This is one of the best descriptions of Afro-Caribbean religions I’ve ever seen. The level of respect, understanding, research, and the conscious and respectful contextualizarion of our Afro-Caribbean faiths is marvelous. Thank you so much for doing this. I look forward to have a video on Santería and other Yoruba-based Afro-Caribbean religions. 😊
Definitely agree with you! And it’s not only Afro-Caribbean, but also Afro-American 💙 An important part of our heritage along with the Hoodoo spiritual system.
Before I actually watch it, I'd just like to say I highly appreciate you * branching out on African based religions beyond the highly influential ancient Egyptian*. Your topics on religion are highly informative so I was eager to watch one on * a different* African based religion. Edit: 1. This was what I said in the first asterisk space - doing an African based religion for the first time. 2. This is what I said in the second asterisk space - an I know well and you know too why I edited this comment this way. Thanks.
My spouse studies Hinduism and I work on medieval Catholicism. This video is so well done, and it is fascinating to me how many connections I see between very old forms of traditional Catholicism and the offerings of food, spices, sacred music and sacred dances to temple gods in the thousands of years of Hindu practice (as well as featuring statues of saints or gods in the different traditions). Thank you for such a beautiful introduction to this rich and varied tradition. The professor is fantastic!
Dr. Daniels passion is addictive! I bet she is an AMAZING teacher! Her love and excitement of the topic is contagious: I could listen to her talk about Vodou for hours!
@@ReligionForBreakfast Well, I learned a lot from your amazing interview with her, so thank you! Your passion and love for religious literacy is also addictive and I Love your videos. I wish there was a resource like your channel when I was attempting to get a degree in religious philosophy. What you are doing is so important and want you to know how much I appreciate you an your work! It also makes me happy to hear you enjoyed speaking with her so much! I can tell by her tone you must have had a great convo! Glad you enjoyed making this video! Sending vibes of Love, Light, and great health to you and all of yours, Always, my friend! Thanks for taking the time to reply to my comment! 🙂👍🏽👏🏽💖 -Rich-
I’m Haitian and although I don’t practice vodou I have profound respect for it. From a historical and cultural perspective it deserves to be protected and respected .🇭🇹
🇹🇹🇳🇬-AfroCaribbean here and right off the bat I want to commend you for the attention you paid to removing the stereotypes associated with African Religious Concepts. It’s quite an irony that the ‘religions’ that kept the enslaved Africans strong was deemed ‘demonic’ while they were allowed to be tortured and slaughtered by European slave masters.
And the very religion that was often sourced as a justification to keep them enslaved was and is widely regarded as "pure" and seen as the objective truth. A whole joke.
As someone that’s Yoruba and speaks fon, a long time subscriber and viewer I’m so happy you made this video. You’ve definitely made my year. Btw lwa is said as luwa in Yoruba as a short form for oluwa which is God but eledumare is the main God equivalent to bon dieu. Please make the next one about Yoruba religion thank you so much.
@@stanleydouge2803 right! also the cultural mix between the fongbe and the yorunba (nago) is just too much for them not to worship the same gods. in the western dialets of yoruba eludumare changes to olodumare. i never got the difference till I was an adult.
@@zoewolf7777 what are you even talking about lol Bondye just means God in our language the Vodoun God isn’t simply called Bondye it has a name The religion Is Vodoun not Bondye pale kreyòl anglè a sanble ou pa trò fò ladanl
as a years-long fan of your channel, and a decades-long serviteur, i was a bit nervous when i saw this episode pop up. but i want to thank you for doing such a beautiful job! i even learned something new (the history of congolese catholicism ). i especially appreciate the comparison of manje lwa with kosher and halal practices. i've been making that comparison for years, and was so happy to hear someone else make that comparison, and to share it with a broad audience. thank you! ayibobo!
Awesome, glad to hear it. I kind of fell into this field myself. After majoring in History for undergrad, I made the switch to Religious Studies in grad school.
Concise and yet rather informative, which is perfect for me. Also, the inclusion of a subject expert took the lesson beyond just the basics. Thank you for this video.
I have been following your channel for a really long time. I am astonished by the amount of research you put into all your videos, especially this one. I was born and raised in Haiti, and currently live in Miami. As I was raised christian, Vodou was very taboo around my family circle. Thank you for also acknowledging the current situation in Haiti, and using your platform to help and educate others.
I'm doing a presentation on Vodou in my music history class and i really appreciate this video, many others has comments about inaccuracies and racism. I felt like I learned the correct things to teach my classmates. Thank you!
I really liked this one. Dr. Daniels is simply captivating, and really passionate about the subject! I'm usually not one to ask for content, but I would love to see you talk about Spiritism and it's success in Brazil. And maybe about Umbanda later on, a uniquely brazilian religion from the 1930s. I ask only because you're the best on the platform. Thanks!
