Chapter 1 Azusa Voodoo

Transcription

1 Chapter 1 Azusa Voodoo 1.1 Azusa: The Headlines Azusa is called one of the greatest moves in Christianity ever! An outpouring of the Spirit of God. The reincarnation of the exact happenings of the Day of Pentecost when Christ s apostles received the Spirit; a religious duplicate verified by the peculiar sign of speaking in tongues. But, it turned out to be more like drugs, sex and rock-n-roll. There is no doubt that Azusa was the move of a spirit, but there are numerous spirits in the spirit-world; good ones and evil ones! Spirits exist in all geographical regions of the world. In fact, all the major religions of the world have spirits of some kind. In the case of Azusa the question begs was it the Holy Spirit? Knowing that all the pagan fruit of African traditional religion and Haitian Voodoo traits was there leads one to wonder about who the dominating spirit of Azaua was! Knowing that Azusa attracted spiritualist, mediums, séances and trances 1 it leads one to wonder about who the dominating spirit of Azaua was! Knowing that jerking, speaking in tongues and falling under the power were present leads one to wonder about who the dominating spirit of Azaua was! Yes, historians, eyewitnesses, storytellers, along with a host of other vivid account-bearers weave a tale. Reports confirm the actions of people possessed by a spirit which they claimed was the Holy Spirit. But was it? In answer, such notables as William Seymour, Charles Parham, Frank Bartleman and William Durham take the stand in self-defense; maybe in self-incrimination! Some of their comments were pro and some con! The credentials of these witnesses are well known. William J. Seymour, 1

2 Chapter 2 West and Central Africa: Its Shaman and Voodoo Religion 2.1 Africa: Its Ancient Religion of Voodoo No one can fully understand the Africanisms of Azusa or the Africanisms of Pentecostalism without understanding the African slave story. This tale includes the exportation of Africans to Haiti and the United States. Interestingly according to The Eliade Guide to World Religions, these slaves were linked to the original peoples of the earth, as it reports that Africa was the birthplace of humankind. 1 If so, it must be the birthplace of religion. In the case of the Atlantic coast of Africa, ancient pagan religion included Vodun, meaning spirit in the Fon and Ewe languages of West Africa. 2 Thus West and Central Africa tale must also include the shipment of the Voodoo religion to Haiti and the United States. fact check... Voodoo was a pagan religion of Africa long before it made its way to Haiti or America In this story, many times, the term Voodoo is referred to. As a clarification, it is noteworthy to understand that vodun, vudun, vodon, vodoun, voudou and Voodoo are all kin to each other. Therefore, in the course of this book, liberty shall be taken to make common these variant spellings and merely use the word Voodoo. The word Voodoo will be used in place of and interchangeably with all its other various spellings. Voodoo, in this book, is defined as any of the traditional religions of slaves exported from West and Central Africa; it may refer to slaves whose exact traditional religion is Vodun; it may also refer to religion of slaves and their syncretic religions in Haiti, the USA or Louisiana. 2

3 Chapter 3 Haiti: Its Slave History and Voodoo Religion 3.1 Haiti: Home of Africa and African Voodoo Haiti is African! It is Voodoo! It is Catholic! Some ninety-five percent of Haiti s population is of African descent. 1 The Catholic religion claims about eighty-three percent of the population of Haiti. Also Voodoo-Vodou is practiced by nearly six million Haitians 2 while worldwide figures come in at sixty million. 3 The National Geographic Channel quoted a source which said One common saying is that Haitians are 70 percent Catholic, 30 percent Protestant, and 100 percent voodoo. 4 That is not far from the truth. Neither is the fact that the geographical roots of Haitians run back to West and Central Africa, which helps us to identify who Haitians are historically, geographically and religiously. Voodoo was brought to Haiti by slaves from different regions of Africa, including Kongo and Dahomean, 5 where Voodoo s roots may go back 6,000 years. 6 Three of the African slave exporters were the Yourba of present-day Nigeria, the Fon of Dahomey from Benin and the Kongo. 7 The slave ports of West and Central Africa were responsible for the majority of slaves that were exported to the Americas and Caribbean. The ships which carried the Dahomey people, and other African people groups to their Haitian slavery, delivered Voodoo believers and Voodoo priests. In other words, slave exportation dealt not only the human traffic, but also supplied the African voodoo religion to Haiti. Proof of connection is verified by the parallel in the names of the spiritual nations which the Haitian Voodoo spirit groups operated in. Almost all refer to places and peoples in Africa. For example, the Voodoo spirits are grouped as Rada, Wagol and Mondon. These, respectively, represent West and Central entities of Dahomean, Angola, Kongo and others. 8 Particular to the case of Haiti bound slaves, we will concentrate on 3

