Haitian Vodou Essay

Vodou, A Haitian organized worship deeply rooted in colonialism stems from some(prenominal) African sources, which have constructed and maintained a hybrid Africana and European diaspora in the Caribbean. In an effort to preserve African tradition and ghostlike depression, buckle downs in Haiti prior to the Haitian Revolution of 1791, establi sink and developed the entangled religion jockeyn as Vodou. As Vodou became a more vainglorious brass of slave furyure in Haiti the hybridization between established-down Africana religion and European religion fashi hotshotd a new brass of belief.The fusion of Catholicism from Europe and African religions make up one of the most influential religions in Haiti today, in situation Vodou molds an imperative fictional character in Haitian life. In addition to having a tremendous erect on Haitian religious rules, Vodou to a fault plays a fundament whollyy significant theatrical role in driving Haitian politics, political miserli ness, comm union, and social relations. From a learner and non-Haitian perspective I work outk to ascertain association on how Vodou has and continues to play a detrimental role in every diorama of Haitian life.Through analyzing and cross- trial run of several text editions it appears that without boundaries Vodou is consequential. Before delving into how Vodou effects nearly every aspect of Haitian hysteriaure I would like to first analyze the grandeur of on a lower floorstanding the roots and origin of a belief and practice that has conk out such a prominent aspect of Haitian life. In the eighteenth century the slave trade in Haiti ushered in a follow of African slaves from various assorts. These groups of African people brought with them to Haiti their traditions, beliefs, and modus vivendis.In Haitian Vodou of Creole Religions of the Caribbean, the actors state that the slave trade was in fact the European management of destroying all cultural connections to the h omelands of the slaves (Fernandez-Olmos and Paravisini-Gerbert 101). European slave owners and slave traders thought it obligatory to force European ideals and beliefs onto their slaves, ridding and dismantling the beliefs and tradition of their native land. In this rate the slave trade played a significant role in the creation of Vodou, catalyzing Afro-European syncretism into a new belief brass.Vodou began as a right smart for slaves to hold on to their cultural beliefs, and helped refute the impositions of Catholic religion that the french attempted to employ, as they saw it necessary to condition African slaves to their lifestyle (102). In my thought process Afro-European syncretism is one of the more complex and intriguing religious developments as it pertains to Vodou. In Voodoo Africas Secret business leader reference Gert Chesi describes the fusion of African and European culture stating that slaves brought with them the gods of Africa to the Caribbean where they the n blended with the Saints and different Catholic and Christian symbols (Chesi 231).The imposition of Catholic and Christian beliefs by Europeans onto African slaves made it nearly impossible for African slaves to remain entirely use to their home land beliefs and traditions. African slaves in Haiti adopted Vodou as a means of maintaining their traditional beliefs, however, Christian and Catholic ideals were still of import influential reckons in the establishment of Vodou. The spirits often associated with Vodou known, as Lwa are resembling to Saints in the Catholic Church.Slaves in Haiti dealt with the pressures of forcibly having to adapt to European religion by integrating their belief system with that of the European belief system. I think that Slaves in Haiti used Vodou as a stabilizing factor in Haitian culture. The ritual and practice that developed by means of the desegregation of European tradition with African tradition ensures that African tradition go away remain considerably definitive regardless of the fact that Europeans once essay to dismantle African tradition and impose Western tradition on those slaves living in Haiti. Vodou serves as a mechanism for passing on tradition from generation to generation.In Voodoo Truth and Fantasy the informant states that Vodou has emerged as a vibrant cultural force in ordinal century Haiti (Hurbon 126). This statement supports the idea that Vodou has and continues to have a role in Haitian life and Haitian culture. Vodou has undoubtedly helped restore an almost woolly identity to African slaves in Haiti, and has allowed generation after generation to know and understand the beliefs of the homeland from which their ancestors originated. The foundation of galore(postnominal) Haitian affairs whitethorn not be solely rooted in Vodou, however, the religion holds pitch in many governmental spheres by dint ofout Haiti.Starting from the moment of its development, Vodou has been politically important to Haiti. In fact, its very creation resulted from various political, cultural, and religious struggles for granting immunity (33). After analyzing the roots of Vodou it has become quite apparent that Vodou played an important role during Haitis revolutionary point. During and before the Haitain revolution Vodou was used as a means of protecting and politicizing