My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Voudoo has many names and variations – voodoo, santeria, candomble and, locally for me, obeah. And in my experience it has several types of practitioners. The first are usually Christians as well. Their belief in obeah is somewhat clandestine and usually reserved for trying to get more money, trying to get back a lover who is with someone else and revenge. So long as the spells, or ‘work’ is confined to other believers, it has quite a lot of success.
The second kind are very Afrocentric (this does not mean racist). They cast aside their religion and deny their entire logical and scientific education for one where there is an unseen world with a multitude of gods who can be influenced to change people and the future with the right rituals. They often give themselves African names. It is almost the politics of rejection (as is rastafarianism) and seems to be based on a conscious decision and not faith. To me, the author falls into this category.
The third group are fervent in their beliefs and reject all other religions. These people are not uncommon in Trinidad, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Cuba and Santo Domingo.
Haitians are different. They may or may not be fervent believers, may or may not practice Christianity, but for them it has been the only means of having their voice heard under their many repressive dictators. Taking to the streets as ‘horses’ for the gods who have taken over their bodies, they can say what they want, express anything they feel without fear of the police or politicians, all of whom are afraid of the retribution that might come their way from mambos and houngans, the priests of vodou.
I had a customer once, a young lady from St. Lucia, she ordered The Pentacles of Solomon and several other obeah books. She got deported before she could pick them up. (at this time the importation of dolls from Jamaica and Haiti were also banned. Not Barbies, we understood). The Pentacles of Solomon has many extracts from the psalms and bits resembling kabbalah and also Hebrew words. And that’s where it fell down. We can all tell a real word from gobbledegook in English, so can I in Hebrew and some of these words were meaningless, ergo the spells are meaningless too.
And that’s where this book fails too. In the introduction the author, who has an MA in Education and a PhD in African studies,says, “In Judaism, practitioners sacrifice and cleanse with animals as we do,” Not for several thousand years have animals been sacrificed in Judaism and well the author knows it. She says she always draws these comparisons to show how our religions are similar, and hers is not so different as it may seem.
So now I can’t read the book. If such egregious inaccuracies or perhaps it is cynical manipulation, hoping for people’s ignorance is in the introduction, what hope for honesty and accuracy in the main body of the book?
Years ago I read Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn, a 10 star read, originally the PhD thesis of the author, Karen McCarthy Brown who converted to Vodou, herself! So when I came across this book, The Altar of My Soul, I was excited, now I’m disappointed instead.
Recommended, Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica, best book on Voodoo I ever read.
Savondujour 