Voodoo is not always benign and is not always helpful. There are darker voodoo practices, ceremonies aimed at causing harm or cursing people - those are the ceremonies which, until relatively recently, involved human sacrifices. These days most of these practices are forbidden but are certainly not extinct. We were extremely priviledged to experience a full Korku voodoo ceremony, complete with multiple sacrifices and the first incident of human possession I have ever witnessed. It was a truly powerful, dynamic and, in many ways, shocking experience. When possessed, the person taken over by the spirit gains almost supernatural powers, making them immune to harm, something they demonstrate by slashing a sharp knife across their torso, arms and even tongue.