VOODOO IN HAHITI THE OPIUM OF THE PEOPLE

VOODOO IN HAHITI– THE OPIUM OF THE PEOPLE

by Adrien Gallo

Catholicism has been the official religion in Haiti since 1860, when an agreement was signed with the Vatican. Most Haitians are catholic, although the presence of many American or Canadian protestant missions has attracted numerous followers to the Baptist, Episcopal, Adventist and other churches.Religious freedom is complete in Hahiti.

Voodoo is a veritable popular religion; the Haitian farmer, who claims to be Catholic and believes in Catholicism, has not renounced his gods and his ancestors. He continues to appeal to them for spiritual comfort and protection from evil.Voodoo is a Dahomean term meaning god or spirit. African religions and rituals became mixed with Catholic practices.

Voodoo is also practiced in Guyana, Brazil, Cuba and Louisiana, where the natives are descendants of the same slave ancestors. Sacred rituals and beliefs continue the eternal search for man's origines, destiny and the mysteries of nature.

Voodoo is actually an organized religion, with temples, priest, rituals and followere who ask the invisible for what men have always hoped for from their religious practices:« remedies for their troubles, satisfaction of their needs and hope for survival »Voodoo gives the Hahitian villager the same thing it brought his slave ancestors: a rich livery imaginative capacity which helped to bear the realities of existence.

The voodoo doctrine materializes through its rites, offerings and sacrifices.The priest is a « HOUGAN » (man) or a « MAMBO » (woman) and the servants of the divinity are calles « HOUNSIS ». The supreme god, or « GREAT MASTER », without whose permission nothing comes to pass, presides over family groups of « LOAS » ,or voodoo spirits.Dance is usually associated with the cult and is so essential that voodoo could almost be defined as a dancing religion. The drum that beats out the dance has become the very symbol of voodoo.

Voodoo is tied to the most ancient rites and religions on Earth. It is both a cult and a relaxation with a singing, dancing liturgy. It seduce the white men, that the mystics attract, who discovers among his neighbors a continual carnival along with a social context, and hopes that this will tear him away from 20 centuris of his dying gods.

A voodoo temple is often a simple converted shelter, such as a rose arbor. The temple servants; or « HOUNSIS »,dressed in white, dance in a circle to the beat of three sacred drums. The ceremony begins by gathering around the « VEVES », beautiful symbolic images drawn on the ground by hand, generally with ashes, flour or corn. The faithful then pray to the « LOAS », voodoo spirits, as well as to the Catholic trinity and the saints. A wooden table serves as alter, on which different ritual objects are placed. Ceremonies usually take place on Saturday nights, and sometimes last until dawn.