A digital museum · An online school · A cultural review
ROOTS, LWA &
SACRED TRADITIONS
From Africa to the Americas and around the world. Explore Vodou, Akan, Orisha, Quimboiseur, the Lwa, and the Afro Pantheon. Learn from houngan, mambo, and the ancestral traditions that still live today.
Explore the cultures, histories, beliefs and ancestral knowledge that shaped Black spirituality across Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas.
- 08
- Learning paths
- 12
- Modules per course
- 100%
- Sourced content
The founding principle
Different roots.Different paths.Shared history.
Hoodoo, Louisiana Voodoo, Haitian Vodou, Santería/Lukumí, Ifá, Obeah, Palo Mayombe and the many African traditional religions are not one spirituality. Each has its own origins, cosmology, language, history and transformations.
They are connected — by the transatlantic trade, by colonial law, by migration and by generations of people who rebuilt religious life under conditions designed to destroy it. Connection is not sameness. This platform teaches both.
What we know
Documented historical record, with sources named.
What is tradition
Oral transmission and community memory, reported as such.
What is debated
Open scholarly and practitioner disagreement, left open.
Eight learning paths
Explore the traditions
Hoodoo
United States
African American folk spirituality rooted in the American South — herbal knowledge, rootwork, prayer and intention. It is a practice, not a religion.
Open path →02Louisiana Voodoo
Louisiana, United States
A distinct Louisiana tradition combining West African, Native American and Catholic influences, centred on ancestors, spirits and offerings.
Open path →03Haitian Vodou
Haiti
A complete religion of Haiti, honouring the lwa and the ancestors through ceremony, drumming, song and service to the community.
Open path →04Santería / Lukumí
Cuba
A religion rooted in Yoruba tradition, developed in Cuba, honouring the Orisha through divination, ceremony and initiation.
Open path →05Ifá
West Africa / Yoruba tradition
An ancient Yoruba system of divination, wisdom and ethics, transmitted through the verses of the Odù Ifá.
Open path →06Obeah
Caribbean
A family of Caribbean folk spiritual practices concerned with healing, protection and spirit work — differing from island to island.
Open path →07Palo Mayombe
Congo Basin / Cuba
A Cuban tradition with Kongo roots, centred on ancestors, the powers of nature and the nganga. Distinct from Santería.
Open path →08African Traditional Religions
Across Africa
Thousands of distinct spiritual systems across the continent. There is no single 'African religion' — this path studies them separately.
Open path →Pilot course · Available now
Introduction to Haitian Vodou
A documentary introduction to the history, cosmology, spirits, symbols and contemporary life of Haitian Vodou — taught with historical sourcing and cultural respect.
- 01Origins & History
- 02Geography & Diaspora
- 03Cosmology & Worldview
- 04Important Spirits, Deities & Ancestors
- 05Misconceptions & Cultural Appropriation