#524: Further discussion of use of vodou symbols: Gray comments

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:Racine125@aol.com

<< My concern is not with whether I would be offending someone on this campus 
(the idea has already been discussed here and does not seem to be 
problematic), rather  
 whether practitioners of Vodou consider the flags to be sacred objects which 
would be demeaned by being part of a secular display.>>

Well, hmmm... I guess it depends on what kind of display.  I have Vodou 
flags, pakets, drums, and other objects which I exhibit as examples of 
ceremonial *art*, for example.  If it's a respectful display organized by 
someone with some knowledge, I personally don't have a problem.  In fact, the 
art and artisanery of Vodou is so VERY beautiful, I welcome any opportunity 
to make it available to a wider audience.

<<  I also am secure that the group which we are helping in Haiti is in no 
way prejudiced against Vodou (Brother Francklin will tell you that his mother 
served the lwa, that he works closely with the local Vodou priest, that many 
of the children who attend the 
 schools facilitated by the Little Brothers and Little Sisters are from 
families who practice Vodou,etc.) >>

So, does his bishop know he is so positive toward Vodou?  I mean, I can't see 
how he can be, just by definition.  On the other hand, I know of at least two 
Haitian Roman Catholic priests who are also Houngans, so ...

<<... when the Roman Catholic church in Haiti went to the vernacular, many of 
the hymns which were introduced untilized Vodou drum rhythms and some even 
utilized Vodou melodies to which Christian words were written. >>

Of all the nerve!  LOL!  I mean, let them write their own hit tunes.

<< I would be most interested in Mambo Racine Sans Bout's opinion on this.>>

Gee, thanks, it's nice to be needed!  :-)

Actually, I had a recent conversation in Haiti with the lwa Gran Bwa.  Gran 
Bwa got a kick out of Catholics!  He thought they were in for a big surprise 
with their modernized rites incorporating traditional drums:

"You see the little fathers talking with their jaws full of kaka?  They are 
going to get a shock!", laughed Gran Bwa.  "Those drums, each one of them has 
twenty-one different lwa inside it, and one day... they'll COME OUT!  That 
day is coming very soon!"  And here Gran Bwa laughed uproariously, rocking 
back on his chair.

I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be mean.  For Gran Bwa's digression on life in 
Guinea, see http://members.aol.com/mambo125/granbwa1.html.

I remember in 1993 or 1994, when the military regime was at it's worst and 
bodies were turning up in the streets every day, Pope John Paul II issued a 
papal letter in which he identified the two most destructive influences in 
Haiti as being *Vodou* and *placage*, common-law marriage.  Not a WORD about 
those MURDERERS in the uniform of the Haitian Army, not a WORD about the 
attaches or FRAPH or the United States right wing.  I lost what little 
respect I had at that point.  Nowadays I don't care what ANYONE thinks 
anymore!  LOL!

Peace and love,

Bon Mambo Racine Sans Bout Sa Te La Daginen
(Kathy S. Grey)

"Se bon ki ra", 
     Good is rare - Haitian Proverb

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