the interest of Haitian slaves. From that time forward Haitian people have continued to use Vodou as a political tool to protect their interests and assets.Vodou has indeed been subjected to persecution at the hands of twain Church and state leaving many non-believers and outsiders to attri providede prejudicial connotations to Vodou as a whole (117). In 1835 Vodou began to publically suffer from political ostracizing under president Jean-Pierre Boyer who passed a penal enactment that called for the imprisonment of six months to twain years for followers of Vodou practicing superstitious act (118). It unwrapms to me that the reason behind the forbiddance on Vodou practices not only stemmed from political issues occurring at the time, but excessively from past political experiences in Haiti.Hurbon does not mention Boyers reasoning behind implementing a penal code, therefore allowing one to mull over whether or not Boyer, although Haitian had ties to France. The reason I bring this conduct to light is because for one, Jean-Pierre Boyer sounds relatively French and secondly Boyer implemented a code that put restrictions on a religion that has roots deep indoors African culture. In addition to dealing with the idea of possible imprisonment, if caught practicing Vodou, Haitians overly faced the possibility of abandoning and giving up the African culture and belief that was associated with Vodou.In response to government restrictions well-nigh Haitians created secret societies in orderliness to keep the bonds of Vodou ritual and ties to kinship in motion. In 1957 President Francois Duvalier too known as Papa Doc started a political reformation for Vodou (118). Duvaliers involvement in Vodou was for the soul purpose of engaging the Lwa through ceremonies in order to gain the Lwas good will and also to stumble enthusiasm in those who practice Vodou. Papa Docs governance marked a period characterized by dark magic and sorcery.This period in Haitian history displays the negative aspects often associated with Vodou. In my opinion President Francois Duvaliers understanding of Vodou curtails from misinterpretation and misuse. Duvalier did not seem to clutch the reasoning behind certain Vodou rituals and ceremonies, using them only as a way to advance himself politically. During Duvaliers reign Haiti saw tremendous political change resulting from the misunderstanding or misuse of Vodou. On one hand Jean-Pierre Boyer refused to let any one in Haiti practice Vodou because of the negative connotations adjoin the religion.On the other hand Francois Duvalier used Vodou to bols ter his political appeal, which level the meaning and reasoning behind the ceremonies and rituals performed by those who practiced and truly understand and appreciated the meaning that those Vodou acts carry. In Creole Religions of the Caribbean, the authors mention that within Vodou practices the oldtimer communicators that draw konesans or connaissance/knowledge are the Oungand and the Manbo (Fernandez-Olmos and Paravisini-Gerbert 107). The Oungand and the Manbo are believed to receive knowledge passed down from the Lwa.The Oungand and the Manbo act as political leaders and have hobnailed political power within their own community because the ability to slip by with the Lwa is looked up to. In Michel Laguerres control Voodoo and Politics the author states that Francois Duvalier used the political power of the Oungand and the Manbo to establish legitimacy among those who practiced Vodou (Laguerre 87). directly Vodou can be represented in popular culture as dark, sadistic, an d involving many acts of superstition, denying it a position central to Haitian culture.However, despite the misconceptions meet Vodou today many religious works are carried out by Haitian elites. This goes to show yet some other transformation in Haitian politics, and Vodous role in shaping a new system of life. From my examination of the texts that emphasized Vodous relationship to Haitian politics I have concluded that Vodou does in fact affect politics in Haitian communities and Haiti as a whole. The relationship between Vodou and Haitian economicals is a long-standing phenomenon that has existed prior to the Haitian revolution in 1791 and continues to exist today.The slave trades influence on the creation of Vodou links the existence of the religion and also the economics involved between masters and sellers of slaves. During this time the Haitian economy was being stimulated by the slave trade. As the slaves grew weary, a numerate of rebellions occurred and Vodou greatly a ffected the plantation economy that the Haitian people primarily were forced into. According to Omos and Gerbert, the economy in Haiti shifted from one of plantation to that of a rural economy of subsistent farmers working their own lands (Fernandez-Olmos and Paravisini-Gerbert 103).Vodou practices and rituals play an important role in shaping and maintaing Haitian economics. The initiation and sacrificial rituals performed by many Vodou sects involve a great amount of financial sacrifice (Fernandez-Olmos and Paravisini-Gerbert 117). From my examination of several texts, including that of Olmos and Gerbet I have concluded that supply for the many Vodou festivals, initiations, and tabernacle gatherings are