Vodou

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses Vodou spirituality, particularly the Vodou that is practiced in Haiti. The paper traces the roots of Vodou to religious practices in Africa and describes how the practices were taken up in Haiti. The paper traces how the Haiti's view on Vodou has changed over time and how it is becoming more accepted by the clergy in Haiti.

From the Paper:

"Since 1986, the Haitian clergy have been forced to acknowledge Vodou as a vital force in Haitian social and political life, and its priest and priestesses, oungans and mambos, as powerful and influential figures (Schaeffer). Cosentino describes Catholicism as "almost a sister religion" for Haitians who practice Vodou, saying "In the racist colonial world in which Vodou developed, Vodou is the black sister, Catholicism is the white sister. They are truly sisters, but the white sister won't acknowledge the black sister. The black sister truly KNOWS her white sister and LIKES that other world, but she also knows her place" (Schaeffer). There are no creeds, prescribed liturgies, membership rolls, formal organization or theology in Vodou, it is an ancestral religion and "a religion of healing, an aid to balancing life, to coping, to keeping things under control" (Schaeffer)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bowker, John. "Vodou." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved February 28 2006 from HighBeam Research Library Web site.
• "Calling on the Gods: The Embodied Aesthetic of Haitian Vodou." Retrieved February 28 2006 from: http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfrb/haitianvodou.htm
• Galembo, Phyllis; Fleurant, Gerdes. Vodou: Visions And Voices Of Haiti. Ten Speed Press. 2005. Pp. VIII.
• Glassman, Sallie Ann. Vodou Visions : An Encounter with Divine Mystery. Villard. 2000. Pp. 3,4.
• McAlister, Elizabeth A. Rara: Vodou, Power, and Performance in Haiti and Its Diaspora. University of California Press. 2002. Pp. 3.

More papers on Vodou:

• Essay # 106988 : "The Vodou"
• Descriptive Essay # 106957 : "Vodou"
• Book Review # 138895 : "Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: