Tag Archives: Vodou

May 14 2017

“Koulè Jezi Pa Enterese M Paske Sa Pa Enpòtan.”

Pa gen yon moun k ap li tèks sa a ki ka di m yo pa janm tande Kretyen Ayisyen yo –moun sa yo ki nan relijyon pèpè sa a ki rele Kretyènte a –ap repete pawòl tèt anba, pawòl san sans sa a. Jodi a, nou pral fè yon ti brase lide, yon ti bat bouch sou li. [Nòt: Yon relijyon pèpè se yon relijyon ki soti lòt bò dlo].

Si koulè Jezi pa enpòtan, pou ki sa Blan je vèt yo pran imaj yon mesye Blan je vèt ki sanble avèk yo epi yo di w se Jezi a sa?

Si koulè pa enpòtan vre nan reprezantasyon ak idantifikasyon, pou ki sa nan tout imaj kote y ap montre w Satan, yo reprezante l kòm yon kreyati a po nwa?

Ou pa janm poze tèt ou kesyon sa k fè sa? Ou pa janm itilize kapasite rezònman w pou w poze kesyon sou reprezantasyon ak idantifikasyon moun sa a yo di w ki Jezi a? Si w pa janm fè sa, ki sa w chwazi fè avèk entelijans sa a ke ou genyen an, entelijans sa a ke ou di Bondye bay ou a?

Si koulè Jezi pa enpòtan, mande mezye pastè, prèt, monseyè, elatriye yo –moun relijyon pèpè sa yo andedan peyi a –pou yo retire Jezi Blan je vèt y ap adore a pou yo ranplase l pa yon Jezi po nwa avèk “dreadlocks,” ki sanble avèk pèp Ayisyen an, pou w wè sa y ap di w.

Men se vre. Ayiti pa ka yon peyi moun po Nwa ap viv ladan l, sepandan mòdèfòkè yo pran imaj yon Blan je vèt epi yo fè moun yo ap priye l kòm kwa se li ki Jezi yo a. Sa k touye m pi mal la sè ke ou wè moun yo twouve ap priye imaj mesye Blan je vèt la vre wi. Se pi gwo estipidite ke m te kapab ap viv etan ke moun.

Imaj, nan domèn “marketing,” sitou nan sa ki gen a wè a pwopagann [vann yon ideyoloji ak yon filozofi], reprezante yon gwo bagay. Lè yon moun ap gade yon imaj tout tan e pou lontan, imaj sa a vin anrejistre nan sibkonsyan moun sa a. E lè moun sa a atribye imaj sa a a yon moun oubyen yon choz, chak lè li bezwen fè referans a choz la oubyen moun nan nan panse l, se imaj sa a ki anrejistre nan sibkonsyans li a li dekese nan panse l epi li mete l deyò. Se sa yo rele an Anglè “visual effect” la, sitou nan domèn “marketing.”

Ban m bay nou yon ti egzanp de yon eksperyans pèsonèl ke m te fè pou m ka ilistre sa m vle di a, yon fason k ap pèmèt nou konprann pi byen ki enpòtans imaj genyen nan reprezantasyon ak idantifikasyon.

M pase 7 lane kay frè Gonayiv yo [“Frères de l’Instruction Chretienne”] nan kad edikasyon primè m. Kay frè yo se yon enstitisyon Katolik li te ye e li toujou ye. Andedan chak klas yo, te konn genyen yon gwo foto Jezi Blan je vèt ki ankadre nan yon ankademan ki plake sou panno devan an, kote tablo a ye a. Chak jou m te konn pase andedan klas la, pou kantite de tan m te konn pase nan klas la, m ap gade Jezi Blan je vèt sa a. Imaj sa a anrejistre nan sibkonsyan m pou lavi. Jis jounen jodi a, aprè bon nonb ane ki pase, chak lè m fèmen zye m pou m panse avèk Jezi, se imaj Blan je vèt sa a m toujou wè ki parèt. Tout efò m fè pou m retire imaj sa a nan panse m, li pa ka soti. M menm panse fò k se nan yon “mental rehabilitation program” pou m ta antre pou yo ta ede m retire imaj sa a nan sibkonsyan mwen. Alòs, nou wè ki enpak sikolojik imaj genyen nan ede nan andoktrinasyon yon gwoup moun?

