Of Spirits and Virgins

Many migrants practice more than one religion simultaneously, integrating into multiple religious communities with differing agendas. This article examines the Haitian migrant community in Montreal, Canada, focusing on the parallels between Vodou and Catholicism. It analyzes how religious concepts and performances overlap and explores the role of specific Vodou spirits that act as cultural mediators. The work challenges the notion of exclusive religious belonging and emphasizes space as a key factor in diversifying religious meanings within 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