Samedi was supposedly the spirit that dug the graves for the dead. If he wouldn't dig the grave, you didn't die. He wore a top hat and suit, and could be bribed with liquor, cigarettes or sex.
Posted on 01/17/2010 11:34:50 AM PST by Red in Blue PA
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The old lady crawls in the dirt, wailing for her pills. The elderly man lies motionless as rats pick at his overflowing diaper.
There is no food, water or medicine for the 85 surviving residents of the Port-au-Prince Municipal Nursing Home, barely a mile from the airport where a massive international aid effort is taking shape.
"Help us, help us," 69-year-old Mari-Ange Levee begged Sunday, lying on the ground with a broken leg and ribs. A cluster of flies swarmed the open fracture in her skull.
One man has already died, and administrator Jean Emmanuel said more would follow soon unless water and food arrive immediately.
"I appeal to anybody to bring us anything, or others won't live until tonight," he said, motioning toward five men and women who were having trouble breathing, a sign that the end was near.
..
Though Thermiti and her friends haven't eaten since Tuesday, she remained impressively feisty. She said that's because she had already spent five days without eating during previous hardships.
"But I was younger, and now there's no water either," she said, predicting that — unlike other pensioners — she could still hold out for at least another day.
"Then if the foreigners don't come (with aid)," she said, "it will be up to baby Jesus."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
70%-85% Haitians practice voodoo?
That’s insanely high
My bet is most Haitians who admit to you practicing voodoo will claim they practice a white form of voodoo. Not the dark evil kind. That may or may not be the truth. 3rd world people will say any darn thing they want. Logic is not a factor.
The Dominicans are on the same island of Hispaniola. They practice Santeria but I’m sure at nowhere near the rate the haitians are voodoo practitioners
BTW I classify Islam as a form of voodoo...They worship a false prophet. They worship Allah too but Muhammad worship permeates Islam no matter how much they deny it and will kill you and me for saying this
Islam is always invoking dark spirits to justify mass murder of the infidel and their other evil practices. Dark spirits named Muhammad and Allah
That was exactly my thought. Why didn't they drop everything and do everything possible to get these people help?
Star Traveler has been here for 11 years....and while I don’t agree that anyone knows if God is punishing Haiti...it seems to me that Haiti has been living punishment since L’Overture and even before depending on what you were...
and yes it is true that the vast majority of Haitians do believe in the power of Voodoo and that many have no problem using it for whatever effect they desire way beyond simple salvation...some folks say 50%, some studies say 80-90%...it is definitely higher than anywhere else in the New World..even Cuba or Dom Rep or Brasil.
and yes...many in their government attend Voodoo services and always have...from the Duvaliers, Colonel Paul, to Aristedes and I bet you even stalwarts like Namphy and Manigot and Prosper Avril also attended some Voodoo services.
and further...this new relativist notion that voodoo is benign and just no big deal...same for santeria, umbanda, condumbley, macumba, obeah and so forth is new age relativism from Stonehenge worshipping types..my ancestors lore
Voodoo is often used for personal gain and to harm...it is a personal tool which runs counter to the Christian and Jewish I suppose...concept of prayer.
just my 2 cents from 4 years down there for months at a time on business in the capital and all over
from 88-91 I could look out over the hills from my perch at the Montana at the cusp of Petionville and see on any friday nite the glowing figures in the firelight of voodoo ceremonies on many hilltops or clearings and the hoogan would be working his stuff....many Haitians including professionals are very very into this stuff and quite superstitious....now I cannot speak for anyone else but the faith I raised in was very clear about the dangers of summoning spirits to do favors or seek retribution.
We now look on German silly affections for Norse power and Odinism in the 30s and 40s as just plain stupid and warped.
I see no reason to give Haiti a pass on poor religious choices BUT I am in favor of helping them and am doing so myself and hope we can at least save those who can be saved.
Turning Haiti into even the Dom Rep is impossible without population removal and new immigration of talent and capital...a rather tall order.
ST is a troll.
Ya know... if you keep following me around saying I'm a troll, you're gonna be recognized as my "groupie".... LOL...