Gen yon ti pawòl ki di si w bezwen yon sosyete yon jan ke ou vle l ye, ou dwe kòmanse fè travay la nan timoun k ap leve yo, paske timoun pi fasil pou yo andoktrine ke granmoun. Se sa ki fè m gen gwo pwoblèm avèk travay moun sa yo ki nan relijyon pèpè sa yo ap fè andedan peyi a. Yo deranje pèp Ayisyen an, sitou a travè lekòl yo mete andedan peyi a. Se pa mete lekòl la ki pwoblèm nan non… pwoblèm nan se ki sa yo vle akonpli avèk lekòl sa yo ki pwoblèm nan. Lekòl sa yo ke yo mete andedan peyi a antre nan kad estrateji relijyon pèpè sa yo pou yo ka fè doktrin y ap vann nan byen chita nan sosyete a.

Ayiti se tankou yon savann kote tout bèt vin pwonmennen, fè sa yo vle, jan yo vle e lè lide yo di yo. Depi yon bagay se Blan je vèt ki fè l, otomatikman nan panse pa nou, li se bon bagay. Se pa tout fwa panse sa a revele l vrè. Majorite dè fwa, nou twouve nou nan erè avèk tèt nou, paske moun sa yo gen pwòp ajannda pa yo, ki toujou kontrè a ajannda pa nou menm Ayisyen.

Alòs, pou nou retounen nan sijè n ap trete a, m vle di nou ke koulè Jezi gen gwo enpòtans. Si li pa t enpòtan, nan tout sosyete moun relijyon pèpè sa yo t ap eseye etabli yo, ou t ap wè yo t ap reprezante Jezi nan yon fason pou l sanble avèk moun ki nan sosyete a. Gen yon rezon ki fè yo pa fè sa… gen yon rezon ki fè Jezi pa yo a sanble avèk yo. Se pou yo ka pwopaje oubyen pwomote filozofi “White supremacy” yo a, ki pou fè w kwè nan siperyorite ras Blan je vèt la sou moun Nwa yo ak moun lòt ras yo. Konsa, lè w kanpe devan yon Blan je vèt, pou w ka toujou kwè nan panse pa w ke li siperyè a ou menm, ou enferyè a li menm. Se konsa yo kenbe w nan lesklavaj mantal la, se konsa yo anprizone w sikolojikman.

Nou dwe konprann estrateji moun Blan je vèt yo si nou vle konbat yo. Konbat yo pa p fasil non, sitou lè nou annafè avèk yon dal anbasadè [moun po Nwa tèt grenn tankou nou] ke yo genyen nan mitan nou, ki kwè yo pi Blan je vèt ke Blan je vèt yo, e yo pi Kretyen ke moun sa yo ki te envante relijyon pèpè ki rele Kretyènte a.

 

Apr 16 2017

Yon Ti Mesaj A Tout Ayisyen Alawonnbadè

Nou dwe elimine tout fèt Katolik yo ke Leta nou an chwazi fete nan kalandriye fonksyonman li.

Leta nou an pa yon Leta Katolik, li se yon Leta de kilti Vodou. Dayè, se Seremoni Bwa Kayiman an, ki te fèt nan lanwit 14 Dawou 1791 la, ki t ap vin pote linite ak konsyantizasyon nan mitan zanzèt nou yo pou yo te ka fè sa ki gen pou te fèt pou yo vin kreye nasyon lib sa a ke yo pral mete kanpe devan lemond antye jou ki te 1 Janvye 1804 la. Nou dwe klè sou sa. Si n pa ka klè sou sa, deja, nou gen yon pwoblèm teknik k ap anpeche n dakò pou n avanse nan konvèsasyon sa a.

Etan ke Demokrat ki toleran, ki kwè nan “pluralism,” nou TOLERE tout moun ki pa kwè nan sa nou kwè yo nan peyi a, ki se yon dwa ke tout moun genyen. Men sepandan, nou pa p tolere pou Katolik yo panse y ap vin enpoze bagay yo a sou nou.

Tout fèt ke Legliz Katolik ap fete, Leta nou an fè fèt sa a yo jou ferye pou li, kòm kwa pèp Ayisyen an se yon pèp Katolik li ye. Nou pa p pran bagay sa a ankò paske li pa fè sans e li pa lojik.

Nou pa ka yon pèp Vodou ki libere tèt li de lesklavaj —yon lesklavaj ki te esponnsorize pa Legliz Katoli, ki te jwenn benediksyon l nan men Legliz Katolik, ki te benefisye Legliz Katolik –epi pou n twouve ap nasyonalize e selebre fèt Legliz sa a. Nou pa twouve bagay sa a pa nòmal nan zye pa nou? Sa a se yon estipidite absoli e san parèy.

