Vodou Religion :: essays research papers

Vodou, a customs dutyal Afro-Haitian religion, is a realityview encompassing philosophy, medicine, justice, and religion. Its fundamental article of faith is that everything is spirit. Humans be spirits who inhabit the visible world. The unseen world is populated by lwa (spirits), myst (mysteries), anvizib (the invisibles), zanj (angels), and the spirits of ancestors and the recently deceased. All these spirits are believed to live in a mythic land called Ginen, a cosmic Africa. The God of the Christian Bible is understood to be the creator of both the universe and the spirits the spirits were made by God to attend him govern humanity and the natural world.The primary goal and activity of Vodou is to sevi lwa ( dole out the spirits)to offer prayers and perform various devotional rites directed at God and particular spirits in return for health, protection, and favour. Spirit willpower plays an important role in Afro-Haitian religion, as it does in many opposite world religion s. During religious rites, believers sometimes enter a trancelike secern in which the devotee may eat and drink, perform stylized dances, hit supernaturally inspired advice to people, or perform medical cures or especial(a) physical feats these acts exhibit the incarnate presence of the lwa within the entranced devotee. Vodou ritual activity (e.g., prayer, song, dance, and gesture) is aimed at refining and restoring balance and energy in relationships surrounded by people and between people and the spirits of the unseen world.Vodou is an oral tradition implementd by extended families that inherit familial spirits, along with the essential devotional practices, from their elders. In the cities, local hierarchies of priestesses or priests (manbo and oungan), children of the spirits (ounsi), and ritual drummers (ountgi) even off more formal societies or congregations (sosyete). In these congregations, knowledge is passed on by a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body bec omes the site of unearthly transformation. There is some regional difference in ritual practice across Haiti, and branches of the religion include Rada, Daome, Ibo, Nago, Dereal, Manding, Petwo, and Kongo. There is no centralized hierarchy, no single leader, and no official spokesperson, but various groups sometimes feat to create such official structures. There are also recondite societies, called Bizango or Sanpwl, that perform a religio-juridical function.A calendar of ritual feasts, syncretized with the roman type Catholic calendar, provides the yearly rhythm of religious practice.