vodou

Here is a picture of Haiti Prime Minister Evans Paul at Bassin St Jacques Majeur, Plaine du Nord.

During the patronal celebration of Saint Jacques Majeur at Plaine du Nord in July, 2015, The actual Prime Minister of Haiti, Evans Paul, went to the popular St Jacques Majeur bassin, took off his clothes and went into the water in search of spiritual Voodoo luck, treatment or protection. Many people come every year in this secrete Voodoo place in Plaine du Nord. Some say they receive treatment in this water why others come for luck.

Memorial to be Built at Bois-Caiman, Site of Slave Revolt

Prime Minister Evans Paul's last stop on a tour was to Plaine du Nord. He visited Bassin Saint-Jacques, meeting with town officials and civic society members.

He continued to Bois-Caiman, site of the slave revolt, where building of a memorial will be ". . . a universal symbol of freedom against the slavery system"

His final visit was to Nan Brise, a natural spring where voodoo rituals have been held.

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The radio host at trans Inter is having problem with the presence of a Cemetery stand in the middle of a carnival celebration in Haiti. According to Mr. Daly Valet, the presence of the Cemetery of Port-au-Prince Kanaval stand is not an innocent act by the Martelly Government.

Daly Valet who admitted that he's not a superstitious person by any mean, asked many questions that would be very important for the public to know an answer for. However, the remain unanswered:

What is a cemetery stand doing in a carnival?

Why all those mystical symbols in the stand?

What kind of publicity a public cemetery feels that it needs to do and why in a Carnival?

Where does the cemetery of Port-au-Prince find money in he amount of $8 thousand US dollars to finance a Carnival stand?

According to Daly Valet, the only thing he could come up with is that there was Black Magic going on in the intersection where the Cemetary of Port-au-Prince carnival stand was placed.

Kreyol:

Ki sa yon Cimetye de Potoprens stand vini fe nan yon kafou 4 tet nan yon Kanaval?

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The Loas, sometime written as Lwa and referred to as Mystères or Invisibles are the spirits you find in the of Haitian Vodou and Louisiana voodoo. They are considered to be the intermediaries between the creator and humanity. Each Lwa is distinct, having his/her own personal preferences in term of food, dance and ritual.

Some people may say that this is no different than the Catholic religion that uses saints as intermediaries between their god and us human. However the reason why this remains a question to me is because in the Haitian Vodou religion, the Lwas can clearly be observed when someone is possessed by one of them, unlike the Catholic Saints who do not manifest in people in such a way.

Furthermore, wouldn't these lwas exist at least in Africa where the slaves from Sain-Dominge came from?

How about the other Caribbean islands, South America and the United States that also had African slaves during the colonization period? One thing I have noticed is that these lwas only exist either in Haiti, in Louisiana with its major Haitian influence and in the Haitian diaspora all over the world. This is the only time you hear about Agassou, Agwé, Ayida-Weddo, Ayizan, Azaka-Tonnerre, Baron Samedi, Bossou Ashadeh, Boum'ba Maza or Damballa. you can not find them anywhere else.

To me, this is the product of extended period of abuse, trauma and ongoing attempts to make a person lose his/her own identity.

What I see in all that is that the Slaves of Saint-Domingue had to survives multiple level of abuse, trauma for a long period of time. the only way they could have survived is through some type of cooping mechanism. Let's take for instance someone who has been through a trauma or abuse as a child, in many instances, this persone wil develop some mental problem that will likely last a lifetime if not properly treated. This could be a car accident were the child witnesses the parents was killed, an abusive environment where there is child sexual abuse, insest, or other;

Take these same conditions mentioned above and multiply them by at least one thousand time and you will probably get the conditions the slaves in Saint-Domingue. Consider the following:

First: The Intensity of Abuse: Working day and night, under the harsh condition of the tropic, poorly fed, subject to beating, chained while working. One thing that I learned is that the French master was much harsher than the Spanish master. Also, considering that Saint-Domingue(Haiti) was the most productive colony then, doesn't this relate directly to treatment methods used on the slaves in Saint-Domingue?

Two: Deprived from Families: The person is separated from his family, including mother, father, children sibling, friends. In the new land, their children are are the property of the master and are sold as such.

Four: Deprived from a Support System: That same person is removed from their country, transported into boats for several months and in deplorable conditions. Comes to a new land, sold to the highest bidder.

Three: Duration of Trauma and Abuse: Instead of a trauma or abuse that occurs only once in their lifetime, consider that these African slaves have been subjects to these repeated trauma and abused day in and day out for a lifetime and for several generations and several centuries.

Five: Removal of Identity: As you were the property of another human been just like you, you have constantly been told that who you are or what you believe in is not good. You have been forced to adopt new custom while being punished is caught practicing old ones.

Considering the kind of living condition these African Slaves find themselves into in Saint-Domingue (Haiti) and for so long, could these Lwas be the result of a mind traumatized to a level not seen anywhere else in the world? Wouldn't one think that these Lwas found in the Haitian vodou could be a practical method developed by these slaved to coop with their harsh reality?

The same way an abused child can grow up to become an abuser, paranoid schizophrenia, serial killer, some who remains paranoid to the opposite sex. or have other behaviors all together, wouldn't the mind of a group of people who have been severely traumatized for multiple generations work differently?

The next question would likely be: If the Lwas found in the Haitian Vodou religions are the result of trauma suffered by the slaves of Saint-Domingue during colonization, what explains their existence today? I don't have an answer for that; however instead we should ask this question: Do we understand completely how our own mind works?

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As you can see in this picture, the Haitians use this place Sceau d'eau in Haiti to pray in the Voodoo religion. Most will take bath, wash their body with leaves found in the area. They also bring food and drinks to the lwa.

The magic of voodoo is very much alive in Sceau d'eau where many will ask the lwa for special favors. They usually come every year until they are satisfied with their demands

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Here is a picture of a sacred place in Haiti. Sceau d'eau is a water fall location in Haiti. It is also a place where Haitian voodoo is mixed with catholism. Many pilgrams come to sceau d'eau annually to pray and to make demands to the lwa

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