Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
Religious Life
Roman Catholicism is the official religion of Haiti, but voodoo
may be considered the country's national religion. Most
Haitians believe in and practice at least some aspects of voodoo.
Most voodooists believe that their religion can coexist
with Catholicism. Most Protestants, however, strongly oppose
voodoo.
Voodoo
Misconceptions about voodoo have given Haiti a reputation
for sorcery and zombies. Popular images of voodoo ignore the
religion's basic character as a domestic cult of family spirits intimately
linked to sickness, health, and well-being. Adherents of
voodoo do not perceive themselves as members of a separate
religion; most consider themselves Roman Catholics. In fact,
there is no word for the voodoo religion in the Creole language
of rural Haiti. The Creole word vodoun refers to a kind
of dance and in some areas to a category of spirits. Roman
Catholics who are active voodooists say that they "serve the spirits,"
and they do not consider that practice to be inconsistent
with Roman Catholicism. Haitians also distinguish between the
service of family spirits and the practice of magic and sorcery.
The belief system of voodoo revolves around family spirits
(often called loua or miste) who are inherited through maternal
and paternal lines. The loua protect their "children" from misfortune.
In return, families must "feed" the loua through periodic
rituals in which food, drink, and other gifts are offered to
the spirits. There are two basic kinds of services for the loua.
The first is held once a year; the second is conducted much less
frequently, usually only once a generation. To save money,
many poor families wait until they feel a need to restore their
relationship with their spirits before they conduct a service.
Services are usually held at a sanctuary on family land.
In voodoo, there are many loua. Although there is considerable
variation among families and regions, there are generally
two groups of loua: the rada and the petro. The rada spirits are
mostly seen as "sweet" loua, while the petro are seen as "bitter"
because they are more demanding of their "children." Rada
spirits appear to be of African origin while petro spirits appear
to be Haitian.
Loua are usually anthropomorphic and have distinct identities.
They can be good, evil, capricious, or demanding. Because
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