Primary Document Analysis. I chose to analyze a series of short Youtube clips concerning Voodoo

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1 Primary Document Analysis I chose to analyze a series of short Youtube clips concerning Voodoo Authentica, concentrating mainly on a seven-minute promo entitled, True Voodoo Trailer, (which can be found at as well as several other video excerpts from the same program uploaded by BlankPaige TV. Voodoo Authentica is a practitioner owned and operated institution established in 1996 located in the historic French Quarter of New Orleans. They offer rituals, readings, spiritual work and consultations, and provide locally handmade Voodoo dolls, gris-gris bags, potions and other unique spiritual arts and crafts from New Orleans, Haiti and Africa. Voodoo can be traced back to the Yoruba speaking tribes of West Africa. Throughout history however, all religions had to adjust and modify in order to cater to various social concerns, which arose by means of modernization and globalization. The Voodoo Trailer illustrates how this issue has been resolved in New Orleans through commercializing the practice and closely associating it with entertainment. The aim of the members of Voodoo Authentica is not to replicate or portray Haitian Vodou accurately, but to make an income from the spectacle they put on display, which is based on the assumptions Western audiences make about Voodoo. The expectations they need to fulfill are rooted in the portrayals established by Hollywood and Western media in general, as superstitious, magical, backwards, and even satanic. Several elements of these clips provide evidence of this. First, the clients of Voodoo Authentica are not practitioners of Voodoo. Brandi Kelley, the owner claims that there is no average client and describes her customers as coming from all walks of life ranging from politicians and celebrities, to local businessmen and the trash man down the street. Some clients described themselves as spiritual beings, but they 1

2 are in no way actual initiates of the religion. It is absurd to think that Vodou spirits and Lwa s, which require devotion and commitment from their followers, especially those that they choose to help, are expected to help people who do not caringly practice the religion and are only briefly interested in participating in certain aspects of the tradition. One of the clients presented in the trailer is a woman named Morgan Marcum who is basically seeking relationship advice. (Her story is also filmed separately in more detail and can be found at Doctor Glover, a priest at Voodoo Authentica performs a cemetery love ritual for Morgan, which is meant to help her with commitment issues. The ritual seems to fuse the traditional and the modern. The priest emphasizes the use of numbers asking Morgan to perform certain tasks, like jumping or rotating specific amounts of times. He also uses different elements, which can be associated with traditional Vodou practices, such as incense, alcohol, flowers, and what appears to be an ancestral skull. The ceremony takes places at a graveyard the reasons for which are never disclosed. This location is therefore significant because it reflects what the expectations about Voodoo are, that Voodoo is dark and witchy, and what a ritual, which is essentially a service that someone has paid for must entail. In a nutshell, Morgan Marcum is not really paying for help with her commitment issues, but for a convincing Voodoo inspired performance. Doctor Glover has Morgan undress and bathes her in an herbal mix of patchouli and lavender. Because she clearly has certain assumptions about the superstitions of Voodoo, she is willing to do anything that she believes will help her case. But the fact that she thinks she can buy this service alone proves that she does not understand how the religion functions and is not truly a part of it. Though the 2

3 ritual may in a way resemble a baptism, because Morgan is nearly nude and bathed, contrary to the aim of baptism, Morgan is not trying to become and initiate of Voodoo. She is only purchasing a service theoretically aimed at fixing her problem. A sense of baptism is not the only syncretization with Christianity made in the clip. Christian saints are for example mentioned numerous times throughout the videos. During the cemetery love ritual, Doctor Glover calls on the Orisha s, the Lwa s, the ancestors and the supernatural powers of the dead as well as the guardian angel of Morgan Marcum. Glover also ends the ritual by saying Amen. These elements evidently have Christian undertones. Additionally, in the trailer, Kelley describes the members of Voodoo Authentica as a combination of a bunch of things which work including practitioners of Catholicism, Voodoo and witchcraft. This religious convergence is in no way unique to Voodoo in Louisiana, but in a situation like New Orleans, where the practice of Voodoo has lost its religious aspect, it makes sense that the void of divinity is replaced by figures who Western audiences are already familiar with. Whereas in Haiti Vodou is a religious practice which entails a belief system and cosmology, based on these clips it becomes clear that New Orleans Voodoo has taken the shape of celebrating random, individual rituals. Its main focus seems to be removed from religion altogether and is used to serve people and attempt to influence the outcomes of life through a supposed connections with the spirits, ancestors, and nature. The wide range of non-practicing clients presented in these short clips attests to that. More proof that Voodoo Authentica functions on the basis of Western assumptions about Voodoo can be found in the character of Zaar who is a member of Voodoo Authentica and considers himself a fully awakened vampire (who, to make matters more complex is also an openly homosexual pagan). In the trailer, as well as 3