Katolik yo chwazi fete fèt yo, se koze ki gade yo. Men Leta a an jeneral pa ka chwazi fete yo.  Nou pa ka chwazi fè de fèt sa yo jou ferye pou Leta a. Nou pa p pran lòbèy sa a nan men Blan je vèt Legliz Katolik yo ankò. Sa a nou dwe klè sou li.

Se sèl an Ayiti wi kòm peyi m viv ladan l m wè betiz konsa fèt. Nan tout tan sa yo ke m fè ap viv Etazini an, m pa janm wè Leta Ameriken pran jou fèt Katolik yo pou jou ferye non. Epi nou menm, Leta nou an ferye pou tout fèt Legliz Katolik ap fete yo? Nou pa twouve anyen mal nan sa? Di m nan konbyen peyi Mizilman nou wè tenten konsa fèt. Epi nou tolere sa fèt nan peyi Vodou nou an?

Konbyen fèt nan kalandriye Vodou a ke Leta nou an selebre, ke Leta nou an pran kòm jou ferye? M kapab di zewo, paske Legliz Katolik, nan konkòday avèk pouvwa politik la andedan peyi a, te dyabolize Vodou nou an; yo te menm entèdi Vodouizan yo pratike fwa yo jan tout moun gen dwa fè sa nan peyi a.

Seremoni Vodou Bwa Kayiman an, si nou selebre l, nou pa selebre l pou apwòch mistik e espirityèl seremoni an non, nou selebre l pou enpòtans istorik li. Alòske se pi gwo fèt Vodou ki ta sipoze jwenn anpil enpòtans devan Leta a. Non, nou kite Blan je vèt Katolik yo ap pase nou lòd, kòm si nou pa t libere nou de lesklavaj ke yo menm te enpoze sou nou an.

Ban m di nou byen, frè ak sè Ayisyen mwen yo: Liberasyon nou de lesklavaj, ki vin fè nou yon pèp lib e endepandan an, se pa t yon kado ke Blan je vèt yo te fè nou non… se batay nou te batay pou n te genyen l… se san nou ki te koule pou n te genyen l… se mouri nou te aksepte mouri pou n te jwenn li. Epi jodi a pou n aksepte ap banalize l? Ki sa nou fè avèk konsyans nasyonal nou, hen? Ki sa nou fè avèk konsyans de pèp nou, hen? An nou pran konsyans. An nou louvri zye nou. Se nan zafè fèmen zye priye sa a wi, ou wè nou kite yo vòlè konsyans nasyonal nou nan men nou an.

Aug 14 2015

Pa Gen Fè Moun Mal Nan Relijyon Vodou a

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Nan Vodou a, menm jan ak tout lòt relijyon ki ekziste sou tè a, gen moun ki gen bon kè e gen moun ki mechan. Sa pa vle di ke moun nan k ap fè sa k mal la se relijyon Vodou a ki fè l ap fè l.

Se menm jan avèk denominasyon Katolik la, ki te ankouraje e esponnsorize lesklavaj, yon sistèm malveyan, mechan, malfektè, elatriye. Èske m ka di ke se relijyon Kretyèn nan ki fè moun yo t ap pratike l? Non, m pa ka di sa. Fò k m ta yon inyoran sèlman pou m ta di yon bagay konsa. Alòske te gen Katolik nan tan lesklavaj ki te kont lesklavaj. Se sa ki fè ke ou pa ka kondane relijyon Kretyèn nan. Si w ap kondane, se pou w kondane moun mechan sa yo ki t ap pratike lesklavaj la nan relijyon an.

Al Qaeda [Bin Laden avèk gwoup Mizilman parèy li yo], ki fè anpil mal nan non Allah ak Islam. Èske poutèt sa m ka kanpe pou m di ke Islam se yon relijyon malfektè, teworis li ye? Non, m pa ka di sa. Pandan ke Al Qaeda ap teworize moun nan non Allah ak Islam, w ap jwenn Mizilman parèy li k ap kondane zak teworis yo, k ap di ke pa gen jan de zak sa yo nan Islam, ki se yon relijyon k ap preche lanmou, amoni ak lavi.

Ku Klux Klan, yon òganizasyon Kretyèn ki fè moun Nwa yo anpil mal isit Ozetazini [li gen anpil malfektè Blan ladan l], èske m ka chita pou m di ke se relijyon Kretyèn nan ki pa bon pou sa? Non, m pa ka di yon bagay konsa. Fò k m ta yon inyoran gwo zago sèlman pou m ta repete yon betiz parèy.

