Voodoo – a religion on Haiti
I know most people have heard about voodoo or seen it on TV. But what is it really about and is it something that you can take benefit of?
Voodoo also known as vodũ in Fon, Ewe, and related languages means divine creature or spirit. Originally from Africa, this religion spread to Haiti when Africans were brought as slaves. The African slaves were forced to convert to Roman Catholics.
Though the French did not allow practising voodoo they did allow occasional dances which were in fact a part of voodoo tradition. When the slaves were liberated many years later, almost all whites were killed or sent out. This also includes Roman Catholic religious practitioners like priests, which angered the Vatican. For more than 50 years Haiti was isolated from the Vatican allowing the Voodoo religion and culture to flourish as a mix of African traditions and Catholicism. It was during this period that Voodoo took up certain ‘Christianity – like’ traits. This religion has now merged with Christianity to adopt certain Christian ways and methods. Now Haitians practice both Catholicism and voodoo with the same spirit and equal devotion.
But the Vatican was not very happy with the way things were going in Haiti. They did wage holy wars against Haiti to get rid of Voodoo. There again, a lot of killing, looting destroying of holy places etc. were involved. The voodoo religion did get suppressed for some time and open practice was not followed But this inversely affected the Vatican as the popularity of the religion only grew even more. These repeated wars may have been one of the reasons for the fanatical behaviour of the present voodoo practitioners. The Vatican realizing its efforts were in vain, decided – If you can’t win them, join them. It made peace with the voodoo religion leading to the present day practice of voodoo with Christianity.
Protestants on the other hand consider Voodoo as pagan or rather devil worship. They strongly oppose the voodoo practice. Yet Voodoo flourishes and remains as the common religion in Haiti.
Voodoo on Haiti
There are a few basic things to be understood before talking about the Voodoo religion. They have a supreme god – Bondye who cannot be contacted at will. Bondye is contacted through the Iwa. Iwa can be synonymous with the saints of Christianity; but Christians pray to God Himself while the people practising Voodoo pray to Iwa. The Iwa who are the spirits of the various natural forces of the earth carry the prayers of the humans to Bondye. Then there are the dead family ancestors who are extremely honoured. The twins are other spiritual forces that are of contradictory nature like good and bad, night and day etc.
There are often prayers and ceremonies to honour each or all of the spirits. If failed to be honoured, the Haitians believe that these spirits will bring ill luck and unhappiness. They also believe that the Iwa enter people’s body during the ceremony and offer advice and forecast the future. The Iwa are all powerful and they devoutly believe that everything is the way it s supposed to be because the Iwa have decided so. The practice of black magic is rare though not altogether absent in Voodoo. Many even claim that black magic is not a part of voodoo. Thus for everything from healing to general happiness of the clan, the Haitians believe that the rituals they perform will please the spirits in their favour.
//Bruce
