Attitogon Things to Do

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There are also an awful lot of misconceptions that vodoun originated in Haiti. Yes, it is the state religion in Haiti, but it was brought there by the slaves from West Africa during the French colonial time. I was quite perturbed to find that most web sites I found were devoted to vodoun in Haiti, in fact some did not even mention West Africa, when in reality, there are twice as many people practising vodoun in West Africa as there are in the Caribbean. So why are there twice as many web sites dedicated to Vodoun in Haiti as there are in West Africa?

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Most of the dancing was done by women. A couple of hours into the ritual, a couple of young lads did get up to join and, much to the approval of everyone present. There was much cheering and clapping and they seemed to be rather embarrassed by all the attention. They didn’t last very long though, and soon went to sit down again, leaving the dance floor to the ladies yet again.

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There are a lot of similarities between Vodoun and Christianity, as well as other world religions. Followers believe that the Vodoun universe was created by a Supreme Being, the Grand Met, but as he has now finished his work, he has moved on the other worlds to do similar work there. He is not actively worshipped. The Vodoun religion is headed up by the dual god/goddess of Mawu-Lisa. Mawu is the goddess of the Moon and Lisa is the god of the Sun. They are said to have seven sons and daughters, all related to natural phenomena or historical or mythical individuals.

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Chanting is an integral part of a Vodoun ceremony. The chorus is made up of a group of people, usually led by a strong spiritual woman. The idea of the chanting is to attract the Loa on the astral plane in order to attract them down to earth.

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A group of special people will provide the ‘music’ in the form of shaking rattles and playing drums. Three drums, covered with ox-hide, provide the rhythm. They represent the three atmospheres of the sun: the largest represents the chromospheres, the middle one the photosphere, and the smallest one the solar nucleus. The instruments will have to be purified prior to the ceremony. Drummers are called houn'torguiers.
The large ritual rattles are called asson and are made from calabash. Symbolically these rattles represents the union of the two most significant magic principles: the circle at the round end and the wand at the handle. The rattle contains the vertebrae of the serpent, which is considered the bones of the ancestors as well as sacred stones. This is what makes the noise when it is being shaken. Eight different coloured stones are used to symbolise eight ancestral gods. Eight is a symbolic number in Vodoun religion, it represents eternity. By rattling the asson, the musician is calling the Loa to the ceremony.

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I was amazed at the spatial awareness of the dancers, even when in trance. Not once did they collide with each other, and even whilst thrashing about, and appearing to be totally out of control, did they actually hit pr land on the audience. A few came worryingly close to where we were sitting, but they seemed to be able to miraculously stop within inches of our feet.

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Often the dancers would come back out of the shrine, drinking from a hollowed out gourd. This could either be homemade alcohol (there seemed to be an awful lot of that going around), or blood from a sacrificed chicken or goat. By drinking the blood whilst possessed by the Loa, it is believed that the Loa’s hunger is satisfied. After the sacrifice has taken place, the animal is cooked and eaten. This way, nothing goes to waste.

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Probably the most frightening of all the incidents during the dance, was the woman who came out dancing with an empty beer bottle in each hand. For a while she would just dance around waving her hands in the air, but as she became possessed by the Loa, she gleefully slapped her hands together, smashing the bottles in the process. She then proceeded to attempt to rub the broken glass in her face. She was quickly assisted by many onlookers, preventing her prom harming herself or others. Of course, the ground was now littered with broken glass which had to be cleared up to prevent anyone else from stepping on it causing cuts to their feet. This task appeared to be carried out with utmost efficiency, despite weaving in and out of dancers.