Music Video

Mr. Vicious

"CRISP"

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Had to post my dawg'z video. He wuz one of the 1st artists to come support me at my showz even if he wuzn't performing. Plus he a real certified Lil' Haiti Soul~Jah & he can flow. Yall check out my boy's video. #SupportRealMuzik

Industry Connect

Mari Insight

CEO of Insight Promotions

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To me, this lady right chea is an angel. She always spreads positive vibes to any & everyone she encounters, her aura is very bright, & her very words even carry a glow to them.

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Mari specializes in Entertainment Promotions, Marketing, Consulting, Branding, Radio Promo, & other PR work.

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Her clients range from artists to DJs to clothing lines to even other PRs.

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Here's a quick view of a few of her clients:

DJ HeadBussa

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DJ Headbussa is Central Florida's top mixtape DJ (hands down). Known for his famous "SUPPLY & DEMAND" Mixtapes, he is definitely a force to be reckoned with.

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THE FLORIDA ENTERTAINMENT SUMMIT

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Mari also is responsible for handling majority of the promo & management for the Anually held Florida Entertainment Summit. Even though it's a Florida based event; labels, DJs, artists, & magazines from across the country are always in attendance.

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Here's a video clip from last year's Entertainment Summit.

(You know i had to put the one that I have a cameo performance in)

lol

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AJ the R&B General

She also does PR work for R&B sensation, AJ the R&B General.

He's been on 106&Park's "Wild Out Wednesdays" twice & won both times. AJ has also worked with such big names as Trina, Ball Greezy, & K Kutta.

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NIA DA FOXX

Here's a song from one of her artists, Nia Khalilah featuring the famous Pharell Williams of the Neptunes.

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Mari has connects throughout the game & she goes iiiiiiiiiiinnnnnn on whoever or whatever she promotes. I haven't seen a PR work as hard as she does, yet. I = myself am on at least 50 or 60 ning sites & i swear I see the Insight Promotions' logo on almost every one of 'em. If yall think I promote hard on twitter, then you must not be following Mari. I mean, every social network or blogsite that I'm on, she has flooded with her clients' product.

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That's just concerning her online promo; her company has street teams on deck for days in multiple cities, including Tampa, Miami, ATL, New York, LA, etc.

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If you would like to contact Mari for any of her services,

call (813)422-8562

or follow her on twitter@ http://www.blogger.com/%3C/span%3E

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Artists or businesses, if you're trying to take your career to the next level, you definitely need to hit her up ASAP. #RealTalk

LuvNLight

Events

The 9th Annual Peace N Da Hood Fest'

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I performed at this event last year & i must say, it is definitely an event that you don't wanna miss if you're in the South Florida area on August 14th.

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Of course, I'm doin' this blog to promote an upcoming show, but I also wanted to give yall a lil' synopsis of what this event really means.

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"The Uncle Al Peace N Da Hood Fest" is an annual festival held in Liberty City (Miami), in memory of the late, great DJ Uncle Al of SugarHill DJs. He was responsible, not only for uplifting many people in the music business, but also for showing that we can unite the different hoods thru the music & thru love.

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Sadly, Uncle Al was murdered on September 10, 2001, but his legacy lives on thru the seeds of positivity he left behind.

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In the last 2 years, between Dade & Broward County alone, there have been 2,500 children - ages 12-17 who have died within our inner-city areas due to gun violence and other violent crimes.

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That's just 2 counties.

Florida alone has 67 counties.

Now, imagine how many ghetto's are actually spread throughout America dealing with these same issues.

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Did you know we lose more Americans in the ghetto each year due to gun violence than what we lose in all of our foreign wars combined? #SMHmoment

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"The Peace N Da Hood Fest" is here to bring awareness to these issues and to show that we can all gather together & have a good time without violence being involved.

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This event is like the hugest block party you could imagine.

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Industry heads, from the most commercial artists to the top grinders in the underground scene, perform & speak to the youth about uplifting the community.

Top DJs from all over Florida set up their speakers & turntables on each block.

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Last year Street Connect DJs, MA TV, Poe Boy Ent., SlipNSlide Records, Da Streetz Magazine, Hot 97.7fm, & Iconz Records were a few of the companies in attendance.

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This year BET, 24HourHipHop, 99 Jamz, Ozone Magazine, 89.1 TheStreetsFM, & Lex Promotions will be on the block too; just to name a few.

