Vodou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion, is a worldview encompassing philosophy, medicine, justice, and religion. Its fundamental principle is that everything is spirit. Humans are spirits who inhabit the visible world. The unseen world is populated by lwa (spirits), mystè (mysteries), anvizib (the invisibles), zanj (angels), and the spirits of ancestors and the recently deceased. All these spirits are believed to live in a mythic land called Ginen, a cosmic “Africa.” The God of the Christian Bible is understood to be the creator of both the universe and the spirits; the spirits were made by God to help him govern humanity and the natural world.
The primary goal and activity of Vodou is to sevi lwa (“serve the spirits”)—to offer prayers and perform various devotional rites directed at God and particular spirits in return for health, protection, and favour. Spirit possession plays an important role in Afro-Haitian religion, as it does in many other world religions. During religious rites, believers sometimes enter a trancelike state in which the devotee may eat and drink, perform stylized dances, give supernaturally inspired advice to people, or perform medical cures or special physical feats; these acts exhibit the incarnate presence of the lwa within the entranced devotee. Vodou ritual activity (e.g., prayer, song, dance, and gesture) is aimed at refining and restoring balance and energy in relationships between people and between people and the spirits of the unseen world.
Vodou is an oral tradition practiced by extended families that inherit familial spirits, along with the necessary devotional practices, from their elders. In the cities, local hierarchies of priestesses or priests (manbo and oungan), “children of the spirits” (ounsi), and ritual drummers (ountògi) comprise more formal “societies” or “congregations” (sosyete). In these congregations, knowledge is passed on through a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body becomes the site of spiritual transformation. There is some regional difference in ritual practice across Haiti, and branches of the religion include Rada, Daome, Ibo, Nago, Dereal, Manding, Petwo, and Kongo. There is no centralized hierarchy, no single leader, and no official spokesperson, but various groups sometimes attempt to create such official structures. There are also secret societies, called Bizango or Sanpwèl, that perform a religio-juridical function.
A calendar of ritual feasts, syncretized with the Roman Catholic calendar, provides the yearly rhythm of religious practice.
Further, prayer and medicine interplay to paint a classical image of the Native’s creed, yet, for many obsolete or preposterous existences of the shaman. To re-install beliefs present in the world for thousands of years, but have been disappearing, writers such as Neidhardt introduce the element of the
Although the thought of being involved in such rituals is scary, I developed a deeper understanding and appreciation for the practices that Haitian voodoo participants, if it is appropriate to refer to such people as, engage in. The most impressive bit of information that I will keep with me is to be less judgmental of others; “people who practice voodoo believe in the same God as Christianity, but they also believe in communicating with other spirits, who serve various roles in healing, casting spells, and more” (Boudreaux, 2015a, p. 110). As a golden rule, I know that I should not be judgmental of others anyway, but I am human and am prone to quickly create stereotypes in my mind. I don’t always share those thoughts, but thinking makes me just as guilty as doing or saying. I am thankful for the reminder that all people are children of God, and I should research and learn about different beliefs before I make a judgmental decision, if I make that judgment at
In Santeria, Yorubas then continue to worship and honor the Orishas and to practice their strong religious beliefs. The Yoruba rituals are modified and made similar to that of the Catholic religion. As aforementioned , when the Africans where brought to Cuba and the other New Lands they saw themselves forced to disguise theri ancestral religion and to embrace the church of theri captors. This created a complex religious mixture of beliefs. Because of its roots in Africa the worship of the saints has been a misunderstood religion, sometimes reffered to as unciviliazed and almost always viewed as a dark religion or a devil worshipping religion.
...s themselves, much like the Dineh. Through their art, the Walbiri communicate with their ancestors, and become united with the Dreamtime, much like the Dineh. When a tjurunga, the residences of the spirits, is touched, a physical connection is made with the supernatural. This contact causes the perpetuation of both humans and spirits (Anderson, 65). This example of contagion in the Walbiri culture illustrates the importance of the relationship between mortals and the holy spirits and art. The Walbiri philosophy that through art humans can transcend and come into direct contact with the Eternal Dreamtime and their ancestors is further exemplified by this act of contagion.
Like Santeria, Voodoo is a syncretic religion that embodies the beliefs and practices of Christianity with those of traditional West African religions. Voodoo is also a monotheistic religion, with the God Bondye being the supreme creator. Bondye is similar to Olodumare in that he does not interfere with the lives of his believers, so Voodoo practitioners redirect their worship and rituals to spiritual deities known as lwa. Lwa are regularly contacted and worshipped through various forms of rituals; these rituals include altars, possession by spirits, and elaborate ceremonies. The purpose of the rituals is to appease the lwa to lend assistance to believers in times of need, or for general good faith measure, to prevent angering of the lwa and the possible dire consequences that may follow. As with Santeria, the syncretism of Catholic imagery and objects is inherent to the religion, and these objects are usually included in the rituals of Voodoo
In the Voodoo religion, a priestess hosts a number of different ceremonies each year. During these ceremonies, one of the people present (usually the priestess herself) is supposedly possessed by one or more spirit(s) who then communicates with the rest of the people present. A typical example of a Voodoo ceremony is that described in the book Mama Lola by Karin McCarthy Brown. Here, Mama Lola, as this voodoo priestess is known, lives in Brooklyn and does all she can to stay faithful to her Haitian religion. After inviting her voodoo ‘family’ for what will be the birthday celebration of the spirit Azaka, all members, important and close gather to help set up the intricate and festive alter in the basement of Mama...
