The rather unorganized and unorthodox practices of what some would call "heathen" magic. A loosely defined black-magic cult characterized by sorcery and spirit-possession, combining elements of Roman Catholic ritual with traditional African magical and religious rites, and characterized by sorcery and spirit possession.
History
Haitian Vodou is an African diasporic religion that gradually developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between the traditional religions of West Africa and the Roman Catholic form of Christianity. Adherents are known as Vodouists (French: vodouisants [vodwizɑ̃]) or "servants of the spirits" (Haitian Creole: sèvitè). There is no central authority in control of Vodou, which is organised through autonomous groups.
Vodou is polytheistic and revolves around deities known as lwa. Deriving their names and attributes from traditional West African divinities, they are equated with Roman Catholic saints and divided up into different nanchon ("nations") such as the rada and the petwo. Various myths and stories are told about these lwa, which are regarded as subservient to a transcendent creator deity, Bondyé. An initiatory tradition, Vodouists usually meet to venerate the lwa in ounfòs, temples run by oungans (priests) or manbos (priestesses). A central ritual involves practitioners drumming, singing, and dancing to encourage a lwa to possess one of their members and thus communicate with them. Offerings to the lwa include fruit and sacrificed animals. Offerings are also given to the spirits of the dead. Several forms of divination are utilized to decipher messages from the lwa. Healing rituals and the preparation of herbal remedies, amulets, and charms, also play a prominent role.
Vodou developed among Afro-Haitian communities amid the Atlantic slave trade of the 16th to 19th centuries. It arose through the blending of the traditional religions brought to the island of Hispaniola by enslaved West Africans, many of them Yoruba or Fon, and the Roman Catholic teachings of the French colonialists who controlled the island. Many Vodouists were involved in the Haitian Revolution of 1791 to 1804 which overthrew the French colonial government, abolished slavery, and established modern Haiti. The Roman Catholic Church left for several decades following the Revolution, allowing Vodou to become Haiti's dominant religion. In the 20th century, growing emigration spread Vodou abroad. The late 20th century saw growing links between Vodou and related traditions in West Africa and the Americas, such as Cuban Santería and Brazilian Candomblé.
Many Haitians practice Vodou to some extent, although typically also practice Roman Catholicism, seeing no issue in pursuing the two different systems simultaneously. Smaller Vodouist communities exist elsewhere, especially among the Haitian diaspora in the United States. Both in Haiti and abroad Vodou has spread beyond its Afro-Haitian origins and is practiced by individuals of various ethnicities. Vodou has faced much criticism through its history, having repeatedly been described as one of the world's most misunderstood religions.
Practices
Rituals and Spells
Voodoo Priests are well-taught in the ways of arcane rituals and spells, mostly those concerning black-magic or the occult. These rituals have a variety of effects but typically will impact one or more "targets" of the spell or ritual. Rituals can take anywhere from one moment to several days to complete, while spells tend to be a little faster and most being immediate in effect. Currently, there are no known counters to the dangerous spells and rituals of the Voodoo practice, making them threatening to the forces of the Spanish and British Navy, who will mostly capture and execute practices of the "pagan art".
Priests will typically keep a component pouch or crate of materials on their person or stored on whatever vessel they're traveling on (or in their home). Components vary in rarity with some being common household items and others being some of the rarest materials to be found in the Caribbean. Materials tend to be collected by a voodoo practician and sometimes bought at local market to disguise the intent of component collection. Many a pirate take contracts or long-term agreements to gather components for Voodoo mages on the seven seas.
Often a ritual will involve a "ritual circle" of some type that can be drawn from blood or chalk on any surface. When a voodoo mage enacts a ritual, they will recite eldritch words of a long-lost language, summoning their power. This language is also banned by the Royal British and Spanish Navies alike. Rituals include ritual offerings which may be distinct from components as offerings are generally able to be modulated to effect the potency of a ritual. The more valuable the offering, generally, the more potent the ritual.
Many of the Voodoo practices have to do with the elements and the seas, making these priests coveted by the likes of sailors seeking safety. As members of a generally superstitious group, Pirates especially revere Voodoo priests with the highest regard.
Reverence to the Spiritual Gods
Voodoo priests revere a number of gods, most of whom are related to and/or involved in the everyday function of the world. To a Voodoo priest, the consequences seen in life are administered by these gods.
Many gods in voodoo culture are the spirits of pasts gods ascended into a parallel yet distinct spirit world Aka Iwa that is tangential to our own. These ancestors are generally summoned upon by other Voodoo priests to instill wisdom and knowledge to those who attempt to summon them. Yet other gods include spirits of nature itself- most notably that of sea and land. These eldritch creatures, Papa Legba and Calypso, are the most powerful of Voodoo spirits, and as such cannot be readily summoned by simplistic rituals- rather they are prayed and offered to by their loyal subjects for mercy and favor in their endeavors.
Those who anger the spirit-gods face the wrath not only of the world itself, but the Voodoo Priests, Voodoo Priests have an innate ability to detect whether or not a person has done true wrong in the eyes of the spirit-gods, and may call upon their ancestors to learn information about anyone they encounter regardless of favor. The relationship with the spirit-gods is symbiotic in this way: the spirit gods learn what the priests in the mortal plane experience and encounter.
Omens
Widely attuned to the way of the world, Voodoo priests have a way of interpreting the way around them differently from others. With the powers imbued into them by the spirit-gods, they have the ability to detect omens that others cannot sense in this world.
Voodoo Priests are vehemently fearful of the unnaturally undead, who are of the most evil of omens in Voodoo culture. Necromantic summoning of past spirits into their bodies are accepted as these people have been drawn or summoned to this world, but undead like zombiefolk or vampires are the foulest evil in the seven seas: they have severed their connection with Aka Iwa and embarked on their own unbalanced invasion of the mortal world.
In addition to the undead, some of the Voodoo people have the ability to attune themselves to nature and the spirit-world around them. They can learn from a flock of seagulls or a single mollusk washed ashore, and use this knowledge to predict the comings of the world.
Game Mechanics
Any person can follow the voodoo religion, but only experienced voodoo priests (Druid, Bloodhunter, Warlock, Rogue: Phantom) are capable of casting Voodoo Spells
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