James Duvalier

Voodoo being true to its syncretic nature, adopted and incorporated the teachings of 19th century French penseur Allan Kardek into its repertoire of beliefs and practices.  Allan Kardec was the penname of Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail the founder of the doctrine of Spiritism, which is followed by many as a religion.  Spiritism teaches that after death, souls remain in a state of limbo in which they must work off their karmic debt in order to free themselves…
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In New Orleans, Voodooists serve their spirit guides much according to the traditional Kardecian method, based on the teachings of 19th century French philosopher Allan Kardec who I have discussed in a previous post.  They recite prayers for the dead as written in Kardec’s books, and offer them white candles and glasses of water, but there are several additions to New Orleans Spiritism that clearly are of African origin, which again shows the syncretic nature of Voodoo. …
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