In Haiti, citizens there are known for their avid spirituality. Those who don’t really have a deep understanding of their religion would call it a pact with the Devil. People who don’t have a deep understanding of their religion, use it against them. They use it as a means to explain why the earthquake that hit the island back in 2009, as a reason why the incident occurred. “God’s punishment” for their “evil practices”. But people haven’t done the research or fully don’t understand the religion and its practices to make such statements. Voodoo, or Voudou, can be defined as different spiritual beliefs and practices extracted by African slaves sometime during the 1800’s.
Voodoo takes the form of animism and syncretism very often. Animism is the belief that everything in nature has souls or spirits, while syncretism is a mix of animism with other faiths such as Christianity. And there is a story behind the religion. On a night in 1791, at a place called Bois Caiman, a group of slaves met up and vowed to oust their slave masters and were led by a Voodoo priest. The story goes, someone sacrificed a pig and the group had drunken the pig’s blood and then a week later the rebellion began. During the ceremony, the island’s most imminent leaders made a pact with Satan and dedicating the land to him for 200 years in exchange for victory. During the French Revolution, the French loss and then after, the island’s founding fathers created different versions of their constitution and included no language about Satan or Voodoo. In 1807, Haiti established religious freedom, however, made Roman Catholicism their official religion. The constitution stated that, including Voodoo, no other religion may be practiced in public.
In Haiti, there are th...
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..., encouraging weddings and baptisms and performed them for free. And this religion posed opposition against voodoo, leading some Haitians to convert to Protestantism as a way to dismiss family spirits that they believed did not protect them.
No matter what religion, Roman Catholic, Protestant, or Voodoo, the people of Haiti are steadfast in their respective faith. Their faiths keeps there hopes alive and in some cases, their families protected. Religion is crucial amongst these people who live in the worst conditions on a daily basis. Their faith keeps them grounded, hopeful for better days.
Works Cited
Diamond, Stephen A. “Haitians Still in Hell: Evil, Voodoo, and Spirituality” January 20, 2010 http://www.aidforhaiti.org/learn-more/about-haiti/religion-in-haiti Maldonado, Michelle Gonzalez “Biblical Disaster: Understanding Religion in Haiti” January 13, 2010
Although the thought of being involved in such rituals is scary, I developed a deeper understanding and appreciation for the practices that Haitian voodoo participants, if it is appropriate to refer to such people as, engage in. The most impressive bit of information that I will keep with me is to be less judgmental of others; “people who practice voodoo believe in the same God as Christianity, but they also believe in communicating with other spirits, who serve various roles in healing, casting spells, and more” (Boudreaux, 2015a, p. 110). As a golden rule, I know that I should not be judgmental of others anyway, but I am human and am prone to quickly create stereotypes in my mind. I don’t always share those thoughts, but thinking makes me just as guilty as doing or saying. I am thankful for the reminder that all people are children of God, and I should research and learn about different beliefs before I make a judgmental decision, if I make that judgment at
In Santeria, Yorubas then continue to worship and honor the Orishas and to practice their strong religious beliefs. The Yoruba rituals are modified and made similar to that of the Catholic religion. As aforementioned , when the Africans where brought to Cuba and the other New Lands they saw themselves forced to disguise theri ancestral religion and to embrace the church of theri captors. This created a complex religious mixture of beliefs. Because of its roots in Africa the worship of the saints has been a misunderstood religion, sometimes reffered to as unciviliazed and almost always viewed as a dark religion or a devil worshipping religion.
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.
Gervel, David. "Island Magazine Discover the Creole Culture around the World : Louisiana Creole Culture & Voodoo Tradition." Island Magazine Discover the Creole Culture around the World : Louisiana Creole Culture & Voodoo Tradition. N.p., 26 Aug. 2012. 30 Apr. 2014. Web.
“Religion is a set of rituals, rationalized by myth, which mobilizes supernatural powers for the purpose of achieving or preventing transformations of state in man and nature” (107). When the Europeans colonized Haiti, they brought over African slaves with them. These slaves had already established African religious practices, prior to being brought to Haiti. As the French got acquainted with Haiti, they were also forcing Roman Catholic traditions upon the slaves. As a result, there was the birth of the religion Haitian Vodou. These enslaved Africans were not allowed to practice Haitian Vodou openly because it offended those that practiced Catholicism, the French wanted full control over the slaves in every aspect, and anyone outside of
Haiti is located in the Caribbean; it occupies the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. Haitians migrated to the U.S. due to regime change. In Florida, over 700,000 Haitians live there (Background on Haiti & Haitian Health Culture). Many Haitian-Americans share both cultures. There are similarities and differences between the American and Haitian culture. The two cultures have different foods, holidays and economy.
...white people were the change-makers and shapers of Vodun, when actually black people adapted their religion to suite oppressive conditions. As time went on “Voodoo had become less of a religion than a political association [which was] and inherent characteristic of black religion from the slave period” (46). This happened not only in America, but in Haiti as well. This not only highlights the evolution of Vodun from religion, to a political force, but also the adaptability of Vodun as well.