@@derstoffausdemderjoghurtis I felt the same. I tend to prefer that in this situations people contain themselves more and be more formal, tecnical, more straight for ward and don't look like just one more devotee or a fanatic.
I also prefer more contained and down to earth approach, in my opinion overdoing it makes you look ridiculous. Somebody would say it's passion and enthusiasm. Guess it boils down to your own personal preferences. Your cultural and geographical background also plays a role of course.
I’m Dominican and I also appreciate this video, it was important to me to educate myself in this matter to be able to to educate others as my mother that dislikes Haitians and their believes. I personally like to educate myself in order to have an opinion and understanding.
Ayibobo!!! As an initiated Vodouisant, many videos don't do vodou justice or even pronounce things right, let alone do all the research you did. Thank you
When Dr. Kyrah Malika Daniels referred to Vodou offerings as "reciprocal" instead of "transactional" it hit me how that's a much less demeaning word for it. I don't know how many have heard "transactional" to describe polytheistic practice (i give gods this thing, they give me blessings), but I feel like that's kind of demeaning way to look at it. Classics classes tried to explain Greek and other European Pagan religions that way, and I feel like that might be a bit of convention from Christian historians and theologists who were demeaning these faiths either inadvertently or on purpose. Trying to make it look more worldly and less divine.
The use of the word reciprocal really makes it feel less like striking a deal and more like respecting one another, and I thought that was a beautiful sentiment towards polytheism.
I give gods this thing, they give me blessings IS transactional. The transactional relationship does exist in old polytheism and it is generally considered by practitioners to be the safer kind of relationship: I give the gods this thing, they give me BLESSINGS. Buying favors from gods fundamentally assumes that you'll get favors if it succeeds and if it doesn't, fine. You can always go to another god. The reason this is the kind of spiritualism Church writers complained about was precisely because this was how the majority of Pagans in the Roman Empire behaved by the time Christianity was rising. That is not at all the kind of relationship Dr. Daniels is referring to when she says reciprocal. Reciprocal is better described as, I serve the spiritual realm and the spiritual realm extends its influence over me. This video doesn't go over the OTHER implication of this relationship, which is that a reciprocal spiritual relationship accepts that both sides don't transact, just mutually influence, and therefore the influence is not ALWAYS positive. A reciprocal relationship is deeper and less predictable than a transactional one. You hope that you're influencing the spirit realm in positive ways, but honestly you just don't know, and you're also never sure that the spirits are actually giving you favors and not just leading you astray. You HOPE they're good spirits and will lead to good for you, but this may not necessarily be the case, and you yourself may not be worthy of good to begin with. That's why it's a more complicated spirituality.
@@andrewsuryali8540 for sure, but I think that it also might be a bit of a misnomer to assume that Vodou is the only one to have this kind of outlook on the spiritual realm. From descriptions I've read of many Native American faiths there are similar sentiments of a more holistic interaction between divines and physicality. But I am also fully aware I am no expert so I'm not trying to refute, just mentioning that it also made me rethink how some faiths are framed.
@@MasoTrumoi I'm not saying Vodou is the only faith with a reciprocal relationship, and neither is Dr. Daniels. Many belief systems, for example Daoism and Shinto (at least the older versions), also have this trait. In fact, many kinds of proto-Christianity also did. I'm just saying that there is confusion between transactional and reciprocal relationships in spirituality, and that the Church writers WERE ranting about the transactional version. BTW, Japanese pop culture literature (manga and anime) sometimes reflect the basic ideas of the Japanese belief system (especially Shinto) and the reciprocal relationship people have with the spiritual realm in ways the writers may not fully realize they're projecting. Watching Princess Mononoke is a good way to experience the idea of reciprocal spirituality. It's definitely easier to grasp than some theoretical outline of what this expression of faith looks like. However, the best expression of this idea I've found in Japanese pop culture is the horror manga series PTSD Radio (available in English). Without spoiling too much, it shows how people in a village interacted with a spirit over hundreds of years and how their interactions slowly caused the spirit to evolve from a benevolent divinity to something more... morally ambiguous.
Tbf transactional need not have a negative connotation since a lot of Christian practice can be seen in a similar way. When people actually believe in a religion they will obviously try to bend it's rules in it's favor, at least some people will, this isn't really any less moral than doing so with any other system and Christians have absolutely done it. Christians have bent so many rules and rituals because they weren't practical that it's hard to count.
Thanks for this introduction to a much misrepresented and misunderstood religion, up to this point my only introduction to this subject was William Gibson's sci fi novels!! Episodes like this (I hope) will bring greater understanding about people's cherished beliefs. Thanks Andrew!!
I never expected you to do a video on Vodou but thank you so much! I’m half Haitian and don’t know a lot about my Haitian side or about Vodou but this video really came at the perfect time for me to dive more deeply into my culture. I really appreciate your channel and the amount of work you put in. I’ve learned a ton!
