Haiti is the eighty-fifth most populous country in the world, with an estimated population of 11,123,178 as of July 2018. However the last census done in Haiti was in 2003, and the population recorded was 8,812,245. According to population DNA tests, approximately 80% of the population of Haiti is Afro-Haitian. Within Black Haitian DNA the composition is approximately 95% African, 5% European or mixed European. This is evidenced in DNA ancestry read outs where the average Haitian consistently tests at nearly 100 percent SSA DNA. The remaining population of Haiti is primarily composed of Mulattoes, Europeans, Asians, and Arabs. Hispanic residents in Haiti are mostly Cuban and Dominican. About two-thirds of Haitian people live in rural areas.
Lwa, also called loa, are spirits in the African diasporic religion of Haitian Vodou. They have also been incorporated into some revivalist forms of Louisiana Voodoo. Many of the lwa derive their identities in part from deities venerated in the traditional religions of West Africa, especially those of the Fon and Yoruba.
Vodun is a religion practiced by the Aja, Ewe, and Fon peoples of Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria.
Ayida-Weddo, also known as Ayida, Ayida-Wedo, Aido Quedo, Aido Wedo, Aida Wedo, and Aido Hwedo, is a powerful loa spirit in Vodou, revered in regions across Africa and the Caribbean, namely in Benin and Haiti. Known as the "Rainbow Serpent", Ayida-Weddo is the loa of fertility, rainbows, wind, water, fire, wealth, thunder, and snakes. Alongside Damballa, Ayida-Weddo is regarded among the most ancient and significant loa. Considered in many sources as the female half of Damballa's twin spirit, the names Da Ayida Hwedo, Dan Ayida Hwedo, and Dan Aida Wedo have also been used to refer to her. Thought to have existed before the Earth, Ayida-Weddo assisted the creator goddess Mawu-Lisa in the formation of the world, and is responsible for holding together the Earth and heavens. Ayida-Weddo bestows love and well-being upon her followers, teaching fluidity and the connection between body and spirit.
Damballa, also spelled Damballah, Dambala, Dambalah, among other variations, is one of the most important of all loa, spirits in Haitian Voodoo and other African diaspora religious traditions such as Obeah. He is traditionally portrayed as a great white or black serpent, originating in the city of Wedo in modern-day Benin. Damballa is said to be the Sky Father and the primordial creator of all life, or the first thing created by Gran Met. In those Vodou societies that view Damballa as the primordial creator, he created the cosmos by using his 7,000 coils to form the stars and the planets in the heavens and to shape the hills and valleys on earth. In others, being the first thing created by God, creation was undertaken through him. By shedding the serpent skin, Damballa created all the waters on the earth. As a serpent, he moves between land and water, generating life, and through the earth, uniting the land with the waters below. Damballa is usually syncretized with either Saint Patrick or Moses. He is counted among the Rada loa.
Papa Legba is a lwa in Haitian Vodou, Dominican Vodou, Winti and Louisiana Voodoo, who serves as the intermediary between God and humanity. He stands at a spiritual crossroads and gives permission to speak with the spirits of Guineé, and is believed to speak all human languages. In Haiti, he is the great elocutioner. Legba facilitates communication, speech, and understanding. He is commonly associated with dogs. Papa Legba is invoked at the beginning of every ceremony. Papa Legba has his origins in the historic West African kingdom of Dahomey, located within present-day Benin.
Erzulie is a family of loa, or spirits, in Vodou.
Ezilí Dantor or Erzulie Dantò is the main loa or senior spirit of the Petro family in Haitian Vodou. Ezili Danto, or Ezili Dantò, is the "manifestation of Erzulie, the divinity of love,". It is said that Ezili Danto has a dark complexion and is maternal in nature. The Ezili are feminine spirits in Haitian vodou culture that personify womanhood. The Erzulie is a goddess, spirit, or loa of love in Haitian voudou. She has several manifestations or incarnations, but most prominent and well-known manifestations are Lasirenn, Erzulie Freda, and Erzulie Dantor. There are spelling variations of Erzulie, the other being Ezili. They are English interpretations of a Creole word, but do not differ in meaning.
African diaspora religions, also described as Afro-American religions, are a number of related beliefs that developed in the Americas in various nations of the Caribbean, Latin America and the Southern United States. They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam.
Folk Catholicism can be broadly described as various ethnic expressions and practices of Catholicism intermingled with aspects of folk religion. Practices have varied from place to place and may at times contradict the official doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church as well as Christianity in general.
A bokor (male) or caplata (female) is a Vodou priestess for hire who is said to serve the loa "with both hands", practicing for both good and evil. Their practice includes the creation of zombies and of 'ouangas', talismans that house spirits.
A manbo is a priestess in the Haitian Vodou religion. Haitian Vodou's conceptions of priesthood stem from the religious traditions of enslaved people from Dahomey, in what is today Benin. For instance, the term manbo derives from the Fon word nanbo. Like their West African counterparts, Haitian manbos are female leaders in Vodou temples who perform healing work and guide others during complex rituals. This form of female leadership is prevalent in urban centers such as Port-au-Prince. Typically, there is no hierarchy among manbos and oungans. These priestesses and priests serve as the heads of autonomous religious groups and exert their authority over the devotees or spiritual servants in their hounfo (temples).
Haitian Vodou is an African diasporic religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between several traditional religions of West and Central Africa and Roman Catholicism. There is no central authority in control of the religion and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as Vodouists, Vodouisants, or Serviteurs.
Christianity is the most widely professed religion in the Dominican Republic. Historically, Catholicism dominated the religious practices of the country, and as the official religion of the state it receives financial support from the government. About 60% of Dominicans identify themselves as Catholic.
Espiritismo is a term used in Latin America and the Caribbean to refer to the popular belief that evolved and less evolved spirits can affect health, luck and other aspects of human life.
Christian-Vodou can be seen as a syncretism of different cultures and religions. Primarily focused on Haitian Vodou and Catholic Christianity, the two have been merging together in a way since around the 18th century, when a majority of Haiti was part of the Atlantic slave trade.
Belie Belcan is a very popular loa within 21 Divisiones and Sansé Espiritismo.
Afro-Haitians or Black Haitians are Haitians who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. They form the largest racial group in Haiti and together with other Afro-Caribbean groups, the largest racial group in the region.
Dominican Vudú, or Dominican Voodoo, popularly known as Las 21 Divisiones, is a heavily Catholicized syncretic shamanistic religion of African-Caribbean origin which developed in the erstwhile Spanish colony of Santo Domingo on the island of Hispaniola.
Martha Ellen Davis is an emeritus professor from the University of Florida, anthropologist and ethnomusicologist known for her multifarious work on African diasporic religion and music. Professor Davis' research has defied conventional tenets about Haitian and Dominican folk music, and her cultural preservation projects has raised awareness of the significance of the Samaná Americanos' enclave.
