Voodoo

The cross is a significant symbol to the Haitian Voodoo religion. Voodoo originated in Africa. When slaves were brought to the land that is now called Haiti, they brought the religion with them. In order for them to continue to practice their religion they had to disguise it with the religion that the colonizers had. Catholicism was the religion that they had to blend in with. This was not incredibly difficult because Voodoo is also a monotheistic religion and their spirits act much like the saints. The main voodoo God does not deal with human affairs, so it is the job of the loa’s to interact with the human world. In the Voodoo religion, the chicken is seen as a pure animal. In some rituals, a chicken is rubbed on a person’s body in order to purify the body. These animals are also sacrificed.       

There are many spirits that are important and that are worshiped in everyday life; one of the major spirits in the voodoo religion is Baron Samedi. He is the loa, or spirit, of death, resurrection and sex. Each loa has a veve or a symbol that represents them. They also have colors that they are associated with; Samedi’s colors are black and purple. Samedi’s veve is represented with a cross and two coffins.  On each of his shrines his veve must be present with other things that his spirit likes. This particular loa likes smoking, so cigarettes are placed in his shrine along with rum that has hot peppers in it. When someone is possessed by this loa they drink this rum. There are many different loas with their own veves and own colors.

In this short youtube video, you see the voodoo priest get possessed by Baron Samedi. The loa aids the priest in finding the cause of the problem with the young man. He aids the priest in finding the cause, so that he may find a solution. Also you are able to see that they drink blood. This is another practice that is used in order to purify the body. Sometimes the blood that they drink is that of an animal that they have sacrificed, such as a chicken. These are just some of the many symbols used in voodoo.

Some of the symbols discussed so far can be used to define Voodoo as a religion. The veves that are present on the shrines are symbols of the loas. Each loa has its own purpose. The shrines act as a connection for the people to the loas. These spirits affect the emotions of their followers. For example, when the followers of Baron Samedi pray to him they do it with great respect. He is a loa that demands great respect, and when he posses someone like in the youtube video people listen because they fear him. Because there are different loas assigned to different aspects of life it creates order because you pray to the loa that has to do with whatever you’re going through. All of this is real to the followers of voodoo, ad according to Geertz definition of religion voodoo would qualify.