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Haiti RELIGIOUS LIFE
Roman Catholicism is the official religion of Haiti,
but
voodoo may be considered the country's national religion.
The
majority of Haitians believe in and practice at least some
aspects of voodoo. Most voodooists believe that their
religion
can coexist with Catholicism. Most Protestants, however,
strongly
oppose voodoo.
Voodoo
Misconceptions about voodoo have given Haiti a
reputation for
sorcery and zombies. Popular images of voodoo have ignored
the
religion's basis as a domestic cult of family spirits.
Adherents
of voodoo do not perceive themselves as members of a
separate
religion; they consider themselves Roman Catholics. In
fact, the
word for voodoo does not even exist in rural Haiti. The
Creole
word vodoun refers to a kind of dance and in some
areas to
a category of spirits. Roman Catholics who are active
voodooists
say that they "serve the spirits," but they do not
consider that
practice as something outside of Roman Catholicism.
Haitians also
distinguish between the service of family spirits and the
practice of magic and sorcery.
The belief system of voodoo revolves around family
spirits
(often called loua or mistè) who are
inherited
through maternal and paternal lines. Loua protect
their
"children" from misfortune. In return, families must
"feed" the
loua through periodic rituals in which food, drink,
and
other gifts are offered to the spirits. There are two
kinds of
services for the loua. The first is held once a
year; the
second is conducted much less frequently, usually only
once a
generation. Many poor families, however, wait until they
feel a
need to restore their relationship with their spirits
before they
conduct a service. Services are usually held at a
sanctuary on
family land.
In voodoo, there are many loua. Although there
is
considerable variation among families and regions, there
are
generally two groups of loua, the rada and
the
petro. The rada spirits are mostly seen as
"sweet"
loua, while the petro are seen as "bitter"
because
they are more demanding of their "children." Rada
spirits
appear to be of African origin while petro spirits
appear
to be of Haitian origin.
Loua are usually anthropomorphic and have
distinct
identities. They can be good, evil, capricious, or
demanding.
Loua most commonly show their displeasure by making
people
sick, and so voodoo is used to diagnose and treat
illnesses.
Loua are not nature spirits, and they do not make
crops
grow or bring rain. The loua of one family have no
claim
over members of other families, and they cannot protect or
harm
them. Voodooists are therefore not interested in the
loua
of other families.
Loua appear to family members in dreams and,
more
dramatically, through trances. Many Haitians believe that
loua are capable of temporarily taking over the
bodies of
their "children." Men and women enter trances during which
they
assume the traits of particular loua. People in a
trance
feel giddy and usually remember nothing after they return
to a
normal state of consciousness. Voodooists say that the
spirit
temporarily replaces the human personality. Possession
trances
occur usually during rituals such as services for
loua or
a vodoun dance in honor of the loua. When
loua appear to entranced people, they may bring
warnings
or explanations for the causes of illnesses or misfortune.
Loua often engage the crowd around them through
flirtation, jokes, or accusations.
Ancestors (le mò) rank with the family
loua as
the most important spiritual entities in voodoo. Elaborate
funeral and mourning rites reflect the important role of
the
dead. Ornate tombs throughout the countryside reveal how
much
attention Haiti gives to its dead. Voodooists believe the
dead
are capable of forcing their survivors to construct tombs
and
sell land. In these cases, the dead act like family
loua,
which "hold" family members to make them ill or bring
other
misfortune. The dead also appear in dreams to provide
their
survivors with advice or warnings.
Voodooists also believe there are loua that can
be
paid to bring good fortune or protection from evil. And,
they
believe that souls can be paid to attack enemies by making
them
ill.
Folk belief includes zombies and witchcraft. Zombies
are
either spirits or people whose souls have been partially
withdrawn from their bodies. Some Haitians resort to
bokò,
who are specialists in sorcery and magic. Haiti has
several
secret societies whose members practice sorcery.
Voodoo specialists, male houngan and female
manbo, mediate between humans and spirits through
divination and trance. They diagnose illnesses and reveal
the
origins of other misfortune. They can also perform rituals
to
appease spirits or ancestors or to repel magic. Many
voodoo
specialists are accomplished herbalists who treat a
variety of
illnesses.
Voodoo lacks a fixed theology and an organized
hierarchy,
unlike Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Each
specialist
develops his or her own reputation for helping people.
François Duvalier recruited voodoo specialists to serve
as
tonton makouts to help him control all aspects of
Haitian
life
(see
François Duvalier, 1957-71, ch. 6). Duvalier
indicated
that he retained power through sorcery, but because voodoo
is
essentially a family-based cult, Duvalier failed to
politicize
the religion to any great extent.
Data as of December 1989
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