Vodou Culture 101: Warrior Culture

All wins start with loss, especially when a warrior does not understand the nature of the battle.

One of the things vodou cultures and communities take for granted is that while there is no overarching good versus evil battle, you are still immersed in a battle to elevate: to bring yourself closer to the divine. You have helpers for this, both in the form of spirits and in the form of people who have committed themselves to be helpers, but you cannot develop yourself without making a series of decisions which you must experience as independently as possible.

A priest or spiritual worker is essentially a mercenary. We come in to help you fight your battles, to help you learn how to fight. For us, that fight can be a form of loving you, in the sense that the divine loves all of creation and wants us to mature. I am a mercenary for hire, here to help you destroy the things that would hold you back.

No one else can choose for you. They can help you as you choose, but you must experience the fear, the stress, and the outcome of the decision so that you understand what you are capable of.

You must master—which is not a particularly… nice process—your fear and stress so that it does not make you avoid what you must conquer. It is worth remembering that bravery is what you do instead of giving in to fear. Being shit scared is a part of being a warrior, and I say this as someone who has literally had their knees knock in terror before a fight.

Fear will not kill you. It also is often a liar.

Your ability to mature, to exhibit free will and to make decisions is contingent on your ability to fight the battle between you, your ego, your mind, and the world around you. That battle changes over time as you change over time, as you attain greater and greater ability to act freely. At the end of the battle, like all that exists, you will rejoin the divine. In the mean time, you cannot help but be a part of your own battle. It is happening right now, whether you realize it or not. Every time you are born onto this earth, you rejoin it.

The question is whether or not you understand the nature of that battle and whether you are willing to acknowledge your losses. Learning to acknowledge your losses is a part, but only a part, of learning to win.

The question is when, in which life, you are willing to learn how to win.