Fon is spoken by over half the people of Benin and it is the female parent lingua of juju. In Fon the root word for juju is vodoun that means spirit or God. Voodoo had its beginnings over 350 old ages ago in West Africa. In fact Allada, a little town in Benin, is frequently called the ‘ cradle of juju’. In 1996, January tenth became National Voodoo Day in award of its followings that make up 65% of Benin population. The faith Vodoun was a byproduct of the slave trade.
This Yoruban faith was carried to Haiti in a slave trade from Dahomey, which is presently called Benin. Once in Haiti, the slaves were forced to follow Catholicism. Desiring to maintain their native patterns, the slaves continued to execute their rites in private. They transposed Catholic saints onto the tribal divinities, called loa, to delight their proprietors. Alternatively of impeding the religion of the slaves, the incorporation of the saints added something new to their faith.
Because of this they included into their rites statues of the saints, tapers, and other Christian relics. It is combinations like this that form faiths such as Santeria, a blend of Voodoo and Spanish Catholicism, that proves what a ductile faith it is. Voodoo has spread throughout the universe into major communities on Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, Miami, and New York metropolis. Vodoun has every bit many as 50 million followings throughout the universe now.
Although assortments of this faith occur in different parts there are some basic dogmas common among them. They all believe that the pulsation of life resides in nature’s elements like fire or air current. This force is besides in brotherhood with the dead and therefore Fosters a belief that they should be respected through rites. They believe that all things are the creative activity of the loa, and at the same clip portion of The lao and are to be retainers to them. The loa take portion in our universe and act as mediators between human being and the higher God, Bodye.
The practicians of Vodoun believe that when a psyche dies it go a sprit or loa. These liquors frequently ‘ posses’the life during rites. When ‘ possessed’ the truster dances, offers carnal forfeits, falls into a enchantment, or may even disappear. When these rites are performed a group ( societe ) come together in a sanctuary ( hounfort ) where they are revolved around a priest ( hougan ) or priestess ( mamba ) . These societes are important in the construction within little Haitian small towns. They are positive forces in set uping communal coherence and over-riding gender barriers. For whatever good is served, Voodoo can besides convey evil. The followings of the religion clasp that it is a equilibrating act pulp like the karma of the Buddhists. Bad things come to those who are non good.
This is frequently how the dark side of Voodoo is assimilated. It is believed to be brought out in both the worlds and the liquors. This ‘ black thaumaturgy ’is thought to hold been released on the universe when the diabolic spirit of Petro came to give the traded slaves of Haiti, Cuba and the Americas a warrior ardor and the ability to project enchantments on their gaining controls. Presently, black thaumaturgy is practiced by priests called bokors in little Rebel religious orders that are the chief beginning for the misconceptions about Voodoo.
These impressions about man-eaters, living deads, expletives and pin dolls, are the portrayal of Voodoo that is typically displayed in films and literature. It is because of the geographic expeditions that many people outside of that civilization have a great fright of a faith apparently filled with evil ‘ enchantress physicians’.
References
- “An Intoduction to Vodoun” Infoseek, Online. 1996. “Voodoo Comes Out of the Dark in its African Birthplace” Infoseek. Online. 1996.