Hitler, ki touye apeprè 6 milyon Jwif nan peyi Almay, se yon Kretyen misye te ye. Èske m ka baze m sou zak malfektè, zak kriminèl li a pou m di ke relijyon Kretyèn nan se yon relijyon k ap fè mal, yon relijyon k ap touye moun li ye? Non, m pa ka di sa. Fò ke m ta yon inyoran gwo zago sèlman pou m ta repete yon betiz parèy.

Vodou a pa gen fè moun mal ladan l. Se yon relijyon –menm jan ak tout relijyon ki ekziste –k ap simaye lanmou, laverite, Vodou Blanlajistis, linyon, lapè, demokrasi, amoni ak lavi, ke nou jwenn nan pawòl Granmèt la. Sèl diferans ki genyen ant Vodou a ak lòt relijyon yo sè ke Vodou a se relijyon pa noumenm Ayisyen li ye, lòt yo se relijyon pèpè ke Blan Koumann pote bay nou pou yo fè nou rayi pwòp tèt nou, pou yo fè nou kwè ke nou enferyè, e pou yo ka kenbe nou nan lesklavaj mantal.

Alòs, nan tout relijyon, relijyon Vodou a se youn ladan yo, w ap jwenn bon ak move moun. Se noumenm lèzòm ki konsa. Lè malfektè a fè zak mechanste li a, sa pa vle di ke se relijyon li ladan li a ki pa bon. Pou m ta di sa, fò ke tout moun alawonnbadè ki nan relijyon an ta malfektè. Se sa ki fè ou pa ka defini yon relijyon an fonksyon de zak kèlke moun mechan, kèlke malfektè ki nan relijyon an ap komèt. Se pa relijyon an ki pa bon, se pito kè noumenm lèzòm ki nan relijyon an ki pa bon, e se sa ki pòte nou a fè frè ak sè nou yo mal.

Anpi pawòl degrenngòch, pawol tèt anba ke nou te konn abitye tande e nou kontinye ap tande sou Vodou a pa chita sou anyen. Pawòl sa yo fè pati de yon kanpay pwopagann kont Vodou a, ke moun Pwotestan yo ak moun Legliz Katolik yo, nan tèt kole avèk gouvènman restavèk Blan ke nou te konn abitye genyen yo, t ap fè mache andedan peyi a pou te ratibwaze relijyon Vodou a, relijyon pèp Ayisyen an, sou bout tè sa a ke zansèt nou yo te mouri kite pou nou an.

Jun 3 2011

PRESIDENT MARTELLY: KEEP THE CHURCH & THE STATE SEPARATED

President Martelly of Haiti

President Martelly of Haiti

In this article entitled “Attention Danger!!!” published yesterday, Thursday, June 02, 2011 on the Radio Kiskeya website, the author, Lyonel Trouillot, did a tremendous job calling President Martelly out on his issuance of the executive order making Ascension (a Catholic Holiday) a National Holiday. http://www.radiokiskeya.com/spip.php?article7793

The issuance of that executive order was a reckless and miscalculated move on the part of the president. Doing so, he opens the door for people (friends and foes) to question his motives. Many, myself included, tend to assume that, by that decision, he is favoring the Catholic Church over the other religious conglomerates.

There is no question that the president was ill-advised. Whoever advised him to issue that executive order making Ascension a National Holiday has shown lack of democratic judgment; therefore, he or she has no place in the president’s team of advisers. Such decision is an embarrassment, and it is making the president look very bad. What has happened of the basic democratic concept of separation of church and state?

The democratic concept of separation of church and state demands that the state be kept away from matters of faith. As Mr. Trouillot eloquently stated in the piece in corroboration of the aforementioned notion, “The duty of the state and the government is to assure free exercise of religion and atheism by the citizens in their private domains.”

During and after the campaign, Candidate and President-elect Martelly had met many times with many leaders from the Protestant and Catholic communities; not even once, as far as I can recall, has he met with Max Beauvoir, the Ati or Supreme Chief of the Vodou religion. I was very bothered by that. This is suspicious on his part, and he needs to come clean on that.

Vodou, as a religion, had suffered in the past many atrocities from many of our political and Catholic and Protestant leaders. Today, we will not stand by anyone’s action sought purposely or otherwise to ostracize or treat it as a second class religion.