Hi how are you doing? In what state do you live I am haitian-american I recently started traveling to Haiti and learn a lot about my culture it is very fascinating we are very special people being born in the United States it was a culture shock
I love all your videos. People do not understand how much research and care you put into your content. I am initiated in the 21 Divisions, Vodou. Everything you presented is 100% accurate.
you should consider making a video on Mexican and Andean syncretism too! I think there are a lot of similarities in how the syncretism took place. great video
I recall Bush Sr referred to Regan's economic policies as 'Voodoo economics' which I mention as an example of how the term is used in a degoratory sense.
as a dominican this is so nice to watch, we don't learn about this at all, despite the amount of haitians that live here and that they're literally our neighbor country. we often just say their religions are "of the devil", but we couldn't be more wrong. thank you so much for this video!
Hola Kami. Dominicana here. It turns out we also have our own form of vodun called las 21 Divisiones. I'm sure you heard of Palo or la fiesta de palos. We even have it in popular music. I don't know if you are old enough to remember Kinito Mendez's hit song.
@kamila I think you do have something like Vodou in DR as well. All countries in the Caribbean have some types of spirituality. You are afraid to say it because most of you grow up with complexes. The Indegenious culture is a part of Haitien Vodou as well, this is why we have 21 nations in vodou. You can even find old Europeans mysticism in Haitian Vodou.
I agree, though I'm not involved in the religion myself. A lot of religious people (especially Christians and then Muslims, it always seem to be one of these two) need to learn that their own religion is not the only religion with right to exist. And there is no objective proof that their faith is the right one and all other religions are wrong. Its important to learn about religions actually from the ones who actually practice it. Faith is a personal choice, for as long as its not used to justify harming or oppressing others, it stops there
Okay but I absolutely love Dr. Kyrahs passion and energy. She reminds me of those cool teachers in school you'd have that'd make you excited to learn something and get so invested in what you were learning that day. Love you ReligionForBreakfast but I'm switching to her class
This was amazing I’ve never seen a better example of vodou on the internet most of it is fractured into single subjects on certain lwa or leave out most of this information that you’re covering thank you for the in depth look at this beautiful religion
As someone involved in Candomblé and who also serve the spirits, I'm very happy for this, thank you for speaking about our spirituality with truth and respect. Meci, mezanmi, ayi bobo
As a Haitian that grew up baptist, every Christian would say that vodou is evil and of the devil. SMH as a kid and now an adult I knew it couldn’t be true. Thank you for the video. Mesi an pil
This was the first video of yours I watched, about a year ago, and I'm revisiting it now because it's just that good! You do a great job of explaining how these traditions are related and how they're distinct from one another. So many sources on this subject are confusing or straight-up misinformation, so it's nice to see it laid out in clear terms.
I love Dr. Daniels' passion about her field of study and she brings incredible knowledge and excitement regarding the subject. I would be absolutely interested in more interviews with her.
That was so informative, I learned a lot. Thank you. I also found your guest speaker to be very knowledgeable and has a lot of respect for the cultures of Africa.
In college I did a research project on Beninois Vodun and Haitian Vodou and it was so interesting!!! There were so many layers and nuances that I never would have imagined based on pop culture depictions
That's amazing, Haitian Vodou is really beautiful and there's so much similarities to Afro-Brazilian Candomblé. The rites are different based on the nations, instead of Lwa the Jeje (Ewe-Fon people) nation has the Voduns, the Ketu/Nago (Yoruba people) nation has the Orixás/Orishas and the Angola (Bantu people such as Congo, Umbundu and Kimbundu) nation has the Nkisi. There's dance, offerings, the "mounting" (in Portuguese we use the word incorporation) and tons of very similar aspects, really interesting!
That description of the nations is fascinating to me because I know people initiated into Quimbanda, another Afro-Brazilian tradition that sprung off from Umbanda in order to show more attention to Angolan, Bantu, and Congolese spirits known as Exus and Pomga Giras (Male and female sorcerous spirits, it's more of a magical than religious tradition in some ways). There's also the inclusion of Muslim Mali spirits in some cases, but it's not Yoruba/Orixa focused really!
Just watched the whole video. Knowing how much conflict comes from the prejudice and intolerance towards african originated religions in Latin America, as well as their immense contribution as keepers of cultural traditions, I say we cannot underestimate the value of content like this. Grretings from Brazil!
It’s really nice to see the different perspectives of life and religion depicted in a manner that’s easily understandable… I highly appreciate your work!!
Being first generation American, (family from Dominican Republic) and having Santeria roots while adjusting to this culture was challenging to say the least.
This was very refreshing to watch. I hope you do a video on Ifa and other ADR practices soon. I support anyone using their platform to talk about these practices in nondemonizing ways. Thank you.
Just amazing, Andrew! I´m Brazilian and I´m impressed how Vodou is similar to Candomblé. Fact that Candomblé preserves more Yoruba words than Vodu... for example, the spiritual entities are called Orixás (Orisà), because "they are the energies that can be embodied by a medium".
