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Vodou Shaman: The Haitian Way of Healing and Power | 
 enlarge | Author: Ross Heaven
Creator: Tim Booth
Publisher: Destiny Books
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy Used: $1.34
You Save: $15.61 (92%)
New (23) Used (14) from $1.34
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 129877
Media: Paperback
Pages: 296
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.9
ISBN: 089281134X
Dewey Decimal Number: 299.675
EAN: 9780892811342
ASIN: 089281134X
Publication Date: November 10, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Ex-library, very worn, solid, clean
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Product Description
Goes beyond the stereotypes to restore Vodou to its proper place as a powerful shamanic tradition
• Provides practical exercises and techniques from the Vodou tradition that can be used as safe and effective means of spiritual healing and personal transformation
• Shows how to remove evil spirits and negative energies sent by others
• Written by a fully initiated Houngan (Vodou shaman)
Providing practical exercises drawn from all aspects and stages of the Vodou tradition, Vodou Shaman shows readers how to contact the spirit world and communicate with the loa (the angel-like inhabitants of the Other World), the ghede (the spirits of the ancestors), and djabs (nature spirits for healing purposes). The author examines soul journeying and warrior-path work in the Vodou tradition and looks at the psychological principles that make them effective. The book also includes exercises to protect the spiritual self by empowering the soul, with techniques of soul retrieval, removing evil spirits and negative energies, overcoming curses, and using the powers of herbs and magical baths.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Fabrications October 24, 2005
Kathy Sue Grey (Jacmel, Haiti)
22 out of 39 found this review helpful
Helllo! I am Mambo Racine Sans Bout, the same Mambo Racine about whom Ross Heaven has so many nice things to say in his book, "Vodou Shaman". It is with some regret that I must warn the prospective reader that most of what is in this book never actually happened - Ross is willing to say anything for a buck, apparently. He never let me see what he was writing until the book was published, and I never imagined he would make up so many stories! Now that I have refused to support his activities he is very angry with me, but the fact remains that this book is 99% BUNK. [...]
 . . . . October 20, 2005
AE
20 out of 29 found this review helpful
Ross Heaven was initiated into Vodou by the charlatan Mambo Racine, whom he treats with nothing but love and respect in this book. Take a look at some yahoo groups, though, and you'll see his attacks on 'Rancid.' Yes, she's a fraud, but Mr Heaven takes his spite too far. I believe he uses his references to Mambo Racine in the book -- some of which she has said are false -- to give it an air of authority. So be mindful of his 'Haitian diary' entries.
This is how he now describes his djevo experience on a yahoo group:
> Kathy [Mambo Racine] has been spouting for 2 years, without proof, that I
revealed
> djevo secrets in my book, Vodou Shaman. And for 2 years I've been
> saying the opposite and asking for evidence. None has ever
arrived.
>
> I'm getting bored of the argument and since spambo wont shut up
> about it, I've decided to reveal the secrets of her djevo here.
That
> way, when she rants on about this one again, I can honestly
> say "yep, I revealed them secrets!" - and the reason I did so is
> because spambo wouldnt shut up about it, so I guess we have her to
> thank!
>
> Now, bear in mind that these are the secrets of *spambo's* djevo,
so
> they probably bear no resemblance to what goes on in a real
mambo's
> house.
>
> I know for a fact that some of the things that *should* be taught
in
> the djevo WEREN'T (like passwords she "forgot" to tell us and
> emailed a few weeks later; and handshakes and gestures, etc, that
> were taught outside in plain daylight) - and some of the things
that
> *shouldn't* take place in a djevo (like racine smoking dope and
> teaching us tarot cards) DID.
>
> Anyway, if you decide to part with $2,500 to become one of
spambo's
> children, this is what you'll get for your money...
>
> 1. You will sleep on straw with a rock for your pillow. Under this
> straw are supposedly drawn vevers, though I saw no evidence of
this.
>
> 2. For a couple of days you will be made to lie like a foetus, be
> blindfolded, and whipped with a twig if you talk or move (an
> allusion, no doubt, to the fate of slaves under transportation).
>
> 3. Your pot tete will be behind you along with a lighted candle. A
> dove will be sacrificed on spambo's head and some of its blood
will
> go in the pot tete.
>
> 4. Your own head will be cut off - i.e. spambo will scream about
> chopping your head off and wave a machete around, then someone
will
> chuck a few rocks on the djevo roof and your candle will be
stubbed
> out on your neck. This, along with a bit of your hair and a few
> fingernails will go in the pot tete as well.
>
> 5. You will be fed "guinea food" - basically gruel with a bit of
> okra thrown in - and you will piss in a bucket. An old washer
woman
> from down the road will come in each day to fondle your penis in
the
> pretence of washing it.
>
> 6. Each day you will also wash your hands in "magical oil"
> (basically, any old vegetable oil) to strengthen your hands for
> the 'gruelling' brule zen, where you plunge your hands into fire.
In
> fact, the oil does nothing and in fact it doesn't need to since
> the 'raging flames' of a brule zen wouldn't hurt a fly.
