Voodoo in Haiti

  The case of the loa Aizan provides another example of the way in which Voodooists have distorted Dahomean mythology. In Haiti Aizan is a divinity who is represented as an old woman, and who, as Legba’s wife, protects markets, public places, doors and barriers. She is said to be the oldest of all the divinities and is therefore entitled to the first offerings. She is invoked immediately after her husband Legba. In Dahomey, Aizan is the name given to spirits older than the mythical founders of the tribes. In fact they watch over the latter, as also, over houses and markets. They are symbolized by mounds of earth which are sprinkled with oil and surrounded with azan—fringes of palm leaves. The memory of the connection between Aizan and the azan is kept up in Haiti where the palm leaf fringes, believed to be full of purifying and healing virtues, are called aizan. The sacred tree of the loa Aizan is the palm, and people possessed by him dress in white and carry a fringe of palm leaves stripped down into a ‘tasselled’ kerchief.

  So it is we find in Voodoo undeniable traces of Dahomean mythology and its rich tradition, but they are traces grown faint, impoverished to the extent of being unrecognizable. Of the functions and attributes of the great Dahomean gods there remain only insignificant vestiges. The vodû have become genies and spirits, no longer august. The ritual of Voodoo, on the other hand, has suffered less from being transplanted than its system of beliefs. Take but one example: the initiation of the kanzo possesses a great number of archaic characteristics and still follows the scheme of its Dahomean prototype. The baptism with blood, the ‘banking’ of hair and nails in pots, the hand-clapping, the term of begging-duty, in short a thousand details faithfully reproduce the initiation stages of the famous Dahomean ‘convents’. Yet these rites are not regarded as a form of personal death and resurrection; or, more exactly, that particular aspect of the initiation has become blurred and survives only in rites of which the significance has been lost. Voodooists do not know why parents and friends sob wretchedly when the novices are led blindfolded into the initiation room. Their exit, dressed in winding sheets, does not strike them as a procession of corpses about to be recalled to life.

  Very pertinently, Herskovits observes, à propos Voodoo and other Afro-American religions, that beneath Christian manners and customs they often conceal practices and attitudes which are obviously African. As an example he cites the worship of ancestors which in Haiti often takes place under cover of funeral rites, and in the dances and meals which go with memorial services.

  Does Voodoo serve a useful purpose in Haitian society, or is it, as is too often said, no more than a pitiless exploitation of the poor by smart-alecks and charlatans? We have already mentioned the considerable sums which peasants have to pay out for treatments which are almost entirely magical. Many Marbial families complain of having ‘lost their foothold’ (been ruined) because of hungan. I remember hearing the good and honest Lorgina demand 17 gourdes and 17 centimes from a wretched woman who had come to beg her help against a werewolf who was sucking her child’s blood. White magic, just like black magic, often involves those who resort to it in considerable expense. Therefore, from a strictly economic point of view it is undeniable that Voodoo heavily burdens the resources of the peasant population. Those who denounce superstition as the shackle on the material advancement of the peasants, are not entirely wrong. If better food, decent clothing and more comfortable accommodation constituted the sole needs of the Haitian rural masses, then without hesitation one could join the ranks of those who are working for the destruction of Voodoo. But the inner man himself also needs security; it is precisely because he is so poor and always in danger of want or illness that the peasant is strongly attached to Voodoo.

  Without loa or boko how would he get any assurance that his business will get better, that his own, or his dear ones’ illness is curable? Have those who inveigh against hungan and boko, ever thought of the agony of a woman who, when her child is ill, cannot reach a doctor? As long as there is no organized medical service in Haiti, Voodoo will go on.

  No society, if it is to preserve its mental health, can do without entertainment. The faithful find in Voodoo not only a communion with the supernatural, but also an opportunity of amusing themselves. The songs and dances are sacred, but they afford those who indulge in them an altogether profane pleasure. You have only to watch the leapings and twistings of the dancers in front of their partners to measure the intensity of the pleasure which they derive therefrom. The social utility of Voodoo is easily illustrated. Ceremonies in honour of loa-racines help to increase family solidarity since such ceremonies require the cooperation and unity of all members in the collective fulfilment of obligations to loa.

