The Vodou Religion System

Most Haitians are Christians who practice within the catholic faith, 7th day Adventist, Protestants, Jehovah witnesses and more. In contrast to being Christians, many Haitians practices Voodoo. Within this belief, they practice rituals to help bind the body and the soul. Voodoo is a form of magic described by many Haitians as a former form of healing and meditation of the troubled spirit. Many Haitians also proceed to explain that the magic of voodoo have evolved to a form of black magic, where those who practices it take haughtiness aim to cause harm to their enemies. The native language of Haiti is Haitian Creole. This is a language that was created from the different tribes in Africa that was brought to Haiti as slaves. To communicate with each other, they were left with no choice but to create a common way understanding. In the Haitian Creole language, there is a vast number of different sounds within the dialect. The sounds are used as an exaggeration to the meaning of the word. An example of this is saying “anmey”, which is usually screamed out as a cry for help.

In the biography, Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn, written by Karen McCarthy Brown introduces Mama Lola, or Alourdes, a Voudou priestess whom she met while working on an ethnographic survey (1). The book discusses the dynamics of Haitian Vodou and its importance in the lives of its practitioners. Voudouists serve the spirits and one particular group of spirits; the Ezili is a family of many spirits but three specific spirits that are examined. These three spirits: Lasyrenn, Ezili Dantó, and Ezili Freda act as parallels for Haitian women, like Mama Lola.

a. Most of the collective music manifestations found in sub-Saharan Africa represent the community, and encourage group participation using a method that is called call-and-response. If they aren’t using a call-and-response such music’s are usually to be found at events such as religious ceremonies, and/or most other ritual based activities.

Voodoo is a religion also known as Vodou or Voudon. In modern day society, the word ‘Voodoo’ usually brings others to the thought of dolls with pins stuck in them to cause pain on one’s enemies and the resurrection of the dead as zombies. In addition, black magic, animal sacrifices, and circles of worshipers dancing to the beat of a drum are just a few of the many other misconceptions about the practice of Voodoo. According to anthropologist Wade Davis, however, “Voodoo is not some kind of dark mystical force, it is simply a legitimate religion” (Handwerk, 2002). Though Voodoo began in West Africa, it is practiced in various forms worldwide. As the religion of Voodoo spread, it encountered a difficult transition. In spite of this hardship,

However, all rites employ the art and practice of constant prayer, songs, costume to channel spirits, drumming and dancing during ceremonies. Voodoo can be practiced by anyone absent their race, gender, age, national origin or sexual orientation. It is not required for one to renounce any pre-existing religious affiliation. In Haiti, the vast majority of Voodooists are also Roman

Haiti has a very interesting history of culture and religion. Currently, while Roman Catholicism is the official religion, Voodoo can be considered the national religion; about half of all Haitians practice it. This culture and religious history – and current practice – is essential in understanding one of the most important genres of music in Haiti; Rara.

Voodoo is the modernized term for Haitian Vodou. It developed in Haiti during the slavery era when African-Caribbean slaves were working on plantations. It has roots in African American spirituality, in Native American practices, and in Roman Catholicism. The central understanding in voodoo is that it is more about what you do than it is what you believe. While it may be referred to as a religion, this is actually more of a way of life for those who practice and participate in rituals. In doing these rituals, the practitioners are engaging in worship of the Lwa which is Haitian Creole for a group of spirits. These spirits act as an intermediary between the practitioners and God with whom they believe in a plane that is too high for humans

This is a traditional Brazil religion practiced by the Africans communities living there . The dance was performed to appease their gods. It is done in traditional styles derived from the Yoruba and Bantu traditions. The songs and dances were developed by African priests who were traded as slaves. The priests had strong African beliefs and had gained great experience on the task thus they could easily influence more followers. The religion had no formal scripture and the priests used the word of mouth to pass their message to their congregations. The believers were followers of a god by the name Oludumaré who they asserted was their creator. The oludumare has his servants called the Orishas. The Orishas are in every person and every Orisha is assigned an individual to offer protection. The believers organize a number of ceremonies each year to commemorate some important events. In the ceremonies, Candomblé songs fill the air. The believers also offer offerings to their

