Voodoo and the Laws of Religion

Religion is a hallmark of human society. galore(postnominal) bulk define their lives through the use of religion, which is as change as the cultures that suffice them. Haitian Vodou is often misunderstood as a malevolent practice based solely on Voodoo dolls, curses and blood sacrifices. In truth, Vodou is a complex and self-propelled religion that involves the use of emblems derived from African mythology, the symbiosis of imagery among Vodou and Catholicism and the use of participation, utterance and possession as a way for the community to straightway relate to their religious deities.\n repayable to the similarity of the despoil in Vodou and Catholicism, and the apparent reverence Haitians grant for this symbol, many scholars assume the Vodou cross is borrowed from Roman Catholicism, but the symbol of the cross is derived from African mythology, unrivalled example being from the Fon mythology in Benin. According to Paul Mercier, the Fon recognise the universe as a s phere intersected by twain planes, caused by the Godhead, Mawu Lisa as she move to the quadruple cardinal points of the universe, consequently creating the universe of discourse (Mercier 1968, 220-21). Mawu Lisa traveled passim the universe, stopping at the four quarters of space, which go over to the four cardinal points of the creative activity (Desmangles, 101). Mawu traveled from west to east, past north to south, forming a cosmic cross. The symbol of the cross is non restricted to one African culture group, but is prove throughout Africa, as the Bambara people likewise recount the movements of a cross in their institution myth. The cross, as seen in Vodou and in its original African mythology, is a symbol of reverence and has expectant significance for these groups. The cross is also seen as the symbol of Legba, the custodian of the gates, and as a entrée among the two worlds: That of the dark human world, and the sacred world of the laws who reside in Vilokan.\nIn Haitian Vodou there is a symbiotic relationship between Roman Cath...