Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Haiti: The Society and Its Environment
loua most commonly show their displeasure by making people
sick, voodoo is used to diagnose and treat illnesses. Loua are
not nature spirits, and they do not make crops grow or bring
rain. The loua of one family have no claim over members of
other families, and they cannot protect or harm them. Voodooists
are therefore not interested in the loua of other families.
Loua appear to family members in dreams, and more dramatically
through trances. Many Haitians believe that loua are
capable of temporarily taking over the bodies of their "children."
In voodoo men and women enter trances during which
they assume the traits of particular loua. People in such a
trance feel giddy and usually remember nothing after they
return to a normal state of consciousness. Voodooists say that
the spirit temporarily replaces the human personality. Possession
trances usually occur during rituals such as services for
loua or a vodoun dance in honor of the loua. When loua appear
to entranced people, they may bring warnings or explanations
for the causes of illnesses or misfortune. Loua often engage the
crowd around them through flirtation, jokes, or accusations.
Ancestors (
lemd) rank with the family loua as the most important
spiritual entities in voodoo. Elaborate funeral and mourning
rites reflect the important role of the dead. Ornate tombs
throughout the countryside also reveal how much attention
Haiti gives to its dead. Voodooists believe the dead are capable
of forcing their survivors to construct tombs and sell land. In
these cases, the dead act like family loua that "hold" family
members to make them ill or bring other misfortune. The
dead also appear in dreams to provide their survivors with
advice or warnings.
Voodooists make a strong distinction between inherited family
spirits and purchased spirits. They believe that loua can be
paid to bring good fortune or protection from evil and that
dead souls can be paid to attack enemies by making them ill.
The "purchase" of spirits in this manner has an instrumental or
manipulative character. People view this type of transaction as
dangerous and antisocial.
Folk belief includes zombies and witchcraft. Zombies are
either spirits or people whose souls have been partially withdrawn
from their bodies. Some Haitians resort to boko specialists
in sorcery and magic. Secret societies whose members
practice sorcery can also be found in Haiti. Witchcraft and
charges of witchcraft are rooted in social relationships, and
reflect the real-life conflicts between people. In this sense,
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