#Louisiana culture magic

[thecrookedcypress]

🌟 Delving into the mystique of Voodoo and Hoodoo! 🌟

Ever wondered about the distinction between Voodoo and Hoodoo? Let's unravel the mysteries! 💫

🔮 Voodoo: Rooted in West African spiritual traditions, Voodoo is a religion with deep spiritual and cultural significance. It encompasses a belief in a supreme creator, spirits, and ancestors. Rituals often involve ceremonies, dances, and the honoring of spirits through offerings.

🕯️ Hoodoo: Originating in the Southern United States, Hoodoo is a folk magic practice that blends African, European, and Indigenous American traditions. It focuses on herbalism, potions, spells, and charms to manifest desired outcomes. Hoodoo practitioners often work with elements of nature and incorporate Christian symbolism.

While both Voodoo and Hoodoo share roots in African spirituality, they manifest in distinct ways, reflecting the diverse cultural landscapes in which they developed. Embrace the richness of these traditions and explore their profound depth! 🔍✨

[shanellofhouston]

With Love from Jazz Fest 2024

[cantva190]

Representation of Haitian Voodoo in comics. Integrating its rich mythology and its deities. Art by: vodou.renaissance

[shellijays-loc-journey]

Just a few random pics.. yall I'm almost 4 months IN!!! Just a few more days

Yep.. I think I'm cute😉🫡🤭🫶🏾🥰👸🏾

[blackwoolncrown]

Reading list for Afro-Herbalism:

A Healing Grove: African Tree Remedies and Rituals for the Body and Spirit by Stephanie Rose Bird

Affrilachia: Poems by Frank X Walker

African American Medicine in Washington, D.C.: Healing the Capital During the Civil War Era by Heather Butts

African American Midwifery in the South: Dialogues of Birth, Race, and Memory by Gertrude Jacinta Fraser

African American Slave Medicine: Herbal and Non-Herbal Treatments by Herbert Covey

African Ethnobotany in the Americas edited by Robert Voeks and John Rashford

Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect by Lorenzo Dow Turner

Africans and Native Americans: The Language of Race and the Evolution of Red-Black Peoples by Jack Forbes

African Medicine: A Complete Guide to Yoruba Healing Science and African Herbal Remedies by Dr. Tariq M. Sawandi, PhD

Afro-Vegan: Farm-Fresh, African, Caribbean, and Southern Flavors Remixed by Bryant Terry

Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston

Big Mama’s Back in the Kitchen by Charlene Johnson

Big Mama’s Old Black Pot by Ethel Dixon

Black Belief: Folk Beliefs of Blacks in America and West Africa by Henry H. Mitchell

Black Diamonds, Vol. 1 No. 1 and Vol. 1 Nos. 2–3 edited by Edward J. Cabbell

Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors by Carolyn Finney

Black Food Geographies: Race, Self-Reliance, and Food Access in Washington, D.C. by Ashanté M. Reese

Black Indian Slave Narratives edited by Patrick Minges

Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition by Yvonne P. Chireau

Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry edited by Camille T. Dungy

Blacks in Appalachia edited by William Turner and Edward J. Cabbell

Caribbean Vegan: Meat-Free, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free Authentic Island Cuisine for Every Occasion by Taymer Mason

Dreams of Africa in Alabama: The Slave Ship Clotilda and the Story of the Last Africans Brought to America by Sylviane Diouf

Faith, Health, and Healing in African American Life by Emilie Townes and Stephanie Y. Mitchem

Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land by Leah Penniman

Folk Wisdom and Mother Wit: John Lee – An African American Herbal Healer by John Lee and Arvilla Payne-Jackson

Four Seasons of Mojo: An Herbal Guide to Natural Living by Stephanie Rose Bird

Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement by Monica White

Fruits of the Harvest: Recipes to Celebrate Kwanzaa and Other Holidays by Eric Copage

George Washington Carver by Tonya Bolden

George Washington Carver: In His Own Words edited by Gary Kremer

God, Dr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man: A Saltwater Geechee Talks About Life on Sapelo Island, Georgia by Cornelia Bailey

Gone Home: Race and Roots through Appalachia by Karida Brown

Ethno-Botany of the Black Americans by William Ed Grime

Gullah Cuisine: By Land and by Sea by Charlotte Jenkins and William Baldwin

Gullah Culture in America by Emory Shaw Campbell and Wilbur Cross

Gullah/Geechee: Africa’s Seeds in the Winds of the Diaspora-St. Helena’s Serenity by Queen Quet Marquetta Goodwine

High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America by Jessica Harris and Maya Angelou

Homecoming: The Story of African-American Farmers by Charlene Gilbert

Hoodoo Medicine: Gullah Herbal Remedies by Faith Mitchell

Jambalaya: The Natural Woman’s Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals by Luisah Teish

Just Medicine: A Cure for Racial Inequality in American Health Care by Dayna Bowen Matthew

Leaves of Green: A Handbook of Herbal Remedies by Maude E. Scott

Like a Weaving: References and Resources on Black Appalachians by Edward J. Cabbell

Listen to Me Good: The Story of an Alabama Midwife by Margaret Charles Smith and Linda Janet Holmes

Making Gullah: A History of Sapelo Islanders, Race, and the American Imagination by Melissa Cooper

Mandy’s Favorite Louisiana Recipes by Natalie V. Scott

Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet Washington

Mojo Workin’: The Old African American Hoodoo System by Katrina Hazzard-Donald

Motherwit: An Alabama Midwife’s Story by Onnie Lee Logan as told to Katherine Clark

My Bag Was Always Packed: The Life and Times of a Virginia Midwife by Claudine Curry Smith and Mildred Hopkins Baker Roberson

My Face Is Black Is True: Callie House and the Struggle for Ex-Slave Reparations by Mary Frances Berry

My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem

On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker by A'Lelia Bundles

Papa Jim’s Herbal Magic Workbook by Papa Jim

Places for the Spirit: Traditional African American Gardens by Vaughn Sills (Photographer), Hilton Als (Foreword), Lowry Pei (Introduction)

Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome by Dr. Joy DeGruy

Rooted in the Earth: Reclaiming the African American Environmental Heritage by Diane Glave

Rufus Estes’ Good Things to Eat: The First Cookbook by an African-American Chef by Rufus Estes

Secret Doctors: Ethnomedicine of African Americans by Wonda Fontenot

Sex, Sickness, and Slavery: Illness in the Antebellum South by Marli Weiner with Mayzie Hough

Slavery’s Exiles: The Story of the American Maroons by Sylviane Diouf

Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time by Adrian Miller

Spirituality and the Black Helping Tradition in Social Work by Elmer P. Martin Jr. and Joanne Mitchell Martin

Sticks, Stones, Roots & Bones: Hoodoo, Mojo & Conjuring with Herbs by Stephanie Rose Bird

The African-American Heritage Cookbook: Traditional Recipes and Fond Remembrances from Alabama’s Renowned Tuskegee Institute by Carolyn Quick Tillery

The Black Family Reunion Cookbook (Recipes and Food Memories from the National Council of Negro Women) edited by Libby Clark

The Conjure Woman and Other Conjure Tales by Charles Chesnutt

The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature by J. Drew Lanham

The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks by Toni Tipton-Martin

The President’s Kitchen Cabinet: The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families, from the Washingtons to the Obamas by Adrian Miller

The Taste of Country Cooking: The 30th Anniversary Edition of a Great Classic Southern Cookbook by Edna Lewis

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study: An Insiders’ Account of the Shocking Medical Experiment Conducted by Government Doctors Against African American Men by Fred D. Gray

Trace: Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape by Lauret E. Savoy

Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine by Bryant Terry

Vibration Cooking: Or, The Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor

Voodoo and Hoodoo: The Craft as Revealed by Traditional Practitioners by Jim Haskins

