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differences between Dominican Vodú and Haitian Vodou, usually stating that Dominican Vodú
is for good, while Haitians practice black magic. While I did not spend the beginning of my
fieldwork within Vodú environments, the narratives of Dominicans not associated with Vodú
highlighted today’s Dominican perception on palo: the urban, where palo is Haitian and satanic,
and the rural, where palo is good as long as it is Dominican.
Palo and Religion
As I began my fieldwork, already understanding the negative perception that many
Catholic Dominicans have on Vodú practitioners, my initial questions were geared towards
understanding how Dominican Vodú practitioners viewed their religion and the role of palo. As
servers of their pantheon, ​servidores​ that I encountered had a very intimate perspective to
contribute to the understanding of Vodú. During my time in Yamasá, I had the pleasure of
meeting Maria “Doña Mari” Sepubeda and Reeny, local ​servidores​ of Yamasá. When I visited
these ​servidores​, they each conducted spiritual readings before beginning our conversations.
Doña Mari, an elderly wise woman, was entertained by my own misconceptions of Vodú. When
I first asked about her association to Vodú, she quickly exclaimed that Vodou is Haitian black
magic, and she identifies as Catholic. I later learned that many Dominican Vodú practitioners
claim their practices as an extension of Catholicism, while Haitian Vodou is the real “voodoo.”
Nevertheless, tension exists even between Vodú and Vodou practitioners. As Doña Mari
explained, she believed that Haitian Vodou praises “bad spirits”: given the poor living conditions
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