4 some separate short clips he can be seen performing a zombie wedding, readings and communicating with the dead. The presence of such characters and their affiliation with Voodoo may lead to misconceptions similar to the ones that developed during the early 20 th century, which lead to false beliefs that the principal elements of Voodoo involve hexing and sticking pins into dolls. Simultaneously, vampires and zombies are also intriguing to people who are unused to such lifestyles, i.e. tourists, and associating with such unique and exciting characters is good for business. The reason for making these videos should also be considered in analyzing this source. The trailer and the individual rituals seem to be part of a much larger amount of footage and Kelley mentions several reasons why she thinks people may be interested in a show about Voodoo Authentica, centered on the notion of using Voodoo as a source of support. The assumption therefore can be made that this is publicizing material, though the videos are also a long ways from being professional. The intended audience of these videos were initially the people that Kelley considered as potential clients, but though there are several short clips on Youtube, the final cut is nowhere to be found online or as a publication. Therefore, suddenly the audience is limited to people who are either actively researching Voodoo in New Orleans on Youtube or come across them unintentionally. In nearly four years, the trailer has gotten only approximately 9,800 views. Though there are two Haitian priestesses at Voodoo Authentica, and the religion itself has generally been associated with people of African decent, the Caucasian Brandi Kelley is the focus of these documentaries. Placing a deft, white American woman with no accent as the focus of these videos, surrounded by Haitian priests and priestesses, who appear only briefly for commentary may have been a marketing move, (which didn t work so well considering the amount of views of BlankPaige TV has gotten) and is another 4

5 example of how Voodoo has been appropriated by white America. Kelley addresses this issue, admitting that she has been asked, What a white girl is doing in Voodoo? She makes it a point to emphasize that Voodoo embraces people from all backgrounds, and describes Voodoo Authentica as a gathering place, where everybody comes together from different traditions, different ages with a common love for spirit. However, efforts to identify and reinforce more traditional, Haitian practices can also be detected in these videos. In one, which depicts a Beer Garden blessing for one of Kelley s close friends, ( three Voodoo priestesses begin by honoring Papa Legba, the guardian and opener of the front door. During the process, a spirit passes through the eldest of the priestesses, named Mama Lola and nearly possesses her causing her to stumble during a chant. Later, Kelley and the third priestess named Maggie both see Papa Guede s face in a glass of water they left by the door for him. However, the authenticity of such occurrences is called into question when they happen to people who sanctioned the idea of buying a blessing. The owner of the bar could not see the Lwa s appearance and choosing to include this in the clip aims to assert the exceptionality and legitimacy of the priestesses. Simultaneously, a distinction between Haitian Vodou and Voodoo is made, when Kelley is asked to chuck a glass bottle behind her after one ritual lead by Mama Lola and is reluctant to do so explaining that, it s so Haitian and that in America this is called littering. Such a comment exemplifies how Vodou in America has been stripped of certain practices in order to adjust to an American audience. Those in search of a fortune appropriated Voodoo into the business of superstitions with gris-gris, potions and powders. Though a lot of the material in the True Voodoo 5

6 Trailer pertains to Haitian Vodou religious and spiritual practices, the rituals, readings and the sale of certain products at Voodoo Authentica are focused on entertainment and depend on making money. Voodoo, the way it is executed at Voodoo Authentica and in these clips is not primarily a religious practice. It has been mystified and syncretized with a number of other religious or spiritual beliefs, and its existence is highly dependent on consumerism. 6