They are wonderful, friendly, and open people. They deal with a lot of hardship in their country and open their hearts to many missionaries who come in with a jaded + irrational perspective of their religion. Most Americans do not take kindly to people showing up offering them Salvation from their religion, but most Haitians really have no hate in their heart for it.
What I find fascinating about this is that not all Africans were exposed to Christianity or Islam. Thus some African religions that have similarities to Abrahamic faiths, such as a concept of monotheism & other unique qualities, have those traits of their own accord. With that being said seeing Haitian-Vodou as a “Africanized Catholicism” while perhaps accurate, unfortunately might lead people to generalize African religious histories & use it as “evidence” that all Africans “were civilized” by European/Christian influence. Africans not being able to be enlightened on their own. I’ve been researching African religions for a while, they are surprisingly different from one another, & I really appreciated this video in which you made sure to distinguish Haitian-Vodou from traditional Fon & Ewe beliefs. With that being said, it breaks my heart on how all African religions have been stereotyped as “evil”, while Asian religions have not. Even Native American religions, while heavily stereotyped & not understood, have not been persecuted in such a way as being entirely “devil worship”. That stigma of everything out of Africa being “evil” seems to be unique to Africans & African descent peoples. A stigma that was created as a result of justification for the horrors of chattel-enslavement & colonization by European Christians. You can’t separate anti-Black racism from the “conversion” of so many African peoples to Christianity (particularly from the colonial period). Akom, Ifa, Ambundu religion, & Dinka religion are a few other African religions that I have been researching lately.
@@alexskatit4188 that and non-black Christian missionaries, especially trump supporting Israel prophecy spouting Evangelical organizations. Some Muslim organizations etc.
I hope you revisit this video with all the demonization of Haitians going on. I would love a breakdown on how voodoo had always been feared and demonized
This was the absolutely most interesting video I’ve ever seen. Oh my goodness, that was incredible. My mind is blow. That was incredibly fascinating. The Dr. was so engaging and such a great academia communicator!
Dr. Kyrah Malika Daniels was absolutely incredible! I almost wish I could take a class with her- I don’t mean to make stereotypes, but every black professor teaching about black history and culture has been absolutely incredible, super engaging, and genuinely passionate about what they teach. I really hope black history and culture becomes more known and taught in schools and universities
Excellent video. I live in the Caribbean and although today I am not a believer, I was born into a Catholic family. However my spouse is a santero. I await with interest and curiosity a video of yours about Santeria.
Duuuude. This is awesome. I love the passion of that woman when talking about vodou. Very interesting and I’m happy to say I learned something new today that I’ll definitely keep researching
I've learned a lot from this video! There is one more interesting cultural connection in Haitian Vodou; to Poland of all places. Twice in the video, at 1:51 and 7:15, we can see depictions of a Lwa (Ezili Dantor, I believe) that are clearly inspired by the depictions of the Virgin Mary in Catholic art but they are specifically based on the Madonna of Częstochowa icon from Poland, the mysterious double scars on her cheek being the most characteristic detail. At 5:30 we can see a painting by January Suchodolski depicting Polish soldiers fighting against Haitians. Recently History with Hilbert made a video explaining the complicated story of how did Poles ended up in Haiti, as part of the French expedition in the final stage of the revolution, and why they were viewed much more positively (than the French) by the locals, in the end, some of them even staying and forming a community in independent Haiti. ruclips.net/video/l5eq0eguidM/видео.html
Well they were viewed positively because they defected and joined the rebels, they fairly quickly realized that the French were doing to the Haitians what the Russians and Germans had been doing to them back home but only worse. So when the Leclerc expedition was defeated the Poles ended up fighting on the side of the Haitians and as a result were made honorary blacks.
@@hedgehog3180 To be even more specific, the Poles were tricked into fighting in Saint Domingue. They were told they would be fighting for liberty, however while they were there they found out they were fighting for reinstatement of slavery (after the French had just abolished it some years earlier).
Oh my goodness, thank you for your ACCURACY, regarding religious distinction and the use of "ENSLAVED AFRICAN"! True intelligence can erase bigotry. Well done sir... well done! 👏
@@ReligionForBreakfast Indeed, WORDS TRULY DO MATTER. Words, tone, elocution; all were done brilliantly. You have a new subscriber in me. Yayyyyy, time to binge!
Words are life support capsules for information, and nothing is more important than information. Even the gods of all belief systems are subject to its power.
Signup for your FREE trial to Wondrium here: ow.ly/EFz430rNni0
Amshegnalhu!! Thank you so much for just representing African culture respectfully
Nice work ,i will like to see one on Ethiopian Orthodox please
2:14 that looks a lot like the Braithwaite Manor in Rdr2
@@eminemuelgoldstein8532 n
Of course you leave out the very cruel animal sacrifices that they do.
