Infectious Rhythm

FIVE

Voodoo Economics

 

 

 

 

There is a passage in Maya Deren's ethnography of Vodou, Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti, in which she tells an anecdote to illustrate the qualities of Gede, the spirit of the dead. Gede is death itself, and yet he is also the most powerful healer of all:

Particularly, Ghede [sic] is known as the guardian of children.… In one case, the godchild of a mambo [priestess] was gravely ill. The little girl had been taken to doctors in town, had received injections and treatments, both medical, herbal and ritual, yet continued to waste away and it was clear that she was on the point of death. Consequently, as a last recourse, the mambo undertook a strong ceremony for Ghede. It took place at the replica tomb which ...