Haitian “vodou” is a religion based on the merging of beliefs and practices of West African peoples and Roman Catholic Christianity, which came about as African slaves brought to Haiti in the 16th century were forced to convert to the religion of their masters.
The word “vodou” means “spirit or divine creature.” When vodou came into contact with Roman Catholicism, the supreme being was associated with the Judeo-Christian God and the “loa” (lesser entities) became particular Roman Catholic saints. Roman Catholicism was mixed into vodou to hide the Haitians’ “pagan” religion from their masters who had forbidden them to practice it.
The primary belief in Haitian vodou is that the loa are lower subjects of a god called “Bondye,” French for “bon Dieu” or “good God.” However, he is seen as aloof from every day affairs and vodouisants do not believe they can contact him for help, thus they aim their prayers to the loa (a particular saint).
A Haitian vodou temple is called an Hounfour. The Haitian vodou service begins with a series of Catholic prayers and songs in French, then a litany that goes through all the European and African saints. After more introductory songs, songs for all the individual spirits are sung. As the songs are sung, participants believe that spirits come to visit the ceremony, by taking possession of individuals and speaking and acting through them. When a ceremony is made, only the family of those possessed is benefited.
The most historically important vodou ceremony in Haitian history was the Bwa Kayiman ceremony of August 1791 that began the Haitian Revolution in which the spirit Ezili Dantor possessed a priestess and received a black pig as an offering, and all present pledged themselves to the fight for freedom. This ceremony initiated the fight for liberation of the Haitian people from the French rule.
Some characteristics of vodou include respect of the dead and protection against evil witchcraft. While vodou flourishes in Haiti, it is also established in the Dominican Republic, eastern Cuba, some of the outer islands of the Bahamas, the United States, and anywhere that Haitians emigrate to. Vodou’s moral code focuses on the vices of dishonor and greed.
In 1938, the Church of God sent Brother and Sister John Kluzit as missionaries to Haiti who, in 1941, penned these words… “We have seen 15,000 people, who had been burdened with superstition and devil worship, delivered from the bondage of sin and who are now counted as law-abiding, respectable, Christian citizens with a wholesome fear, respect and love of God and their neighbors. We have never attempted to force anyone to become a Christian, but we have worked largely among the people who do not practice any religious beliefs except that of the “Hounfour.” When these bewildered people learned they could have a real experience of deliverance from sin and the power of the devil simply by taking Jesus Christ at His Word as their personal Savior, they have come voluntarily to us at every hour of the day and night to ask us to show them this real, living Jesus and to help them destroy their voodoo relics.”
On the heels of the recent devastating earthquake in Haiti, God has allowed this door of opportunity for us to share Jesus Christ with a nation saturated with voodooism – we MUST rise to the challenge!
Janet Polen Price
World Missions Media team leader
© 2010 Church of God World Missions