To understand modern (Haitian Vodou), one must understand its theological structure. It is a monistic religion—believing that everything is connected by a single divine energy.
The transformation of these beliefs into what we now recognize as Voodoo began in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Enslaved Africans, torn from their homelands and transported to the Caribbean and North America, carried their spiritual systems with them. On the plantations, particularly in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), slave owners attempted to strip enslaved people of their identities, forcibly converting them to Catholicism. Voodoo
The next time you hear the word , forget the zombie films and the voodoo dolls. Instead, think of the enslaved parents who hid their gods inside Catholic saints to save their children. Think of Marie Laveau, the hairdresser who ran New Orleans. Think of the drummers in Port-au-Prince feeding hungry spirits with the blood of a goat so that a sick child might walk again. To understand modern (Haitian Vodou), one must understand