Thoughts on voodoo and the Catholic church.

Isaac,it,s late!

Now put away your toys and go to bed! ...and stop trying to start "trouble" on DR1 with your "foolish" theoretical nonsense!You should go over to MoomC,s "thread" if you want to talk nonsense,not start your own!"Mama" Green

Lets see what happens...

I'm interested to hear what people have to say about this and what experiences people have had here in the "Dominican Republic".

Isaac....I didn't "post" a thread

I posted to the Isaac Green-Haiti Defender thread.
I know very little about the voodoo religion other than what I have personally seen and read.
Have you ever been to a voodoo ritual? They start out kinda "fun" and become very scary.... The rythmn of the drums, the fire, the chants and the "priests" incantations can quickly overcome the senses (overload!) and cause trance like, hypnotic episodes. People in these trances can perform feats generally not possible in concious awareness, much like people "high" on LSD,Angel Dust, PCP and Ecstacy

Vodun versus Voodoo

Robert and Isaac,

I believe if you search the archives under religion, voodoo, or TGF you might find quite a bit of discussion concerning this issue. I remember several threads discussing this in 1999 and, perhaps, 2000.

The bottom-line is that voodoo is feared in the DR by most Dominicans as black magic and an expression of evil. In Haiti it is viewed as having both good (curing) and evil components. The loa or voodoo spirits/gods/goddesses often have direct similarities to traits associated with Catholic saints. Just as you ask saints to intercede on one's behalf, the loa are asked for protection and favors. For this type of request the loa ask for payment - usually the payment might be a drink of rum or gift of food, but animal sacrifice is desired by some loa. Forget what you see in the TV and movies about human zombies and sacrifices. That's just Hollywood. There are many fine scholarly books and articles on the subject. It is no surprise that Haitian politicians such as Papa Doc Duvalier and Aristide often use(d) voodoo symbolism to cement their power and control the population. The Catholic Church in Haiti no longer condemns voodoo as evil and many Haitians are both Cathlics and followers of voodoo. Hey, in a land where life is so uncertain is pays to hedge your bets. Regards, Tgf.

Isaac, why did you abandon me compadre?

You left me alone on my thread against the insidious Legion of Doom. Namely against the twin forces of TW and Criss Colon.

Concerning your subject on voodoo and other African tribal religions, they perpetuate ignorance and are extremely dangerous. When Cartesian reason is supplanted for exotic and esoteric chanting accompanied by epileptic body motions, the outcome is obvious.

It is a detriment to society as a whole. There may be certain tenets which at face value are inexplicable i.e. zombies, eating glass, walking on coals and other magical acts. Yet when taken to the laboratory there are scientific reasons for these fantastical actions.

The DR people are heavily influenced by mythical folklore of the sort. Tales of a beautiful woman with backwards feet who accosts midnight drivers on DR highways are plentiful.

I personally believe its the mystery of death,spirits which allures people to these simple expressions of spiritual sojourn. By this I am not trying to belittle or demean any person's beliefs.

The Catholic Church and Voodoo are 2 erroneous simplistic belief systems which perpetuate moronocity.It's no small wonder they fused into a concotion of confusing dogma. Weak emotional psyches seem to congregate around such things.

Haiti has ben blighted by these archaic modes which for them is stronger than logic and math.

Now I will return to my sandbox and throw sand at TW and Criss Colon. Mondongo where are you?

Catholicism and Voodo are the two sides of the same coin: SLAVE RELIGIONS.

PS. For further information read F. Nietzsche

X.

My experience......

While I was in Barahona working with CIAC, I had a chance to visit many bateyes and it was my luck that there was a voodoo ceremony going on the day I was there. I unfortunately missed the beginning of it because the spirit kept on moving from batey to batey, but I did catch up to the spirit and the end of the ceremony. It was very interesting and I grew to have a great respect for their beliefs, even though I do not practice it.
At the ceremony, there was a lady who was possessed by the spirit. She had a bottle filled with this brown kind of swamp water, with green leaves in it and she was covering each person there with this "water" (like baptizing almost). I also took part in this ritual and experienced the "baptism". The significance of being covered in this water was to keep the evil spirits away. I couldn't shower for the entire day, that would be a huge sign of disrespect and an unhonour to the good spirits. Didn't want to test that! After everyone walked over a fire of hot coals. There was a lot of chanting, people going into shakes, I missed the sacrafice part, a lot of burning of this certain type of bush and a black and red flag.
It was an eye-opening experience and to see such strong traditions and rituals still in practice. I have pictures too remember it by... truly amazing......
I know a lot of people may not agree with me, but that is my experience.

Issac....

Who else went to such a ceremony? I went with Dominicans that work in their country for their own people as well as for the Haitians that remain in the D.R as well. They explained, the purpose of various rituals to me and I interpreted them to the best of my abilities. When, I was there they were fighting to keep the evil spirits out. Voodoo is an old practice and maybe the experience just depends on what outside knowledge one has on the subject, especially if one has a negative impression of Haitians (they eat dogs, evil, not human, a drain on society), and stereotypes or a racist attitude on the subject. It depends on where you go to the source of info, what you take into it and what you come out of it with. It is not something I would practice, I am Roman Catholic, something I don't practice regularly, but it is part of their culture and I do not see it as totally sadistic and evil as much as others do I guess.

Yes, we are speaking about the same religon as you call it.

O&C

As the good Dominican that you are, count me on your side. There are only a few Dominicans here willing to take on the DR1 mafia!!!

mondongo

By the way, I did not know that shallots were part of the onion family.

Mondongo, Y que lo que

Adios vea, tengo a los 3 buitres de DR1 atracando me en el thread "Some sporadic ideas." Mi compadre, Ven y contestale a
estos come solo.