A Haitian woman observes a moment of silence after putting coffee and beer at the grave of her family during celebrations of the Day of the Dead in November 2006. The two-day celebration honors ancestors by visiting their graves and bringing their favorite foods and drinks.
January 20, 2010
Erol Josue lost more than two dozen friends and extended family in Haiti's devastating earthquake. The Voodoo priest, who lives in New York, says he has spent the past week saying traditional Voodoo prayers.
"We thank God that we are still alive," he says, "but we also pray to give a good route, to give a good path for the people who passed away. And also we pray to ask the question, 'What happened?' "
Spirit Worship And Revelations
Voodoo is playing a central role in helping Haitians cope with their unthinkable tragedy. Outside of Haitian culture, few know what Voodoo is. Elizabeth McAlister, a Voodoo expert at Wesleyan University, says at its core, the philosophy is really pretty simple.
"Voodoo in a nutshell is about the idea that everything material has a spiritual dimension that is more real" than physical reality, she says. "So everything living — but even rocks and the Earth — is considered to have spirit and have a spiritual nature."
McAlister says there is no unified Voodoo religion. There's no "Voodoo Pope" or central authority, no Voodoo scripture or even a core doctrine.
Thony Belizaire/AFP/Getty ImagesVoodoo priest Max Beauvoir (right) and another man pray in December 2008 during a Voodoo demonstration in Port-au-Prince against sectarianism, neocolonialism and the presence of the U.N. in Haiti. Scholars believe that Voodoo is a derivative of African religions thought to be over 10,000 years old.
"It's a religion that really operates through revelation," she says. "So people can receive dreams or visions, and even be possessed by spirits, and that spirit can tell them something, and that's the revelation."
Widespread Below The Surface
And yet, Haitian Voodoo blends many of its rituals and beliefs — which came with the slaves from Africa — with Western Catholicism. For example, Voodoo believers worship Le Grand Maitre, or Grand Master, who is the equivalent of the Christian God.
They pray to loa, or spirits, who then intercede with God on their behalf — just as Catholics pray to saints. Voodoo believers also revere their ancestors, who guide them through their daily difficulties.
On the books, 80 percent of Haitians say they are Catholic. But Josue says Voodoo is widespread — just under the surface.
"Haiti is not a Catholic country," he says. "Haiti is a Voodoo country."
Apparently that's what Pat Robertson thinks as well. Less than a day after the earthquake, the televangelist declared that Haiti has been cursed since 1791 when, he said, Voodoo practitioners "made a pact [with] the devil" to rid themselves of French occupiers.
"They said, 'We will serve you, if you'll get us free from the French,' " Robertson said last week on his Christian Broadcasting Network. "True story. And so the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' "
Josue and others say that claim is outrageous. They never made a pact with the devil, and Voodoo does not engage in devil worship. And yet, he says many Haitians are asking why the spirits, who are supposed to protect their country, let so many die. He believes the spirits are angry with how Haitians have denuded the forests and mistreated the Earth.
"Haitians believe Haiti, she's a woman," Josue says. "We believe she's a mother, and [when] that woman got that pain, she [said], 'Enough.' "
Offering Comfort In Death
But even as Haitians mourn the death of tens of thousands of people, Voodoo gives them an eternal perspective, says Max Beauvoir, the supreme servitor of Voodoo, or the highest priest, in Haiti.
"The Haitian people do not get afraid of death," he says. "We are sure that we come back again."
After a person dies, he says, he or she goes underwater for a year and a day, then passes on to the next life.
"We believe that everyone lives 16 times — eight times we live as men, and eight times as women. And the purpose of life is to gather all kinds of experiences," says Beauvoir.
During those 16 lives, a person moves from body to body, country to country, attaining wisdom until he or she merges with God.
To help souls pass easily from death to new life, Voodoo priests like Josue preside over requiem ceremonies with water, candles, coffee and songs. But when death comes unexpectedly, Josue says, it's confusing to the souls. And now the earthquake has yielded another spiritual tragedy: mass graves.
"We have to make sure we bury our ancestors," he says. "We have to show respect to them. And to put them into a mass grave is no respect for our culture, no respect for our ancestors."
So today, Josue prays and sings, to help those souls find their way.
"It's a religion that really operates through revelation," she says. "So people can receive dreams or visions, and even be possessed by spirits, and that spirit can tell them something, and that's the revelation."
Widespread Below The Surface
And yet, Haitian Voodoo blends many of its rituals and beliefs — which came with the slaves from Africa — with Western Catholicism. For example, Voodoo believers worship Le Grand Maitre, or Grand Master, who is the equivalent of the Christian God.
They pray to loa, or spirits, who then intercede with God on their behalf — just as Catholics pray to saints. Voodoo believers also revere their ancestors, who guide them through their daily difficulties.
On the books, 80 percent of Haitians say they are Catholic. But Josue says Voodoo is widespread — just under the surface.
"Haiti is not a Catholic country," he says. "Haiti is a Voodoo country."
Apparently that's what Pat Robertson thinks as well. Less than a day after the earthquake, the televangelist declared that Haiti has been cursed since 1791 when, he said, Voodoo practitioners "made a pact [with] the devil" to rid themselves of French occupiers.
"They said, 'We will serve you, if you'll get us free from the French,' " Robertson said last week on his Christian Broadcasting Network. "True story. And so the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' "
Josue and others say that claim is outrageous. They never made a pact with the devil, and Voodoo does not engage in devil worship. And yet, he says many Haitians are asking why the spirits, who are supposed to protect their country, let so many die. He believes the spirits are angry with how Haitians have denuded the forests and mistreated the Earth.
"Haitians believe Haiti, she's a woman," Josue says. "We believe she's a mother, and [when] that woman got that pain, she [said], 'Enough.' "
Offering Comfort In Death
But even as Haitians mourn the death of tens of thousands of people, Voodoo gives them an eternal perspective, says Max Beauvoir, the supreme servitor of Voodoo, or the highest priest, in Haiti.
"The Haitian people do not get afraid of death," he says. "We are sure that we come back again."
After a person dies, he says, he or she goes underwater for a year and a day, then passes on to the next life.
"We believe that everyone lives 16 times — eight times we live as men, and eight times as women. And the purpose of life is to gather all kinds of experiences," says Beauvoir.
During those 16 lives, a person moves from body to body, country to country, attaining wisdom until he or she merges with God.
To help souls pass easily from death to new life, Voodoo priests like Josue preside over requiem ceremonies with water, candles, coffee and songs. But when death comes unexpectedly, Josue says, it's confusing to the souls. And now the earthquake has yielded another spiritual tragedy: mass graves.
"We have to make sure we bury our ancestors," he says. "We have to show respect to them. And to put them into a mass grave is no respect for our culture, no respect for our ancestors."
So today, Josue prays and sings, to help those souls find their way.
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