Fandrich termed it a "neo-African religion", and Markel Thylefors called it an "Afro-Latin American religion". One of the most complex of the African diasporic traditions, the scholar Leslie Desmangles called it an "African-derived tradition", Ina J. ĭespite its older influences, Vodou represented "a new religion", "a creolized New World system", one that differs in many ways from African traditional religions. In combining varied influences, Vodou has often been described as syncretic, or a "symbiosis", a religion exhibiting diverse cultural influences. On the island, these African religions mixed with the iconography of European-derived traditions such as Roman Catholicism and Freemasonry, taking the form of Vodou around the mid-18th century. More specifically it has been characterised as Haiti's "national religion" and as an Afro-Haitian religion, as well as a "traditional religion" and a " folk religion." Its main structure derives from the African traditional religions of West and Central Africa which were brought to Haiti by enslaved Africans between the 16th and 19th centuries. Vodou has faced much criticism through its history, having repeatedly been described as one of the world's most misunderstood religions.Īn oungan (Vodou priest) with another practitioner at a ceremony in Haiti in 2011 Both in Haiti and abroad Vodou has spread beyond its Afro-Haitian origins and is practiced by individuals of various ethnicities. Smaller Vodouist communities exist elsewhere, especially among the Haitian diaspora in the United States. Most Haitians practice both Vodou and Roman Catholicism, seeing no contradiction in pursuing the two different systems simultaneously. The late 20th century saw growing links between Vodou and related traditions in West Africa and the Americas, such as Cuban Santería and Brazilian Candomblé, while some practitioners influenced by the Négritude movement have sought to remove Roman Catholic influences. In the 20th century, growing emigration spread Vodou abroad. The Roman Catholic Church left for several decades following the Revolution, allowing Vodou to become Haiti's dominant religion. Many Vodouists were involved in the Haitian Revolution of 1791 to 1801 which overthrew the French colonial government, abolished slavery, and transformed Saint-Domingue into the republic of Haiti. There, it absorbed influences from the culture of the French colonialists who controlled the colony of Saint-Domingue, most notably Roman Catholicism but also Freemasonry. Its structure arose from the blending of the traditional religions of those enslaved West and Central Africans, among them Yoruba, Fon, and Kongo, who had been brought to the island of Hispaniola. Vodou developed among Afro-Haitian communities amid the Atlantic slave trade of the 16th to 19th centuries. Healing rituals and the preparation of herbal remedies and talismans also play a prominent role. Several forms of divination are utilized to decipher messages from the lwa. Offerings are also given to the spirits of the dead. Offerings to the lwa include fruit, liquor, and sacrificed animals.
A central ritual involves practitioners drumming, singing, and dancing to encourage a lwa to possess one of their members and thus communicate with them. An initiatory tradition, Vodouists usually meet to venerate the lwa in an ounfò (temple), run by an oungan (priest) or manbo (priestess).
This theology has been labelled both monotheistic and polytheistic. Various myths and stories are told about these lwa, which are regarded as subservient to a transcendent creator deity, Bondye. The lwa divide up into different groups, the nanchon ("nations"), most notably the Rada and the Petwo. Typically deriving their names and attributes from traditional West and Central African divinities, they are equated with Roman Catholic saints. Vodou revolves around spirits known as lwa. There is no central authority in control of the religion and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as Vodouists, Vodouisants, or Serviteurs.
It arose through a process of syncretism between several traditional religions of West and Central Africa and Roman Catholicism. Haitian Vodou is an African diasporic religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. A sequined drapo flag, depicting the vèvè symbol of the lwa Loko Atison these symbols play an important role in Vodou ritual
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