When Roots Die: Endangered Traditions on the Sea Islands by Patricia Jones-Jackson

Working Conjure: A Guide to Hoodoo Folk Magic by Hoodoo Sen Moise

Working the Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African American Healing by Michelle Lee

Wurkn Dem Rootz: Ancestral Hoodoo by Medicine Man

Zora Neale Hurston: Folklore, Memoirs, and Other Writings: Mules and Men, Tell My Horse, Dust Tracks on a Road, Selected Articles by Zora Neale Hurston

The Ways of Herbalism in the African World with Olatokunboh Obasi MSc, RH (webinar via The American Herbalists Guild)

[patzweigz]

i've been kind of glib about this (and perhaps not making things any better by giving the show my attention with redesigns without making it very clear they are borne from criticsm), but speaking more bluntly i don't think vivziepop has earned any kind of congratulations for getting hazbin hotel made until she intentionally and wholly apologizes for, at the very least, her history of anti-blackness as it manifests in her show.

in particular she needs to apologize for everything involving alastor-- it is frankly quite stunning how he both encapsulates the vilification of black people's spiritual practices and long-standing stereotypes of those of african decent (portraying voudou as an evil magic and his noted cannibalism) and yet is simultaneously whitewashed of any clear signifiers that he is black/biracial. as a black louisiana creole myself (as he is as well), he is the most egregious example of the kind of disrespect she feels for black people and their cultures, and as long as he continues to exist in an official capacity in her lineup she has earned nothing but ire in my eyes.

[fortunelowtier]

I recently visited Louisiana over this past weekend for a convention, (If anyone was at Louisiana Comic Con, heyyy) and something that rlly struck me is that wow I don't think Viv did even the slightest bit of research for Alastors Creole heritage other than using Dr Facilier as a stencil to copy and as an excuse for her to use Voodoo as an aesthetic to show how spOoOoOoOky Alastor is

Because in the like 4 days I was in Louisiana I was able to learn more abt Creole culture from talking to locals (who were SUPER nice btw. loved all of them so much) than I ever saw in Alastor, a character that apparently spent the most time being ""developed"" in terms of how long hes existed and how little of him has changed.

Alastors Creole heritage and his use of Voodoo serve zero purpose to the story itself other than "Viv thinks the symbols look cool and creepy". You could literally replace Alastor with someone that has, idfk, Celtic heritage whos magic is just Nordic runes or some shit like that, and nothing would really change in terms of story or character because to Viv his heritage is just that, an aesthetic, nothing more than a cool visual for her to use to show how cool and creepy he is

[intheholler]

There is something very magical about Appalachia and it's folks. Yeah, it has it's issues, but so does everywhere else. There's a lot of rich culture and some bone deep folk wisdom to be found in those mountains. Not to mention the natural beauty is always breath-taking to behold. I'm more from the deep south than Appalachia (at least where I spent most of my growing up years in Northwest Louisiana), but I've always appreciated the places within Appalachia that I've visited and always had a deep love for the music that comes from that area.

In addition to that love, I have a deep respect for the fights the various mining communities have had against the coal companies and the work that they did to help make things better for all working folks throughout the US.

There's always work to be done, but there's a deep history of activism in Appalachia that is inspiring in a lot of ways. I think it often gets overlooked.

I appreciate the hell out of your blog and thank you for the things you share.

P.S. - if there is one song that sums up a lot of my thoughts on Appalachia, it might just be Resilient by Rising Appalachia. The people there are remarkably resilient.

.

