Mama Lola

1333 Words3 Pages

Philipa Kerckerinck
11.7.01
Prof. Nasrallah
CSP 12
Prophetizing- Peaches and Cream
Philipa Kerckerinck 11.7.01
Prof. Nasrallah CSP 12

Prophetizing- Peaches and Cream

All religions are very specific with the details which set that religion apart from others. However, when all the little details are melted away, there are only a mere handful that are different in essence. When looked at closely, even the religions which are perceived completely dissimilar at first glance are surprisingly similar. For example, the Voodoo religion, and that of early Christianity are stereotyped as extremely different, but with closer inspection, not only are these two religions are very obviously similar, but Voodooism stemmed, partly, out of Christianity. Both religions revolve around a mortal individual being used as a mouthpiece by a higher, being, be it spirit or god, to communicate with our mortal world. Yet at the same time, each religion has taken it’s own path and although equivalent in essence, have very different aspects with respect to background (such as time and status), as well as publicity, and language.
In the Voodoo religion, a priestess hosts a number of different ceremonies each year. During these ceremonies, one of the people present (usually the priestess herself) is supposedly possessed by one or more spirit(s) who then communicates with the rest of the people present. A typical example of a Voodoo ceremony is that described in the book Mama Lola by Karin McCarthy Brown. Here, Mama Lola, as this voodoo priestess is known, lives in Brooklyn and does all she can to stay faithful to her Haitian religion. After inviting her voodoo ‘family’ for what will be the birthday celebration of the spirit Azaka, all members, important and close gather to help set up the intricate and festive alter in the basement of Mama...

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...for the Pythia at Delphi to be used, the people seeking advise are completely dependent on the interpreters to receive the answer to their questions, and thus have no choice but to be left with second hand advice; it had to go through the priests before the one seeking advice could receive an answer. With this in mind, it is hardly possible to be quite sure of how precise the priests interpreted Pythia’s utterances, and how well they really knew how to do their jobs --regardless of how wholeheartedly the people of Greece believed in them.
It is amazing how two religions, such as Voodoo and Christianity, can be filled with so many awesome differences with respect to time eras, status, publicity, and language, and yet still have an almost identical core ideal. This also demonstrates that this core ideal of the use of humans as a mouthpiece of the divine has been a long lived concept which people, such as Mama Lola and her family, still believe in and practice today. Perhaps this proves there is some truth in the idea, and most likely, we will never know for sure, whether this concept, in it’s many different forms continues to live on, or if it dies out.

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