What is the significance of the rooster in voodoo

I live in a major urban center but there are a bunch of people who own roosters and chickens in these parts. To immediately assume that voodoo rituals have been taking place is sort of silly. City of Hialeah. Maybe there is something going on, but someone living nearby and keeping chickens within a poorly-maintained fence could just as easily result in a similar pattern.

Chickens will get out and run around if they can, with sometimes tragic results. Cryptic looking symbols, most often with something looking like a compass in the center. Like this , but probably in chalk or corn meal. Thinking it over, I decided to check on the chicken legality thing. And what chicken owners there are may very well be raising them FOR the sacrifice. Do you have any contacts in the Santeria community? And while Hollywood has exaggerated or made up aspects of the religion, there are some kernels of truth in its depiction.

During voodoo ceremonies, worshippers gather, pound on drums, chant and offer up sacrifices to the loa. In certain instances, this can entail the sacrifice of a farm animal, such as a chicken.

The loa then appears, and takes possession of one of the worshippers. The priest or priestess then asks the loa questions or entreats it for favors, while the possessed worshipper responds in the tone and personality of the spirit. When the ceremony ends, the loa departs the possessed worshipper and restores him to his former facilities. Each loa possesses its own personality and powers that affect different aspects of life. But probably not legal. They were likely beheaded elsewhere.

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? When we think of dark, we think of people causing harm on another person. This is meant to help someone. None would comment. So they are quiet. The U. Supreme Court ruled in that animal sacrifice for religious purposes is protected from prosecution. Still, governments can require that a sacrifice is performed humanely and that carcasses are properly disposed of for health reasons.

Neither agency had an immediate response.