  The reader will wonder whether Voodoo is a moral or immoral religion. The question should not be framed in these terms since Voodoo is not a religious system with a well-defined body of doctrine; nevertheless, the spirits, being conceived in the image of men, do act in conformity with the moral laws which rule Haitian society. The ‘good loa’ cannot approve crime and the ‘bad loa’ can only look for assistance to shady characters. The loa are friends who intercede in private life and who often act as interpreters of public opinion. A loa can quite easily reproach his ‘horse’ for behaviour which his neighbours regard as reprehensible and reprimand him for something which he thinks nobody knows about. It is in this sense the loa have a claim to be regarded as the guardians of public morality.

  The useful and productive rôle of Voodoo in the domain of art is there for all to see. In music and dancing it has allowed the Haitian peasantry to maintain and develop its African heritage—and develop it to a high level of excellence. A well-conducted Voodoo ceremony is something worth seeing: drummers and dancers are often virtuosos of their craft. I do not hesitate to say that Voodoo gives to the traditional culture of Haiti its sole originality. How sad, how empty would be the rural Haitian scene without the artistic activities of which Voodoo is, at one and the same time, cause and essence! By the intimate union of religious and artistic feeling it brings dignity into lives which would otherwise be brutalized and crushed by poverty and the back-breaking labour of the fields. Voodoo gives its adepts an escape from a reality which is too often sordid. Within the framework of a Western-type civilization, it is a many-sided institution suited to various uses—but an institution, above all, in which a man can participate with his whole being.

  Voodoo as a religious system has lost none of its creative force. In the anthropologist’s sense, it ‘functions’. Not only is it the object of a profound faith but its adepts continually enrich it with fresh contributions both to its mythology and to its liturgy. The rôle played by the Haitian humfo and that of certain sanctuaries in ancient Greece—of Dionysus or Demeter for instance—have certainly much in common. Those early societies which specialized in orgiastic dances have been compared with the zar sects of Abyssinia and Egypt, but even more aptly could they be compared to the Voodoo cult-groups.

  There is, however, an important difference between Voodoo and the cults just mentioned. It is too often forgotten that Voodoo, for all its African heritage, belongs to the modern world and is part of our own civilization. The rites and beliefs which have been described in this book may have given a slightly distorted picture of Haitian society, since they have been necessarily somewhat isolated for the purpose of examination. For a true picture it is essential to remember that although the religion of the black peasant is still, to a large extent, African, the institutions of Haiti, its political ideals, its notion of progress, are those of a Western state. Voodoo gods, in spite of their African names and lore, are under the influence of their environment. Man has always made his gods in his own image and this is strikingly true of Haiti: the loa have the tastes of modern man, his morality and his ambitions. They are no longer the gods of an African tribe, exotic and remote, but deities who act and think in the industrialized world of today. This is why they are as familiar and as close to us as the gods of ancient Greece were to the people who worshipped them. The
westernization of an African religion has brought to light all the features which it shares with the religions of the ancient world, so that anyone acquainted with the classical universe can easily enter the mysterious world of Voodoo. He feels as though he were among gods who speak his language and behave in a way he can understand.

  Voodoo is a paganism of the West. We discover it with joy or horror, according to our temperament or our background. Many of us go to Haiti in search of our classical heritage, and find in Voodoo the charm of fairy tales. Without compelling us to give up our habits and our ties with the present, it takes us into a magic realm.

  VOODOO GLOSSARY

  ABOBO Ritual acclamation which punctuates the end of rada songs. Uttered, too, during ceremonies as a sign of personal satisfaction. The exclamation is sometimes accompanied by the noise produced by striking the mouth with the fingers.

  ACASSAN A much appreciated beverage made of manioc starch. Drunk with milk and sugar.

  AGIDA A small bow used for beating the ‘second’ drum in a rada batterie (drum group—see below).

  AGO Ritual exclamation meaning ‘Attention!’.

  AIZAN Fringe made with fibres of palm (Oreodoxia regia). Has the power of keeping away evil. That is why the aizan is worn by initiates when they emerge from their period of retreat. The aizan is often hung on the lintel of humfo doors, on the poteaumitan or on other sacred objects. Sometimes it is used to cover offerings.

