Vodou

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"Voodoo doll" redirects here. For other uses, see Voodoo doll (disambiguation).

Vodou is a transliteration from the Fon language. Related to "Voodoo" and "Vodu", this particular spelling of the word is used by academics to denote the religion of Vodou as practiced in Haiti. The major portion of this article will cover Haitian Vodou.

1 Introduction
2 History
3 Beliefs
4 Liturgy and practice
5 Values and ethics
6 Orthodoxy and diversity
7 Trivia
8 Demographics
9 Holidays
10 See also
11 External links
12 References

[edit] Introduction

In Haitian Voodu or Sèvis Gine or “African Service” in Haiti, a Creolized form of Vodou, Haitian Vodou also has strong elements from the Bakongo of Central Africa and the Igbo and Yoruba of Nigeria, although many different people or nations of Africa have representation in the liturgy of the Sèvis Gine. Among these other nations are the Taíno and Arawak Indians, venerated as the indigenous population (and hence, a form of ancestors) of the island now known as Hispaniola. A large and significant portion of Haitian Vodou most often overlooked by scholars, especially English-speaking ones, until recently is the Kongo component. The entire Northern area of Haiti is especially influenced by Kongo practice. In the North, it is more often called Kongo Rite or Lemba, from the Lemba cult of the Loango area and Mayombe. In the south, Kongo influence is called Petro. Many loas or lwas (also a Kikongo term) are of Kongo origin such as Basimbi, Lemba, etc.^{[citation needed]}Haitian Creole forms of Vodou exist in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, parts of Cuba, the United States, and other places that Haitian immigrants dispersed to over the years. However, it is important to note that the Vodoun religion existed in the United States, having been brought over by West Africans enslaved in America, specifically from the Ewe, Fon, Mina, And Kabaye, and Nago groups. Some of its more enduring forms still exist in the Gullah Islands. There is a re-emergence of these Vodoun traditions in America, which maintains the same linealritual and cosmological elements as is practiced in West Africa.^{[citation needed]} These and other African-diasporic religions such as Lukumi or Regla de Ocha (also known as Santería) in Cuba, Candomblé and Umbanda in Brazil, all religions that evolved among descendants of transplanted Africans in the Americas.

[edit] History

The majority of the Africans who were brought as slaves to Haiti were from the Guinea Coast of West Africa, and their descendants are the primary practitioners of Vodou. The practitioners brought over and enslaved in the United States primarily descend from the Ewe, Anlo-Ewe, and other West African groups.^{[citation needed]} The survival of the belief systems in the New World is remarkable, although the traditions have changed with time. One of the largest differences however between African and Haitian Vodou is that the transplanted Africans of Haiti were obliged to disguise their lwa (sometimes spelled loa) or spirits as Roman Catholic saints, a process called syncretism.

Most experts speculate that this was done in an attempt to hide their “pagan” religion from their masters who had forbidden them to practice it. To say that Haitian Vodou is simply a mix of West African religions with a veneer of Roman Catholicism would not be entirely correct. This would be ignoring numerous influences from the native Taíno Indians, as well as the evolutionary process that Vodou has undergone shaped by the volatile ferment of Haitian history. However, without the Vodou deities, and their corresponding ritual element the religion known as Vodou could not exist.^{[citation needed]}

Vodou as it is known in Haiti and the Haitian diaspora is the result of the pressures of many different cultures and ethnicities of people being uprooted from Africa and imported to Hispaniola during the African slave trade. Under slavery, African culture and religion was suppressed, lineages were fragmented, and people pooled their religious knowledge and from this fragmentation became culturally unified. In addition to combining the spirits of many different African and Indian nations, Vodou has incorporated pieces of Roman Catholic liturgy to replace lost prayers or elements. Images of Catholic saints are used to represent various spirits or mistè (“mysteries,” actually the preferred term in Haiti), and many saints themselves are honored in Vodou in their own right. This syncretism allows Vodou to encompass the African, the Indian, and the European ancestors in a whole and complete way. It is truly a Kreyòl religion.

The most historically important Vodou ceremony^{[citation needed]} in Haitian history was the Bwa Kayiman or Bois Caïman ceremony of August 1791 that began the Haitian Revolution, in which the spirit Ezili Dantor possessed a priestess and received a black pig as an offering, and all those present pledged themselves to the fight for freedom. This ceremony ultimately resulted in the liberation of the Haitian people from French colonial rule in 1804 and the establishment of the first Black people's republic in the history of the world and the second independent nation in the Americas.

