The word voodoo, which has many different names and spellings (like vodun, vodou, voudou, vudu, vodoun) is the name of a West African animist, spiritual folkway. Some contemporary advocates wish to enhance the credibility of Voodoo by calling it a religion. However, the essence of Voodoo is precisely that it is a spiritual folkway, passed from generation to generation via oral tradition and the modeling of rituals and routine spiritual practices.

Voodoo evolved across the centuries; has variations from tribe to tribe; and as "folkway" is the essential nature of Voodoo, it could not be destroyed by White people who enslaved West Africans in the New World. Religion, the faith mode of White people in the New World, on the other hand is based on formal organization, myths and dogma encoded in texts, buildings constructed for worship, and an hierarchy of ordained leaders.

People fear the unknown, and as most people do not know much about Voodoo, it is used to frighten and its practices (Hoodoo) are portrayed as evil. Voodoo is shown in many horror/suspense movies and has come into American pop culture through music, movies, art, and many other mediums.

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