  AIZAN CHIRÉ The ritualistic stripping into fringes of palms; occurs at the beginning of ceremonies. The operation is accompanied by songs, and ends with the ritual baptism of the talisman.

  AKRA Beignet made of manioc or malanga flour.

  ARRÊT or ARRESTATION Magic charm to stop the effects of witchcraft or the hostility of bad spirits.

  ASSEIN Iron rod topped with a little round platform. It is kept before the altar for holding candles. In Dahomey the asê are important cult accessories. They represent the ancestors.

  ASSON Rattle of hungan and mambo, made of calabash covered with a net in which are enmeshed beads or snake vertebrae.

  Assoto Large, tall drum struck by several drummers who dance round it. Regarded as sacred; construction marked by long ceremonies. Inhabited by a loa and on this account often dressed in clothes.

  A TUTU Ball of hot flour which initiates squeeze in their hands at the end of the bulé-zin; brings to an end period of retreat.

  AWESSAN Silk scarf worn by the kanzo hunsi.

  Bagi Sanctuary room containing the altar to the loa.

  BAKA Evil spirit. Supernatural agent of sorcerers.

  BANDA A lascivious dance which is performed by the Guédé loa.

  BATTERIE The Haitian word for the ensemble of drums in an orchestra.

  BOHUN Funeral rite which consists of hitting calabashes, set over a bowl of water, with sticks.

  BOKO This word derived from the Fon word bokono (priest) is generally applied to hungan who practise black magic, but is often used for a Voodoo priest. The boko is also a healer.

  BORNER TO restrain or ‘limit’, to stop an evil loa from doing any harm to a person or a group of persons.

  BULAYER Drummer who beats the boula.

  BULÉ-ZIN Ceremony in which earthenware pots in which offerings have been cooked, are coated with oil and heated until the oil catches fire. The bulé-zin is a multivalent ceremony, forming part of initiation, consecration and funeral ritual. The fire is supposed to heat the loa and give them more power. The sacralia, too, are exposed to the flames of the zin.

  BOSAL From the Spanish bosal which means ‘savage, untamed’. This word is used of loa who appear for the first time in a person, or of hunsi who have not yet finished their initiation.

  BULA The smallest of the rada drums.

  CANARI Large pot which is consecrated and broken at funeral rites. Canari debris are scattered at cross-roads. The casser-canari rites are widespread, particularly in the north of Haiti.

  CAPRELATA Magic charm.

  CAPRELATEUR Magician who makes caprelata.

  CASSAVA Manioc girdle-cake.

  CAYE Creole word for house.

  CAYE-MYSTÈRE House of spirits or loa. Synonym for humfo or sanctuary.

  CHANSI Rattle made of tin.

  CHUAL Creole form of cheval (horse). Person possessed by a loa.

  CLAIRIN Cheap white rum.

  COMBITE Group of peasants working together to the sound of music.

  CONNAISSANCE Knowledge of sacred lore which gives power to the hungan or the mambo.

  CREOLE Native to the country.

  CROISIGNIN Literally: croix-signer—to ‘cross-sign’. To trace, with flour or any other substance, a cross on any ritual object or person.

  DAHOMEY-Z-ÉPAULES Rapid dance performed with the top part of the body upright and shoulders rotating in time to drum rhythms.

  DIVINO Seer. Hungan who is a specialist of divination.

  DJÈVO Initiation room.

  DOSSU Child born after twins.

  DYOK Evil eye.

  EAU-SIROP Mixture made with sirop de batterie (syrup made from sugar cane) and water.

  ENGAGEMENT Pact which binds a person to a wicked spirit.

  ENVOI MORTS Sending of dead against a person in order to make him ill or cause his death. This form of witchcraft is also called expedition.

  ESCORTE Group of loa accompanying important loa. This word sometimes means a loa ‘family’.

  GANMELLE Wooden trestle used for the preparation of ‘baths’, or to hold food for loa.

  GARDE Protective charm.