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Of course, I'mma be performing out there as well.

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Here's a picture from last year's "Peace N Da Hood Fest" with me & Peazy Li'jon

(rapper/singer from Fort Lauderdale)

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Here's another pic. during my performance.

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If you are interested in getting involved with The Peace N Da Hood Fest,

call Dee@ (305)244-9056

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Either way, it's a free all-ages event & it's for a good cause, so you should slide thru.

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Stop The Violence / Keep The Peace / Spread The Love

***NAMASTE***

Mother Nature

SPIDERS

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When I was a lil' jit, the one thing that would freak the Hell outta me were spiders.

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Now, I see them as one of the most interesting BE~ings on Earth.

No matter how creepy you might find them, they still are God's Creation, therefore we must love them. They also have been on the Earth for at least 140 Million Years, therefore we must respect them. They are our elders after-all. :)

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Spiders come in all packages.

Crab spiders have a spiny shell for instance; Tarantulas & wolf spiders are just as furry as mammals, while others might have skin like a gecko.

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Spiders are natural-born hunters.

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They are the lions & tigers of the insect world.

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They are the kings & queens of a minute jungle.

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We all know them for their glorious masterpieces called webs.

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Most species of spiders do spin webs to catch their food, but not all.

(Some stalk & pounce their prey)

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Spiders also use their webs to protect their offspring.

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A spider's web is one of the strongest substances on Earth, made from a protein-based silk extruded from a spider's spinnerets (located at the end of the abdomen).

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The tensile strength of spider silk is greater than the same weight of steel and has much greater elasticity. The military is even experimenting with creating bulletproof vests & armor out of the spider's silk.

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This is one of the main reasons for it's creepy legs too.

If a spider happened to get its body caught in the web, it would become stuck like any other bug. So the legs help it to balance itself across its own DeathTrap.

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Spiders were respected by the ancient world as gods & transcedental BE~ings.

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In West Africa, Anansi, was the Trickster God. But behind each trick, there was always a valuable lesson to be learned.

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In Native American culture, the DreamCatcher is a replica of the spider's web.

They hang it over places of rest and sometimes doorways too.

It is believed that the DreamCatcher can filter out the good from the bad dreams, so we could tap into the spirit world in a positive light.

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Even in the Hindu religion, Vishnu (the god which preserves all of Creation) resembles a spider with his 8 arms.

He is the equivalent to what God is in the Christian religion.

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Only God could create such a unique creature as the spider.

They have alotta the same things we have, such as eyes, stomach, brain, heart, teeth (fangs), digestive system, lungs, ovaries, etc.

On top of that, the pedipalp, are basically hands that help them to pull their food into their mouth.

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Now, of course, their heart, stomach, etc. isn't positioned exactly how our heart, stomach, etc. is, but that just goes to show how creative our Creator really is.

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Matter of fact, the brain of a jumping spider takes up as much volume in proportion to its body as does ours. You can't tell me they aren't working on some high levels of intellect.

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I can't even imagine how they see the world neither. Spiders have 8 eyes & within each eye is about a hundred little eyes. Aint that some shit? God is truly the original Artist.

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Of course, they all bite if they feel threatened & 98% of spiders carry some sort of venom, but hey, if you were that small amongst a world of giants, you'd probably want some sort of defense mechanism to deal with potential threats too. LOL

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I just want people to realize how fascinating God's creations truly are from the smallest to the largest. We all vibrate on different levels, yet we all walk amongst the same planet.

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Much Respect to brother & sister Spider.

LuvNLight

Health

THE AMAZING BENEFITS OF BLUEBERRIES

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There's a lil' bulletin board by the water fountains in the gym that I work out at & I saw these interesting facts about blueberries posted. Being the Herbivore I am, it automatically sparked my interest.

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So here are 4 of the many benefits of blueberries:

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1) SKIN RELIEVER

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Soften up with this scrub from The Cliff House Resort and Spa in Ogunquit, Maine:

Combine 2 cups brown sugar, 2 teaspoons pureed blueberries, & 3 tablespoons lemon juice.

Blueberry's antioxidants soften skin, lemon juice brightens, & sugar exfoliates.

