Vodou Culture 101: Specialties

One of the more interesting developments in being a priest or magical worker is having your specialty unfold through experience—there is such a deep joy in doing those things which are in alignment with your spirit and the spirits. It is satisfying, joyful, and even touching to do those things. It’s also occasionally surprising, in a “I had no idea I could do that” sort of way.

Nobody does everything themselves, which is what you’d expect from a communal religion. We’re intended to function in communities, which is why I will often refer people who contact me if their need is outside my specialty. Vodou houses/societies are intended to be full of people who are good at something that the next person might not be good at, so that if one person can’t, someone else can and the house/society is able to meet whatever challenges life happens to contain for them.

There are only negative consequences to taking on something that would be better done by someone I know. Not only will the results of trying to do that work tend to fail or backfire, but I’m also depriving one of my sisters or brothers of someone that the spirits intended for them, which can lead to consequences for me. I have no desire to try and do what I cannot. What I can do is more than enough.

Specialties emerge from the intersection between what you do well and gracefully, what you do naturally, and what the spirits give you to do. Sometimes, people will have an idea of what they are intended to do before they go to initiate, and sometimes they’ll have no idea. Those specialties can and do change over time, the spirits giving you opportunity to cross-train depending on your talents, so that you can better assist your community. Because we are a religion which values elevation and character growth, and because your character is very much a part of the process of doing something well, gracefully, and naturally, it’s probably no surprise that the specialty of a priest or magical worker would change over time.

A marker for if a magical worker or priest is ethical is how they represent themselves. If you’re considering them and they tell you that they “do everything” or that they can always help you no matter what you’re asking for, you should be very careful with them. No one is 100% effective for the whole spectrum of work someone could ask for. Mind you, they might not tell you what their specialty is, and there are good reasons not to volunteer that information, or they might ask you to say what sort of thing you want before telling you, and that also has a good reason for it.

But if they’re representing themselves as being good at everything, be suspicious. We’re intended to specialize.