4 Chapter 4 Louisiana: Fountainhead of American Voodoo 4.1 Colonial Louisiana: How It All Started Louisiana was many things to many people. Louisiana was the Louisiana Purchase, Blacks, French, Catholic, antebellum, Creole, and a slave society. It was New Orleans, Congo Square, Marie Laveau, hoodoo, gri-gri, sex and Haiti. It was also home to some of the world s wealthiest men. Louisiana was Deep South - cotton and sugar country - driven forward by Eli Whitney s patenting of the cotton gin in 1794 and Jean Étienne Boré s 1795 introduction in Louisiana of the processing of sugar from sugar cane. Louisiana was an increased demand for slaves. And not just slaves from abroad. More than one million African slaves migrated from within America s borders. Slaves came from the Upper South to the Deep South. They came to Louisiana. Louisiana was slavery s economic driver; Louisiana held the number one position in slave markets by fact check... Louisiana was slaves, the # 1 American slave market and home of Voodoo But Louisiana was more than slaves. It was New Orleans, slave religion, the heartbeat of Voodoo and it was the home of thousands of Haitian immigrants and their Voodoo religion. Furthermore, Louisiana was the home of William Seymour the Shaman of Azusa Voodoo and Father of Pentecostalism. He was right in the middle of the Essence of Voodoo, geographically and spiritually. Knowing this, we should trace a few Louisiana Voodoo trademarks which were pertinent to Seymour and his ministry. Why? Because 4

5 Chapter 5 Rural Louisiana: How Its Hoodoo Affected Christianity 5.1 Rural Louisiana: Voodoo-Hoodoo Religion New Orleans had all the trapping of the metropolitan life, including its own flavor of Voodoo. It was Catholic in nature. Conversely, the rural areas, containing slaves and slave plantations, testified of their own type of Voodoo, known as Hoodoo. It was Protestant in nature. Although there was cross-over between the Voodoo and Hoodoo, each were different, yet alike. The Hoodoo spirit made its way into the bayous of Southern Louisiana. Voodoo s formal organization did not. Like their city Voodoo cousins, rural slaves had certain religious beliefs and practices that were an integral part of their life Hoodoo by name. So gaining a deeper understanding of the rural southern Louisiana antebellum and sugar cane plantation area will help us focus on important norms that drove rural slave religion. It will uncover the general spiritual setting of the rural slave population that was in place. It will give us insight into William J. Seymour, a rural slave child. fact check... Rural Louisiana had its own flavor of Voodoo known as Hoodoo Rural Louisiana Hoodoo was based on the actions of individuals, not organizations. It was faith-based and passed down to the following generation. 1 The majority of slaves in southern Louisiana have African beliefs and superstitions. These were handed down to their offspring. Maybe this was driven, in part, so as to be in line with their inner African spiritual consciousness. In these setting, slaves were involved with spells, magic and root work, which was part of slave life. They believed in signs and wonders, invisible spirits, trances, spirit possession, visions and dreams. 2 Their norm was inclusive of conjure-men, exhorters, and snake gods. Not to be left out was hush harbors, spirits and spirit possession. 5

