Most of the time, when people hear about Vaudou, what they know about it is from TV. The Hollywood version of Vaudou is conceived of by people who do not know about Vaudou. Books on Vaudou are often not much better; they are usually written by people who do not have a full understanding of what Vaudou really is.

            Vaudou is a vertical power. Any one, any where, can be gifted with this gift. A Vaudou priest is a person who gives his life to learn and to share the wisdom to better the way of living around him and on the Earth in general. People who have this gift in other cultures might have different names. In Haiti, we call it Vaudou because it is an old tradition from Africa as everything has to have a name, so we call it Voudou. In an African language, it means vaudin, which means spirit. As we know, we are numbers of people who have been gifted by those powers. In other cultures, we might be called Shaman, or spiritmen, or mediums, but in the Haitian tradition, we are called Vaudou priest or priestess. As I can say, as a Vaudou priest, I have no authority to say who is a good or bad Vaudou priest. I have not been gifted with the knowledge to judge. As I was chosen, only one thing I knew for sure: it is a powerful knowledge and wisdom tool. Some might use it for good, or for bad. Myself, after I accepted the gift, I vowed to follow the good way of it, to learn and help others with the power I have been gifted with. In Vaudou, there are things people might call magic, because there is no way to prove them, except you have to believe them. I am not trying to convince anyone to believe in that kind of power, but I will advise anyone to approach it with heart and tolerance. Whenever you are opened to learning, not to hate, you will come up with something positive. 

            Vaudou is a way of living. It is a way of understanding and loving others as yourself. I believe many faiths share those qualities. The tradition I’m carrying on, I can’t tell anyone since when that tradition has been around, except that I knew from my Dad was a Vaudou priest for 60 years. One thing I have to do to help others is to open my heart, and let the solutions come. This knowledge is vertical. No one can measure your knowledge, but you can always be willing to learn more. Only this do I know about Vaudou.