Tell My Horse: The Use Of Voodoo In Haiti

It is the common belief that Voodoo emerged within the Haitian community out of the needs of the people. While a vast majority of people in Haiti uses Voodoo, making it a widely practice religion, it was a source of hope for the slaves in Haiti who needed something to believe in. It is believed to have been originated out of Africa and while many of the Gods are common to all the places that practice voodoo, as the needs of the different people grew so did the Gods of that religion. Out of need and despair, they came up with many Gods and stories. Therefore, in Haiti, voodoo serves many purposes to the people. In this final paper, I will discuss my research on the practice of voodoo, which is an aspect of Haitian Culture, especially as a hope

Normally, peasants are taking advantage of by the elites, working for far less than what they should, working hard but having few benefits. Voodoo is sometimes used as a way for peasants to get leverage against their employers. Also, it is used as a way for peasants to voice and out other peasants without retaliation whether it is to resolve a conflict and get others to stop a certain behavior. The article by Emery “The Zombie In/As the Text: Zora Neale Hurston's Tell My Horse” talks of the work of Zora Neale Hurston and states in regard to people practicing voodoo and being mounted by loa that “a voodoo rite of possession during which a loa, or spirit, "mounts" a "horse" (a worshipper in a trance-like state) and conveys messages through this person to the participants. The person "mounted" is not held responsible for what he or she says in this context, but is seen as an instrument of the loa, who speaks through him or her. The "horse" is being used to mouth the words of another. At the same time, Hurston sees that the horse is in a position to say indirectly what he or she cannot otherwise say without negative consequence”(Emery 328) supporting the instances mentioned in the books of Zora Neale Hurston and Katherine Dunham of people using the God Guede whether truthfully or falsely to out others. Furthermore, in the work of authors such as William Seabrook, we see how voodoo is used as a mean for peasants to gain more, helping their economic issues through the use of zombies which is a person that is believe to be death but who has been risen and in a comatose