Vodun and African culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Vodun and African culture - Essay Example They believe there exists a hierarchy of inferior creations, the vodun that vary in strength from Superior deities that govern nature forces and societies of men to the individual streams’ spirits, rocks and trees, an expression considered sacred. Another belief is that God cannot contend with the humans, which makes the Vodun the core of religious life. This element of Vodun religion bears a resemblance to Trinity and angles and saints intercession-making Vodun very compatible with Catholicism and generally Christianity. A strong syncretistic Haitian Vodou was conceived as a result. Tying of souls is another phenomenon in Vodun. They believe in tying a soul in something tangible and physical (Robinson, pg. 72). A person is linked to another person using a soul tie, which commonly links the living and the dead and it is a form of a curse. The key and core Vodun aspect is performing healing to the people from illnesses. Houngans and Mambo arguably have a dominant role in healing. Healing performed in Vodun is a combination of faith healing (using Iwa’s help and some other spirits), herbal medicine, and the western medicine is gaining popularity in many Vodun healing practices (McGee. pg. 28