"Public Vodun Ceremonies in Haiti"
Jan. 24th, 2008 04:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ikhet_sekhmetI borrowed the above DVD from the library - it's available for purchase in the US from Insight Media. The filmmaker was permitted to video a number of commmunity Vodun ceremonies, and her narration explains the complex action.
What struck me was that if you don't know what's taking place, it looks like chaos: a large group of people dancing strangely, singing incomprehensibly, and waving objects around, apparently entirely at random. This is the popular view of a "voodoo" ceremony - basically, a wild, primitive orgy. But with the narrator's help, you realise that it's all actually extremely organised. A trained and respected leader (or leaders) is running the ritual, everyone knows their role, every dance move and song has a specific purpose and is part of a long-standing, well-known tradition. As an event rich with cultural tradition that involves the whole community, it is in fact the height of civilisation.
What struck me was that if you don't know what's taking place, it looks like chaos: a large group of people dancing strangely, singing incomprehensibly, and waving objects around, apparently entirely at random. This is the popular view of a "voodoo" ceremony - basically, a wild, primitive orgy. But with the narrator's help, you realise that it's all actually extremely organised. A trained and respected leader (or leaders) is running the ritual, everyone knows their role, every dance move and song has a specific purpose and is part of a long-standing, well-known tradition. As an event rich with cultural tradition that involves the whole community, it is in fact the height of civilisation.