[la-femme-au-collier-vert]

So you want to learn about Louisiana Voodoo…

door in New Orleans by Jean-Marcel St. Jacques

For better or worse (almost always downright wrong) Louisiana Voodoo and Hoodoo are likely to come up in any depiction of the state of Louisiana. I’ve created a list of works on contemporary and historical Voodoo/Hoodoo for anyone who’d like to learn more about what this tradition is and is not (hint: it developed separately from Haitian Vodou which is its own thing) or would like to depict it in a non-stereotypical way. I’ve listed them in chronological order. Please keep a few things in mind. Almost all sources presented unfortunately have their biases. As ethnographies Hurston’s work no longer represent best practices in Anthropology and has been suspected of embellishment and sensationalism on this topic. Additionally the portrayal is of the religion as it was nearly 100 years ago- all traditions change over time. Likewise Teish is extremely valuable for providing an inside view into the practice but certain views, as on Ancient Egypt, may be offensive now. I have chosen to include the non-academic works by Alvarado and Filan for the research on historical Voodoo they did with regards to the Federal Writer’s Project that is not readily accessible, HOWEVER, this is NOT a guide to teach you to practice this closed tradition, and again some of the opinions are suspect- DO NOT use sage, which is part of Native practice and destroys local environments. I do not support every view expressed but think even when wrong these sources present something to be learned about the way we treat culture

*Start with Osbey, the shortest of the works. To compare Louisiana Voodoo with other traditions see the chapter on Haitian Vodou in Creole Religions of the Caribbean by Olmos and Paravinsi-Gebert. Additionally many songs and chants were originally in Louisiana Creole (different from the Louisiana French dialect), which is now severely endangered. You can study the language in Ti Liv Kreyol by Guillery-Chatman et. Al.

Le Petit Albert by Albertus Parvus Lucius (1706) grimoire widely circulated in France in the 18th century, brought to the colony & significantly impacted Hoodoo

Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston (1935)

Spirit World-Photographs & Journal: Pattern in the Expressive Folk Culture of Afro-American New Orleans by Michael P. Smith (1984)

Jambalaya: The Natural Woman's Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals by Luisah Teish (1985)

Eve’s Bayou (1997), film

Spiritual Merchants: Religion, Magic, and Commerce by Carolyn Morrow Long (2001)

A New Orleans Voodoo Priestess: The Legend and Reality of Marie Laveau by Carolyn Morrow Long (2006)

“Yoruba Influences on Haitian Vodou and New Orleans Voodoo” by Ina J. Fandrich (2007)

The New Orleans Voodoo Handbook by Kenaz Filan (2011)

“Why We Can’t Talk To You About Voodoo” by Brenda Marie Osbey (2011)

Mojo Workin': The Old African American Hoodoo System by Katrina Hazzard-Donald (2013)

The Tomb of Marie Laveau In St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 by Carolyn Morrow Long (2016)

Lemonade, visual album by Beyonce (2016)

How to Make Lemonade, book by Beyonce (2016)

“Work the Root: Black Feminism, Hoodoo Love Rituals, and Practices of Freedom” by Lyndsey Stewart (2017)

The Lemonade Reader edited by Kinitra D. Brooks and Kameelah L. Martin (2019)

The Magic of Marie Laveau by Denise Alvarado (2020)

In Our Mother’s Gardens (2021), documentary on Netflix, around 1 hour mark traditional offering to the ancestors by Dr. Zauditu-Selassie

“Playing the Bamboula” rhythm for honoring ancestors associated with historical Voodoo

Voodoo and Power: The Politics of Religion in New Orleans 1880-1940 by Kodi A. Roberts (2023)

The Marie Laveau Grimoire by Denise Alvarado (2024)

Voodoo: An African American Religion by Jeffrey E. Anderson (2024)

[kemetic-dreams]

Several African American blues singers and musicians composed songs about the culture of Hoodoo, including W.C. Handy, Bessie Smith, Robert Johnson, Big Lucky Carter, and Al Williams. African American blues performers were influenced by the culture of Hoodoo and wrote songs about mojo bags, love workings, and spirits. Their songs brought awareness of Hoodoo practices to the American mainstream population.

