E. A. Koetting and Baron DePrince - The Spider and The Green Butterfly

E.A. Koetting/Baron DePrince
The Spider and the Green Butterfly
Chapter Four
A Religion of Worship
Vodoun is too often heinously considered to be a
form of Magick, or even a type of religion predominant
over certain classes, races, and regions. Vodoun is worship
in its most direct and pure form, the Gods standing at the
left side of the alter to receive the sacrifices and to hear the
prayers, the spirits spoken to speaking back to the Mambo
either through direct signs, through visions, or even through
possession. The Loa are not distant, but are here and are
now and are anxious to attend.
It requires a Herculean effort for the western
Sorcerer to enter the current of Vodoun and to realize that
only through submission can he rise into power. The
paradox confounds him, yet the more that he struggles for
power and control, the weaker he will become, and the
more a pawn for even the lesser spirits he will find himself
to be. Once he delivers himself as the ultimate sacrifice to
the Loa, however, he instantly finds that all power is his,
and that he has made allies of those whom he has struggled
so hard to make his servants.
It is often argued by some practitioners of Vodoun -
usually those who attempt to deeply embed Catholicism
into their belief system - that the Loa are never
worshipped. Worship is reserved for God alone. The Loa
are simply served, and in return, they may choose to serve
the servants. While this may be the view of a good number
of practicing Houngans and Mambos, the reverence held
for the Loa easily rivals the awe held by most Christians for
Jesus Christ.
The Loa, being so intimately close in proximity to
this physical plane and its inhabitants, and having no
restrictions to their power whatsoever, are understood to
affect remarkable influence over the seemingly random
events that surround the Houngan. While Yahweh, along
with his demigod son now risen, in the majority leave this
earth and race to our own devices, not interfering unless
they are called on to do so (and even then their assistance is
far from guaranteed), the Loa are known to those who
know them to meddle, to arrange, to scheme, and to
interfere. Less like the bored gods of Olympus,
entertaining themselves with the misery of man, the Loa
can be more aptly likened to ancient, intelligent, and harsh
teachers who use experience and suffering to allow mortals
to learn of their own limits - and their own limitlessness.
The worship or the spiritual service for the Loa is
simple, and is entirely natural, relying on the most ancient
parts of the human being which have been switched off to
facilitate a civilized lifestyle. For the westerner to worship,
he must break past the barriers of his civilized self, the
whole force of his cerebral cortex shifting towards his
hypothalamus, ready to become an empty body of flesh
reacting to that which surrounds him, rather than trying to
control it.