Haitian Vodou grew in the United States of america to a significant degree beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the waves of Haitian immigrants fleeing the Duvalier regime, taking root in Miami, New York City, Chicago, and other major cities.

[edit] Beliefs

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Haitian Vodouisants believe, in accordance with widespread African tradition, that there is one god who is the creator of all, referred to as Bondyè (from the French “Bon Dieu” or “Good God”). Bondyè is distinguished from the god of the whites in a dramatic speech by the houngan Boukman at Bwa Kayiman ^{[citation needed]} , but is often considered the same god of other religions, such as Christianity and Islam. Bondyè is distant from his/her/its creation though, and so it is the spirits or the mysteries, saints, or angels that the Vodouisant turns to for help, as well as to the ancestors. The Vodouisant worships God, and serves the spirits, who are treated with honor and respect as elder members of a household might be. There are said to be twenty-one nations or "nanchons" of spirits, also sometimes called lwa-yo ^{[citation needed]} . Some of the more important nations of lwa are the Rada (corresponding to the Gbe-speaking ethnic groups in the modern-day republics of Benin, Nigeria, and Togo); the Nago (synonymous with the Yoruba-speaking ethnicities in Nigeria, the Republic of Benin, and Togo); and the numerous West-Central African ethnicities united under the ethnonym Kongo. The spirits also come in families that all share a surname, like Ogou, or Ezili, or Azaka or Ghede. For instance, Ezili is a family, Ezili Dantor and Ezili Freda are two individual spirits in that family. The Ogou family are soldiers, the Ezili govern the feminine spheres of life, the Azaka govern agriculture, the Ghede govern the sphere of death and fertility. In Dominican Vodou, there is also an Agua Dulce or Sweet Waters family, which encompasses all Amerindian spirits. There are literally hundreds of lwa. Well known individual lwa include Danbala Wedo, Papa Legba Atibon, and Agwe Tawoyo.

In Haitian Vodou, spirits are divided according to their nature in roughly two categories, whether they are hot or cool ^{[citation needed]} . Cool spirits fall under the Rada category, and hot spirits fall under the Petwo category. Rada spirits are familial and congenial, while Petwo spirits are more combative and restless. Both can be dangerous if angry or upset, and despite claims to the contrary, neither is good or evil in relation to the other.

Everyone is said to have spirits, and each person is considered to have a special relationship with one particular spirit who is said to own their head, however each person may have many lwa, and the one that owns their head, or the met tet, may or may not be the most active spirit in a person's life in Haitian belief.

In serving the spirits, the Vodouisant seeks to achieve harmony with his/her own individual nature and the world around them, manifested as personal power and resourcefulness in dealing with life. Part of this harmony is membership in and maintaining relationships within the context of family and community. A Vodou house or society is organized on the metaphor of an extended family, and initiates are the children of their initiators, with the sense of hierarchy and mutual obligation that implies.

Most Vodouisants are not initiated, referred to as being bosal; it is not a requirement to be an initiate in order to serve one's spirits. There are clergy in Haitian Vodou whose responsibility it is to preserve the rituals and songs and maintain the relationship between the spirits and the community as a whole (though some of this is the responsibility of the whole community as well). They are entrusted with leading the service of all of the spirits of their lineage. Priests are referred to as houngans and priestesses as manbos. Below the houngans and manbos are the hounsis, who are initiates who act as assistants during ceremonies and who are dedicated to their own personal mysteries. One does not serve just any lwa but only the ones they have according to one's destiny or nature. Which spirits a person has may be revealed at a ceremony, in a reading, or in a dream. However, all Vodouisants also serve the spirits of their own blood ancestors ^{[citation needed]} , and this important aspect of Vodou practice is often glossed over or minimized in importance by commentators who do not understand the significance of it. The ancestor cult is in fact the basis of Vodou religion, and many lwa like Agassou (formerly a king of Dahomey) for example are in fact ancestors who are said to have been raised up to divinity.

Possession in Haitian vodou is described as a god seizing a horse (the human being) who is "ridden", often to exhaustion. It is the objective of most ceremonies. Because possessions are always overseen by a Houngan or Mambo, who regulates the presence of Loa spirits within the peristyle with the help of a particular Loa, one who becomes possessed by a Loa is often safe. Great caution is taken to recognize the behavior of a Loa when it begins to ride someone participating in the ceremony. The Houngan/Mambo is trained extensively in order to properly recognize a Loa and give it the proper offerings and greetings. They are also trained to recognize someone who is simply faking a possession in order to gain attention. The spirits that become present and begin to ride people are usually only those who are invited to the ritual. Some Loa are considered very dangerous to human beings, especially if riding them, and these Loa are rarely invited to any sort of ritual unless the Houngan/Mambo is capable of controlling the actions of that Loa.