6 Chapter 6 William J. Seymour: A Louisiana Slave Child 6.1 Seymour: Childhood Life & Times South Louisiana had its distinctiveness; complete with the French and Spanish legacy, an Anglo-American territory, its Roman Catholic bastion; present were evangelical Protestantism, the slave society, its sugar society and historic plantations. But more importantly, it had Centerville, Louisiana, the hometown of William J. Seymour, the son of former slaves. Centerville lays one-hundred miles southwest of New Orleans, on current US 90. Here one experiences a small rural area along the Bayou Tech, being part of St. Mary Parish, Hoodoo country, Louisiana! Even today s National Register of Historic Places testifies to St. Mary Parish s former glory as it has twenty-seven historic plantation homes and other buildings listed on the 2016 list. 1 But its proud history reaches deeper because it is the birthplace of the Father of Pentecostalism. Seymour s father, Simon Simon, also known as Simon Seymour, was born about Phillis Salaba, Seymour s mother, was born November 23, Simon and Phillis were both born into slavery, as were their parents before them. Phillis and Simon were married on July 27, 1867, with Methodist minister R.K. Diossy officiating. To this union was born 8 children, including William, who was born in All were baptized as Catholics. William was baptized on September 4, 1870 in the Church of the Assumption (Catholic), Franklin, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, by Father M. Harnais, at the age of four months old. At the age of thirteen, his parents purchased property in nearby Vendunville just a mile and a half away. The following year the Seymour s moved from Centerville to Vendunville where they lived adjacent to the New Providence Baptist Church. Due to proximity of their house to the church the likelihood that they attended the Providence Baptist Church is high. William s father was buried in Providence s cemetery. 2 Concerning the slave background of Seymour s family, we do not know who owned Simon. He was described as a mulatto, a person of mixed 6

7 Chapter 7 Seymour: His Fool s Gold 7.1 Seymour: The Search For Gold The early years of William J. Seymour s life rode on the wings of economic pain, social pressure and racial exclusion; all the while his St. Mary Parish had been devastated by the civil war. Blacks experienced a plight under which the American government distributed 15 million rations to former slaves in the post three years of the Civil War. 1 History reveals that in 1865 starvation and disease claimed the lives of 100,000 Blacks. 2 The Great Panic of 1873 lasted six year and was followed by a second Great Panic of During the years of the first Great Panic, although the civil war was over, violence against Blacks in St. Mary Parish caused federal troops to be dispatched there. 3 The feelings of racial intolerance were verified by the fact that Seymour s St. Mary Parish was the birthplace of the Knights of the White Camellia, an organization somewhat like the Ku Klux Klan. 4 In 1891 Seymour decided to escape St. Mary Parish for a better life. 7.2 Seymour: Is Orthodox Christianity Golden? William s fifteen year journey from the time he left St. Mary Parish until he reached his Azusa home in 1906 covered numerous resident cities. In chronological order it appears he either was or may have been in the following places: Memphis (1891), St. Louis (1893), Indianapolis (1895), Chicago (1900), Cincinnati ( ), Columbus ( ), Houston (1905) and Los Angeles (1906). 5 It was on this pilgrimage of cities that Seymour first formally became part of Protestantism. He associated himself with Simpson Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church in Indianapolis, where he was a member. 6 But Seymour s story takes a big turn! 7

8 Chapter 8 Azusa Cradle 8.1 Azusa Cradle: The Offspring William Branham, one of the most famous Pentecostals of all times taught a snake sex doctrine! He proclaimed that, in the Garden of Eden Eve had sexual intercourse with the snake and Cain was the resulting offspring! As typical, this Pentecostal doctrine is false. Along these same lines there is another true fact which concerns William J. Seymour and the snake god called Damballa. It points out that Seymour and the Voodoo snake god became intimate friends. In fact, it could be argued that he and Damballa were the Father & Mother of Azusa and Pentecostalism was their offspring. And their children just kept on coming! The birth rate was so strong that according to the stats the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement counts its worldwide followers at 600 million and growing. 1 This makes the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement the largest worldwide Protestant body, 2 albeit pagan. In conjunction with the multiplied millions of individual members an entire string of offspring Azusa ministries cropped up. Of course, any attempt to name them all would shortchange the list; four broad categories are given to highlight the point. These include the close-knit siblings of ministries, leaders, denominations and missionaries. fact check... Seymour and Azusa let the cat out of the bag and the snake too! Now Damballa slithers throughout the entire movement Let s take a more detailed look at each of these. Ministries Ministries which run their roots back to Azusa are too numerous to detail, but briefly a few high-profile ones 3 will be mentioned below. These include mega-churches, institutions of higher learning and media. 8