>
> 7. On some day or another Gran Bwa will pitch up and tell you how
> wonderful racine is. One of the other Lwa may also turn up to
offer
> you tarot card readings (I'm serious)
>
> 8. After 5 days of this, where nothing is taught to you and you
are
> mortally bored and wondering why you bothered, you will be stood
on
> a chair and sworn to secrecy about it all with a machete at your
> throat, so spambo can rip someone else off without you spilling
the
> beans on her scam.
>
> 9. Spambo will, of course, forget to tell you the password, but if
> you're lucky, she may email it to you a week later. It will be in
> English (not langaj, as should be the case) and no explanation
will
> be given, nor will you be told when and how to use it. Your one-
> sentence English password will be "Even hounsis stare lightly at
the
> sun" (or whatever else she makes up at the time) - and for this
you
> will have paid $2,500.
>
> 10. Outside the djevo, you may be shown about three gestures using
> an asson (e.g. stroking it over your pocket means you have money;
> rubbing it over your ass means "kiss it" - one of spambo's
> favourites).
>
> 11. You will also be shown how to greet another Houngan
(basically,
> turn round a few times, and if he's more senior than you, kiss the
> ground in front of him).
>
> 12. You may be shown a few 'secret' handshakes. These are more or
> less normal handshakes but you extend your fingers and press on
the
> other guy's wrist to tell him your grade (2 fingers = sur pwen;
> three = asogwe).
>
> And that, apart from a few dance steps you might pick up, is about
> it.
>
> Some people reckon they got a few herbal recipes as well. I didn't
> personally, but since Honest posted these already, you know what
> they are and can see theyre mostly ripped off from Jambalaya.
>
> In other words, what happens in spambo's djevo (all these "great
and
> mystical blessings of Guinea" that spambo keeps spouting about),
is
> a big fat boring zero.
>
> What you WON'T get are the proper passwords (and, yes, there are
> more than one), be shown how to call or control spirits, taught
any
> liturgy (or why Vodou is the oldest religion, according to
> spamflaps), prayers, or songs, shown any magic, the correct use of
> the asson (or passwords for it) - or, in fact, receive anything of
> use or value - and no further teachings will follow (I've received
> nothing else from spambo - apart from BS - in the 5 years since I
> initiated with her).
>
> What you will do is lie on a dirt floor, bored, for the best part
of
> a week and maybe if youre un/lucky (depending on your perspective)
> spambo may drop by a few times if she's not too stoned to bore you
> still further with BS.
>
> If you've got a spare $2,500 lying around I cant think of a better
> way to waste it.
>
> I think that's about it, but if I've missed anything, no doubt
> someone will remind me.
>
>Oh yeah, and a decaying ferret (it may be a dove) will be
>strapped to your head for a week, its aroma marginally more pleasant >than the
>stink of racine's BS.
This made him a great Houngan, eh?
But anyway, this book provides a refreshing view of African spirituality and religion. However, his 'core Vodou' ideas, his thoughts that Santeria, Candomble, etc., are just 'Cuban Vodou' and 'Brazilian Vodou' stretch the truth -- at the very best.
Take this book with a few grains of salt.
 Beautiful and Powerful January 15, 2005
reader (USA)
18 out of 29 found this review helpful
This is a very interesting and useful book. While it isn't a how-to self-initiation book on Vodou, (don't be disappointed) it contains some powerful shamanistic exercises rooted in the (Haitian) Vudou tradition. It is always interesting to see how the Vodou adapt to the needs of the world. By itself, this book can not give readers a full view of the tradition, but I don't think that is its purpose. Vodou as an ancient tradition has a lot of deep roots. It varies not only from country to country, especially from Africa to America, but from family to family. The book gives readers insight into how the Lwa can be worked with effectively in shamanistic healing. In other words, it shows how this very ancient and beautiful African tradition ties in with the general field of shamanism and, by extention, modern psychotherapy. I think this is its main point, and for this reason, the book is very valuable. The exercises that are found in it are as good and effective as you let them be. This is not the first book that links shamanism with psychotherapy. Another great example of this is Armold Mindell's "The Shaman's Body."
vodoun March 25, 2005
Charles Le Tan (Aix en Waigh, Terre des Angles)
10 out of 16 found this review helpful
The book is not bad, the exercises combining Western psychotherapy with some form of Haitian imagery are likely to be quite useful.
This is a novel way of approaching African spirituality that takes away a lot of violent stuff without compromising the core.
The author is exploring. I wish him well.
This book works! October 21, 2005
D. Marshall (Dallas, TX)
5 out of 10 found this review helpful
I just finished Mr. Heaven's book and enjoyed it very much. Whether or not the anecdotes are geniune doesn't matter, nor does his inclusion of quotes from Mambo Racine. These aren't a part of the practical usefulness of the book.
Mr. Heaven offers useful information in a clear, consistant, and concise manner. A novice to this area of study and practice would not have any trouble understanding the concepts he is discussing, some of which are quite abstract. The book also includes exercises to perform that have a positive effect on the person performing them. It seems to me that is the value of this book, not the quotes or Mr. Heaven's previous relationship with his initiator. I highly recommend this work without reservation.
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