Vodou practitioners honor the earthquake victims April 5, 2010
Posted by The Wayward Wiccan in : Witchy News , trackbackSunday, the 28 of March, hundreds of Haiti’s Vodou practitioners held a public ceremony in a central Port-au-Prince square to honor the victims of the earthquake. This is known as the first national commemoration by Haiti’s Vodou religion to mourn the ones who lost their lives on January 12.
The ceremony, who coincidentally took place on the same day as the Catholic feast day of Palm Sunday – the start of Easter Holy Week, was presided by Max Beauvoir, the supreme head of Haiti’s Vodou religion. Along with other houngans and vodou priests, Beauvoir sang praises to “Olorum Papa” (God the Father) and repeated incantations for the souls of the dead, all to the sound of drums and decorated gourd rattles.
The celebrants followed a dress code: women were wearing white robes and black headscarves while men were dressed in white shirts and pants and covered their heads with black hats.
The state of Haiti recognizes the religion and protects its followers. It is believed that more than half of the population is practicing Vodou. As a historical fact, the religion originated from West Africa centuries ago. The initiators were black slaves forced to work on the plantations of their white masters in what was then known as the French Caribbean Colony of Saint Domingue.
Many Vodou practitioners have needed to defend themselves against serious accusations coming from a number of local Evangelical preachers who claim that they hold the blame for causing this natural disaster. Why do some people insist on laying the blame on those who are different? I remember something similar with Hurricane Katrina, where some people thought that the people there had brought the hurricane on themselves through sin and vice. Unbelievable.
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