Voodoo In Zora Neale Hurston's Tell My Horse

Voodoo is often stereotyped as a deadly and evil practice, primarily by Hollywood movies and those who do not understand it. Zora Neale Hurston’s book Tell My Horse details her journey to Haiti and Jamaica to research voodoo and the beliefs the worshippers have. The book features depictions of rituals and traditions that many would scratch their head at; but that is the point of the book. In order to understand voodoo, one must read about what the worshippers actually believe in. Then, the mysteriousness of voodoo fades and the reader is left with the knowledge. The stereotypes of voodoo fade with education. Hollywood loves to stereotype the voodoo religion. The movies, Voodoo Woman and The Princess and the Frog portray certain aspects of voodoo as scary and dangerous. While voodoo is dangerous if used to harm others, it is not meant to be used in that way. Voodoo is a tradition of healing. In The Princess and the Frog, there is a character named Doctor Facilier, portrayed as a “voodoo witch doctor.” Seen as the antagonist of the film, he has all of the stereotypes that one would associate with a voodoo practitioner: murderous,

They have specific burial ceremonies to ensure the body will not come back as a ghost or zombie. People in Haiti take this seriously and that belief is one reason that Americans can use to further their stereotypical description of voodoo practitioners and believers. Even Hurston at times is skeptical about the reality of the zombie. “Hurston’s desire to distance herself from voodoo suggests her sense of vulnerability with respect to its powers” (Emery, 330). Voodoo can easily be miscast as a scary pagan belief system. Hurston’s book explains the rituals and the beliefs in order to educate the public who are depicting voodoo in an inaccurate fashion. However, she also tries to stay on the academic side in her point of view, as to not become too tied up in the