No 22

(Voodoo)

The first thing that comes to mind when we hear the word “voodoo” is a doll with pins sticking into it as a form of spell on someone. Well, in all fairness, that is not what voodoo is all about; it’s part of it but there is a milder and more “religious” side to it. Voodoo was officially sanctioned as the national religion of Haiti in 2003 by Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The word voodoo means spirit and it comes from the West African word “vodun”. The followers of voodoo believe in a supreme being, God and a host of spirits called Loas who help humans make connections with divinity. There are two types of these spirits – “Rada”, the happy, calm ones and “Petro”, the angry agitated ones. In voodoo, neither of these spirit beings are considered good or bad. Voodoo Hougans or priests say that most people outside the religion focus on the black magic aspect of voodoo but they say that is comprises only 5 percent of the religion and that Radas make up the other 95 percent. This religion is shrouded in Catholicism and the voodoo spirits are associated with the painted statues of the Catholic saints. The Haitian government says that the majority of the population of eight million are practitioners and that the culture of voodoo is in the heart of every Haitian; Haiti is known for one thing – voodoo.

The Protestant movement in Haiti opposes voodoo and has banned some of the styles of music from its services and even some instruments such as drums. As we know, any form of magic, black or otherwise is condemned in the Bible “A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.” (Lev 20:27). This false religion has kept Haiti in abject poverty because Satan “… was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8:44)