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Voodoo - Reality and Imagination
Who hasn't heard about Voodoo? Al the time we see the pinned dolls in
movies or TV spots. We ask ourselves what are their purposes...they were
only created to scare...and nothing more.
The book which cought the imagination of people outside the West
Indies, and which was responsible for much of the misunderstanding and fear
that is present today is "Haiti or the Black Republic",written by S.St.
John. It is an inaccurate and sensational book, written in 1884 and which
describes Vodun as a profoundly evil religion, and included lurid
descriptions of human sacrifice, cannibalism etc, some of which have been
extracted from Vodun priests by torture. Hollywoodfound this a rich source
for Voodoo screen plays. Horror movies began in 1930s and continue today to
misrepresent Vodoo. It is only since the late '50s that the accurate
studies by anthropologists have been published.
It all started 6 000 years ago in Africa, but can be directly traces
to the West African Yaruba people who lived in the 18th and 19th
centurydahomey, which occupied parts of today's Togo, Benin and Nigeria. It
was brought to Haiti and the other islands in West Indies when the slaves
were brought there by force. When the slaves arrived, it was prohibited to
them to practice those rituals and were baptised inte the Roman catholic
Church, but altough they attended Mass regurarly, they kept practicing
their rituals in secret. It was also actively supressed during colonial
times when the priests were either killed or imprisoned. The Dahomean were
forced to create Voodoo Orders or underground societies and so to continue
to worship their ancestors and their powerful gods. It was again supressed
during Marxist regime. In Benin, for exemple, the Vodun religion is freely
practiced since1989 and since 1996 it is formely recognized as Benin's
official religion. It is also followed by most adults in Haiti. It can be
found in many large cities in North America, particularly in American
South. It is laso related to other religions such as: santeria in Cuba,
Shango in Trinidad, condomble, xango, macumba and batuque in Brazil, obeaj
in Jamaica.
All the Vodun practicers worship three goups of spirits: the
saints(also known as loa ), the ancestors and the twins (marassa). The loa
are often associated withcatholic saints and African tribal deities and
many combine characteristics of both, as the indentification of St.Patrick
with a native sake deity. Individuals inherit the obligation to worship a
particula r loa, as well as the family dead and the spirits of the twins
among the ancestors. There is no hierarchy of priests and no centralised
control, and the cult groups are aided to do rituals by priests (also
called hungan) or priestesses (mambo) but not necessarely.
As well as the Catholic |