  GOURDE Unit of Haitian currency. The gourde is worth $0.20. or Is.

  GOVI Pitcher into which loa are brought down and which contain spirits.

  GROS-BON-ANGE One of the two souls which everyone carries inside himself.

  HABITANT Peasant.

  HUNGAN Voodoo priest.

  HUNGENIKON Choir-master in a Voodoo society. The man or woman (also called reine chanterelle) who ‘launches’ (envoie) the songs and stops them. She helps the priest and takes his place when he is possessed or when for one reason or another he cannot conduct the whole ceremony.

  HUNSI Man or woman who has passed through initiation and who helps the hungan or mambo.

  HUNSI-KANZO Hunsi who has passed through the initiation rites.

  HUNTO A drum spirit and also the biggest drum in the rada batterie.

  LA-PLACE Title in a Voodoo society for the master of ceremonies. Armed with a sword or matchet he leads processions, presents arms, pays homage to the loa and helps the officiant.

  LOA Supernatural being in Voodoo. This word is usually translated by ‘god’, ‘divinity’. In fact a loa is more a genie, demon or spirit.

  LOA-RACINE Inherited ancestral spirit of a family.

  MACOUTE Satchel made of leaves of the Bourbon palm; part of a peasant’s everyday equipment.

  MANGER-DYÒ Offering used in consecration rites. Consists of sweet potatoes, yams, malangas, cassava, ground maize, the whole mixed together and sprinkled with acassan and syrup. Used also for consecration are maize, grilled peanuts and lumps of cassava.

  MANGER-GUININ Food offered to the rada-loa. The manger-guinin seems to be no different from the manger-dyò.

  MANGER-loa Ceremony intended to feed the loa in which animals and various foods are offered.

  MANMAN The biggest drum in the rada batterie.

  MARASSA Divine twins.

  MASISI Pervert, homosexual.

  MONTER This verb is used of a loa coming down into someone, and possessing him.

  NAGO Fon name for the Yoruba.

  NOM VAILLANT Ritual name for a hungan or mambo bestowed at the end of his or her initiation.

  OGAN Iron bell with external striker. The ogan can be a bit of metal which is beaten with a metal rod.

  PAQUETT In French, paquet, a package. This is a sacred bundle containing various magical ingredients, used in the treatment of the sick.

  PÈ Brickwork altar in a sanctuary. On it are kept sacred p
itchers, stones belonging to spirits, attributes of gods and accessories of hungan and mambo. Offerings for divinities are put on the pè.

  PÉRISTYLE Humfo annexe which looks like a big shed, open at the sides. The scene of nearly all Voodoo ceremonies and dances.

  PETRO Group of Voodoo gods and spirits.

  PITTIT-FEY Petite-feuille—little leaf—member of a Voodoo society.

  PLACAGE Union between a man and a woman recognized by public opinion, but not by law.

  PLACÉE Common-law wife.

  PLACER-NAM Ceremony in which an object, notably a drum, is consecrated.

  PÈRE-SAVANE Bush priest.

  POINT Magico-religious term signifying ‘supernatural power’, ‘magic power’, ‘mystical effluvia’. The point can be a charm and a spirit which executes the will of a sorcerer.

  POTEAU-MITAN Post in the centre of the peristyle regarded as the thoroughfare of the spirits. It is an outstandingly sacred object.

  POT-TÊTE Pot containing hairs, body hair and nail-parings of an initiate.

  RADA Name derived from the town of Arada in Dahomey. Family of loa and the ritual carried out for that family.

  REJETER The act of abjuring Voodoo practices or an abjurer of Voodoo.

  REPOSOIR Tree or any other place where a loa is supposed to live.

  ROUMBLER The calling of loa by beating drums.

  SEGOND Middle drum of the rada batterie.

  SERVICE Ceremony in honour of Voodoo divinities.

  TI-BON-ANGE One of the two souls which everyone possesses.

  TRAITEMENT Cure undertaken with herbs and magic charms.

  VENTAILLER Ritual act by which birds are whirled round at arms’ length.

  VÈVÈ Symbolic design representing the attribute of a loa traced on the ground with maize flour, ash, coffee grounds or brick dust.