Religion is a key component of the culture of any community. Through religion, communities are able to express their beliefs in deities and develop explanations for their environment (Stein & Stein, 2017). Religion also plays a vital role in shaping the everyday experiences of communities. While such established religions as Islam and Christianity have received much focus, there are other smaller religions that despite being intriguing, have remained unexplored. Voodoo among the people of Haiti is one of these religions. An exploration of this religion allows one to unearth the deep and intricate connections between religion, culture and routine practices.
Economic exchange and reciprocity
In Mama Lola: A Vodou Princess in Brooklyn, Karen Brown discusses the experiences of Haitian women. One of the issues that she gives particular attention to is economic exchange and reciprocity. Exchange of food for shelter is among the elements of reciprocity that Karen describes. She narrates how Mama Lola and other women visited Marie Therese. Mama Lola admits that “on the day we arrived, we replaced what promised to be scanty meal of millet gruel with a veritable banquet” (Brown, 2001, 174). Here, Mama Lola is referring to the exchange of decent food for the warm welcome that Marie Therese extended to them. While she hosted them, Therese gave up her small bed for the guests. Mama Lola recounts how Therese gave “the guests… the only bed in her ti-kay, while Marie Therese curled up with her children on a pile of rags on the floor” (Brown, 2001, 178). Mama Lola’s words indicate that reciprocity is a key aspect of Haitian culture.
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The reciprocal exchanges among the Haitian people go beyond the sharing of food. Mama Lola describes another incident involving Alourdes. Alourdes agreed to let Camelle have her dress “when I finish wearing it” (Brown, 2001, 179). There is yet another incident where Marie Therese’s children bathed Alourdes. Mama Lola notes that in exchange for the bathing, Alourdes was expected to give Therese “a gift of a case of cola, sacks of vegetables, and the left hindquarter of a goat” (Brown, 2001, 179). There are numerous other descriptions of acts of economic exchange and reciprocity. For instance, Mama Lola states that family members usually come together to help their own move to countries with opportunities. In exchange, the families expect the individual to deliver them from economic hardship (Brown, 2001, 181). It is clear that exchanging one thing for another is ingrained into the culture and beliefs of the Haitian community. The exchanges enhance bonds while alleviating families from poverty and hardship.
The reciprocal acts and the economic exchanges are not empty gestures. Apart from cementing the bonds among the Haitian people, they also tie these people to the spirits. The connections between the spirits and the people through acts of reciprocity can be seen in Therese’s attitude. Mama Lola mentions that Lola refused to be bound to the spirits because they were too demanding. She was simply unable to keep the spirits fed. In exchange for feeding the spirits, Therese could hope for good fortune. Mama Lola notes that “she (Therese) cannot make demands on the spirits, because she cannot afford to feed them on the regular basis they require” (Brown, 2001, 184). Mama Lola is essentially suggesting that when one attends to the needs of the spirits, they earn the right to make demands. This is clearly a reciprocal relationship that involves economic exchange.
Vodou’s connections to Africa and Haiti
According to Stein and Stein (2017), human beings have the capacity to manipulate symbols such that they are made to stand for something. The main condition being that most individuals in the community have to agree with how a particular symbol is presented and what it actually means. Individuals who visit Mama Lola are reminded of the Vodou’s connections to Africa as well as Haiti due to the various observations they make regarding the rituals that Alourdes executes. For instance, according to Brown (2001), Alourdes engaged in a ceremony called the Priye Deyo, which means Outside Prayers and in part, this represented the African heritage. Apart from that she held a white enamel cup as part of the ceremony, which was common in Haiti (Brown, 2001). These two elements are regarded as being symbolic of her ritual’s connection and regard to both Africa and Haiti. Therefore, those who visits are left to identify the motivation or rather foundation of her rituals, as they came from a common or unified approach towards making symbols have some meaning in both Africa and Haiti. It is such realization that makes her visitors establish some form of understanding of her rituals, which explains their openness to develop deeper insight regarding Vodou.
References
Brown, K. M. (2001). Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press.
Stein, R. & Stein, P. L. (2017). The Anthropology of Religion, Magic and Witchcraft.
Taylor & Francis.
