Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #287489 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Synopsis
Until recently, the Haitian practice of Vodou was often identified with devil worship, dark curses and superstition. Some saw the saint images and the Catholic influences and wrote Vodou off as a "Christian aberration." Others were appalled by the animal sacrifices and the fact that the Houngans and Mambos charge money for their services. Those who sought Vodou because they believed it could harness "evil" forces were disappointed when their efforts to gain fame, fortune or endless romance failed and so abandoned their "voodoo fetishes." Those who managed to get the attention of the lwa, the spirits honoured in Haitian Vodou, often received cosmic retaliation for treating the lwa as attack dogs or genies, which only further cemented Vodou's stereotype as "dangerous." In "The Haitian Vodou Handbook", Kevin Filan, a Vodou priest, explains how to build respectful relationships with the lwa of the Vodou pantheon and how to transform the fear that often surrounds the Vodou religion.

He offers extensive background information on the lwa and instructions on how to honour and interact fruitfully with those that make themselves accessible, emphasising the importance of having a quickened mind that can read the lwa's desires intuitively in order to avoid establishing dogma-based relationships. He, also, discusses the role of Vodou in Haitian culture and explores the symbiotic relationship Vodou has maintained with Catholicism through the connections between the lwa and the Christian saints.

Customer Reviews

Useful and informative
This is a sensible appraisal and description of Haitian voudou, by a white American practicioner(an initiate of the Societe La Belle Venus) aimed at those who would like an introduction to serving the lwa (spirits). Filan gives you some interesting Haitian history, a review of voudou today, and then spells out the way to approach and work with a variety of Rada, Petro and Ghede lwa, giving vevers (sigils) for each one.

Voudou is down to earth and practical. It is not, according to the author, "a religion where you sit back and listen to someone else talk about divinity. It's a faith where divinity comes down and talks to you". Filan also puts to rest the common idea that you have to be black to be a practicioner : "You may not be honouring (the lwa) in the way they are honoured in Haiti, but as long as you are honouring them, they will notice and will show their appreciation."

I've read a few books on voudou, and this one seems to me to be the most useful for a westerner and a beginner. It doesn't try and mix voudou with wicca, or any new age nonsense. It offers a common sense background to animal scarifice, but observes that you can, as in many Haitians already do, use food as an offering instead. It points out that although Voudou is an oral religion, initiation can only be conferred by a face to face teacher, and the priesthood is only for the few, it is both acceptable and normal to honour the lwa in your own home. Hundreds of Haitians do just that. With this book as your guide, you can do it too.

Why not five stars? Well, I would have liked a few illustrations (although I appreciate that this would probably have increased the price of the book)and I wasn't very happy with some of the web links, but on the plus side the author does encourage readers to take an interest in Haiti and its history, and gives both the addresses of appropriate charities, and some good information on relevant music and books.

Excellent for context
I have been reading around the subject a lot, and was very impressed with this book. I am not an expert on the spiritual / religious practice dimension (which is why I am researching the subject in the first place), and I found Filan's style accessible, fluid and clear. The discussion of the historical, political and cultural aspects of vodou and its evolution were most enlightening, and grounidng existing practises in the social and evironmental context of the present day (touching on such issues as poverty, deforestation and the experiences of the Haitian diaspora in the West) made the book feel relevant and current. Not many books on the occult would contextualize the subject in references to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs or Rousseau. The introduction to the lwa and the rituals of vodou and the comparative religion aspects of the text are also very helpful to someone researching the subject from scratch.

If you are intereseted in this fascinating religion and its practises, this should by no means be the only book you read on the subject, but as one of the introductory texts it is clear, lucid, intelligent and helpful.