This is one of the best descriptions of Afro-Caribbean religions I’ve ever seen. The level of respect, understanding, research, and the conscious and respectful contextualizarion of our Afro-Caribbean faiths is marvelous. Thank you so much for doing this. I look forward to have a video on Santería and other Yoruba-based Afro-Caribbean religions. 😊
By far the best religion education channel on RUclips.
What he said. I have a great interest in Brazilian Yoruba and Dahomey based religions ( Candomble, Jeje etc ).
Very very informative.
Here I was thinking Santeria was a sick Sublime song 😔🤦♂️ guess I have to go read some more
Definitely agree with you! And it’s not only Afro-Caribbean, but also Afro-American 💙 An important part of our heritage along with the Hoodoo spiritual system.
Before I actually watch it, I'd just like to say I highly appreciate you * branching out on African based religions beyond the highly influential ancient Egyptian*. Your topics on religion are highly informative so I was eager to watch one on * a different* African based religion.
Edit:
1. This was what I said in the first asterisk space - doing an African based religion for the first time.
2. This is what I said in the second asterisk space - an
I know well and you know too why I edited this comment this way. Thanks.
So what did you think dude? Pretty awesome huh?
My spouse studies Hinduism and I work on medieval Catholicism. This video is so well done, and it is fascinating to me how many connections I see between very old forms of traditional Catholicism and the offerings of food, spices, sacred music and sacred dances to temple gods in the thousands of years of Hindu practice (as well as featuring statues of saints or gods in the different traditions). Thank you for such a beautiful introduction to this rich and varied tradition. The professor is fantastic!
Dr. Daniels passion is addictive! I bet she is an AMAZING teacher! Her love and excitement of the topic is contagious: I could listen to her talk about Vodou for hours!
She is AMAZING. I had so much fun working with her. I learned a lot.
@@ReligionForBreakfast Well, I learned a lot from your amazing interview with her, so thank you! Your passion and love for religious literacy is also addictive and I Love your videos. I wish there was a resource like your channel when I was attempting to get a degree in religious philosophy. What you are doing is so important and want you to know how much I appreciate you an your work!
It also makes me happy to hear you enjoyed speaking with her so much! I can tell by her tone you must have had a great convo! Glad you enjoyed making this video!
Sending vibes of Love, Light, and great health to you and all of yours, Always, my friend! Thanks for taking the time to reply to my comment! 🙂👍🏽👏🏽💖
-Rich-
Absolutely! I love to learn from people who have a true passion for their subject.
The odor of these practitioners is horrendous. While observing in Hati, I had to mask myself from their body odor
@@richardsugg9014 tf?
I’m Haitian and although I don’t practice vodou I have profound respect for it. From a historical and cultural perspective it deserves to be protected and respected .🇭🇹
💯💯💯💯💯
But vodou is not helping the people of Haiti in anyway. Haiti remains the poorest county in the Americas plus political unrest is the norm.
@@jenniferprince3153 I agree, religion is not helping in general
Poukisa yo rayi nou?
@@jenniferprince3153 is chritianity supposed to help then?
🇹🇹🇳🇬-AfroCaribbean here and right off the bat I want to commend you for the attention you paid to removing the stereotypes associated with African Religious Concepts. It’s quite an irony that the ‘religions’ that kept the enslaved Africans strong was deemed ‘demonic’ while they were allowed to be tortured and slaughtered by European slave masters.
Very true.
And the very religion that was often sourced as a justification to keep them enslaved was and is widely regarded as "pure" and seen as the objective truth. A whole joke.
💯
before europeans all tribes were holding hands a living in a happy happy lala lollipop land of total joy 😁
@@JimmyHandtrixx at least they were not doing the Inquisition or burning "witches" 😂😂😂
As someone that’s Yoruba and speaks fon, a long time subscriber and viewer I’m so happy you made this video. You’ve definitely made my year. Btw lwa is said as luwa in Yoruba as a short form for oluwa which is God but eledumare is the main God equivalent to bon dieu. Please make the next one about Yoruba religion thank you so much.
The Haitian Vodoun God is also called olohoum/olodumare
@@stanleydouge2803 right! also the cultural mix between the fongbe and the yorunba (nago) is just too much for them not to worship the same gods. in the western dialets of yoruba eludumare changes to olodumare. i never got the difference till I was an adult.
@@Ajibolaa yes the Nago, idaatcha, ife ethnic groups in Benin was sent in droves to Haiti
@@stanleydouge2803 Haitian Vodou is known as Bondye as I am Haitian and Taino
@@zoewolf7777 what are you even talking about lol Bondye just means God in our language the Vodoun God isn’t simply called Bondye it has a name The religion Is Vodoun not Bondye pale kreyòl anglè a sanble ou pa trò fò ladanl
Coming from Louisiana, this is a refreshing video to see.
as a years-long fan of your channel, and a decades-long serviteur, i was a bit nervous when i saw this episode pop up. but i want to thank you for doing such a beautiful job! i even learned something new (the history of congolese catholicism ). i especially appreciate the comparison of manje lwa with kosher and halal practices. i've been making that comparison for years, and was so happy to hear someone else make that comparison, and to share it with a broad audience. thank you! ayibobo!