I mean, just because you can't get a large number of conservatives to join the birther group that you're in doesn't mean that they're trolls... :-)
Samedi was supposedly the spirit that dug the graves for the dead. If he wouldn't dig the grave, you didn't die. He wore a top hat and suit, and could be bribed with liquor, cigarettes or sex.
You could have very easily said that you will not contribute to Haiti, if it was that important to you. Unfortunately, you went much further and exposed a serious deficit in humanity.
but I was fascinated by the place and had a lot of free time at night on occasion and would read all I could about the place
(i do that most places to be honest)
but I do recall one note about Papa sitting in the candlelight in the palace with the severed head of an adversary he'd murdered asking the head to divulge secrets the head knew about Papa's enemies.....head was in ice bucket...good thing
Slow down. Some of the reporters *are* providing water. I watched the Fox News special last night, with Geraldo, and did hear him say that they’ve provided a good amount of water to that specific orphanage.
Providentially, nine families from my church are adopting children from that very orphanage in Haiti. Some have been “in the process” for two years.
70%-85% Haitians practice voodoo?
That’s insanely high
Yeah, it's definitely high, but even so, with it being that high, if we had just 1% in the U.S. practicing voodoo (for example), that would be way too high for me... :-) But..., at any rate, take a look at Post #83 for some first-hand information from a FReeper.
My bet is most Haitians who admit to you practicing voodoo will claim they practice a white form of voodoo. Not the dark evil kind. That may or may not be the truth. 3rd world people will say any darn thing they want. Logic is not a factor.
See the following bit of information....
The principal belief in Haitian Vodou is that there are various deities, or Lwa (commonly spelled Loa), who are subordinate to a greater God, known as Bondyè, who does not interfere with human affairs. Therefore it is to the Lwa that Vodou worship is directed.[3] Other characteristics of Vodou include veneration of the dead and protection against evil witchcraft.
Haitian Vodou shares many similarities with other faiths of the African diaspora, such as Louisiana Voodoo of New Orleans, Santería and Arará of Cuba, and Candomblé and Umbanda of Brazil. The Vodou temple is called a Hounfour.
Vodou paraphernalia, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
In Haitian Vodou (Sèvis Lwa in Creole or "Service to the Lwa"), there are strong elements from the Bakongo of Central Africa and the Igbo and Yoruba of Nigeria, although many different nations of Africa have representation in the liturgy of the Sèvis Lwa. A large and significant portion of Haitian Vodou most often overlooked by scholars until recently is the Kongo component. The entire Northern area of Haiti is especially influenced by Kongo practice. In the North, it is more often called Kongo Rite or Lemba, from the Lemba rites of the Loango area and Mayombe. In the south, Kongo influence is called Petwo (Petro). Many loa or lwa (also a Kikongo term) are of Kongo origin such as Basimbi, Lemba, etc.
Haitian creole forms of Vodou exist in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, parts of Cuba,[1] some of the out-islands of the Bahamas, the United States, and other places that Haitian immigrants dispersed to over the years. However, it is important to note that the Vodun religion (separate from Haitian Vodou) existed in the United States, having been brought over by West Africans enslaved in America, specifically from the Ewe, Fon, Mina, Kabaye, and Nago groups. Some of its more enduring forms still exist in the Gullah Islands. There is a re-emergence of these Vodun traditions in America, which maintains the same ritual and cosmological elements as is practiced in West Africa. These and other African-diasporic religions such as Lukumi or Regla de Ocha (also known as Santería) in Cuba, Candomblé and Umbanda in Brazil, all religions that evolved among descendants of transplanted Africans in the Americas.
And from what you said, I don't know of any "white form of voodoo"... perhaps you were making that distinction yourself. If so, then I could guess what it means, but I haven't seen it in the literature on voodoo.
But, regardless of the form of voodoo practiced, it is about gods, spirits, dead relatives and other non-corporeal beings that the Bible tells us to stay away from.
It's not that I don't think there are spirits out there, as the Bible says that there are, it's just that we're not supposed to have anything to do with them and any kind of communications or interactions with or the summoning of these kinds of spirits is simply not to be done.
Now, for someone who doesn't regard or follow anything that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob says, then I suppose that kind of prohibition doesn't make any difference -- but being that it's coming from the Creator of the universe and all that exists -- I would say that people better pay attention to it. And to cross the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob -- and to follow through with the contacting or interacting with these spirits and the practices involved with them -- that's asking for trouble -- which is in the form of judgement, when God acts, in regards to these things.
