Voodoo

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First and foremost Voodoo is a religion. It is the dominant religion of Haiti. Many of the practices and descriptions of Voodoo belief may sound to us like rank superstition, but then, imagine the beliefs of Christianity to people who know nothing about it. Tell them about the trinity or the resurrection, or the presence of Jesus in the eucharist. Any of these practices which very intelligent Christians believe in the fullest would seem no less superstitious to someone unfamiliar with Christianity. Recognize it is taken very seriously not merely by unlettered peasants, but many intelligent and learned members of the Haitian society believe as sincerely in Voodoo as do German theology professors in their Christianity. In no way do I expect you to believe in Voodoo; no more than I would expect you to convert to Islam if I taught a course on that religion. But, please do recognize that it is every bit as real a religion as the major religions of the world. (Corbett)

The word Voodoo comes from Vodun, meaning god, spirit or scared object in the Fon language of West Africa. It is applied to the beliefs and practices found in Haiti, Whose inhabitants are. For the most part, descendants of slaves imported from Africa, and by extension to similar practices in other Caribbean islands, in the southern states of America and in Brazil where plantation slavery was also customary. ("voodoo" 2751)

Slaves brought their religion with them when they were forcibly shipped to Haiti and other islands in the West Indies. Vodun was actively suppressed during colonial times. "Many Priests were either killed or imprisoned, and their shrines destroyed, because of the threat they posed to Euro-Christian/Muslim dominion. This forced some of the Dahomey means to form Voodoo Orders and to create underground societies, in order to continue the veneration of their ancestors, and the worship of their powerful gods." (Robinson)

The mingling of Voodoo with Catholicism can be noted in the Episcopal murals. The vitality of experience, conviction and artistic creativity seem more important than the conventions of formal religion. Some of the colors and abstractions of Haitian art in the exhibition resemble those of Matisse, a self-professed atheist who decorated the chapel walls at Vence, France.

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