Peter, who holds the keys to the gates of heaven. Louis No. Visiting cemeteries such as this one is one of the most popular things to do in the French Quarter and beyond. When Laveau was alive and living on St. Ann Street, people used to knock on her door at all hours, looking for legal help, food, or advice about a straying husband.
In later years — from to — the Haitian government banned Voodoo under laws that prohibited ritualistic practices.
However, as historian Kate Ramsey points out, the laws were almost impossible for the Haitian government to implement. As early as the 19th century, Voodoo had already become a dominant belief system even influencing elite culture — even if secretly. Haitian elites could not openly support the religion. Over the years, several anti-Voodoo campaigns were launched by the Catholic and Protestant churches. In a ceremony guided by a priest or priestess, this possession is considered a valuable, first-hand spiritual experience and connection with the spirit world.
Voudon originated with slaves who combined elements of their West African traditions and beliefs with the Roman Catholicism imposed upon them by their masters in a process called syncretism. A law forbade the practice of African religions and required all masters to Christianize their slaves within eight days of their arrival.
Slavery was condoned by the Catholic Church as a tool for converting Africans to morally upright Christians. Slaves forced to adopt Catholic rituals thus gave them double meanings, and in the process many of their spirits became associated with Christian saints. Furthermore, Desmangles notes, "Many of the African spirits were adapted to their new milieu in the New World.
Ogun, for instance, the Nigerian spirit of ironsmiths, hunting and warfare took on a new persona He became Ogou, the military leader who has led phalanxes into battle against oppression. In Haiti today, Ogou inspires many political revolutions that oust undesirable oppressive regimes.
More than half the requests are for health. It is said that the Loa sometimes communicate prophecies, advice, or warnings while the believer is possessed. Other messages are sent through the priest or priestess, or sometimes come later in dreams. These disembodied spirits are believed to become tired and worn down—and rely on humans to "feed" them in periodic rituals, including sacrifices. Each of the spirits has a distinct identity. Some are loving and good, while others are capricious or demanding.
Haitians believe that the Loa most often express their displeasure by making people sick. In the West voodoo has been portrayed in zombie movies and popular books as dark and evil, a cult of devil worship dominated by black magic, human sacrifice, and pin-stuck voodoo dolls—none of which exist in the voodoo practices that originated in Benin.
In Haiti voodoo began as an underground activity. During the s thousands of West African slaves were shipped to Haiti to work on French plantations. The slaves were baptized as Roman Catholics upon their arrival in the West Indies. Their traditional African religious practices were viewed as a threat to the colonial system and were forbidden. Practitioners were imprisoned, whipped, or hung. But the slaves continued to practice in secret while attending masses.
What emerged was a religion that the colonialists thought was Catholicism—but they were outfoxed. It was easy to meld the two faiths, because there are many similarities between Roman Catholicism and voodoo, Corbett said. Both venerate a supreme being and believe in the existence of invisible evil spirits or demons and in an afterlife. Each religion also focuses its ceremonies around a center point—an altar in Catholicism, a pole or tree in voodoo.
Their services include symbolic or actual rituals of sacrifice and consumption of flesh and blood, Corbett noted. Many of the Loa resemble Christian saints, endowed with similar responsibilities or attributes. For example, Legba, an old man, is said to open the gates between Earth and the world of the Loa, much like St.
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