I collect antiques. Several years ago I was on my lunch break when something told me to go inside an antique shop located across the street from my post office. I went inside and there was this gorgeous orange pot. I told the store owner that I could not leave without it. He said that it was a voodoo pot from Haiti. I laughed so hard that tears came from my eyes. 

I said, “A Voodoo pot. You are kidding right!” He said “No! “I am serious. This pot is magical and has power. In fact the instructions to any owner of the pot are that he or she must never sell the pot. If it is sold the consequences will be very bad.” I could not believe my ears. I finally negotiated a great price for the pot. The store owner carried the pot to my car and loaded it inside the trunk. This transaction occurred at 12.30 p.m. At 6:00p.m on that same day the store owner was brutally murdered. He was shot through the front door of his home. 

It did not occur to me at the time that the store owner was selling the voodoo pot an act which he said should not be done. I have owned the pot for several years with no intention of selling it. We have not been able to get any plant to grow inside the pot for more than a week. In fact when guest are in our home we sometimes warn them to not touch the pot. We had a guest once that attempted to move the pot and we all said at the same time “Don’t move that pot!” 

The Voodoo pot raised my curiosity about the Voodoo Religion. I did a little research and learned some interesting things. Voodoo is a derivative of the world’s oldest known religions which have survived in Africa since the beginning of human civilization. It is believed that the structure of today’s Voodoo was born in Haiti during the European colonization of Hispaniola. 

Practitioners of Voodoo believe that we are mirrors of each others souls. God is in the spirits of our ancestors who can bring good or evil and must be honored in ceremonies. In the Voodoo religion there is a sacred cycle between the living and the dead.  Believers of the religion ask for their misery to end. Rituals include animal sacrifice, singing, dancing and drumming. The supreme Deity is Bon Dieu. 

I have always considered Voodoo to be barbaric and primitive. However it is gaining status in Haiti. On Thursday, April 10, 2003 Haiti’s government officially sanctioned voodoo as a religion, allowing practitioners to begin performing ceremonies from baptisms to marriages with legal authority.

Voodoo practitioners believe in a supreme God and spirits who link the human with the divine. The spirits are summoned by offerings.

I don’t believe in Voodoo, but I can promise you that I won’t be selling the pot anytime soon. 

In the words of my dad, Dr. Melvin J. Griffin Sr.:”You only live once, and if you do it right, once is all you need.”

Greg Griffin is a free lance writer. You can read his previous articles by visiting his web page at www.greggriffin.com or write to him at P.O. Box 250194 Montgomery, Alabama 36125-0194.