Several blues songs describe love charms or other folk magic. In her "Louisiana Hoodoo Blues" Gertrude Ma Rainey sang about a Hoodoo work to keep a man faithful: ""Take some of you hair, boil it in a pot, Take some of your clothes, tie them in a knot, Put them in a snuff can, bury them under the step…." Bessie Smith's song "Red Mountain Blues" tells of a fortune teller who recommends that a woman get some snakeroot and a High John the Conqueror root, chew them, place them in her boot and pocket to make her man love her. Several other Bessie Smith songs also mention Hoodoo. The song "Got My Mojo Working," written by Preston "Red" Foster in 1956 and popularized by Muddy Waters throughout his career, addresses a woman who is able to resist the power of the singer's Hoodoo amulets.

Hoodoo practitioner Aunt Caroline Dye was born enslaved in Spartanburg, South Carolina and sold to New Port, Arkansas as a child, where she became known for soothsaying and divination with playing cards. She is mentioned by name in the Memphis Jug Band's "Aunt Caroline Dye Blues" (1930) and in Johnny Temple's song "Hoodoo Woman" (1937).

Blues singer Robert Johnson is known for his song about going "down to the crossroads" to sell his soul to the devil to become a better musician. Some authors suggest that the song invokes a Hoodoo belief in crossroads spirits, a belief that originated in Central Africa among the Kongo people. However, the devil figure in Johnson's song, a black man with a cane who haunts crossroads, closely resembles Papa Legba, a spirit associated with Louisiana Voodoo and Haitian Vodou

[winebrightruby]

I'm not Catholic and never have been. What I am, in practice, is New Orleanian, and New Orleans is deeply culturally Catholic (far beyond what the numbers would show. like I didn't realize how pervasive certain things were in Louisiana as a whole until I moved to Alabama and started getting blank stares back).

Tomorrow is the feast of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, so I've just been thinking about her. The two patrons of the City - OLPS and St. Expedite - are both associated not only with providing aid but doing so immediately, without delay or hesitation. The beyond-generous, open-armed approach to helping, giving succor and sanctuary.

And New Orleans has always been that for me. I discovered through years of trial and error that if I talk too much about the minor nice things that happen, they'll stop happening, so I have to be a bit vague here. But New Orleans gifted me a thousand conveniences a day and asked nothing in return but my love, which I was giving freely anyway. It's beyond a joyous experience to live somewhere that you love, and that you can feel loving you back in equal or greater measure, in quantifiable ways, all the time.

She does so much. The incredible sweetness of that city and how much I adore her in return, how everything I ever needed or even wanted in a passing moment, I could just voice and it would essentially fall into my lap. I don't know what to say to people who ask "how did you do [x piece of magic]" because it's like, I asked nicely? Or equally often, I complained out loud because it inconvenienced me? I don't know how to replicate that without the years of devotion, piety, bribery, and adoration.

But anyway, Our Lady of Prompt Succor. Over 30 years I lived in Louisiana. For 12 years I lived in New Orleans or the swampy depths of further-south Louisiana. And she's been there for me with every request, prayer, tearful plea, every single thing. So tonight and tomorrow I'm feasting Our Lady; I'm thanking the mother of New Orleans for all the times she's been my mother too, shooing inconveniences out of my path and giving me that thing I wanted just because I said I wanted it. I love you, I love you, I love you.

[celadons-penultimate]

Marvel has such great potential in STRANGE ACADEMY. A live-action or animated adaptation alone could be a huge win, whether it closely follows the comics or not, as long as they give us the diverse, inclusive stories that JK Rowling's Wizarding World fails to.

Strange Academy's diversity is a central feature, not an "exotic" aside. It unites people across various cultures, so you see Norse runic magic, Voodoo practice, Aztec nahual lore & more, performed not just by fictional creatures, but women, people w/ melanin & LGBTQ ppl.