[edit] Liturgy and practice

After a day or two of preparation setting up altars, ritually preparing and cooking fowl and other foods, etc., a Haitian Vodou service begins with a series of Catholic prayers and songs in French, then a litany in Kreyòl and African langaj that goes through all the European and African saints and lwa honored by the house, and then a series of verses for all the main spirits of the house. This is called the Priyè Gine or the African Prayer. After more introductory songs, beginning with saluting the spirit of the drums named Hounto, the songs for all the individual spirits are sung, starting with the Legba family through all the Rada spirits, then there is a break and the Petwo part of the service begins, which ends with the songs for the Gede family. As the songs are sung spirits will come to visit those present by taking possession of individuals and speaking and acting through them. Each spirit is saluted and greeted by the initiates present and will give readings, advice and cures to those who approach them for help. Many hours later in the wee hours of the morning, the last song is sung, guests leave, and all the exhausted hounsis and houngans and manbos can go to sleep.

On the individual's household level, a Vodouisant or sèvitè/serviteur may have one or more tables set out for their ancestors and the spirit or spirits that they serve with pictures or statues of the spirits, perfumes, foods, and other things favored by their spirits. The most basic set up is just a white candle, a clear glass of water, and, perhaps, flowers. On a particular spirit’s day, one lights a candle and says a prayer, salutes Papa Legba and asks him to open the gate, and then one salutes and speaks to the particular spirit like an elder family member. Ancestors are approached directly, without the mediating of Papa Legba, since they are said to be in the blood.

[edit] Values and ethics

The cultural values that Vodou embraces center around ideas of honor and respect—to God, to the spirits, to the family and society, and to oneself. There is also a notion of relative propriety—and what is appropriate to someone with Dambala Wedo as his/her head may be different from someone with Ogou Feray as his/her head. For example, one spirit is very cool and the other is very hot. Coolness overall is valued, and so is the ability and inclination to protect oneself and one’s own if necessary. Love and support within the family of the Vodou society seems to be the most important consideration. Generosity in giving to the community and to the poor is also an important value. One's blessings come through the community and there is the idea that one should be willing to give back to it in turn. There are no solitaries in Haitian Vodou, only people separated geographically from their elders and house. A person without a relationship of some kind with elders will not be practicing Vodou as it is understood in Haiti and among Haitians.

The Haitian Vodou religion is an ecstatic rather than a fertility based tradition and because of this, does not have prohibitions against gay men and lesbian women. There are hounfos or temples in Haiti whose clergy are entirely gay males or lesbians, and there are spirits who give particular protection to members of said community, such as Erzulie Freda and La Sirene who are known patron spirits of gay men,[1] and Erzulie Dantor who is a patron of lesbian women.[2]

[edit] Orthodoxy and diversity

There is a diversity of practice in Vodou across the country of Haiti and the Haitian diaspora. Everywhere in Haiti, the vast majority of Vodouisants are not initiates, just as in most Christian communities the majority of church members are not clergy. Everywhere in Haiti congregations may form around a charismatic individual who, while not initiated, can call the lwa, or Vodou spirits, and do effective work. This phenomenon is more common in the north of Haiti. In the central Artibonite region, another denomination of Haitian traditional religion called Makaya is very popular. And everywhere in Haiti, the true or orthodox Vodou lineage, maintained through initiatory lineage, is present. The emblem of the priesthood in Vodou is the asson, a beaded rattle which is used to lead songs, control Vodou spirits, and indicate rank and function within a congregation.

Some individuals claim that "There is no singular, definitive form, only what is right in a particular house or lineage." This is because the individual has not learned to distinguish between an independent peristyle (temple), a Mamkaya house, and a Vodou peristyle led by a Houngan or Mambo asogwe (initiate at the highest grade.) In each tradition, there are some things which are required and some things which are expressly forbidden. Likewise, in Vodou the initiatory passwords are the same in every house—if it were not so, what use would they be?

