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The Vodun (Voodoo)

General Background

Vodun or Sevi Lwa is commonly called Voodoo or Voudou by the public. The name comes from an African word for "spirit". Vodun's roots go back to the West African Yoruba people who lived in 18th and 19th century Dahomey. That country occupied parts of today's Togo, Benin and Nigeria. Slaves brought their religion with them when they were forcibly shipped to Haiti and other islands in the West Indies.
Today over 60 million people practice Vodun worldwide. It is widely practiced in Benin. Although it was suppressed during the Marxist regime, it has been allowed to practice freely since a democratic government was installed there in 1989. It is also followed by most of the adults in Haiti.

Today, there are two virtually unrelated forms of the religion:

     - the actual religion, Vodun practiced in Benin, Haiti, Dominican Republic and various centres in the US where Haitian refuges have            settled.
     - an evil, imaginary religion, which we will call Voodoo here. It has been created for Hollywood movies. It does not exist, except in the           minds of most non- V oduns.

History of Vodun in the West

Slaves were baptized into the Roman Catholic Church upon their arrival in Haiti and other West Indian islands. However, there was little Christian infrastructure present during the early 19th century to maintain the faith. The result was that the slaves created a syncretistic mixture of Roman Catholicism and their original native faith. This they practiced in secret, even while attending Mass regularly.

An inaccurate and sensational book (S. St. John, "Haiti or the Black Republic) was written in 1884. It described Vodun as a profoundly evil religion, and included lurid descriptions of human sacrifice, cannibalism, etc, some of which had been extracted from Vodun priests by torture. This book caught the imagination of people outside the West Indies, and was responsible for much of the misunderstanding and fear that is present today. Hollywood found this a rich source for Voodoo screen plays. Horror movies began in the 1930's and continue today to misrepresent Vodun. It is only since the late 1950's that accurate studies by anthropologists have been published.

Other religions (Macumba, Candomble, Umbanda and Santeria) bear many similarities to Vodun.

Vodun Beliefs

Vodun, like Christianity, is a religion of many sects. Each group follows a somewhat different spiritual path and worships a slightly different pantheon of deities, called Loa ( or loa). The word means "mystery" in the Yoruba language.

Yoruba traditional belief included a chief God Olorun, who is remote and unknowable. He authorized a lesser God Obatala to create the earth and all life forms. A battle between the two Gods led to Obatala's temporary banishment.

There are hundreds of minor Gods. Those which originated from Dahomey are called Rada deities; those who were added later are often deceased leaders in the new world and are called Petro.Some of these are

     - Agwe: god of the sea
     - Aida Wedo: rainbow deity D Ayza: protector
     - Baka: an evil spirit who takes the form of an animal Cl Baron Samedi: guardian of the grave
     - Dambala ( or Damballah-wedo ): serpent deity D Erinle: God of the forests
     - Ezili (or Erzulie): Goddess of love D Mawu Lisa: God of creation
     - Ogou Balanjo: God of healing
     - Ogun (or Ogu Bodagris): God of war D Osun: God of healing streams
     - Sango (or Shango): God of storms D Yemanja: Goddess ofwaters
     - Zaka ( or Oko ): God of agriculture

There are a number of points of similarity between Roman Catholicism and Vodun:

     - both believe in a supreme being
     - the Loa resemble Christian Saints, in that they were once people who led exceptional lives, and are usually given a single                          responsibility or special attribute.
     - both believe in an afterlife
     - both have as the centrepoint of their ceremony a ritual sacrifice and consumption of flesh and blood
     - both believe in the existence of invisible evil spirits or demons
     - followers of Vodun believe that each person has a met tet (master of the head) which corresponds to a Christian's patron saint.

Followers ofVodun believe that each person has a soul which is composed of two parts: a gros bon ange or "big guardian angel", and a ti bon ange or "little guardian angel". The latter leaves the body during sleep and when the person is possessed by a Loa during a ritual. There is a concern that the ti bon ange can be damaged or captured by sorcery while it is free of the body.

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