Worship of Demons in Haiti
By W. J. TANNER
The Reptile as a Symbol of Their God— Their Alliance with the Church of Rome
VOODOOISM was brought out to the West Indies from Africa by the slaves who were imported to work the mines and cane fields in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and is therefore an African cult, although some of its forms and customs have been modified through contact with the Catholic Church. The essential feature of this crude system seems to be devil-worship. At least its votaries all tell us that its papa-lois and mama-lois—priests and priestesses—are animated by what they call les anges—angels or demons. It is affirmed by many that the central object of worship in the secret conclaves of the sect is a serpent that is kept beneath an altar in their places of assembly. Some Haitians deny this, and as these reunions are strictly forbidden to foreigners and to all unfriendly persons, it seems to be a difficult point to prove. However this may be, Haitians in general have a superstitious fear—or we might better say, reverence—for their couleuvre, a species of non-venomous snake that abounds in the island. An incident that illustrates this fact came to my notice but a short time ago. A woman from Turk’s Islands was engaged as servant in a Haitian family. It fell to her lot sometimes to draw water from the well; and one day while performing this task, she observed the head of a large couleuvre sticking out from between the stones that lined the sides of the well. If she had been better acquainted with the customs and superstitions of the people, she would have known that a snake in a well is considered a bon augure, a good sign, for it is believed the reptile will bring health and good luck to the family who drink water from a well over which such a deity presides. She did not know this, however, and so procured a fish-hook and line, which she baited, and with which she caught the serpent. As she pulled the long, squirming thing from its retreat, she screamed, as many another member of her sex might have done. This brought out the other servants of the house, and with them the master himself. BEATEN FOR CATCHING THE SERPENT
The latter, when he saw what had happened, flew into a rage, and commenced to beat the woman who had caught the embodiment of the spirit whose duty it was to protect his well. After beating her sufficiently to appease his wrath, and perhaps also the wrath of the offended deity of the well, he carefully extracted the hook, and nursed the wounded jaw for a few days until the reptile was judged well enough to be put back into its home, which it had been so rudely and unexpectedly forced to leave. Indeed, the couleuvre leads a charmed life in Haiti, for here it has no fear of death from the hand of man; and that this respect for the ugly creature grows out of voodoo worship, there can be no doubt. As we remarked above, voodooism seems to have been somewhat modified by its contact with Catholicism. This is affirmed because of a certain similarity between this superstition and some of the ceremonies and forms of the Church of Rome. There is, for instance, the altar with its mystery, and the priest with his little bell, which he uses to signal to the worshipers. Then there is the cross of which the voodooists make use as a charm to protect their houses and persons, the only difference between this emblem and that of the Catholics, so far as we have observed, being that the voodoo cross is blue, whereas the Roman cross may be of any color. The papa-lois of voodooism are supposed to have great power. They are believed to be able to heal the sick, to raise the dead, and to dispense charms that will bring success and good fortune in business, politics, or war. Those who would have any of these spiritual favors must pay for them, however. A BIG REVENUE TO THE CHURCH
It is charged, too, by the Haitian people themselves, that Rome is, in a sense, in partnership with voodooism. Whether there is any foundation for this claim or not may be judged from the fact that when a seeker after health, or after a charm to bring good luck, presents himself to a papa-loi, the latter, as a preliminary in the way of purification, sends him to the Catholic priest to have some masses said, or to obtain some other favor of the church, for which he has to pay. Some claim that the revenue received by the church in this way is quite large, and accounts for her toleration of voodooists among her worshipers; for it is a fact that to separate these from her church rolls would deprive her of at least seventy-five per cent of her membership in Haiti. AN EXHIBITION OF INDECENCY
During the presidency of Nord Alexis voodooism was very much a la mode; and two years ago, on the eve of Corpus Christi, a voodoo dance was held before one of the government buildings, within a few rods of our house. The details of this wild orgy can not be given here. As a public exhibition of vulgarity and indecency, it no doubt could be compared with what goes on in some of the playhouses of America and Europe, except that perhaps our voodoo dances were a little more crude. Of the feasts and sacrifices of this abominable cult we can not write at the present time. Suffice it to say that they all go to prove that these people need the pure gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Haitian people are not worse at heart than other people. There are many of them who would gladly break the chains of superstition that hold them in slavish fear of priest and demon. The hardest question for us to solve is not how to get members, but how to admit only those who will make solid and worthy material for the church of Christ. “THROUGH the agency of novels and story magazines, Satan is working to fill with unreal and trivial thoughts, minds that should be diligently studying the word of God. Thus he is robbing thousands upon thousands of the time and energy and self-discipline demanded by the stern problems of life.”