Your channel is what made me interested in religious history
Awesome, glad to hear it. I kind of fell into this field myself. After majoring in History for undergrad, I made the switch to Religious Studies in grad school.
Completely agree.
@@ReligionForBreakfast I went from Theatre to Comparative Religion! But actually the two have a lot of overlap
@@ericreativecuts theatre overlaps with almost everything
Same
Concise and yet rather informative, which is perfect for me. Also, the inclusion of a subject expert took the lesson beyond just the basics. Thank you for this video.
I have been following your channel for a really long time. I am astonished by the amount of research you put into all your videos, especially this one. I was born and raised in Haiti, and currently live in Miami. As I was raised christian, Vodou was very taboo around my family circle. Thank you for also acknowledging the current situation in Haiti, and using your platform to help and educate others.
I'm doing a presentation on Vodou in my music history class and i really appreciate this video, many others has comments about inaccuracies and racism. I felt like I learned the correct things to teach my classmates. Thank you!
I really liked this one. Dr. Daniels is simply captivating, and really passionate about the subject!
I'm usually not one to ask for content, but I would love to see you talk about Spiritism and it's success in Brazil. And maybe about Umbanda later on, a uniquely brazilian religion from the 1930s. I ask only because you're the best on the platform. Thanks!
She was definitly passionatly but she couldnt captivate me at all. I found her presentation very distracting and fidgety.
@@derstoffausdemderjoghurtis I felt the same. I tend to prefer that in this situations people contain themselves more and be more formal, tecnical, more straight for ward and don't look like just one more devotee or a fanatic.
@@derstoffausdemderjoghurtis typical of women who study this, feminist, marxist, blm blabla
I also prefer more contained and down to earth approach, in my opinion overdoing it makes you look ridiculous. Somebody would say it's passion and enthusiasm. Guess it boils down to your own personal preferences. Your cultural and geographical background also plays a role of course.
I find her inflection and speech patterns grating, but I appreciated him consulting her on the topic.
I’m Dominican and I also appreciate this video, it was important to me to educate myself in this matter to be able to to educate others as my mother that dislikes Haitians and their believes. I personally like to educate myself in order to have an opinion and understanding.
Ayibobo!!! As an initiated Vodouisant, many videos don't do vodou justice or even pronounce things right, let alone do all the research you did. Thank you
I looked up voodoo on RUclips and all the videos seemed incredibly racist and disrespectful with clickbait titles and thumbnails
When Dr. Kyrah Malika Daniels referred to Vodou offerings as "reciprocal" instead of "transactional" it hit me how that's a much less demeaning word for it. I don't know how many have heard "transactional" to describe polytheistic practice (i give gods this thing, they give me blessings), but I feel like that's kind of demeaning way to look at it. Classics classes tried to explain Greek and other European Pagan religions that way, and I feel like that might be a bit of convention from Christian historians and theologists who were demeaning these faiths either inadvertently or on purpose. Trying to make it look more worldly and less divine.
The use of the word reciprocal really makes it feel less like striking a deal and more like respecting one another, and I thought that was a beautiful sentiment towards polytheism.
I give gods this thing, they give me blessings IS transactional. The transactional relationship does exist in old polytheism and it is generally considered by practitioners to be the safer kind of relationship: I give the gods this thing, they give me BLESSINGS. Buying favors from gods fundamentally assumes that you'll get favors if it succeeds and if it doesn't, fine. You can always go to another god. The reason this is the kind of spiritualism Church writers complained about was precisely because this was how the majority of Pagans in the Roman Empire behaved by the time Christianity was rising.
That is not at all the kind of relationship Dr. Daniels is referring to when she says reciprocal. Reciprocal is better described as, I serve the spiritual realm and the spiritual realm extends its influence over me. This video doesn't go over the OTHER implication of this relationship, which is that a reciprocal spiritual relationship accepts that both sides don't transact, just mutually influence, and therefore the influence is not ALWAYS positive. A reciprocal relationship is deeper and less predictable than a transactional one. You hope that you're influencing the spirit realm in positive ways, but honestly you just don't know, and you're also never sure that the spirits are actually giving you favors and not just leading you astray. You HOPE they're good spirits and will lead to good for you, but this may not necessarily be the case, and you yourself may not be worthy of good to begin with. That's why it's a more complicated spirituality.
@@andrewsuryali8540 for sure, but I think that it also might be a bit of a misnomer to assume that Vodou is the only one to have this kind of outlook on the spiritual realm. From descriptions I've read of many Native American faiths there are similar sentiments of a more holistic interaction between divines and physicality.
