Shattering shaman myths

The 'rain' man

When pop star Avril Lavigne and the late Pope John Paul II visited Indonesia, a Javanese mystic was called in to work his magic and ensure a rain-free event. INDONESIAN mystic Haryobintoro Tjakra enters a small hut and kneels before the tools of his trade: incense, a bowl of dirt, two black umbrellas and a ceramic burner on which he piles chunks of wood. Bowing his head, he lights the burner, sending fragrant fumes swirling up to the hut’s exhaust fan, and prays in Javanese: the rain must stayaw...

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'Voodoo-cursed' woman is jailed

A woman who produced human fingers in court in a bid to explain her involvement in a £925,000 tax credit fraud has been jailed for five years. Remi Fakorede, 46, from Hackney, east London, told Snaresbrook Crown Court, she had been forced into crime by a voodoo curse on her and her family. Fakorede claimed the same voodoo curse caused the fingers belonging to one of her six children to fall off. She was convicted of one count of fraud between 1 August 2002 and 26 June 2007. Her daughter, Denise ...

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Voodoo History

Voodoo is a religion that originated in Africa and was brought to Haiti by slaves, where it is still widely practiced by most inhabitants. Most aspects of this religion are positive and it affects all aspects of the people's lives, such as morality, economics, safety, relationships and health.There is a revered God, an assortment of spirits, and many rituals. Worshippers communicate with their God through the "loa" or spirits. This relationshiop is based on trust and mutu...

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'Spy' used voodoo to shield general from Taliban

A british army translator accused of spying for Iran was a voodoo priest who used black magic to protect the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan from the Taliban, a court heard. Iranian-born Daniel James, 45, who was the personal interpreter to General David Richards, told the Old Bailey that he used pictures, dust, candles and seashells to cast spells protect his boss. He also said he did Tarot card readings for other personnel at the Allied HQ in Kabul to predict the future. James is alleg...

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Voodoo Day celebrated in Benin

Thousands of followers have gathered in Benin in the seaside town of Ouidah to celebrate National Voodoo Day. They met at a beach called the point of no return, where slaves left on ships for the Americas centuries ago, taking their religion with them. Followers of the once-banned religion have been dancing, drumming, praying as animals are slaughtered in ceremonies. Of Benin's seven million citizens, 65% believe in Voodoo. The day has been a national holiday for a decade. "There islitt...

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Rainmaker ritual helps date ancient droughts

Charred remains of ancient rainmaking fires are helping to date droughts in Iron Age Africa to within 20 years. After a several years of little or no rainfall, the Bantu people near modern-day Zimbabwe would send a rainmaker tonearby hills. "They"d burn fires with dark smoke to call black rain clouds from the mountains," says Thomas Huffman at theUniversity of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. . Villagers were also made to burn grain bins if they had planted "unlucky" foreign seed...

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The mystical experience of shamanism

When michael harner, an American professor of anthropology, began teaching shamanism and shamanic healing in the early 1970s to Westerners, it was largely unknown outside of academia. Now modern-day shamans, typically referred to as “shamanic practitioners,” can be found throughout the US and Europe. Many thousands of them owe their education to Dr. Harner and the Foundation for Shamanic Studies (FSS), the non-profit organization he began in 1985 to study, restore, and teach shamanism and shaman...

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Peru shamans perform protective ritual

Peruvian shamans met at Lima"s highest point on Sunday to perform a ceremony which they believe will help protect the spirits of world leaders in 2009. Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez and Barack Obama were among those leaders chosen to receivespecial attention. It was predicted that President-elect Obama would have a good start to 2009, but that Venezuela"s leaderHugo Chavez would have a "quite a bit of desperation" this year. . Despite lacking world leader status, Michael Jackson also received specia...

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Children in voodoo's power

In the tiny West African country of Benin, voodoo has been practised for 10,000 years, but efforts to preserve its ancient oral traditions are exacting a harsh toll on its faithful, splitting families and pushing people deeper into poverty. Benin is unique in recognising voodoo as an official religion, followed by two-thirds of its 7.6 million people. It involves a pantheon of gods and spirits whose intercession is sought through animal blood sacrifice. But to survive, voodoo needs a new generat...

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Voodoo priest: "My exorcisms get results"

The nondescript red-brick block in north London barely warrants a second glance, but inside one of the flats is concealed a bizarre world barely comprehensible to most people. This is the home of Malcolm Poussaint, a self-styled "voodoo priest" who performs harrowing exorcism rituals on children as young as six whom their parents believe are possessed by demons.Mr Poussaint sees nothing wrong with what he does. It is, he insists, work that has to be carried out."If the child is no...

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