Strange Academy's headmaster is Dr. Jericho Drumm aka Doctor Voodoo & various fan favorites act as instructors to the young mages, to humorous effect: Wong, the Ancient One, Magik, Scarlet Witch, Nico Minoru, Agatha Harkness, Talisman, Daimon Hellstrom, etc

Strange Academy's prominent students INCLUDE:

-Zoe Laveau (zombie/necromancer/aspiring lich? & descendant of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau)

-Germán (Nahual animal mage)

-Iric & Alvi (Asgardian twin sons of Amora the Enchantress)

-Emily Bright (newcomer on an interesting path)

-Doyle (nbd, just a son of The Dread Dormammu™)

Strange Academy is set here in the United States, not another dimension or some other fictional locale; specifically, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

You get plenty of charismatic flavor & mystic color, whether you're reading about the mortal or mystical aspects of magical school life.

Rather than typical YA-style focus on a singular "chosen one" & companions, Strange Academy offers engaging ensemble narration that addresses multiple story lines w/ due respect, all while managing to offer impressively dynamic & flamboyant magical feats.

In short, if you're a fan of Marvel, a fan of magic users & a fan of YA stories that AREN'T transphobic or otherwise characterized by bigotry (whether implicit or overtly stated), you might want to set aside any...other options, in favor of Strange Academy. 😌

[cantva190]

Representation of Haitian Voodoo in comics. Integrating its rich mythology and its deities. Art by: vodou.renaissance

[millenniumfae]

Alastor's Whitewashing And Appropriation (Hazbin Hotel Discourse)

Now that Hazbin Hotel is entering mainstream consciousness, it's a good opportunity to bring attention towards some issues that need addressing.

Indie queer productions have an unfortunate trend of propagating racism, sexism, transphobia, ableism, etc. That's nothing new, and we all have to come to terms with it. A good way to do that? Just get the conversation going. Put the word out there that, 'hey, I have sincere complaints about ___.'

Alastor is, without a doubt, one of the most popular characters of the main cast. We can celebrate the victory of Alastor being a beloved canonical aroace character, while also criticizing his flaws.

Mainly - his race, his cultural appropriation, and his strong link towards racialized violence.

(1) Alastor is canonically mixed race Creole. His skin is medium-toned, but fanartists are sometimes drawing him as light-toned.

Although we don't know his full ethnic makeup, Alastor is canonically portrayed with a darker skintone than some fanartists choose to depict him as, whether in his current demon form, or a fanon-popularized mortal form.

'Creole' isn't a race, it's an ethnicity, and Creole people can have any array of complexions. But that doesn't excuse the trend of literally bleaching his canonical skin hue.

As many people have pointed out, it'd make a lot of sense if Alastor was specifically mixed black, thanks to his association with voodoo, and also according to Depression-era racial census of New Orleans. We know that mixed race black people can look like Pete Wentz, Vin Diesel, and Wentworth Miller. Him being relatively pale, with a pointy nose and straight hair, it wouldn't contradict a black identity.

In the show proper, there's been a wild array of lighting effects, and they also put a shallow gradient burn over the bottom half of the screen at most times, which can complicate accurate skintone shade picking. But you can clearly see that Alastor is darker than many other characters, and is more similar to characters voiced by people of color - Niffty, Vaggie, Carmilla. In fact, his skincolor value is on par with Vaggie's, just with more saturation, giving it the illusion that it's brighter.

(2) Haitian Voudo/Louisiana Voodoo is a closed and heavily marginalized practice. Cannibalism and violence have been long-standing smear campaigns made against it.

A 'closed practice' means that you need to be initiated into it, not just choose to practice it. New Orleans Voodoo has been couched in political prosecution since its inception, and continues to be marginalized. According to the historian Carolyn Morrow Long, "Voodoo, as an organized religion, had been thoroughly suppressed by the legal system, public opinion, and Christianity." Because of its association with free black people (and the country of Haiti), you can imagine the hate crimes it's faced for decades.

Some of its most infamous fearmongering included reports of human sacrifices, cannibalism, and animalistic orgies. "{...} the Westerns’ view on Vodou was proof that the “black republic ‘’ cannot claim to be civilized."

So of course, a mixed-race cannibalistic serial killer using 'evil' magic couched in floating vevè symbols can leave a bad taste in the mouth. Just because the symbols are accurate ones doesn't mean the misappropriation isn't there.

