Mysteries and Secrets of Voodoo, Santeria, and Obeah by Lionel & Patricia Fanthorpe

Author:Lionel & Patricia Fanthorpe [Fanthorpe, Lionel and Patricia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459720602
Publisher: Dundurn
Published: 2008-07-27T23:00:00+00:00

David with his harp.

There are times when it is the timbre, the melody, the harmony, or the rhythm acting alone that can carry the messages and stir the emotions; but there is also a holistic quality in the power of music. The whole really can be greater than the sum of the parts. There is also, perhaps, a sense in which the greatest power within music is its ability to lift the listener to anticipate something higher and greater.

This relates again to the idea of the subconscious, conscious, and superconscious minds being like a house with a superbly furnished upper floor and a lived-in ground floor as well as a cellar containing a powerful generator. The sublimity of music seems to suggest that the human mind can choose not only between “ordinariness” and “something lower” — no matter how potent the contents of the cellar may be — but between normal consciousness and an altogether higher and infinitely more powerful state of awareness and being.

To what extent does modern neurobiological research reveal how music affects the mind? There is evidence, for example, that areas in the right hemisphere of the brain can respond to melody more readily than they respond to language. It also appears that when a particular musical tone or sound pattern is associated with something significant to the listener — such as food, sex, or danger — the brain’s response to that stimulus increases in line with the importance of the associated goal.

Other research findings have suggested that learning how to play an instrument has long–lasting beneficial effects on the brain. Cases have been recorded where Alzheimer’s patients have retained their ability to play, long after other skills have been lost. There is also significant evidence that learning to play an instrument enhances brain function throughout life.

The indications are that the playing and singing that occur during Obeah and Santeria ceremonies are beneficial to the participants and have positive effects on brain function as well as influencing emotion and conveying messages.

The importance of rhythmic drumming during Santerian ceremonies, and those of similar religions, is extremely significant. Expert drum therapy practitioners maintain with some justification based on their case studies that drumming rhythms can promote self-expression and healing. The technique has been understood and used for millennia, especially in Africa. The ancient Egyptians were also experts in dancing to drum rhythms. According to expert percussion therapists, rhythmic drumming — especially when shared by groups of like-minded people — seems to accelerate healing and boost the immune system.

Academic studies have suggested that drum therapy can help disturbed children and teenagers, as well as Alzheimer’s victims. Drumming has also been shown to be beneficial in reducing stress, hyper-tension, anxiety, and tiredness. It appears that participation in group drumming as practised in Santeria, Obeah, Voodoo, and similar syncretistic religions helps participants to relax. Blood pressure is lowered and this helps to prevent heart attacks and strokes. Other research has shown that percussion group therapy seems to help control pain and assists the body to produce endorphins.

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