On Death and dying -- Haitian Voodoo

The Voodoo faith is one that has been feared bymany Americans for decades or more. It’sintroduction to the U.S. comes primarily fromCarribean, South American and African immigrants.Haiti has a popular saying that “it is 90 percentCatholic and 100 percent Voodoo.” The mainreason the Voodoo religion has survived for so longis that in slavery times it was a way of retaining aconnection to their roots. Though Voodoo practiceswere forcibly discouraged and outlawed, they werebasically forced into secrecy–adding to the secrecy,

mystery and feeling of taboo that is nowassociated with this religion. Haitian peopleas mentioned before, are avid Catholics buthave found their own unique way ofmelding the two religions together.

First of all it must be stated thatVoodoo ceremonies vary from region toregion. There is no set template to followwhen it comes to accomplishing any ritualin Voodoo. Specifically, death and burial practices vary greatly from place toplace within Haiti. In general the voodoo religion is practiced in a individual way.Although the belief system and its major tenets are widely known. Haitian Voodoois a religion that celebrates and worships its ancestors. To worship, as a Voodooist means to celebrate, be in awe of, and take care of Loa. Loa or Lwa means theGods or spirits. Loas are also strongly associated with Catholic saints. Haitians may attend Catholic church and worship God by day, but they alsobelieve God ( called in creole le Bon-Dieu, the good God) is too busy with taking“care” of the universe and does not bother with ordinary beings. So instead theyseek out Loas which are the spirits of the Dead. Some of the Loas are deadancestors , but many Loas that are specifically worshiped , celebrated and called

upon in rituals or Voodoo practices, hold special rank.Voodoo is all about life and death in it’s practices. Itcelebrates life by dance and song. It respects Death and it’sancestors by rituals that incorporate meaning of one’s death,paying respects and grieving extensively, and also byincorporating ritualistic ceremonies to never forget the deadand be continually aware of Life’s lessons. Although theactual ceremonies that take place after someone dies varygreatly depending where a Haitian lives, there are manythemes and some definite “rules” that are abided by. Forexample a Houguan( voodoo priest) is usually called uponafter a traditional Catholic burial takes place. It is very

important to Voodooists that the body is never left alone so even while theCatholic funeral may take place, they take special care to never leave the bodyalone. The main reason for this is that the spirit of the person can get lost if notproperly guided and can get into all kinds of mischief. The dress is supposed to bein black and the body should leave the house before dawn. The consequence of notfollowing this rule is that the spirit can take over a family member(by possession)..They may take possession of someone. Possession is a large part of Voodoo

ceremoniesand isnormallysomethingVoodooistsinitiate, but awayward spiritcould lose it’sway to whereit is supposedto go if leftunattended or

not guided and in this case a possession would be unwanted . The main purpose toguiding the spirit is to control it’s destiny in a sense. Voodooists believe thatinside a person resides two spirits that they call the “ti bon-ange(little good angel)and “gros bon-ange”(big good-angel) . On the ninth day after death the Ti bon-ange is released and faces God and accounts for his sins, the “gros bon-angeremains as a spirit on earth as a ghost to “haunt” wherever he has lived and died. After the traditional ceremony, Déssunin takes place. Déssunin is a ceremony thatin essence removes the dead persons “mait-tète”(master head or the Loa who

resides in one’s head). The ritual begins with members praying to the Loa , theHunguan after some time will motion for everyone to stand back and then he gets

into bed with the dead person. He performs alittle ceremony that involves chanting andceremonial bells and then somehow makes thecorpse rise up. Voodooists believe that theHogan is so powerful because of his powersthat this happens , but many speculate that it ismerely a muscle contraction. The next thingthat happens is the Hogan takes possession ofthe Loa and either puts it into a special jar(pot-tête,or govi) or passes the spirit on to aspecial family member. Once the Loa isremoved then the wake may take place. Justbefore the wake, the body is washed andtalked to as if he were still alive. Great care istaken to not disrespect the body in any way.People may visit and tell the corpse secretsthat they can take to the other world. Thepockets of the deceased are then turned inside

out in order to ensure nothing remains on the body that wouldgive him power over a family member.(Metraux 247) Theyalso remove the shoes to ensure his footsteps do not disturbthe living. The wake(or deathwatch as it is called in Haiti) is amixture of sadness and pleasure. The mourners lament loudlyperiodically , but may play cards and games. They may tellspecial stories to the children. It is thought that if the dead arenot mourned intensely enough then the dead is pitied and thefamily is shamed. The main aspect of importance of the deathand burial though is to disorient the dead so they cannot hauntthe living When the wake is over, the coffin is taken to the

burial site. In Haiti, people are normally put into tombs. The tombs are usually onthe families property and everyone in the family is buried their. Once buried, theNovenas (Catholic prayer rites) start. Family members pray and an altar ispresented with pictures crucifixes and flowers. They also place food on the

become very intense and then the food isground. On the ninth day the last prayers

thrown close to the home. At this point the soul of the dead is presumed to havemoved on. They then partake in games , storytelling , singing and also specialkinds of dancing. These festivities are meant to encourage the spirit to move on his

way and are especially joyous! The next evening is the “mangé-mort” (feast forthe dead) for the family. Tombs or graves in Haiti are usually equipped with aspecial alcove in order for the living to leave food (and gifts)for them, but it canalso be set on the ground before a grave. Families continue to do this periodicallythrough the years.(Courlander, 39). They may continue to pay respect s for thedead by either leaving food or gifts on All soul’s day(Mange mort day in Haiti) orother special occasions. The dead are not forgotten , but become part of anothercommunity which is in turn celebrated by the Haitian people.

In the United States, Haitian Americans live in many communities. There are verygood populations in New Orleans and Florida. Although Voodoo is alive and wellhere in the US, there are many stereotypes that have been worsened by the media.Even in the year 2009, the word Voodoo may conjure up images of humansacrifice, pins in dolls or Zombies. Many practicing Voodooists do so in secrecy .Others have used the taboo aspect of Voodoo to profit, and end up reinforcing thestereotypes . New Orleans Voodoo is particularly known for this kind of thing. You can see a unique burial in New Orleans that traces its roots to HaitianVoodoo and it is called the “Jazz Funeral”. As in Haitian Voodoo there is thetraditional Catholic mass and funeral, but instead of simply drums and singing, the

coffin gets a parade ( very similar to the party described before the mange-mort)with a Jazz band following close behind. Typically escorting the coffin to itsburial place http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOFB8yapTIU AlthoughVoodoo is not overtly practiced here in the U.S., there are many followers of thisunique religion that traces its roots all the way back to Africa. Its followers areavid animists and are superstitious beyond all reason.

Works cited.

Courlander, Harold. The Drum and The Hoe. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of CaliforniaPress, 1960.

Dash, J.Michael. Culture and customs of Haiti. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2001.

Metraux, Alfred. Voodoo in Haiti. New York: Schocken Books, 1959.