these spiritual realities. By use of elegant rituals and the focused creation of altars, we can all make contact with the loa, the guides from these dimensions.
These techniques seem naturally alien to us. In Christianity, altars and direct communication with God(s) has been the prerogative of priests. In Vodou, direct contact is the way. Some of the details may seem crazy to us. But this is just a cultural difference; one of many that we need to jettison if we are to explore other cultures in any real depth, beyond the prism of our own culture’s matrix.
And this, for me, is the great benefit of immersing myself in the exotic waters of such a rich system – to step outside of my own indoctrination and try out some other possibilities concerning my perception of life. When we do this we enrich our lives, enabling us to get a different perspective on some of our more limiting beliefs.
The two areas in which I am particularly beholden to Vodou are those of the trance state and the use of altars. I love using altars to focus my intention on what I want to bring in to my life. A sacred, still space, amongst the hubbub of daily affairs. Altars of bones, sculptures, images, drums, crystals… arranged in a way that means something to me. Connecting me to my source.
For the last nine years, I have also taught a system of movement called The Five Rhythms™. It is a system by which people can safely enter and exit trance states, devised by a brilliant Californian called Gabrielle Roth, whose background included the healing arts, theatre, and dance. She studied different cultures, spiritual techniques for entering trance/meditative states – particularly Vodou – and devised