M A C U M B A !

[Bill Thompson]

Macumba is the Brazilian version of voodoo. On New Years Eve in Brazil, the descendent's of slaves go to the beach and have their dead relatives come back to inhabit their bodies.

When I was there and saw their dancing and chanting, I could not help but laugh. My in-laws quickly silenced me and urged me to show them respect.

I soon found out why. Hollywood should see these people and hire them if they were just acting. Maybe after they work themselves into a trance their brains are somehow convinced that another consciousness is going to control their body. It really looks real. I never saw someone really look as if they were suddenly taken over by someone else's spirit.

I am going to be taking some voodoo dolls to Brazil in a few months and I am going to put macumba to the test. If it is like voodoo maybe it has some simular practices.

[Bill Thompson]

I think Macumba might actually be real but it is real for the reasons that you might not expect. I think it works on the same principle as a lie-detector. It works because people believe it works. If you know that some people have put a curse on you, and you know that it is a widely accepted religion that even the main-stream religions like Catholicism seem to be afraid of (they have called it devil worshiping) then on a subconscious level it might make you live in fear and make you more accident prone or it might put you under stress and thus open the door to diseases and infections. After a while I can see how it might make some suicidal. Also being shunned by your friend and associations would lead to madness.

[Nowhere Man]

Take a doll of Bart Sibrel, eh.

Fred

[gillianren]

It's my understanding (as a white girl from Los Angeles, admittedly) that voodoo doesn't actually use voodoo dolls, though modern voodoo shops sell 'em to tourists who don't know any better. The voodoo doll is a variant of the poppet, which is in European witchcraft (see The Crucible, for example).

[Bill Thompson]

nowhereman said:

Take a doll of Bart Sibrel, eh.

Fred

So far I have Bart Sibrel; Osama bin Laden; and Lance ("something can be both new and improved at the same time")Clark

[Bill Thompson]

gillianren said:

It's my understanding (as a white girl from Los Angeles, admittedly) that voodoo doesn't actually use voodoo dolls, though modern voodoo shops sell 'em to tourists who don't know any better. The voodoo doll is a variant of the poppet, which is in European witchcraft (see The Crucible, for example).

I never saw them use dolls with Macumba. I only assumed that they would. I will do some research. I want to do it right.