Servant of the spirit, or Voudouist is the name given to a practitioner of Voodoo. While the former can be interpreted with a dark air, quite often the opposite is true. The mainstream media has given a false identity to Voodoo and instilled fear in the general public. The intent of Voodoo is not that of evil or dark magic, rather that of community and strength. “Because there remains a very dark remnant of the history of slavery and discrimination in the West, African religions are still some of the most maligned and misunderstood religions in the world.” (Mama Zogbé) Voodoo, Vodoun, or Vodun, is much more complicated and spiritual than the misconceptions surrounding it would lead one to believe; through its practices, beliefs and priests/priestesses, it has served many Africans in times of conflict and has remained strong even after thousands of years of opposition and practice. To understand the basic principles of Voodoo, it seems necessary to understand the word yes itself. The original spelling was "Vodun", which is the Louisiana derivative of the French word for spirit. The word has many other spellings, all created to capture the pronunciation of Haitians. However, many of the various spellings can also be linked to American scholars who first studied the religion. It would seem that their goal was one of two: to write the word in such a way that it was obvious that it was something unusual, or to make the concept more digestible. It seems to be the same way as Harry Potter, for example, when everyone is too afraid to say Voldemort out loud, so they instead refer to him as "he-who-must-not-be-named". The same idea similarly presents itself in the context of scholarly discussion... halfway through the article..." The Voodoo Society. Voodoo Society, n.d. Web. September 12, 2013. Haas, Saumya Arya. "What is the Voodoo? Understanding a Misunderstood Religion." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, February 25, 2011. Web. September 4, 2013. Hood, Bruce, PhD. "The Natural Origins of Voodoo." The Self Illusion. Sussex Directories Inc., July 6, 213 . Web. 4 September 2013. Ogunsuyi, Austin, Dr and Mama Zogbe "Voodoo: Dispelling the Myths (Pt. 2)." of voodoo". nd Web. 04 September 2013. Zogbé, Mama. "Voodoo: a tradition of the African diaspora". Interview by Austin Ogunsuyi, Dr. Mami Wata West African Diaspora Vodoun, May 2001. 2013.