
Voodoo is one of the most misunderstood religions.

Rituals involving animal sacrifices and its associations with skeletons and possession have given it a sinister reputation.

But New York photographer Les Stone sees it as a fascinating practice. He has been photographing Voodoo followers in Haiti for 25 years and produced incredibly powerful images from over 200 visits.

He describes voodoo as 'a huge package of physical sensory overload' and his pictures - of bulls and goats being bled to death, followers bathing in mud pools and blood-soaked dresses - capture the intoxicating energy of the ceremonies he attended.

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These men, photographed in a commune called Jacmel in southern Haiti, are portraying chaloskas, described by Stone as 'characters in military garb with a protruding mouth and claw-like teeth'. This figure is based on a military officer, Charles Oscar Etienne, who terrorised Jacmel around 1900

The blood of a slaughtered goat has stained the bandanna and clothing of a dancer at the Souvenance carnival of Haitian Voodoo

A worshipper carries a sword in Souvenance during an Easter ceremony where Voodoo rites inherited from their ancestors are celebrated

A woman is placed in a sacred pool in front of hundreds of people during a Voodoo ceremony in a forest in Sucre

One of the Easter dancing celebrations that take place at Souvenance, when Haitians celebrate rights passed on by Voodoo ancestors

The 58-year-old photographer, who first arrived in Haiti to photograph the first 'free' election held after the Duvalier family was driving out the year before, says the photographs are a record of a culture that's misunderstood and could disappear.

He said: 'There's no one fascinating thing about Voodoo, it's a huge package of physical sensory overload.

'The unique drumming, music, dance, thousands of years of African history, slavery, European colonialism, rebellion, revolution, belief - all of these things are Voodoo.

In Plain Du Nord, a woman prepares to sacrifice a chicken to the spirits. She holds the bird up to the ceremony by its wings

The Houngan - a Haiti voodoo priest - grabs a bull by the horns in St Yves in front of a ceremony before he sacrifices the animal

The Houngan stares into the camera as he licks the blood of a sacrificed animal from his fingers in St Yves

At Seau D'eau, ceremonies take place below a sacred water fall where a vision of the virgin Mary was sited centuries ago

People in Gauntheir Haiti climb the stations of the cross in a Voodoo and Catholic celebration on Good Friday every year

On a street in Port au Prince, during the Day of the Dead a man walks among the crowds with a skull on his head (left) and at Seau D'eau Haiti, a man stands below a sacred waterfall where many celebrants come to wash

A sign of respect and dedication: Inside the Cave of St Frances, a man is preparing to sacrifice two chickens to spirits in front of crowds

'Voodoo is not evil - nor is it any different from other religions, and no mistake about it, it is a religion.

'Voodoo, if anything in my opinion, is even more authentic a human experience than other religions, going back thousands of years, with an extremely complicated and sophisticated pantheon of spirits and saints.

'Haiti after the Duvalier years has changed greatly and also stayed exactly the same.

'The protestant church is telling Haitins that they are evil for having their own culture and religion.

'It's more complicated than that, but corruption is key. Voodoo is the one stable belief system that some people count on to keep them sane in the face of terrible hardship.'

WHAT IS VOODOO? Voodoo is an ancient West African religion practiced by more than 30 million people in Benin, Togo and Ghana. Varying forms of the religion exist elsewhere in the world, including Haiti and the U.S. Practitioners of voodoo believe that the world of humans is shared by the world of the spirits. It is thought that spirits can impact the world of the living, bringing good or bad luck. The Fon tribe in Benin carve wooden dolls in the honour of dead children, which they look after as if they were alive. Advertisement

A man rests his head against another's chest as both women and men gather wearing white in a sacred pool at Sucre

Woman carries Rock on top of her head during Easter to celebrate Jesus and the carrying of his cross to cavalry where he was crucified

Women hold on to one another, wash off the blood and stare up towards the sun during a ceremony in a sacred pool in Souvenance

A woman lies in sacred mud at Plaine du Nord in the Nord Department of Haiti while in possession of the warrior spirit - Ogoun

This image was taken 20 years ago when the sacred pool was just mud. Two men hold one another while in possession of spirits

At Plain Du Nord, some people become so overcome that they must be protected during the ceremony in the mud to stop them drowning

A Voodoo priest is pictured in the throes of his own spirit possession. He holds a candle burning at both ends in his mouth

A woman dressed in blue holds a carton of water in her hand as she lights candles on a cross as a symbol of respect to the spirits

At Plain Du Nord, a Voodoo society holds swords and liquor as they prepare to dance to celebrate and welcome spirits

Left, goat's blood runs down a woman's face after a sacrifice and right, a woman holds a candle while in a trance in Plaine Du Nord, Haiti

Three men hold onto a bull as one lifts a blade seconds before sacrificing it in front of worshippers at Plain Du Nord

Worshippers hold swords at one of the many ceremonies that take place at Souvenance during Easter near the town of Gonaives

In Bor Du Mer Limonade, some Voodoo priests wear women's clothes during ceremonies, the look depending on what spirits they are possessed with

Crowds of people wearing white gather during a ceremony to sacrifice a goat as part of a Voodoo celebration in Sucre

In St Yves, a Veve (a religious symbol commonly used in Voodoo) is created with flour on the ground preceding a ceremony

In the Plain Du Nord a woman smokes a cigar during the Voodoo ceremony which takes place in and out of the sacred 'mud pool'

From money to flowers: In St Yves in Haiti, Houngans (male priests in Haitian Voodoo) have altered and added belongings near the Grotto

Voodoo society members become possessed while inside the cave of St Francis during a ceremony which often sees members contact spirits

A woman is possessed while in the Cave of St Francis (left) and (right) a Voodoo society member demonstrates his devotion to the religion

A sacrificed goat lies beside a sacred mud pool in Plaine Du Nord as a man stares up at crowds gathered as part of the ceremony

A woman covered in the blood of sacrificed animals is pictured in the throes of her possession by the spirits at a ceremony in Sucre

This scene was found by photographer Les Stone in the central cemetery of Port Au Prince during Ghede - the day of the dead

A Voodoo ceremony takes place at Sucre Haiti, near Gonaives, where there are four ceremonies that take place during the year

A man sits clutching bones at the Port au Prince cemetery during Ghede, the day of the dead celebrations in Haiti

Inside the Cave of St Francis in Haiti, members of a Voodoo society have begun their rituals beneath a tunnel of light

This scene shows a man crouching in a dark area in a cemetery in Gonaives after the Ghede Day of the Dead ceremony

At Plain Du Nord, a Houngan priest is overcome before sacrificing a bull in front of a crowd - he is comforted by a group of women

The bull is later sacrificed and some of its blood is collected in a bowl by a Haitian man smoking a cigarette