"The President of Voodoo"

Interesting story in this morning's LA Times about the role of voodoo in Haitian politics and society.

In a dark, airless temple decorated with paper flags and moldering food, voodoo houngan Adnor Adely takes on the look of one possessed. His eyes shut tight. His shoulders hunch. His hands leap up as if to ward off danger, and his slim body begins to quiver.

It is not only the rapture of the spirit world that energizes Adely. He is excited by the recent government decree giving the centuries-old practice of voodoo the status of an officially recognized religion. Voodoo priests — houngans — like him will soon be authorized to perform any civil service a Roman Catholic priest can, officiating at births, marriages and funerals.

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Legitimizing voodoo has strengthened Aristide's image as a man of the people and has probably enhanced popular support for the rumored bid by the former Roman Catholic priest to amend the constitution so he can seek a now-prohibited third term as president.

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Voodoo has no formal structure, no hierarchy or geographic center. At least half its houngans and mambos (priestesses) can't read or write, Anantua notes, since they come predominantly from poor, rural areas in a country with 55% illiteracy. To allow voodoo practitioners to officiate at civil rituals, the houngans and mambos must be able to read and write well enough to sign the legal documentation. Because it is the religion of the poor and downtrodden, voodoo has a special power for Aristide, who has the same political base.

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Bestowing of official sanction has also had positive social consequences, according to some outside of political circles. A recent international development conference on combating the spread of AIDS included delegates from the emerging voodoo community, which has a more open and tolerant view of homosexuality than does the Haitian public at large.

"Voodoo is the only environment in which Haitian gays feel accepted and free to talk about issues," says Laurence Magloire, who last year produced a documentary film on voodoo and its embrace of sexual outcasts. "We live in a country where homosexuality is taboo." The religion, which is closely entwined with nature, also offers some hope of halting the rapacious harvesting of trees for making charcoal — a desperate means of making a meager living that has shorn Haiti of most of its forests.

On a barely related note, I saw 28 Days Later this weekend. Beautifully shot movie (an odd description for a zombie movie, but true all the same) which relies more on your imagination than on-screen gore for scares. The alternate ending after the credits, though, was a big anti-climax.