Voodoo Cracked My Car Windscreen
Anyone who’s into funny insurance stories (come on, it’s not that sad) will have probably heard of the incident accounted for on the claim form as “Windshield broke. Cause unknown. Probably voodoo.” However, multi van insurance aside, what is voodoo, and can it really have an effect on your luck (and thus your insurance claim frequency)? Read on to find out.
Voodoo, also known as vodou, vodoun and vodun, has diverse origins and practices from place to place, it being most closely associated with Haiti, Louisiana and West Africa. With many misconceptions about it in popular culture, voodoo has come to be strongly associated with so-called voodoo dolls, zombies and evil. However, most of these alleged practices are either wholly false or twisted; “voodoo dolls” in Haiti, for example, are not used for sympathetic magic but rather as messengers to the otherworld. In short, you’re no more likely to need tradesmen insurance in an area that practices voodoo than anywhere else (and would it really insure against that kind of stuff anyway?).
Vodouisants (followers of the voodoo religion) generally pray to lesser spirits known as loa rather than their supreme god Bondye, who is largely too distant from mortal affairs in order to provide direct aid. These include:
Baron Samedi
A loa of the dead, Baron Samedi is usually depicted in a top hat, tuxedo and dark glasses (sometimes with cotton plugs in his nostrils), resembling a body prepared for burial in the traditional Haitian way. Although largely benevolent, Baron Samedi is known for his fondness for obscenities and debauchery, frequently partaking of tobacco and rum.
Erzulie
A whole family of similarly named (but entirely different) spirits, Erzulie is the loa most closely associated with beauty, luxury and love. A fierce protector of women and children, she also sometimes known as the Black Madonna, and is often depicted with scars on her cheeks following a fight with a rival of hers.
While small business insurance is definitely a worthwhile investment, don’t go unfairly thinking that voodoo is going to ruin your business prospects!
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