VOODOO’s CULT OF THE DEAD

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On a recent visit the film-maker John Miles, was allowed unique access to witness and photograph various Voodoo ceremonies including the secret society of the cult of the dead, known as the Egunguns masked dancers, which is usually taboo for outsiders. For the first time he has secured an interview with one of the cult of the dead.. Believers communicate with the spiritworld usually of the deceased. Egungun is a Yoruba word meaning the souls of the dead. This is a highly, secretive organisation , and even the hosts who have lost a family member do not know the identity of the masked spirit figures. During an Egungun ceremony a member of the society falls into a trance and the spirit of the deceased enters his body and he becomes possessed. The Egungun are the mediators with the world of the deceased and the ancestors, using entranced dance rituals, and dreams they can impart information or instructions, to related family who are in a serious predicament.

Voodoo roots in Africa