The Faces of the Gods: Vodou and Roman Catholicism in HaitiVodou, the folk religion of Haiti, is a by-product of the contact between Roman Catholicism and African and Amerindian traditional religions. In this book, Leslie Desmangles analyzes the mythology and rituals of Vodou, focusing particularly on the inclusion of West African and European elements in Vodouisants' beliefs and practices. Desmangles sees Vodou not simply as a grafting of European religious traditions onto African stock, but as a true creole phenomenon, born out of the oppressive conditions of slavery and the necessary adaptation of slaves to a New World environment. Many observers have referred to such New World religions as fusions of religious practices. Desmangles instead uses the concept of symbiosis, which he defines as the juxtaposition of diverse religious traditions, coexisting without fusing. Desmangles uses Haitian history to explain this symbiosis, paying particular attention to the role of the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century maroon communities in preserving African traditions and the attempt by the Catholic, educated elite to suppress African-based "superstitions". The result is a society in which one religion, Catholicism, is visible and official; the other, Vodou, is unofficial and largely secretive. Both religions continue to play a part in Haitian politics, and Desmangles chronicles the role of Vodou and Catholicism in the fall of Jean-Claude Duvalier and the rise of Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide. |
Contents
Religious Paradox or Symbiosis | 1 |
The Shaping of Two Religions | 17 |
5 | 131 |
Copyright | |
5 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
The Faces of the Gods: Vodou and Roman Catholicism in Haiti Leslie Gérald Desmangles Limited preview - 1992 |
The Faces of the Gods: Vodou and Roman Catholicism in Haiti Leslie G. Desmangles Limited preview - 2000 |
The Faces of the Gods: Vodou and Roman Catholicism in Haiti Leslie G. Desmangles No preview available - 2000 |
Common terms and phrases
affranchis Agoue Agoue's ancestors baptism Benin body Bondye Bondye's Catholic priest Catholicism and Vodou Christian church clan colonial period cosmic creole cross culture Dahomean Dahomey Damballah death deceased deities depicted Deren derives desounen Dessalines destiny divine Duvalier earth Ezili force French function Gede Ginen gwo-bon-anj Haiti Haitian Revolution Haitian society Hence Herskovits human identified island Iwas juxtaposition Kafou lakou Legba Leyburn lithographs living lwas manifests maroons Mawu Métraux millenarian Moreau de Saint-Méry myths nanchon Ogou Ogou Feray Ogun ounfò oungan oungan or mambo pantheon peasants performed peristil person Petro lwas plantations political Port-au-Prince possessed devotee potomitan prèt savann profane world Rada religion religious traditions represented republic revolution rites Roman Catholicism sacred Saint Saint Patrick Saint-Domingue Saint-Méry Simbi slaves snake social Sogbo spirit symbiosis symbol theology ti-bon-anj tion universe vèvès Vilokan Vodou ceremonies Vodou rituals Vodouisants Vodouisants believe Vodouisants say Yoruba Zaka