshiped in the Kali Kula sect of worship. ॐ जयंती मंगल काली भद्रकाली कपालिनी । Untitled. Contrary to popular belief, the Africans enslaved to build the economic foundation of America were not Christians.1 During slavery, African-Americans were not even allowed to worship as westernized Christians. Later, during Reconstruction, the myth that the majority of "free" Africans were devout Christians, was merely a political ploy deliberately disseminated in popular media by white Abolitionists, and black preachers, as an argument against slavery; in their naive attempt to present the enslaved masses as "civilized," and therefore “human.”
The latter being embarrassed and ashamed by the African religious practices which were deemed "evil" and primitive. 2 This myth has remained unchallenged until the present. In truth, the builders of this great nation were practitioners of the various African Religions popularly known today as "Voodoo", (Vodoun) Akan, Ifa, Orisha, La Reglas de Congo, and Mami Wata. Untitled. Vodou altar during a celebration for Papa Guédé in Boston. This altar has offerings to three nations (nanchons) of loa: at top right are offerings to Rada spirits; at top left are those for the Petwo family; and those at bottom are for Guédé.
Haitian Vodou[3] (/ˈvoʊduː/, French: [vodu], also written as Voodoo /ˈvuːduː/; Vodun,[4] or Vodoun[4] /ˈvoʊduːn/, etc.) is a syncretic religion practiced chiefly in Haiti and the Haitian diaspora. Practitioners are called "vodouists" (French: vodouisants [voduisɑ̃]) or "servants of the spirits" (Haitian Creole: sèvitè). Vodouists believe in a distant and unknowable creator god, Bondye (likely derived from the French language term Bon Dieu, or Good Lord). As Bondye does not intercede in human affairs, vodouists direct their worship toward spirits subservient to Bondye, called loa. Names and etymology[edit] Vodou is a Haitian Creole word that formerly referred to only a small subset of Haitian rituals. Beliefs[edit] Deities[edit] Loa[edit] Morality[edit] Untitled. The Loa (also Lwa or L'wha) are the spirits of Haitian Vodou.
They are also referred to as Mystères and the Invisibles, in which are intermediaries between Bondye (Bon Dieu, or good god)—the Creator, who is distant from the world—and humanity. Unlike saints or angels however, they are not simply prayed to, they are served. They are each distinct beings with their own personal likes and dislikes, distinct sacred rhythms, songs, dances, ritual symbols, and special modes of service. Contrary to popular belief, the loa are not deities in and of themselves; they are intermediaries for a distant Bondye. Syncretism[edit] As a way to keep their European enslavers from interfering[citation needed], and to appease the authorities who prevented them from practising their own religions, the enslaved African people in Haiti syncretised the Loa with the Roman Catholic saints - so Vodoun altars will frequently have images of Catholic figures displayed.
Rituals[edit] Nanchons of Loa[edit] Rada loa[edit] Untitled. The Yorùbá religion comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practices of the Yorùbá people. Its homeland is in Southwestern Nigeria and the adjoining parts of Benin and Togo, a region that has come to be known as Yorùbáland. Yorùbá religion is formed of diverse traditions and has no single founder. It has influenced or given birth to a host of thriving ways of life such as Lucumí, Umbanda and Candomblé.[1] Yorùbá religious beliefs are part of Itan, the total complex of songs, histories, stories and other cultural concepts which make up the Yorùbá society.[1][2][3] Beliefs[edit] According to Kola Abimbola, the Yorùbá have evolved a robust cosmology.[1] In brief, it holds that all human beings possess what is known as "Àyànmô"[4] (destiny, fate) and are expected to eventually become one in spirit with Olódùmarè (Olòrún, the divine creator and source of all energy).
Prayer to one's Orí Òrún produces an immediate sensation of joy. Olódùmarè[edit] Divinities[edit] Legba. Untitled.