Vodou

Vodou Symbols



On this page we have collected for you some information about Vodou. While our team has been repeatedly in Haiti and more specifically in Isle A’Vache we have had several encounters with Vodou on the Island as interpreted by the local population in some form or another. During that time we actually grew quiet fond of the local Vodou-Priest who lived in Ka-koc Village with his two wifes. He performed several "good luck" ceremonies for our previous expeditions. Two months before our last expedition (March 2004) he sadly passed away.


The belief system of Vodou revolves around family spirits (often called loua or mistè) who are inherited through maternal and paternal lines. Loua protect their "children" from misfortune. In return, families must "feed" the loua through periodic rituals in which food, drink, and other gifts are offered to the spirits. There are two kinds of services for the loua. The first is held once a year; the second is conducted much less frequently, usually only once a generation. Many poor families however, wait until they feel a need to restore their relationship with their spirits before they conduct a service. Services are usually held at a sanctuary on family land. In Vodou, there are many loua. Although there is considerable variation among families and regions, there are generally two groups of loua, the "rada" and the "petro". The rada spirits are mostly seen as "sweet" loua, while the petro are seen as "bitter" because they are more demanding of their "children". Rada spirits appear to be of African origin while petro spirits appear to be of Haitian origin.


 

Loua are usually anthropomorphic and have distinct identities. They can be good, evil, capricious, or demanding. Loua most commonly show their displeasure by making people sick, and so Vodou is used to diagnose and treat illnesses. Loua are not nature spirits, and they do not make crops grow or bring rain. The loua of one family have no claim over members of other families, and they cannot protect or harm them. Vodouists are therefore not interested in the loua of other families. Loua appear to family members in dreams and, more dramatically, through trances. Many Haitians believe that loua are capable of temporarily taking over the bodies of their "children". Men and women enter trances during which they assume the traits of particular loua. People in a trance feel giddy and usually remember nothing after they return to a normal state of consciousness. Vodouists say that the spirit temporarily replaces the human personality.


 

Vodou Night in Isle A'Vache

Misconceptions about Vodou have given Haiti a reputation for sorcery and zombies. Popular images of Vodou have ignored the religion's basis as a domestic cult of family spirits. Adherents of vodou do not perceive themselves as members of a separate religion; they consider themselves Roman Catholics. In fact, the word for vodou does not even exist in rural Haiti. The Creole word vodoun refers to a kind of dance and in some areas to a category of spirits. Roman Catholics who are active vodouists say that they "serve the spirits" but they do not consider that practice as something outside of Roman Catholicism. Haitians also distinguish between the service of family spirits and the practice of magic and sorcery. Vodou is not just based on superstitions, ignorance and fear without connection to any kind of religious traditions. Vodou has its origin in the animist spirit religions of 14th-century West Africa. Those believes traveled with the slaves across to the New World and manifested themselves in many areas of the Caribbean but also in South America and North America. The Vodou, which is practiced, today is a concoction of African religions mixed with the residual believes of Taino Indians and thus became common ground for African slaves from different tribes. The religion thrived secretly among the many plantations and bands of run away slaves (Maroons) in their hidden mountain camps. In those days Christianity was used as a justification for the slave trade. So slaves retained their own believes by replacing their sacred objects with the icons of Catholic saints.


Vodou is probably the best example of African syncretism in the Americas. Although its essential wisdom originated in different parts of Africa long before the Europeans started the slave trade, the structure of Vodou, as we know it today, was born in Haiti during the European colonization of Hispaniola. Ironically, it was the enforced immigration of African slaves from different tribes that provided the circumstances for the development of Vodou. European colonists thought that by desolating the tribes, these could not come together as a community. However, in the misery of slavery, the transplanted Africans found in their faith a common thread. They began to invoke not only their own gods, but to practice rites other than their own. In this process, they comingled and modified rituals of various tribes. The result of such fusion was that the different religious groups integrated their beliefs, thereby creating a new religion: Vodou, an Afro-Caribbean religion that mixed practices from the Fon, the Nago, the Ibos, Dahomeans, Congos, Senegalese, Haussars, Caplaous, Mondungues, Mandinge, Angolese, Libyans, Ethiopians, and the Malgaches.