But I am also fully aware I am no expert so I'm not trying to refute, just mentioning that it also made me rethink how some faiths are framed.
@@MasoTrumoi I'm not saying Vodou is the only faith with a reciprocal relationship, and neither is Dr. Daniels. Many belief systems, for example Daoism and Shinto (at least the older versions), also have this trait. In fact, many kinds of proto-Christianity also did. I'm just saying that there is confusion between transactional and reciprocal relationships in spirituality, and that the Church writers WERE ranting about the transactional version.
BTW, Japanese pop culture literature (manga and anime) sometimes reflect the basic ideas of the Japanese belief system (especially Shinto) and the reciprocal relationship people have with the spiritual realm in ways the writers may not fully realize they're projecting. Watching Princess Mononoke is a good way to experience the idea of reciprocal spirituality. It's definitely easier to grasp than some theoretical outline of what this expression of faith looks like. However, the best expression of this idea I've found in Japanese pop culture is the horror manga series PTSD Radio (available in English). Without spoiling too much, it shows how people in a village interacted with a spirit over hundreds of years and how their interactions slowly caused the spirit to evolve from a benevolent divinity to something more... morally ambiguous.
Tbf transactional need not have a negative connotation since a lot of Christian practice can be seen in a similar way. When people actually believe in a religion they will obviously try to bend it's rules in it's favor, at least some people will, this isn't really any less moral than doing so with any other system and Christians have absolutely done it. Christians have bent so many rules and rituals because they weren't practical that it's hard to count.
Reciprocity is a law of nature or all that is and is one of the principles of African culture.
This has been one of the very few explanations of Vodou, that has been very respectful and accurate, Thank you for this!
I fully agree also! No prejudicial ignorance or biases either!
Great contents.👍
Thanks for this introduction to a much misrepresented and misunderstood religion, up to this point my only introduction to this subject was William Gibson's sci fi novels!! Episodes like this (I hope) will bring greater understanding about people's cherished beliefs. Thanks Andrew!!
I don’t usually like “special guest” episodes of anything, but this is one of my favorite episodes on this channel so far :D
I never expected you to do a video on Vodou but thank you so much! I’m half Haitian and don’t know a lot about my Haitian side or about Vodou but this video really came at the perfect time for me to dive more deeply into my culture. I really appreciate your channel and the amount of work you put in. I’ve learned a ton!
Hi how are you doing? In what state do you live I am haitian-american I recently started traveling to Haiti and learn a lot about my culture it is very fascinating we are very special people being born in the United States it was a culture shock
What are you mixed with and which side of the family are you more with
Please do not stop such excellent work! ❤️ Thank you loads
I really appreciate that. Thank you so much for the kind words. Religious literacy for the win!
This might be the most informative channel on RUclips.
Let's talk religion is another excellent one
As a child of the African diaspora,and as a true follower of vodou,I thank you for this video and the real truth that you have in it!!!
I can’t wait for your videos on traditional African religions! It sounds so fascinating!
I love all your videos. People do not understand how much research and care you put into your content. I am initiated in the 21 Divisions, Vodou. Everything you presented is 100% accurate.
you should consider making a video on Mexican and Andean syncretism too! I think there are a lot of similarities in how the syncretism took place. great video
Agree.
I recall Bush Sr referred to Regan's economic policies as 'Voodoo economics' which I mention as an example of how the term is used in a degoratory sense.
as a dominican this is so nice to watch, we don't learn about this at all, despite the amount of haitians that live here and that they're literally our neighbor country. we often just say their religions are "of the devil", but we couldn't be more wrong. thank you so much for this video!
Hola Kami. Dominicana here. It turns out we also have our own form of vodun called las 21 Divisiones. I'm sure you heard of Palo or la fiesta de palos. We even have it in popular music. I don't know if you are old enough to remember Kinito Mendez's hit song.
Their Voodoo is not only a cultural, thing, there actually "Wizards" who are scammers and do dark magic.
@kamila I think you do have something like Vodou in DR as well. All countries in the Caribbean have some types of spirituality. You are afraid to say it because most of you grow up with complexes. The Indegenious culture is a part of Haitien Vodou as well, this is why we have 21 nations in vodou. You can even find old Europeans mysticism in Haitian Vodou.
I agree, though I'm not involved in the religion myself. A lot of religious people (especially Christians and then Muslims, it always seem to be one of these two) need to learn that their own religion is not the only religion with right to exist. And there is no objective proof that their faith is the right one and all other religions are wrong. Its important to learn about religions actually from the ones who actually practice it. Faith is a personal choice, for as long as its not used to justify harming or oppressing others, it stops there
Imo this guy is among the very best people talking about religion, especially on the internet. Another excellent lesson.
