‘Spiritual Gumbo’ - Lilith Dorsey

"Voodoo dolls are the one thing I'm always on my high horse about."

In this episode, Joanna is joined by author, filmmaker, anthropologist and initiated New Orleans Voodoo priestess Lilith Dorsey for a rich conversation that dismantles centuries of myth while exploring the profound spiritual philosophies at the heart of African diasporic religions.

Together, they trace how traditions such as New Orleans Voodoo, Haitian Vodou and Yoruba spirituality have survived colonisation, enslavement and systematic misunderstanding, not by remaining fixed, but by adapting while holding fast to their deepest truths. Lilith explains why these religions are "like fractals", capable of becoming as intimate as a family ritual or as expansive as a gathering of thousands, all while preserving their sacred energy.

From ancestor veneration and the true origins of zombies to the enduring misconceptions surrounding so-called "voodoo dolls", Joanna and Lilith explore how popular culture has distorted these traditions, and why those distortions persist. They also discuss the reclamation of powerful feminine figures like Lilith, the pioneering work of Zora Neale Hurston and Maya Deren, and what it means to document the sacred without diminishing its mystery.

Warm, generous and endlessly fascinating, this conversation invites us to reconsider not only what we think we know about Voodoo, but why societies so often demonise the spiritual traditions they cannot control, and what might become possible if we approached them instead with humility, curiosity and respect.

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Host: Joanna Ebenstein
Series Producer: Jess Gunasekara
Studio Engineer: Fernando Velazco Vargas
Additional Production & Sound Design: Katie Hill
Production Coordinator: Janice Jardine
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam
Artwork: Lauren Seeley 

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