Vodou, Santeria, and Candomble are all African religions, but they are not the same type of religion. They do have similarities, but they also have major differences such as influence, names of Gods, language, and specific important differences in religious practice.
Not only are these three religions different from each other, there are also different branches of these religions. For example, the Haitian Vodou is different than the New Orleans Vodoun. Haitian Vodou is shaped by tribes such as the Fon and the Yoruba. The Vodou religion worships Gods called ‘loas”. Vodou also uses many symbols in its religious practices. The primary worshipping language is Kreyol, a dialect of Haitian French. Vodou is influenced by French Catholicism (“What is the Difference…”).
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Santeria worships orishas, similar to how the Vodou religion worships loas. Santeria is a very secretive religion with strict religious rules, unless you have been initiated into the religion your involvement in the practices is very limited. Santeria does not use symbols like Vodou does. The primary worshipping language is Lukumi, a dialect of the Yoruban language with elements of Cuban Spanish. Santeria is influenced by Spanish Catholicism (“What is the Differenece…”).
Another difference between Santeria and Vodou is a person’s “head spirit”. In Santeria, this is discussed publically and the spirit is identified to everyone. People who practice Vodou do not do this. They even tell people they have different spirit then they actually do in case others want to work against them using this spirit (Tann