It has never been blatantly stated that Alastor is a Voodoo practitioner, or has any real history in Louisiana Voodoo, aside from in the pilot where Charlie briefly says the word 'voodoo' in reference to Alastor's magic. But the inclusion of actual vevè symbols is a solid enough connection. And it's an unfortunate one.

Compare with Disney's Princess And The Frog, where the directors made an effort to include Mama Odie as a more accurate depiction of a manbo, while the antagonist Dr. Facilier is hinted as not being able to practice real voodoo at all. There are more delicate and considerate ways to approach Alastor's association with Hollywood 'voodoo', and hopefully, we will get to see them as the show goes on.

(3) Wendigos are specifically from Algonquin folklore. Many pop culture interpretations of Wendigos are inappropriately abstracted from its cultural context.

Canonically, Alastor's demon form resembles a deer because he was mistaken for a deer by a hunter, and shot square in the forehead. We've seen him let out elk bugle sounds, and also his antlers growing in conjunction with his power. When he puts his game face on, his entire body gets spindly, his teeth grow sharper and longer, his hands turn into huge claws, and he sometimes eats his victims alive.

This, of course, is making some viewers ring comparisons to 'wendios', thanks to Alastor's large appetite and preference for human flesh.

Similar to his 'voodoo' connection, the show has never gone on record to say Alastor is supposed to be a Wendigo, or that his history and appearance was meant to invoke a Wendigo. The connection here is a bit weaker than his Hollywood voodoo, and it's mostly an audience reaction that I find questionable.

For those who don't know, a Wendigo is specifically from Algonquian folklore. a malevolent spirit who eats people and is never sated. English-speaking audiences owe their awareness of Wendigos to Stephen King, The X-Files, Supernatural, Until Dawn, and more. Very few of these depictions were respectful towards indigenous culture. Most of the time, 'wendigos' have been almost entirely divorced from its indigenous American contexts.

It's a classic example of appropriation. They take some cultural facet from a marginalized people, do minimal research, and depict it with little owe towards its creators. That's insulting no matter who you are. It's a form of violence when the culture is a persecuted one.

A character can be a skinny deer demon that eats people without trying to cash in on the whole 'wendigo' thing. This might be what Alastor is supposed to be, but the audience is using the word 'wendigo' inappropriately.

So. In one single character, we've got the whitewashing, the Voodoo and Wendigo appropriation, the anti-Blackness, and an overall racism.

It's no surprise that Alastor remains one of the most divisive characters of the show.

This would be like, if Niffty (voiced by Japanese-American Kimiko Glenn) kept being drawn as a pale woman with bulbous blue eyes, had weird radioactive atomic powers thanks to her method of death back in the '40's, and was obsessed with spearing people through their stomach with long blades. It's not super great.

So far, Hazbin Hotel's canon material has avoided many of the overtly bigoted humor and hijinks so common in adult TV, and that's something of a victory. But what's not problematic doesn't cancel out what is.

The more a reasonable criticism is circulated amongst its audience, the more driven the creative team is to pay attention.

[krysanthii]

Alastor is a doll! Look at the stitching he’s bind to whatever deal he made!

So I know that voodoo is a closed practice from Benin and all the African diaspora especially in Haiti and Louisiana and Alastor is presumably white. I see a lot of justifiable complaints that Alastor a white man is using African voodoo and appropriating the culture and vivipop said supposedly that Alastor is Creole just to cover up their asses to give him agency to use voodoo practice.

But for my personal headcanon I think Alastor is a white man who made a deal with a voodoo god and is now lack of a better term, made him their bitch. He has voodoo powers but he’s still bound to the god that gave him the powers.

From the stitching of his face Alastor looks like a voodoo doll more or less and he’s bound by a very powerful god made him like that. This is just my take on this that Alastor a white man messing around with magic and a culture he has no part off and getting tangled with powerful forces he doesn’t understand, made a deal of whatever force and bound by it and became their bitch and is sent to hell as punishment.