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2) BLADDER AID

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Blueberries, like cranberries, contain compounds that prevent bacteria from adhering to bladder walls, which helps ward off urinary tract infections (UTI's), according to a Rutgers University study. If you get UTI's, toss a handful of blueberries into your A.M. smoothie.

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3) CANCER BLOCKER

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Blueberries' anthocyanins -- which give them their blue hue -- attack cancer-causing free radicals & can even block the growth of tumor cells, a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign study found. Eating just a half-cup a day (like in a slice of pie for instance) is all you need.

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4) BRAIN FOOD

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To work smarter, pack dried-blueberry trail mix for a snack. A study from the University of Reading and the Peninsula Medical School in England suggests that blueberries reverse age-related memory loss, thanx to its abundance of antioxidants called flavonoids.

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for more details, visit http://www.health.com/

LuvNLight

Grind Time

SOUTH FLORIDA SWAG CONCERT

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Boy . . . . A muthafucka can't tell me i don't grind for this shit. LOL

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1st off, I caught the Tri-Rail up there. The show wuz at a lil lounge spot on the FAU Campus in Palm Beach County. Seemed like the easy route, because the same address for the Campus wuz the same address for the Tri-Rail Station up that way.

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SMH. LOL.
It didnt quite turn out that way.

When I got off the train, there wuz no University in site, so I footed it to a nearby StarBuck's, copped me an African Red Bush Tea & asked for directions.

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The dude behind the counter drew a map on the back of my receipt, which looked crazy like this.
(minus the road names)

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I aint gon' tell you, I got lost on foot for almost 3 hours in Palm Beach County. Couldn't even get hold of the promoter at first because his phone wuz off, but I know I ain't go up there for nothin', so I kept it moving.

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When I finally made it there, the spot wuz filled with college kids eating & drinking, vibin' to the muzik.

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Shit!
After ALL that walking, I needed a drink, so I sipped on some fake Guiness drink that got me tore up. LOL
(Made me get in chillax-mode quick)

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The event wuz hosted by Broward County's 1st Lady, Stitchiz.

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First, they had Mal-Jay of Grenade Records perform & crunk up the crowd for your boy.

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Then I went up & Took 'Em 2 Church.

Made alotta fans that night too. Majority of the folks in there stepped up to me wanting CDs & contact info, so it wuz definitely worth the 3 hour walk. LOL

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Didn't really know how I wuz finna make it home. Mostly everyone stayed in Palm Beach or Northern Broward, but I figured if worst came to worst, I would've just stayed the night at the Tri-Rail station.

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I just chillaxed, vibin' like it wuz ALL GOOD & here comes my dawgz from Lil' Haiti = 43Kingz.

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You can't tell me the Law of Attraction ain't real.

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Other artists that did their thang included The Hood Diezel

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Jules = The Haitian R&B Prince of the South

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And of course, last but not least, my dawg Lumo Da Gr8.

Yall look out for him. He's got a Nate Doggish, harmonizing, hip hop style with a Florida swag.

Me & him definitely finna get it in with a collab for yall soon.

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After it wuz ALL said & done, and we wuz bout to leave, the white girls came bumrushing me & 43Kingz. (must be the dreads LOL)

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Over ALL, it wuz a pretty cool nite. Goes to show that when you keep that positive energy flowing, even when the situation might seem a lil' off, you will alwayz have a positive outcome.

LuvNLight

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Keep up with my upcoming showz & interviews@

www.myspace.com/mrgrim2dareapa or www.twitter.com/mrgrim2dareapa

Religion

VODOU

"Similarities"

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I been planned on doin' a blog on voodoo, but of course, this muzik grind has had me very caught up.

But after this earthquake in Haiti, I've seen alotta ignorant statements from non-Haitians as well as Haitians, blaming this natural disaster on Vodou.

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Now, I'm not an expert Vodou practitioner, but I have had a few experiences with the culture. So here's the interpretation from Mr. Luv~N~Light's perspective.

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When most people think of Vodou, automatically negative things come to mind like Voodoo dolls, Zombies, & sacrifices.

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That might be one minor aspect of Vodou, but i know for a fact, there wuz one time that i wuz jumped (had to fight & shit) & i wuz brought to this Haitian lady's house right after it ALL went down. She made me a special tea & wiped my wounded skin with some natural ointment.

I aint gon tell you, i left that house like i wuzn't even jumped, feeling like a few years younger.

