Both institutions have been
dedicated to the understanding and to the promotion of Vodun as the Religion and the
Culture of the Haitian people.
Vodun, actually, is the popular system of belief and the religious practice of the
overwhelming majority of the population of Haiti. Its moral precepts, generally admitted
as unfailing, embrace all the many aspects of life. May them be in the political, the
social or the economic’s domains, may them be in the foreign affairs, or else, may
them be in the public, domestic or individual fields of activity, the fundamental tendency
is to consider all vital issues from a Vodun standpoint.
Family’s disagreements, discords between employer and employee, disputes
concerning land ownership, differences of opinion and of point of views, problems created
by birth, education, health, work, death…find their solutions in Vodun, for that system
of belief is the interpersonal as well as the collective conflicts mediator of the Haitian
people.
For, implicitly enfolded in the entire Vodun system, is a “Code of Ethics”
which accurately fits the socio-cultural, historical, political and economic realities of
the community and serves as an instrument of peace and harmony for everyone.
This gives all Haitians their psycho-social specificities. Practicing Vodunists, or
not, all Haitians are Haitian. That is to say that all Haitians must accept the standards
set by the community. That Religion, thus, constitutes a motivating factor which
conditions the Haitian’s views and attitudes towards the World. One’s
appreciation is consequently influenced by the many forms of activities and the
fundamental aspects of that collective human experience.
This finds some of its explanations and justifications in the fact that Vodun has its
set of Norms and Values to which everyone, by devotion, conviction, attachment or by
simple social conformism, automatically adheres to because the religion is lived by the
majority. The teachings are revealed to very many Haitians and the precepts are
instructive to all who naturally see the well founded grounds for them. This explains why
Vodun, whenever and wherever it is practiced, gathers the adhesion of the majority of the
population.
The mode of transmission of Vodun’s precepts isn’t limited to individual and
group revelations. There are also, carried through the Tradition, a whole oral sapiential
literature in the form of prayers, litanies, religious songs, mythological stories,
charades, maxims, proverbs and even some secular and funny anecdotes about boys and girls
that everyone repeats across the country. They too carry the norms of behavior as well as
the philosophical reflections about GOD, the Great Master, or better yet, the Great
Mistress Who govern the Universe; Nature, which is man’s environment; and reflections
concerning the human being.
In other words, the Theological, Cosmological and Anthropological conceptions are
continuously expressed in appropriate terms and in simple language to everyone’s
cogitation. In the Vodun sapiential literature, one always finds, implicitly or explicitly
expressed, two main aspects:
- The first one which deals with the subjects of PRACTICAL AND MORAL PHILOSOPHIES and exposes the popular wisdom born from individual and collective experience. It can be defined as containing propositions which convey the precepts of conduct and of moral standards, objectively recognized as being valid. Those are willingly followed by everyone who would like to consider him/ or herself, and who also want to be recognized by others, as “REASONABLE” and as a “SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE” person.
- The other one which treats of problems concerning mainly Religious and Moral life. Presented as SPECULATIVE PHILOSOPHY, it deals with what is generally considered “The UNACCESSIBLE” to the individuals or to the collectivity by means of experiences. It then concerns three main subjects:
