After this talk of Springfield, Ohio, the Haitians, the dogs and cats chatter....I sat down to understand Voodoo (the religion).
So, after about a dozen hours of reading up....I've come to nine observations:
1. Originally, VooDoo started with the Fon tribe of the Benin, Togo, and Nigeria (Africa)....NOT Haiti. It probably did not start until approximately 50 to 70 years after the Portuguese started trading there (1655). Note, as much as some might suggest the Brits were helpful in this creation....they didn't arrive until the late 1890s.
2. Catholic priests came in....dealt with the tribal customs, and introduced 'God' to the Fon people. This probably took a good twenty years to convert folks....explain the Bible stories, and get a whole generation indoctrinated.
3. What I believed occurred here....the priests brought up the stories of raising people from the dead (namely....the daughter of Jairus, a young man in the midst of his funeral, and of course....Lazarus of Bethany. The Fon people...not really understanding the whole feat of miracles.....attached itself to the 'art' of bring Zombies to life again.
Saying Lazarus was a Zombie is laughable, but with the Fon imagination....yeah, it was possible.
4. I also believe that when the old Testament talked of animal sacrifices....mostly all of sheep.....the Fon people went to animals of their region (birds, etc). I think as the religion moved to Haiti (1700 to 1750).....they kept to some form of sacrifice...using what they had on the island (dogs, cats).
5. The fact that both the Catholic religion and Voodoo...believe in evil spirits/demons, and both have some form of exorcism? Well....yeah....there is that relationship.
6. Both male (Ougan) and female (Manbo) priests in Voodoo? Yes. How they reach a level of 'status'? They go into a dream-like state (meeting Iwa.....a spirit) and announcing they have 'status'. Yeah, it might be bogus, but people accept the idea.
7. Finally, I have this belief....as much as Haitians and western folks claim that 50-percent of Haitian society is Voodoo and the other 50-percent is Christian.....I think this is bogus. You can observe the Christian religion on Sunday, and be a practicing Voo-Doo member the other six days a week.
8. This Springfield dog/cat story? I've come to the frame of mind.....no one much is eating the animal sacrifice...it's probably just a ceremony thing, and they bury the crispy leftover at the end.
9. Voo-Doo being satanic? Well...it's modeled mostly after the Catholic religion....so it's hard to make the satanic statement.....without saying part of the Catholic religion might be satanic.
Final thought? It wouldn't surprise me if a dozen Springfield folks (of a lesser mindset) might be discussing Voo-Doo, and accepting it in some way. Maybe around 2035....we discover 30,000 Ohio folks (non-Haitian) are converted to Voo-Doo, and offering animal sacrifices every week.