9 Chapter 9?Tongues?: Azusa s Square Peg In a Round Hole 9.1?Tongues?: Proof of Holy Ghost or Not? William J. Seymour taught his recently discovered new & improved doctrine of tongues. This doctrine actually originated in his professor, Charles Fox Parham. Parham s doctrine was supposedly a far cry from Seymour s background of tongues, which was rooted in the unintelligible speech spoken by witch doctors and conjure men in African traditional religion and Haiti Voodoo. Parham s doctrine was touted to be at least abstractly the biblical account of Acts 2 inclusive with understandable mother tongues; while Seymour s tongues doctrine and roots was purely pagan in the concrete sense. In Parham s mind, Bible history stated that the Acts 2 tongues were a miraculous and understandable speech which needed no interpreter. Acts 2 tongues allowed the Christian disciples to speak directly to 17 different language groups without the disciples knowing the hearer s foreign language. 1 According to Professor Parham the Acts 2 tongues that he taught and practiced were the same as those shown in the biblical setting of Acts 2. Parham, the schoolmaster, taught his students that Acts 2 was the genuine model concerning the reception of the real Holy Spirit baptism. And, according to Parham, the proof was in the pudding. Parham formulated the evidential tongues doctrine that became the hallmark of North American classical Pentecostalism. 2 Professor Parham looked pretty convincing! The chain-of-events shows that through Parham s doctrine and influence Agnes Ozman had received Acts 2 speaking in tongues ; this event was documented in 1901 at Parham s Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas. Additionally, at his school 21 different mother tongues - native languages - were reported to be spoken by Americans who had no knowledge of foreign languages. Later, in Houston, Texas Parham taught other students the same doctrine; that the Holy Spirit baptism is evidenced by the sign of speaking in understandable foreign languages. This missionary tongues doctrine made inroads at the Houston school were William J. Seymour attended and William said amen to Parham and his doctrine. 3 9

10 Chapter 10 Pentecostal Tongues: What It Is and What It Ain t! 10.1 Pentecostal Tongues: A Pagan Copycat Seymour was the Master of Ceremony at Azusa where he orchestrated a scam of paganism! Seymour did not introduce a new & improved Christianity to Azusa. He introduced shamanism, in the form of a blended smoothie; African traditional religion, Voodoo-Hoodoo, slave religion and a sprinkle of Protestantism served as the ingredients. This blend should be no surprise for he was the Father of Pentecostalism but one must also remember he was, first, and foremost, the Shaman of Azusa. And guess what Shamans are expert at? Shamanism! Yes, the shamanism of getting possessed by demonic spirits and the shamanism of speaking in tongues. Therefore Seymour gave oracular utterances, often in conjunction with spirit possession. 1 And his spirit possession, in concert with glossolalia, was identical to the devotees of Voodoo. 2 fact check... Seymour s Azusa tongues were not understandable languages that Parham promised. They were pagan & African in nature; additionally they also carried other heathen manifestations right alongside of them Seymour s own possession and tongues gives us insight into his African pagan spiritual linage; a heritage that existed long before he corroborated with Charles Fox Parham. But the storyline is more complex because on the coattails of this initial evidence additional signs & wonders were produced by spirits at Azusa; the greatest revival of neo Voodoo ever heard of, complete with the spirit of Damballa! 10

