Document 7 – More Religious Syncretism YetanotherimportantexampleofsyncretismcanbefoundintheCaribbean.Asaresultoftheslavetrade,ahostofWestAfricanreligiousbeliefsweretransplantedtoCuba,Haiti,andotherCaribbeanislands,aswellastoBrazil,intheseventeenthandeighteenthcenturies.There,theyintermingledwiththeRomanCatholicismoftheslavemastersandplantationowners.Theresultwasasetofsyncretisticreligions,themost
importantofwhichareSanteriaandVoodoo(orVodou).SanteriatookshapeprimarilyinCubaandreflectsforthemostpartthebeliefsoftheYorubapeople,wholiveinwhatisnowNigeria.ThefocusoftheYoruba(andotherWestAfricanbeliefsystems)isuponapantheonofdeitiescalledorishas.However,inSanteria,thesefiguresareoftenidentified—thatis,syncretized—withCatholicsaints.AgoodexampleisChangó,amalegodof
thunder,lightning,andfire,whoisneverthelessidentifiedwithSt.Barbara,adevoutyoungwomanwholivedinthefourthcenturyC.E.andwhowasbeheadedbyherfatherforrefusingtogiveupherChristianfaithandmarryaccordingtohiswishes.Atthemomentofherbeheadingherfatherwasstruckbylightning,andthisgaverisetoalegendthatSt.Barbarahadpoweroverlightningbolts.AlthoughChangóisamasculineorisha,thesimilaritiesbetweenthislegendandtheYorubatraditionsabouthim
ledtothesyncretisminquestion.HaitianVoodoo(moreproperlyVodouorVodun)issimilartoSanteriainagreatmanyways,bothinitsAfricanheritageandwhenitcomestosyncretism.Here,theWestAfricandeities,primarilyfromBeninandDahomey,arecalledloaandarealsousuallyidentifiedwithRomanCatholicsaints.Forexample,theserpentloa,Damballah,isoftenidentifiedwithSt.Patrick,drawingonthelegendthatthelatterdrovethesnakesoutofIreland.Houngan,orVoodoopriests,havelongsinceadoptedelementsofRoman
CatholicisminVoodoorituals,includingtheuseofcandles,bells,crosses,thepracticesofbaptism,andmakingthesignofthecross.TheseChristianelementsareintertwinedwithsuchAfricanreligiouspracticesasdrumming,dancing,ancestorworship,andspiritpossession.