Clifford Geertz, in his essay “Religion as a Cultural System”, presents what he considers to be the definition of religion. According to him, religion is about symbols and people use these symbols as a guide for their view of the world and how they should behave in that world. Religion, states Geertz is “a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic” (Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, page 90). What he is trying to do in this essay is provide the reader with a way of understanding religion by

Many Haitians also still practice their native religion of voudou (“voodoo” in the west). So, while it is clear that European religions have persisted since the time of colonization, it is interesting that Haitians have also maintained their native beliefs. Some estimates of Haitians that practice voudou are as high as 90 percent.

Introduction: Voodoo dolls, black magic, zombies, witchcraft are what Americans first think of when they hear the word “voodoo” spoken, but even with America's skewed vision of what vodoun genuinely is it has still infected American Culture. Alternatively, American Culture has also influenced Voodooist culture and the way Voodooist Americans live their lives. General Information: Voodoo originates from Haiti and regions around it with spellings ranging from the common, Voodoo and Vodoun, to the unusual, Voudoux and vudu (Devi 7.). Vodoun is an off branch of Catholicism, but many Americans don’t realize this. Americans also don’t commonly know that voodoo isn’t about magic and evil.

Not only known for its history, benin’s culture varies very much from religion to music and also even the different languages spoken. Religious beliefs in Benin include Roman Catholic christianity, Islam, West African Vodun, Protestantism and other forms of non-catholic Christianity. Even though 27.1 percent of benign population is Roman Catholic, “the Vodun system is the most practiced systems of beliefs in Benin”. In Benin music is of utmost importance in its culture. “The rhythmic sounds of drumming can be heard at most festivals and religious events.

The people that who beliefs this religion and practitioner is having to do with ancestral spirits. This religion originates come from West Africa by a tribe called the Yoruba tribe and influences the culture. Why do I think that American have this religion because I guess a long time ago the tribe was captured and brought to the America as slaves. “After the Haitian revolution made Haiti an independent nation in 1804, the influx of African slaves was cut off, but the larger Haitian citizenry of African descent continued to develop elaborate African-inspired traditions” (World religions in America Introduction to Afro-Caribbean Traditions). Bought, sold killed, they suffered and were stuck into the Roman Catholic religion. Forced to practice in secret. “It is popularly described that Vodou is not simply a religion, but rather, an experience that ties both body and soul together” (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). In this religion some of their God's name is Baku who is the god of evil, which doing bad thing I guess. The people who they don’t like, and they put a curse, Such as neighboring tribes and people who commute for him. Vodou religion has many individual gods, but one of the God name is an Ague Mouie Soto who god of war. They really believe that when they are at war before they bless themselves so they are successful blessing. In their religion, Priests are a man who do Vodun and the mambo is a woman who do Vodun. They can obviously can be men or women and women are limited though they cannot do the ritual of raising the dead. There is something about not being trained properly even if a man was training

In Vodou and Santeria, music plays an important role. Mostly, music is used as a mean of communication with different deities during ritual ceremonies. As the textbook specified it, each deity has his specific music that incorporates dance, action and gesture that express his character. Each deity being associated with a particular drumming pattern and song, the performance of that music will regulate possession or the trance state. In Santeria, it more question of style of the music that accompanies the ritual.

This article focuses on Voodooism, which is a “religion” practiced in Haiti since the beginning of its creation. In this article, the author claims that despite the misconceptions that many have about the practice of voodoo, Haitians don’t consider it as their religion, but more something that they serve and use to meet their religious needs. While most of them consider themselves Catholics, Haitians serve the lwa, which are African spirits that are honored for their powerfulness. Practiced since the beginning of the Haitian Revolution in 1791, Voodoo helped Haitian descendants survived slavery,