  The strength that the Africans in Haiti gained from their religion was so strong and powerful, that they were able to survive the cruel persecution of the French rulers against Voodoo. When the French realized that the religion of the Africans was a threat to the colonial system, they prohibited all African religion practices and severely punished the practitioners of Vodou with imprisonments, lashings and hangings. This religious struggle continued for three centuries, but none of the punishments could extinguish the faith of the Africans who kept their religion in secret. It was in the midst of this struggle that the revolution was conspired. The Vodou priests consulted their oracle and learned how the political battle would have to be fought in order for them to be victorious. The revolution exploited in 1791 with a Petr-ritual and continued until 1804 when the Haitians finally won independence.
Today the system of Vodou reflects its history. We can see the tribal mixture in the names of different rites and in the pantheon of gods, which is composed of deities from all parts of Africa. Roman Catholicism is the official religion of Haiti, but Vodou may be considered the country's national religion. The majority of Haitians believe in and practice at least some aspects of Vodou. Most voodooists believe that their religion can coexist with Catholicism. Most Protestants, however, strongly oppose Vodou.





Vodou Pantheon

Gede – Master of the ancestral dead and keeper of the cemetery, black and purple are his colors and his favorite offering is a rooster. St. Gerard is his Catholic alter ego.
Baron Semedi – Incarnation of Gede
Baron La Croix - Incarnation of Gede
Erzuli Dantor – She is a dark skinned and fiercely protective spirit, dresses in red and blue, drinks rum and smokes. Her favorite offering is a Creole pig. She is represented by the black Madonna
Erzuli Freda – Light skinned goddess of love and luxury
Agwe – Master of the sea
Ogou – Warrior spirit
Damballah – Supreme snake deity and master of the sky
Ayida Wedo – Damballah’s wife


Vodou Ceremony

Possession trances occur usually during rituals such as services for loua or a vodoun dance in honor of the loua. When loua appear to entranced people, they may bring warnings or explanations for the causes of illnesses or misfortune. Loua often engage the crowd around them through flirtation, jokes, or accusations. Ancestors (le mò) rank with the family loua as the most important spiritual entities in voodoo. Elaborate funeral and mourning rites reflect the important role of the dead. Ornate tombs throughout the countryside reveal how much attention Haiti gives to its dead. Voodooists believe the dead are capable of forcing their survivors to construct tombs and sell land. In these cases, the dead act like family loua, which "hold" family members to make them ill or bring other misfortune. The dead also appear in dreams to provide their survivors with advice or warnings.


Vodouists also believe there are loua that can be paid to bring good fortune or protection from evil. And, they believe that souls can be paid to attack enemies by making them ill. Folk belief includes zombies and witchcraft. Zombies are either spirits or people whose souls have been partially withdrawn from their bodies. Some Haitians resort to "bokò", who are specialists in sorcery and magic. Haiti has several secret societies whose members practice sorcery. Vodou specialists, male "houngan" and female "manbo", mediate between humans and spirits through divination and trance. They diagnose illnesses and reveal the origins of other misfortune. They can also perform rituals to appease spirits or ancestors or to repel magic. Many vodou specialists are accomplished herbalists who treat a variety of illnesses. Vodou lacks a fixed theology and an organized hierarchy, unlike Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Each Vodou priest/priestess develops his or her own reputation for helping people. "François Duvalier" recruited vodou specialists to serve as "tonton makouts" to help him control all aspects of Haitian life Duvalier indicated that he retained power through sorcery, but because Vodou is essentially a family-based cult, Duvalier failed to politicize the religion to any great extent.



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Isle A'Vache
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