If the president claims to be of a certain faith, that is his business, not that of the state. Therefore, regardless what that faith is, in the exercise of his presidential duty, he needs to separate it from his handling of the affairs of the state.

Haiti is not a theocracy; it is a democracy. So we are calling on President Martelly and his advisers to keep in mind that this executive order has set a bad precedent for our democracy. Please, Mr. President, for the sake of our democracy, keep the state out of matters having to do with faith. This is not what we are paying you for.

Jan 13 2011

MENTAL HEALTH AS PERCEIVED BY MOST HAITIANS

Why is it that in our Haitian society seeking mental counseling has always been given a negative connotation? Not only do we not believe in mental health, we also assume that the person seeking help for his or her mental condition has got to be “crazy” because, in our minds, mental counseling is for “crazy” people. Well, today, I am writing this piece to challenge and refute such mindset.

One does NOT need to be “crazy” to seek mental counseling. Since mental health is a component of our overall health, the same way we would go for a physical on a regular basis, our mental health needs that same level of attention or care.

To be aware of the importance of maintaining one’s mental health, to know that mental health is an integral part of one’s overall health, that requires a certain level of education and social sophistication, which the majority of the people do not have.

Some of the things we believe in are really having a toll on the way we care for ourselves. The notion that mentally challenged people must be possessed by some type of a demonic spirit is just unfounded, baseless and ludicrous. Because of such ridiculousness, we are facing a community health challenge, where many mentally ill people in our society are going with their illnesses “undiagnosed” or misdiagnosed.

As a result of a death in the family, for example, a person could be displaying signs and symptoms of severe depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or whatever the case may be. What do we say of the person’s condition? We say that “sé mò a k ap fè l” or the dead is doing that to him or her. Sometimes, if the person has some known or unknown ties with the Vodou religion, we would hold that some ancestral spirits or “lwas” are persecuting him or her because they have been neglected. And the remedy to that is to call for a Vodou ceremony if the person is a Vodou believer, or engage in all sorts of prayer rituals to “exorcise” the demons if the person is a Christian. Meanwhile, the person’s condition is deteriorating.

Furthermore, there is this stigma we attach to mental illness in our society. We look at that as shameful, disgraceful and appalling. When someone is mentally ill in most of our families, like a family member who contracts HIV, we tend to vilify that person because in our eyes he or she is a disgrace, a subject of shame to our family. What do we do to handle the situation? We try to keep it into hiding as much as we can or send the person away to a member of the family in the countryside. Hence, that person is doomed; he may never get to receive any type of treatment whatsoever for his or her treatable condition.

Growing up in Gonaives, specifically near the community marketplace, I had seen it all -schizophrenic patients, bipolar patients, delusional patients, etc… Most of these people were not from the city; they probably came from the outskirts of town. It would be fair to say that that part of the city was the dumpster for mentally challenged people. Some of these individuals were extremely violent and represented a danger to themselves and others. They should have been admitted, not left unattended to be roving around as though nothing was wrong with them. Then again, if we were to admit them, where would we be putting them, especially when we know that the city’s only public hospital –Providence Hospital -was not equipped with a psychiatric ward to cater to their needs?

The January the 12th earthquake makes matters even more complicated than they already were. It is going to have a negative or devastating long-term effect on the psyche of our nation. Having to deal with the toll of the disaster -300,000 human lives wiped out, thousands of physically paralyzed or traumatized citizens, over one million people living in tent cities with no hopes of a better tomorrow, women being raped on a daily basis, the list goes on and on and on… -this is not going to be a simple task.

There cannot possibly be a Haitian society without the Haitian people. So to rebuild Haiti is to rehabilitate its people physically and mentally. And to mentally rehabilitate the people, these misconceptions surrounding mental health talked about earlier must be addressed comprehensively and systematically.

How can you change the mindset of the people to make them more receptive to the realness of mental illness? In other words, how can you effectively treat someone’s mental illness when that person deeply and strongly believes that his or her condition is the result of some type of unexplained supernatural occurrence? Those are some very steep challenges health care professionals (mental health experts), the Haitian authorities and the international community must tackle should they really want to rebuild the country as they promised to do.

Finally, one does not need to be “crazy” to seek mental counseling. Mental illnesses are real; they have nothing to do with supernatural occurrences. In my opinion, supernatural explanation to mental illness is the easiest way to satisfy our ignorance or limited knowledge. We, medical professionals and educators, have a lot of work to do to challenge these myths and misconceptions killing our people. If education is the key to and essence of life, ignorance is the poison that can destroy it.