Similarities Between Voodoo And Vodou

Most people when they think of Haiti, they think of it as the country that was first in achieving a slave revolution but they also think about Vodouism. Haiti is well associated with the practice of Vodou, which some would consider witchcraft or black magic when in actuality it is a religion. First and foremost is to clear up the two different spellings, Voodoo and Vodou, why is it that these two spellings exist? Vodou is the original spelling of the religion and the second spelling (voodoo) comes from the misinterpretation of what Vodou really entails. This “voodoo” places a much higher emphasis on the witchcraft and the practice of black magic and is all that is to be believed as Vodou, an evil to society. What is Vodou exactly? In Embodied

Mormonism: Performance, Vodou and the LDS Faith in Haiti, Jennifer Basquiat describes Vodou as “a force of black magic, originated in Africa but as a religion, it is the worship of animistic spirits or gods, lwas in Haitian Creole for the purpose of meeting daily demands of living.”
It is important to know that Vodou cannot be practiced without the accompaniment of Catholicism, which is something that developed over time because it was how the slaves kept their practice in secret from the French. In the book, Migration and Vodou by Karen Richman, she describes through the research she came across in a text by Alfred Metraux where a Haitian man explained to him: “you have to be Catholic to serve your spirits (Iwa).” Although being familiar with Catholicism was necessary for the practice of Vodou, the Catholic Church did not support nor want to be affiliated with such practices. Taking a step back, Vodou arrived in Haiti with the slaves deeply rooted in West African countries and Christianized by Roman Catholics in the 16th and 17th centuries. It is a practice that quickly gained popularity among the oppressed and guided the people of Haiti through rebellion and revolution, surviving through its chants, dance, and rituals. The harsh consequences of practicing Vodou forced the practice of it to largely be in secret as mention before especially when the French took over Saint-Domingue (before becoming Haiti). The French strongly feared its practice particularly because of what it represented to the slaves as it threatened their political power. Despite all that, Vodou remained strong and could not be wiped out and was somewhat finally accepted or a better way to put it, let be. This is how and why Vodou got its negative connotation and why it is so many misunderstood it in today’s society as being sorcery or witchcraft when in fact it is much more than that.
Haiti was originally colonized by Spain but the due to conflict in the Spanish monarchy, Haiti was largely ignored allowing the French to step in and essentially steal a part of Haiti by occupying land. Haiti was a source of wealth for many European countries, which was the key of all conflict. A treaty was drawn and France gained legal authority over Haiti, ending the years of struggle between France and Spain. France renamed the land to Saint-Domingue; this was before the land was renamed to what is now known as Haiti. Sugar and coffee products were the most valued resources from the New World, which correlates with the need of labor and the transportation of thousand of slaves to the New World for their production. It is estimated that about 685,000 slaves were brought to Haiti outnumbering the number of Europeans by more than double. Armand says in her book that, “The Struggle of the slave plantation…became a struggle based on color and class division, and on Christianity versus the Haitian Vodou religious system.” Haitian Vodou was considered much than just a religion but a philosophy, a way to make sense of the world, of life in general.
Vodou played an important role in the Haitian Revolution, which was also referred to as the Slave Revolution as it was in fact, a religion of the oppressed. It is what the slaves clung to in their fight to freedom from the French. In Haitian Revolutionary Studies, David Geggus supports this when he says, “Apart from promoting social unity in the black population, Vodou (loosely defined as supernatural beliefs of African origin) is generally thought to have contributed organization, leadership and ideology/emotional inspiration to the slave revolution.” The Bois Caiman Ceremony is considered to be the event that set of the Haitian Revolution although greatly undermined of its importance due to its connection to Vodou. In this ceremony, hundreds of slaves gathered lead by the elite slaves who held leadership positions in their plantations and began their conquest to victory by setting plantations on fire (The Bois Ceremony).
In this way, we have looked at the role that Vodou played in the social and political affairs of Haiti. In Healing in The Homeland, Margaret Armand says that, “Vodouists have succeeded on a political level with the recognition of Haitian Vodou as an official religion in Haiti. President Jean Bertrand Aristide issues a presidential decree officially recognizing Haitian Vodou as the nation’s religion on April 7, 2003.” This allowed those who practiced Vodou to do so in the open without the fear of backslash. Vodou has come a long way in history, from being a religion practice in secret in fear that it was considered witchcraft to being finally accepted in society.
Like the chapter that speaks on witchcraft influences and practices in Mexico which made its way to the United States, so did Vodouism.

This version however is different that the Vodou practiced in Haiti. Here we will switch from Vodou to Voodoo, which was highly popular in the New Orleans area in the United States. Voodoo refers to “any form of spiritual beliefs and practices remotely associated with the Black continent.” This Voodoo is particularly limited to the making of potions, dolls, spell, curses, etc. It is less religious based and more about magic and the supernatural and over the years has become a more a profit-based practice as it fed on people stereotypes to voodoo. Osbey backs this up as well in her journal, We Can’t Talk to You About Voodoo, “First of all there are no dolls in Voodoo. That’s a gimmick borrowed from European witchcraft to cheat the real tourists…Voodoo dolls have been built into the local tourism trade.” Historic New Orleans Voodoo Museum for example is a popular attraction, owned by a “Voodoo” practitioner offers visitors an education and background on voodooism as well as articrafts and various other objects available for sale. Charles Gandolfo founded this museum in 1972; He saw an opportunity and seized it to capitalize on New Orleans legendary Voodoo past. The museum is still up and running and visitors are welcome today which the catch of an entry fee. Voodoo like the Vodou in Haiti made its way to the United States in a similar fashion, through the African diaspora via the Transatlantic Slave

trade.