Michael Dorn (Worf of star trek) narrates a new documentary, Voodoo Secrets, attempts to dispel misinformation about Voodoo - an ancient religion that may predate Christianity.
This video has experts explain how Voodoo has been maligned and persecuted, often reduced in the popular imagination to spells, curses zombies and pincushion dolls.
In fact, Voodoo began at least 5,000 years ago on the west coast of Africa. A segment in modern-day Benin shows the religion as it is practiced today and where historical moments pertaining to Voodoo are discussed.
The cameras witness an event rarely seen by outsiders, a ceremony with animal sacrifice.
"Voodoo might have remained in West Africa if the evils of the slave trade hadn't brought it to Haiti and later the United States and other parts of the world,"
The documentary also investigates alleged Voodoo spells that were blamed for sinking a ferry in Haiti and for Marie Laveau, the "Queen of Voodoo" in New Orleans, protecting two men who had been sentenced to die on the gallows in 1850.
