In a Vodun ritual in the West African nation of Benin, a priestess offers her prayers and praise to one of the many deities who make up the vodun spiritual universe. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by the American Museum of Natural History.
“Vodun is a religion. It’s a religion which is perhaps equally importantly a philosophy. It’s a philosophy about life.”
Suzanne Preston Blier is a Professor of Fine Arts and Afro-American Studies at Harvard University and a consultant for a new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History: “The Sacred Arts of Haitian Voodoo.”
“It’s about the way in which one proceeds in the course of life. The term itself derives from the local language which means literally: ‘rest to draw the water.’ ‘Vo’ meaning to rest quietly and ‘dun’ to fetch water, to bring water from a well. And in this sense it’s a philosophy about — no matter what’s going on in life, no matter how difficult things are, that one has to move through it with a certain quietness, ease…One should have faith, ultimately, in the powers of the various gods and in conjunction with that, perform whatever related ceremonies are asked of one and things will turn out in a positive way.”
“There’s some ceremonial attributes that one might do every day. For example, first thing when one gets up in the morning, the children of the house will take small brooms and sweep the face of the Earth. It’s to clean the face of Mother Earth. It is a ritual action that’s dedicated to the power of the Earth. It’s a small ceremony in part of a larger tradition.”
Pulse of the Planet is presented by the American Museum of Natural History. Additional funding for this series has been provided by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.