B. J. Winters

I've left my story Isle unfinished for a number of months now.  I'm not sure that I'll write the final chapter at this point.  While I don't like to leave this incomplete, I'm not inspired to write the closing piece.  Or, more to the point, to edit the story overall.

If anyone wants to know exactly what is going on with Miles - I'll post the myth here and let you make your own conclusions about whether he will be able to pilot an airplane off the island....

One belief unique to the religion of Vodun (or Voodoo) is that a dead person can be revived after having been buried.  When one dies, according to belief, the soul remains near the corpse for a week.  During this period the ti bon ange is vulnerable and can be captured and made into a "spiritual zombie" by a sorcerer.  After resurrection zombies have no will of their own.  Alternatively, a zombie is a living person who has never died but is under the influence of powerful drugs.  

Vodun rituals:

The purpose of rituals is to make contact with a spirit, to gain their favor by offering them animal sacrifices and gifts, to obtain help in the form of more abundant food, higher standard of living, and improved health.

Vodun priests can be male (houngan or hungan), or female (mambo). A Vodun temple is called a hounfour (or humfort). At its center is a poteau-mitan a pole where the God and spirits communicate with the people. An altar will be elaborately decorated with candles, pictures of Christian saints, symbolic items related to the person in question. 

The ceremony typically consist of the following components:

• a feast
• creation of a veve (pattern of flour or corn meal)
• shaking a rattle and beating drums
• chanting
• dancing
• animal sacrifice