And, you know..., there may actually be things that "happen" and people "get results" from what they do -- but -- that's prohibited, by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and basically these spirits (who are not the righteous ones, sent by God) are deceiving spirits and fight against our Creator God and do all they can to get people to ignore the One True God and Creator of the universe, or if not completely ignore Him, then to pervert what He says and what He has provided in the way of Salvation for all mankind.
From what the Bible tells us, it's their goal to deceive, destroy and to bring death and destruction -- and they end up doing that in people's lives.
Now, people are going to do what they want to do (and I know that...) but the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is going to do what He says he'll do in bringing judgment against all things which are against His rule of the universe and what people should do, as He has told us in the Bible. Judgment does come, and the Bible says that we should not be fooled into thinking that it won't.
Just seconding your recognition of the Coast Guard efforts in Katrina.
The Coast Guard flew more rescue sorties and aerial rescued more people than any other disaster in US history.
When I got back to the US, it immediately hit me how spiritually flabby we are. One guy I knew spent about twenty years there as a missionary and he had a hard time readjusting to the US. We are so blessed and take these blessings so much for granted.
When I got back to the US, it immediately hit me how spiritually flabby we are. One guy I knew spent about twenty years there as a missionary and he had a hard time readjusting to the US. We are so blessed and take these blessings so much for granted.
Evil does "camp out" in certain places and it maintains its territory. It does appear that evil spirits/beings are territorial.
There is white voodoo...Not that I like any kind of voodoo but there is a difference between the white and black kinds
http://www.lucknet.com/mysteries/voodoo1.html
There is white voodoo...Not that I like any kind of voodoo but there is a difference between the white and black kinds
Yeah, I sorta guessed that this might be the distinction, as quoted below...
White Voodoo or Arada, is the application of ritual that does no harm to third parties. Red Voodoo, or Petro, is the opposite. Let us only look to white Voodoo, the benefits of which are undisputed.
Of course, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would not tolerate either distinction...
Thank you.
Obama’s hypocrisy is astounding.
Thanks, that’s so good to know. That’s why I was questioning it - I hadn’t heard anything. At least the reporters are doing SOMETHING.
A few years ago in Austin, a local was complaining that Festival Beach was in much worse shape than Auditorium Shores and stated it was because of racism. At that time (don't know the numbers now) the city spent a lot more on Festival Beach than Auditorium Shores. Every Monday morning pickup trucks would come out and pick up hundreds of beer bottles left over from weekend parties. Drinking fountains made of rock and steel were destroyed, I can only guess by repeatedly hitting them with metal pipes. The playground equipment was tagged with spray paint and deliberately damaged.
It was impossible to explain to the local that the city spent a lot of money repairing vandalism and making the amenities bullet proof in one location, while in the other they could simply put amenities up once and maintain them.
I try to help the poor whenever I can, but it gets tiring to deal with people who urinate on the floor and then complain there's urine on the floor.
I don’t think you ae a dumb blonde, but...LOL....One year from now, look at haiti and tell me I was wrong.
Since you don't seem to understand what was objectionable about your comments, please allow me to quote:
"To be honest, they are better off today than they were last week(they have less people to feed)..."I might also point out that the thread in which you decided to post this little window into your heart was concerning elderly folks in a nursing home that were being left to die with the flies and rats, without food or water, when aid supplies were sitting only a mile away.
Anyone reasonable human being who has watched any footage of the devastation and suffering of infants and children of Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake could not possibly come away with the belief that they are better off than they were a week ago.
Yet you continue to defend your position. You could have reassessed your comments and admitted a misstatement two posts ago. You could have withdrawn your remarks, as they were made without thinking very deeply. But no ... you are still defending what you wrote and predicting that a year from now I will find you were right.
Let me assure you that, a year from now or a decade from now, I will never agree with you that the people of Haiti are better off today than they were moments before the quake. I have eyesight and at least a modicum of compassion for other human beings.
There were thousands of able bodied young men roaming the streets who had no compassion and could have delivered supplies. They chose to loot instead. Very sad.
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