Of Spirits and Virgins

Summary

Haitian migrants in Montreal often practice both Vodou and Catholicism simultaneously, integrating into multiple religious communities with sometimes conflicting agendas. This article examines parallels between Vodou and Catholic concepts and performances, and the role of specific Vodou spirits as mediators between cultures. It challenges the idea of exclusive religious belonging and emphasizes how space differentiates religious meanings in multicultural settings.

Study at a glance

Abstract

So far religious encounters in migratory settings have been largely examined in relation to the pluralizing of religious cultures, the emerging of syncretisms as well as religious conversions. However, many migrants choose to live more than one religion at the same time and integrate themselves into several religious communities with different and sometimes opposing religious agendas. This article concentrates on the Haitian migrant community in Montreal, Canada. On the basis of the parallelisms between Vodou and Catholicism it first examines the parallels between different religious concepts and performances and second, the significance of particular Vodou spirits which act as mediators between different cultures. The article questions the idea of exclusive belongings and highlights the meaning of space as a differentiating factor in the diversification of religious meanings and messages in multicultural settings. Keywords: Vodou, Haitian diaspora, space, spirit possession, syncretism, religious parallelism