Within the framework of the requirements of the Vodou tradition, there is room for creativity, and thus it is true that small details of service and the spirits served will vary from house to house. There central authority of orthodox Vodou is the oral tradition which transmits the precepts given by the lwa Papa Loko Atisou, the lwa who confers the asson and thus the highest grade of priesthood.

Many other rites other than those of initiation are performed in Vodou, and all except those of initiation can be performed anywhere in the world. Although initiation into Haitian Vodou can only be performed in Haiti, other ceremonies such as the lave tet (a ceremonial washing of the head), and dances or services for the lwa or the ancestors, are often performed by Vodouisants in the USA, in Europe, and other parts of the world.

[edit] Trivia

In November 1998, Florida Republican Senator Alberto Gutman charged his opponent with using voodoo against him in an election [3]. He lost.
American filmmaker Maya Deren filmed vodou rituals in Haiti between 1947 and 1952 for her documentary Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti but the film was only completed by her third husband Teiji Ito and Cherel Winett Ito in 1981, twenty years after Deren's death.

[edit] Demographics

Haitian Vodou is practiced alongside Christianity by about half the population, or some 4 million people, and this has been carried abroad with Haitian emigration.

[edit] Holidays

January 2, 3,4 - Breaking the cakes (case gateaux), a communal form of mange lwa
January 6 - Les Rois (the kings)
February 25 - Ritual feeding of the springs (manger tetes d'l'eau)
March 16 - Loko Davi, eating of the ritual wood and of its guard
March 19 - Saint Joseph, an expression of the jurisdiction of Legba
March 20 - Legba Zaou (eating consists mainly of a black goat)
April 27 - Danbala Wedo
April 29 - Breaking the jugs (casse canarie), deliverance of the souls from purgatory
April 31 - Feeding the dead (mange-les-morts)
May 12 - Feeding of different loa
May 18 - Feeding of Grande Aloumandia
May 20, 21 - Sim'bi blanc
May 30 - Sung masses (chante-messes) in the Roman-Catholic church
June 24 - Saint John
June 28 - M'sieu Guimeh Sauveur; Mystere Grande Delai; common table served for Maetresse Erzulie, Maetress Tenaise and Maetresse Mam'bo
July 25 - Papa Ogou or St. James the Greater (sheep and goats are offered)
July 26 - Common table for Grande Saint Anne, also known as Mystere Grande Delai and Grande Aloumandia
July 29 - Maetresse Silverine (who only very slightly tastes of the food offered to her) and Maetresse Lorvana (who smells flowers for her nurishment)
August 25 - Communion table for Danbala Wedo, also known as Saint Louis of the King of France
August 29 - L'Orient, one of the most important mysteres
August 30, 31 - Agwe (offerings of goats, peppers and peppermints)
September 25 - Roi Wangol and Mousondi
September 29 - Manman Aloumandia
September 30 - Maetresse Delai
October 30, 31 - Masses sung in the Roman-Catholic church; communion table of 40 scarves of different colors, exposed to the peristyle and "served"
November 1, 2 - The Guede loa come out of the cemeteries, possess their horses and come into the hounforts to amuse themselves in the form of souls incarnated or reincarnated
November 25th - Eating the yams (manger-yam)
December 10 - Ganga-Bois
December 12,13, 14 - Feeding the sea (agoueh r oyo)
December 25 - Bath of Christmas; leaf-rubbing for medical treatments and talismans for magic protection, ritual sacrifices of pigs and goats, boucans for amusement, to which the loa come to bathe themselves and their proteges; sacrifice of turkeys for Caplau

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

The VODOU Page by Mambo Racine Sans Bout
The Vodou Emporium for Vodou instructional materials
Vodun (and related religions: Candomble, Lucumi, Macumba, Voodoo, Vodoun and Yoruba) at religioustolerance.org
Haitian Vodou: Serving the Spirits by Mike Rock
Voodoo Priest
Vodoun Culture
Haitian Voodoo and Medieval Jews: A Historical Comparison
The White Darkness
Interview with a voodoo priest
Caribbean Guide to Creole Religions (including Voodoo)
DMOZ Open Directory - Vodou, Vodun, Voodoo
Vodou by Houngan Hector
Danbala Botanica
Vodou Faithweb
VodouSpirit

[edit] References

Deren, Maya, Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti, McPherson & Company, 1985 (original edition, Vanguard Press, 1953)
Rosenthal, Judy, Possession Ecstasy and Law in Ewe Voodoo, University Press of Virginia, 1998

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Afro-American Religions