voodoo , witchcraft and the rpc
or why you should think before including voodoo in your roleplay . ( this will contain discussions of slavery and racism , for my own comfort i will not be going into true detail of these and the other dark topics surrounded with the stereotypes )
now , i would like to preface this by saying i am not a practitioner or follower of the voodoo ( vodou but for the sake of this post we'll use voodoo ) religion , however i am black ( caribbean specifically ) and after seeing an uptick of voodoo in the rpc lately , it's occurred to me that this puts me in the position to say something . so lets get into it .
witches and magic have been a staple of both the horror and supernatural genres for years and voodoo has worked its way into the entertainment industry alongside this but lets get into what vodoo actually is : a religion with its own spiritual hierarchies , ritual ceremonies, customs and practises .
a closed religion at that .
unless you are invited into it , you can not and should not practise it . it was developed by african slaves - it's entire foundation incorporates blended religions , cultures and sufferings of african slaves . it's commonly known that enslaved people were separated from their religious and spiritual identities , the only way that this knowledge and religion still exists is from being passed down from generation to generation .
'what if my muse was invited into it?' in my opinion , you as a mun who has not been invited into this religion who does not practise it , can not fully understand the weight , traditions and complexities of it . even with research , you will be missing pieces of the information .
closed religion aside , lets now talk about the stereotypes surrounding voodoo and magic .
the term black magic was often used in regards to african spirituality and in media it's not uncommon to see voodoo be used and misrepresented as something backwards , perverse and downright evil . where does this come from ? well as simple as i can make it , it's racism . voodoo and hoodoo were used to further demonise black people , it gave us the reputation that we could enslave you , that we would take away your will and autonomy and force good innocent white people into doing things they didn't want to do ( ironic isn't it ) think of media such as ahs or even princess and the frog for modern examples of how this stereotype continues .
when portraying black witches who dabble in the stereotyped portrayal of 'voodoo' , or white characters with 'voodoo' superpowers it's important to be aware of the history and of the image you will be projecting with your character .
this is not to say you can't play black characters as witches or other magical species , but you can do so in a way that doesn't enforce damaging stereotypes and tropes . ( bonnie bennet from tvd is a witch the same as her many white counterparts , the most recent reboot of charmed features black female leads as powerful witches - although both of these are not perfect depictions )
tldr : this is no where as detailed as i wanted it to be as im saving my energy and i can't tell you what to do but voodoo is a closed religion that should not be used in roleplays as a source of magic or witchcraft . please respect it and it's roots . if you want to play a black character with magic , do so the same way you would their white counterparts but be aware of stereotypes ( particularly the magical n*gro stereotype )
as always im open to questions and comments on this . my knowledge is not absolute so i'm happy to amend things in this post . keep discussions civil and polite pretty please and remember that people of colour do not owe you education , especially at their own expense so be patient and listen .