This world and the world of spirits are transformations of each other. At death a cotton mask - a "white cloud mask" - is placed on the face of a dead person. The spirits of the dead return to this world as kachinas. All kachinas are believed to take on cloud form of what Pueblo call "to be cloud people" and their spiritual essence, or navala, is a liquid that is manifested as rainfall. When the kachinas (as ritual figures) depart, they are petitioned, "When you return to your homes bring this message to them that, without delay, they may have mercy for us with their liquid essence [rain] so that all things may grow and life may be bountiful." Everything, in Pueblo belief, is dependent on rainfall, which, when combined with Mother Earth, is the essence of all things. Hence navala is also the essence of the individual self, conceived of as a liquid, and a Pueblo will say, "I have the liquid essence of my fathers," to express the English notion of being of the same flesh and blood.
The male in Bosnian culture is considered the provider. The woman's role is that of a caretaker, cook and home maker. The youth today think far beyond the roles assigned to them by their ancestors. Bosnians are hard workers and their values are knowledge, travel, practicality and integrity. In addition, Bosnians are family oriented and have no concept of time. They have perfected the art of getting together with family and friends for hours at a time; a regular way to spend the day in Bosnia is sipping coffee and chatting the day away in one of the cities many cafés. When a gathering is at home, this is a very extravagant...
The influence of a supernatural god and the spirit world influenced every aspect of the Indigenous African community including health and healing, thus a holistic approach to health and healing was essential.
The Cross-Cultural Articulations of War Magic and Warrior Religion by D. S. Farrer, main purpose of this article is to provide a re-evaluated perspective of religion and magic, through the perspective of the practitioners and victims. Farrer uses examples that range from the following: “Chinese exorcists, Javanese spirit siblings, Sumatran black magic, Tamil Tiger suicide bombers, Chamorro spiritual re-enchantment, tantric Buddhist war magic, and Yanomami dark shamans” (1). Throughout the article, he uses these examples to address a few central themes. The central themes for war magic, range from “violence and healing, accomplished through ritual and performance, to unleash and/or control the power of gods, demons, ghosts and the dead” (Farrer 1).
Haitian Vodou is the combination of supernatural and mystical components of African religions, along with the ritual basics of Roman Catholicism. They believe that there is one supreme God, but praise spirits, which are recognized as sacred ancestors, African gods, and even Catholic saints. Haitians call these spirits loa. Loas are “African deities who have been inherited through succeeding generations by the descendants of those who brought them to Haiti” (124). It is required to have ritual ceremonies for the loa, so that they can guide, protect, heal, and help those that practice Haitian Vodou. To begin calling down the loa, one must draw the vévé, which is the symbol for the loa on the prayer ground. During these ceremonies, there is a lot of dancing, singing, drumming, prayer, animal sacrifice, and food preparation. Just like Catholicism, a priestess or priest guides the worshipers in the ceremonies. Also in the course of a Vodou ceremony, which ever loa that is being called upon possesses participants to give advice or perform cures. To anyone that does not practice Haitian Vodou, the way these ceremonies are unorthodox, but to Haitians, it is their way of life and what they believe
When one first hears the word Vodou, immediately images of curses and little model dolls come to mind. We tend to synonymize it with words like sinister, evil and revenge. However, Vodou is nothing like what mainstream North American media has brainwashed people into believing. As best put by Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, “Vodou is far more than [a religion] it's a spiritual system” (Tippet and Bellegarde-Smith 145). Haitian Vodou is a spiritual system that syncretizes the practices of Roman Catholicism with West African spirituality. This paper will contextualize Vodou and give a brief history on what it is, explain how I came to gain an interest in Vodou and close off with an introduction to Chouk Bwa Libète a traditional Haitian Mizik Rasin—roots
...white people were the change-makers and shapers of Vodun, when actually black people adapted their religion to suite oppressive conditions. As time went on “Voodoo had become less of a religion than a political association [which was] and inherent characteristic of black religion from the slave period” (46). This happened not only in America, but in Haiti as well. This not only highlights the evolution of Vodun from religion, to a political force, but also the adaptability of Vodun as well.
In Early Modern Europe festivals were the setting for heroes and their stories, to be celebrated by the populace. They posed a change from their everyday life. In those days people lived in remembrance of one festival and in expectance of the next. Different kinds of festivals were celebrated in different ways. There were festivals that marked an individual occasion and weren't part of the festival calendar, like family festivals such as weddings and christenings. Some took place at the same time every year and were for everyone, like community festivals like the different saints' days. Pilgrimages took place all year round. Annuals festivals like Christmas and Midsummer always took place on the same day every year.
Patriarchal societies had common effects across Central European countries. Women were often treated as citizens in a third-world country (Katarzyna 4). In the Czech Republic, women were seen as equal to men under the Communist regime. Despite this, women’s still received jobs that were inferior to men with men working political and government jobs and women expected to remain in a sphere within the home. Women were seen as equal to men, yet they were socially looked down upon if they were not married or being housewives (Heitlinger 90). Similar to the Czech Republic, women in Yugoslavia had equality legally but were unable to practice their rights as citizens, mainly political, outside of the work atmosphere. Women worked jobs in fields such as education, medicine, banks, or post off...