And guess wut? The lady wuz a vodou practitioner.

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"The other side to vodou is the usage of healing energies thru prayer & natural remedies."

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Of course, everything does have its negatives & positives.

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You have Muslims that blow up shit & kill hundreds of people. Then you also have Muslims that practice prayer & peace every moment of the day.

You have Hindus that have slaughtered Muslims in the streets, but you also have Hindus like Mahatma Gandhi that united his nation.

There are Christians like the ones behind the Inquisition, but then again, there are Christians like Dr. Martin Luther King & Mother Teresa.

So the same goes for Vodou.

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When the African slave trade wuz taking place, the people were not only ripped of their clothes, families, & land ... they were ripped of their philosophies, religions, language, & culture as a whole.

Anything that wuz non-European in praise wuz labeled as wicked or savage.

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The Haitians found a way to merge their religion with the European religion that wuz being force fed to them.

Not too much different from how the Jews had to do during their holocaust.

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Most Haitians are descendants of West Africans, so the Haitian culture reflects that area of the world.

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Vodouisants believe that there is one God who is the creator of all, referred to as "Bondye".

GOD not being able to be fully grasped by his creations, sent forth the lwa, which are the spirits that Vodouisants pray to & call upon.

{Much like the angels in Christianity, the dakini in Buddhism, the eloheem in Judaism, the deities in Hinduism, the gods of the Greeks, etc., etc.}

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Not only did the Africans blend their religion with the French, they also had strong connections with the Arawak & Taino Indians.

In actuality, the Native Americans & Africans had so many similarities as far as being intuned with the spirit world & nature, so their culture wuz merged in as well.

Vodou is actually a unified religion.

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One thing that seems to throw people off about Vodou are the spirit possessions.

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But the spirit possessions are not much different from people catching the Holy Spirit in church.

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The only difference is that they purposely direct those energies in 2 their bodies, becoming mediums for the spirits & ancestors.

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We are ALL mediums for different energies AKA different spirits.

Ever felt so good one day & then ALL of a sudden, you have bad vibez or feel down for no reason at all?

Well, that's because the physical world is just clothing for the spirit world.

The ancient people knew this & knew how to tap in to this world that we often forget exists around us ALL the time.

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Now, i've been to a few Vodou parties & witnessed the prayer, offerings, & spirit possessions.

When its time for the actual seance to occur, Vodou practitioners clean up, rearrange the room, set up an alter with gifts for the spirits, throw holy water, burn incense, & go into deep states of prayer & meditation.


They basically do Feng Shui on the area so the energies can flow right.

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Of course there are different energies out here, ranging from the most negative to the highest levels of positivity. That's why there is usually a vodou priest or priestess that resides over each seance.

There are different nations of lwa just like there are different legions of angels.

Some are guardians, some are archangels, some are fallen too.

But if you really look at the Vodou religion, it has nothing to do with worshipping the Devil.

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It's ALL about angel worship & praise to the ancestors.

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The primary reason for the rumors of Devil worship in Vodou is due to the revolts that took place in Haiti which ended in the Africans over-throwing the Europeans.

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Vodou played a major role in Haiti's revolution.

Haiti became the first free nation in the New World.

Their faith wuz one of the biggest factors in making freedom a reality.

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Of course the Europeans had to tarnish Haiti's name & reputation in any & every way possible, & that's where the urban legends began.

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If anything, Haiti deserves the utmost respect for being able to hold on to its African "Roots" more than any other nation on this side of the world.

And it's sad that it took an earthquake to finally realize the struggle of the Haitian people.

This poverty & shit that they're having to deal with over there stems back to slavery.

If someone would fix their face to even blame it on ancient wayz & beliefs, then they dwell in darkness themselves.

Remember Ignorance is Bliss & Knowledge is Power.

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Of course, i only barely scratched the surface of the Vodou religion.

There's no way i could explain any whole religion within one blog, but hopefully yall open your eyez to know some of the history & to see the positive side to Vodou.

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Other thingz included in Vodou are dream interpretations, energy-cleansing, psychic readings, as well as more supernatural thingz such as teleportation & shapeshifting.

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Sometimez we fear the thingz we don't know or overstand, but like the great prophet Y'shua of Nazareth said, "If you seek, you shall find." The Truth is out here.

LuvNLight