Haiti means “mountains country” Haitian culture represents a specific mix of physical characters especially skin color, hair texture. hair color and facial features the African culture is an ethics mix of African and European elements due to the French, African and indigenous dialects. Major customs of Haitian culture are Catholicism and voodoo a mixture of African animism which means belief in spirits and nature, some Haitians even practice both at one time. There are significant holidays in the Haitian culture as well voodoo is considered a holiday(is a belief system based on practices and traditions that originates from west African traditional regions)
Like Santeria, Voodoo is a syncretic religion that embodies the beliefs and practices of Christianity with those of traditional West African religions. Voodoo is also a monotheistic religion, with the God Bondye being the supreme creator. Bondye is similar to Olodumare in that he does not interfere with the lives of his believers, so Voodoo practitioners redirect their worship and rituals to spiritual deities known as lwa. Lwa are regularly contacted and worshipped through various forms of rituals; these rituals include altars, possession by spirits, and elaborate ceremonies. The purpose of the rituals is to appease the lwa to lend assistance to believers in times of need, or for general good faith measure, to prevent angering of the lwa and the possible dire consequences that may follow. As with Santeria, the syncretism of Catholic imagery and objects is inherent to the religion, and these objects are usually included in the rituals of Voodoo
African-Inspired religions have also prevailed when they were forced to come to the Americas. Voodoo and Santería are some of the main religions practiced in Latin America.Voodoo is commonly practiced in Haiti and Santería is practiced throughout Cuba and Puerto Rico. Santería times their rituals to those of the Catholic church, such as Easter and Christmas.
Why are these background informations useful? Because these informations provide us some important basic knowledges of Haiti. As a country mainly composed of ex-slaves, Haiti is mainly composed of people of African origin. However, why is Haiti so poor compared to its other black majority neighbors such as Saint Kitts and Neves and Barbados? Because Haiti did not attain its independence through peaceful means. Haitian revolt against the French, and they indeed won, against Napoleon Bonaparte[2].
In Puerto Rico, the majority of the population, about two-thirds of the inhabitants, are Roman Catholic. This dates back to when the there were Spanish colonies present during the 15th century who were Catholic. Although Catholics hold the majority, Protestants account for one-fourth of the population. Protestants date back to 1898 when missionaries came from the United States to Puerto Rico. Even though Catholics and Protestants hold the majority of the population, the Constitution guarantees freedom for all faiths. Some people are non-religious (2.3%) or another religion (3%). Some islanders ascribe to espiritismo (spiritualism) and others practice Santeria, an Afro-Caribbean belief system brought to Puerto Rico from Cuba. There is also a small Jewish community.
The Yoruba people, who were brought over from Nigeria as slaves, came to the Caribbean in the 1500’s with their own religion, which was seen as unfit by the white slave owners. Most plantation owners in the Caribbean were members of the Roman Catholic Church, so they forced their slaves to disregard their native religions and become Catholic. Soon, the slaves realized that they could still practice their West African religion as long as it was disguised as Catholicism, and Santería was born. Now it’s practiced in the United States, Cuba, the Caribbean, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Argentina, Colombia, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Great Britain, Canada, Venezuela, and Panama.
They eat a lot of beans and rice, usually mixed with some sort of meat. Such as pork, goat, lamb, and other meats. On the French side, they eat a lot of spaghetti, they eat spaghetti for breakfast, and make shakes out of it. One of the drinks they make is Haitian hot chocolate. It has Haitian cocoa, star anise, (which is a spice) cinnamon, and vanilla. They eat a lot of mushrooms, and other fresh foods. Haiti also has some customs and traditions. Greetings are very important, men usually shake hands, and women throw kisses. Everyone else kiss on the cheek. They also have a lot of other traditions, such as participating in Carnival, it is very close to New Orlean’s Mardi Gra celebration. Sadly many people also participate in voodoo ceremonies, they have voodoo priests, and priestesses. Other occasions they celebrate are baptisms, first communions, and other catholic traditions. The best thing is that they all believe that children are a gift from
The content of Paul Farmer’s AIDS & ACCUSATION: Haiti and the Geography of Blame, was very boring to begin with. Quite literally, I was sleeping while reading the beginning of it. However, it did pick up towards the middle as it caught my interest; I found that the book was particularly funny. Before reading this book, I had no clue what I was in for other than the title and who would’ve guessed; the title says it all. It was actually about what the title said. The United States blames Haiti for the AIDS and vice versa. Although, Haiti didn’t start with that; the Haitians believed in sorcery and voodoo. The idea of anyone that has someone with ill intent or maliciousness towards them can cause them to become sick with diarrhea, was a chortle. Farmer goes deep into the book as he gives descriptions of three people who came across AIDS. However, these Haitians all believed that it was sorcery or some malign magic of someone who had despised them. The curiousness of one the cases was Manno, one of the Haitians that Farmer had interviewed, who was said to be kind, “Manno never hurt anyone; on the contrary, one thing he was known for was his ready smile. So why would someone wish to harm him?”(Farmer, 76)