Haitian voodoo is “a religion of creation and life.”(Hurston 113) Even in death, voodoo gives life to those who have passed; their spirits are known as loas. Above loas in the Spiritual hierarchy are deities and still above deities are gods. The gods control all aspects of life and therefore all aspects of life in Voodoo are devoted to them. For example, Erzulie Freida, the goddess of love, is known to have come between and ended numerous marriages and relationships. Once a man is courted in a dream by Erzulie, he must devote himself to her and she becomes his wife, regardless of whether or not he was already married. In such cases, the man’s mortal wife is brushed aside and eventually the marriage ends in divorce.
This practice is something that would not be accepted in the United States. Majority of Americans would not be able to understand how a spirit could be a home wrecker, let alone how a man could possible cheat on his wife with an immortal spirit. Even for those in the United States who are religious(the majority being Christian, Jewish, or Islamic), this is an abstract concept because there is no such relationship between god and human. However, the sensual relationship which is accepted between man and goddess is a common occurrence among practicing members of Voodoo in Haiti. I don't think such a concept would do well in the United States where the predominant religions are Christianity, Judaism, and Islam--all regligions that preach against any form of sexual relations outside of the purpose of procreation.
Work cited in this blog: Neale., Hurston, Zora. Tell my horse voodoo and life in Haiti and Jamaica. New York: Perennial Library, 1990. Print.
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This is interesting Jess! Have you thought at all about how this might relate to the fact that the majority of the practiced religions within the United States are monotheistic? I know that in other polytheistic religions, mortals having encounters, even sexual, with higher beings is not uncommon. A great example of this would be Ancient Roman and Greek religions. Examples of this are spread thickly between the pages of famous Greek and Roman epics, ie. The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, and also written about in poems by Roman Poets like Catullus, Ovid and Horace. Common heroes within mythology are half God, having a goddess mother (Aeneas' mother was said to be Athena) or god father (Hercules' father was said to be Zeus) but not both. It might be interesting to research why these ancient polytheistic religions died away long ago, while countries like Haiti still maintain similar beliefs to this day. Great Job! Really interesting!
ReplyDeleteVoodoo in American culture to me is something like a novelty, Voodoo in other cultures is a religion, and we must learn to respect that. I think you write about voodoo with respect by illustrating the stories, and term of voodoo before you speak about the American view of voodoo. Before reading your blog, I didn’t realize that a particular voodoo spirit could entrance a mortal. You illustrate this in your story of the man who is transfixed by the goddess of love, Erzulie Freida. I wonder what other stories come from voodoo and I wonder if voodoo stories reflect any ideals of the three religions you talk of being the most prevalent in the United States, Christianity, Judaism, and Islamic. Religious people are usually transfixed by their ideals and although they may not identify them as goddesses or spirits their beliefs can take a hold of them and change the person they are for better or worse. By I agree that the social acceptance of seeing spirits and goddesses isn’t experienced in the United States as much as it is in Haiti. Usually if someone believe that they saw a spirit or was speaking to a spirit we, meaning American citizens would label them as crazy. But then again in some causes religious individuals may belief visions and communication with spirits to be acceptable.
ReplyDeleteCommunication with higher spiritual beings is unlikely but Christianity, Judaism, and the Islamic religion is founded upon these same stories. People believe that stories of the old although they many not truly believe that it can happen to them in their life time.