11 Chapter 11 Strange Stuff: Demonic or Divine? 11.1 Strange Stuff: Whose Voice Is At the Door? Post-modern Pentecostal-Charismatics have accomplished an amazing feat; that in a million fascinating ways! PC s have cloned Eastern religion s Kundalini Shakti and copied the New Age movement who operate in the demonic realm. Additionally PC s have duplicated mediums, Shamans and witch doctors, along with Voodoo practitioners. And they have reproduced the slave-trade religion of West and Central Africa paganism. In short, modern Pentecostalism walks hand-in-hand with ancient sorcery! Still disagree? Then review the following parallel facts and manifestations: Eastern religion s Kundalini Shakti can produce effects such as violent shaking, laughing, trance, dance and visions. Is it a coincidence that Kundalini is represented by a snake 1 and produces the same manifestations as Pentecostalism? New Age Movement groups who operate in the demonic realm, like psychics, mediums, astrologers, WICCA and paranormal researchers have similar beliefs to Eastern-Indian philosophy. Strikingly, the Pentecostal-Charismatic Movement falls directly into the same tent with New Age paranormal activity, including parallel manifestations. 2 Pentecostal John Crowder acknowledges demonic miracles and says that mediums, Shamans and witch doctors have performed the same miracle as Jesus, 3 thus equating Jesus to a Shaman. The practice of Voodoo shares parallel manifestations with Pentecostalism such as fainting, choking, tremors, falling to 11

12 Chapter 12 Pentecostal Sex: Paganism In Bed 12.1 Pentecostal Sex: Acts of Damballa, Snake Sex God Pentecostals love sex particularly illicit sex! And all 50 shades of it! From high ranking leaders to pastors their practices include homo sex to adultery sex, from snake sex to lesbian sex, from pedophilia sex to other off-limits sex. Naturally the question arises Where does all this Pentecostal testosterone come from? In answer, let the Pentecostal linage of the snake sex god answer that question! History has linked West and Central Africa and the Voodoo religion. Voodoo practicing Shamans and slaves, including the snake worshipping Ewe people and other African nationalities, were shipped abroad to various destinations, including Haiti. Here, Damballa, the snake god of sex, was venerated in Haitian Voodoo. Masses of Haitian slaves immigrated into Louisiana along with their Voodoo snake sex religion. Shaman William J. Seymour, son of slaves, was born in the Voodoo snake environment in southern Louisiana. He later promoted the Damballa snake spirit at Azusa where he became the Father of Pentecostalism. Damballa is the African snake god of sex. He was turned loose at the Azusa Revival and morphed himself into Pentecostalism. Afterwards Pentecostal denominations and marquee ministers in Pentecostalism became members of the Damballa club. Seeing is believing so take a look at Damballa s peep show! Pentecostalism produced neo-shamans like Charles Fox Parham, a major leader who was criminally charged with sodomy. William Braham, the enduringly great Pentecostal leader who some said was Jesus Christ personally believed in snake sex. 1 Paul Cain, who has been proclaimed as one greatest tongues prophets ever, admitted to being a homosexual. Bishop Eddie Long and TBN s Paul Crouch both 12

13 Chapter 13 Pentecostalism: Its Pagan Proofs 13.1 Pentecostalism: Pagan by Design William J. Seymour was spot on when he predicted the pagan possibilities of illicit sex - free loveism, witches and spirits among his Azusa Pentecostal people! 1 How bout them apples? Just remember that paganism arrived big time at Azusa and with it also came all the fruit of African traditional religion, including the witch doctor s practice of talking in unknown tongues! This makes Pentecostalism as pagan as paganism! Paganism always gives itself away by displaying its telltale glossolalia fruit. Even the pagan annuals of time African traditional religion, Haitian Voodoo and American slave religion have shown their colors by using glossolalia. Shamanism, cargo cults, Kabbalistic Sufi and mantric circles have cloned this unintelligible speech. Lastly the same holds true in Pentecostalism! 2 We ascertain that all these identified groups of tongues speakers have a common bond called glossolalia. This unintelligible, coded speech is communication with the spirit realm and the demonic. But there remains a second important commonality which acts as a benchmark. All these groups display an ability to act in the role of medium between evil spirits of the other-world and the spirit of mankind. Other-world spirits are inhabitants of the unseen demonic spirit world therefore they pagan and demonic. In Pentecostalism s case they are covertly pagan. But their ability to operate in plain brown paper is removed by the fact that the central marker of Azusa, and of today s PC Movement, is the identical communicative language used by all other pagans. Therefore Pentecostalism is pagan and it uses demonic language to act in its admitted role as a medium to the spirit world. Do Pentecostals admit they are mediums? Yes! Take Charismatic Professor Poloma who said: 13