Food for the Gods: Link of Vodou to Haiti’s Agriculture, a Legacy of the Ancestors
Haitian religion and culture are so linked to local agriculture that Vodou ceremonies are routinely called manje lwa: food for the gods. Our lwa (gods, spirits, deities) must be fed. They are not eternal and can only exist so long as they continue to be summoned to participate in human affairs. In other words, their […]
Bethany Beyond the Jordan, Palestine and Israel’s Policy of Apartheid
By Siraj Davis Near Madaba, Jordan, and connected to the Jordan River, is Bethany Beyond the Jordan (Al-Maghtas in Arabic). It is a bustling attraction constantly inundated with tourists: those who come every January for the Epiphany/Theophany celebrations, those who desire to glance at the site where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, or […]
Winter Solstice: From Pagan Spirituality to Christian Consumerism
Solstice: the sun stands still. In temperate countries of the northern and southern hemispheres, every year there are two: summer and winter. The northern hemisphere’s summer solstice, which occurs on a day in the middle of the year (June 20 to 22, depending on the year), is the southern hemisphere’s winter solstice. Conversely, the southern […]
Pope Francis: Jesus-Like Anti Capitalist or Damage-Control PR Wiz?
Should we be concerned about the spanking new, seemingly universally loved pope who is making even some atheists doubt their position? Virtually none of the mainstream media have seriously investigated the politics behind the election of this Pope who, for the last 10 months, has been the vogue. Pope Bergolio is heralded as a new […]
Haiti’s Creole: Language of Revolution
Theories vary about the genesis of Kreyòl, or Haitian Creole, the most plausible one being that Taino Indians and West Africans, who had evaded slavery together on Haiti’s mountains, probably intermarried and developed a new language. The country’s name itself, Ayiti, is an Arawak word that means mountainous land. The word Vodou, which is essentially […]