intensive and call for many financial sacrifices from those who may already be financially unstable. Animal sacrifice plays an important role in the finances of Haitian people.In Voodoo Africas Secret Power the author, Gert Chesi, included various photographs of Haitian Vodou sac rifices and rituals. Many of the photographs throughout Chesis book showed the sacrificing of cattle, sheep, and chicken. The cross-examination of various texts did not leave me with much information on the Haitian economy as it related to Vodou, however, I was able to infer that the economic sacrifices made by Haitian people were performed in order to obtain personal advancements or for the betterment of the community as a whole. well-nigh sacrifices were performed to win the protection and trust of the Lwa spirits, and some sacrifices were performed in hopes that the Lwa would shed some rain to strengthen planation production. I think that the Haitian economy and the Vodou religion are dependent on each other. The dependency I see in the relationship stems from the fact that without an economy like the one in Haiti, Vodou would not be as prominent or even meaty to the Haitian people. The economy as it is creates a buffer for Vodou as a religion.The economy allows for Haitians to use their beliefs and connections with the spirits to envoke hope, or optimism that the plantation life in Haiti will somehow flourish. This claim can be supported through the existence of rituals performed for protection, knowledge, and even rainfall. In Hurbons, Olmos and Geberts, Chesis, Laguerre and Michels and metalworkers descriptions of Vodou in Haitian culture one thing is for certain, Vodou has and continues to influence communities through and through. In Chesis pictorial account of Vodou in Haiti one can see pictures of various ways that the religion is linked to community.In one picture, Chesi captured a ritual being performed near a beach where one psyche was having a ritual performed on him (ritual not clear from picture) while tons of his Vodou community member looked on and supported him. What puzzles me the most is how instinctual and ritualized Vodou actually is. Chesis pictures show dozens and dozens of Haitian people flocking to support another Vodou practice, but for what reason? Why do these members feel so indebted(predicate) to one another?From my observation the answer to this question comes from the simple fact that Vodou needs a sense of community mong its members to remain relevant. It was from the simple impetuous to keep tradition relevant that Vodou stemmed, so it appears to me that the idea of community or family has been long standing, even deep within Vodous African roots. Hurbons choice of words within Voodoo Truth and Fantasy sheds lite on the communal aspect of Vodou a low differently. Like Chesi, Hurbon acknowledges the importance of community, even stating that Vodou bring families together in mountainous gatherings, a festive way of ensuring that religious traditions will endure (Hurbon 14).In Hurbons text it appears that the family and passing of tradition from generation to generation is in fact important to the survival of Vodou. In my examination of Hurbons text it seemed as though Hurbon was promoting a balanc e of kinship and communal ties. Hurbon states that it is important to have family agreement in order to have a verificatory communal bond. One aspect of Hurbons text was that Vodou was often referred to as a cult dedicated to spirits. Hurbon did not let the wording of her description interfere with the way information was conveyed, however, I found it quiet prepossession that she would call Vodou a cult.Personally I associate the word cult with negative connotations. It is unclear whether Hurbon planned on conveying Vodou in a negative light, but one thing is for certain a cult describes a group of people or the communal bond that Vodou encourages. In Michels and Smiths book, Voodou in Haitian Life and ending Invisible Powers, The authors proceed to explain how the magical or superstitious aspect of Vodou conveys a sense of community among its supporters. The authors show that not only is Vodou practice a family effort, but a community effort as well.Smith and Michel both depict a type of Vodou were literally everyone in a community is involved. From small children to the eldest members of a community, all play an important role in carrying on and performing the tradition of Vodou culture. The elaborate rituals and preparation described by the authors is only made possible through communal efforts. From my understanding of the community in Vodou culture, it appears that only through community and unity can tradition be kept alive.Despite any negative connotations Vodou may have, each author showed how important Vodou is in respects to several aspects of Haitian culture. Vodou is not only a religious matter, but also a political, economic, and social one as well. On May 14, 2013 lymph gland lecturer Carnie Fabious stated, Vodou is a way of life. This statement alone sums up what Vodou was, and what Vodou continues to be in regards to Haitian culture. Fabious words show the importance that Vodou plays in all aspects of Haitian life, and demonstrates how re lative the religion is to such a vast group of people.