Okay but I absolutely love Dr. Kyrahs passion and energy. She reminds me of those cool teachers in school you'd have that'd make you excited to learn something and get so invested in what you were learning that day. Love you ReligionForBreakfast but I'm switching to her class
I think she got some yummy wap
Fantastic. I’ve been interested in this topic for a long time and I’m stoked this channel is covering more African diaspora religions
This was amazing I’ve never seen a better example of vodou on the internet most of it is fractured into single subjects on certain lwa or leave out most of this information that you’re covering thank you for the in depth look at this beautiful religion
I would love to see more videos about Vodou, Vodoun and other African and African derived religions.
Such a great video!
Thanks for finally doing a proper video on this topic, Ashe!
As someone involved in Candomblé and who also serve the spirits, I'm very happy for this, thank you for speaking about our spirituality with truth and respect. Meci, mezanmi, ayi bobo
Looking forward to hear more about other religions from the African diaspora.
SUPERB video. A topic I never realised I wanted to know more about, handled professionally and with charm!
Great video. Could you do a video on Mexico's indigenous religions getting mixed into their Catholicism? I think it could be an interesting topic.
+
a video about Day of the Dead, to be released in time for the holiday
What a cursed nation, smh
YESSSS BEST AND MOST SPIRITUAL RACE IN THE WORLD NATIVOS OF AMERICAS
@@ericsacks5731 no
As a Haitian that grew up baptist, every Christian would say that vodou is evil and of the devil. SMH as a kid and now an adult I knew it couldn’t be true. Thank you for the video. Mesi an pil
Never trust people who call another evil and of the devil without hard evidence
What a fascinating religion. Thanks for the lesson, Dr. Andrew.
This was the first video of yours I watched, about a year ago, and I'm revisiting it now because it's just that good! You do a great job of explaining how these traditions are related and how they're distinct from one another. So many sources on this subject are confusing or straight-up misinformation, so it's nice to see it laid out in clear terms.
I love Dr. Daniels' passion about her field of study and she brings incredible knowledge and excitement regarding the subject. I would be absolutely interested in more interviews with her.
This was outstanding. Thank you for knowing enough that you needed to bring someone in that knows MORE. Bravo.
This was really well done. Love content on African and African diasporic religions. Thanks!!
I'm so early and I love it
Welcome! As far as I can tell, you're first.
Your pedagogical skills in these videos is seriously inspiring, and I hope to achieve it myself one day.
That was so informative, I learned a lot. Thank you. I also found your guest speaker to be very knowledgeable and has a lot of respect for the cultures of Africa.
In college I did a research project on Beninois Vodun and Haitian Vodou and it was so interesting!!! There were so many layers and nuances that I never would have imagined based on pop culture depictions
Commenting for the algorithm :) this is great, thank you so much!
That's amazing, Haitian Vodou is really beautiful and there's so much similarities to Afro-Brazilian Candomblé. The rites are different based on the nations, instead of Lwa the Jeje (Ewe-Fon people) nation has the Voduns, the Ketu/Nago (Yoruba people) nation has the Orixás/Orishas and the Angola (Bantu people such as Congo, Umbundu and Kimbundu) nation has the Nkisi. There's dance, offerings, the "mounting" (in Portuguese we use the word incorporation) and tons of very similar aspects, really interesting!
I'm a bit confused, because where I live the religion is called Umbanda, but they refer to Orixás
@@cynzix It's a different religion! Countries with the diaspora don't always have just one African diaspora religon. Brazil even has Quimbanda!
That description of the nations is fascinating to me because I know people initiated into Quimbanda, another Afro-Brazilian tradition that sprung off from Umbanda in order to show more attention to Angolan, Bantu, and Congolese spirits known as Exus and Pomga Giras (Male and female sorcerous spirits, it's more of a magical than religious tradition in some ways). There's also the inclusion of Muslim Mali spirits in some cases, but it's not Yoruba/Orixa focused really!
@@Lucas-iy1ve thanks i learned something from your awesome comments ❤️❤️that toe is a gift so thanks
thanks i learned from your comment thanks for sharing your info ❤️❤️
So informative! It's hard to gain insight on a closed tradition like this online. Thank you!
I'm so thankful for this video. First time I see a RUclips video treating this with respect and truth!
I like that you did your research also how you quickly guide the audience past the stereotypes of this Ancient religion.
Just watched the whole video. Knowing how much conflict comes from the prejudice and intolerance towards african originated religions in Latin America, as well as their immense contribution as keepers of cultural traditions, I say we cannot underestimate the value of content like this. Grretings from Brazil!
Much love to the people of Haiti.
Thank you ❤️
As a professor of African Diaspora religions myself, I appreciate this video! Sharing with my students as well.
Superb accuracy! You nailed it! Thank you for the respect of culture with this video!
I loved seeing how passionate that lady is for vodou. You can see how into it she’s getting throughout the video.
Yes! I have been waiting for this one. Thank you for your hard work.
Fascinating introduction. I look forward to more in this series.
I’m sooo glad this came on my TL. This is a great explanation!
Excellent coverage. Will be sharing with my friends who are practitioners.
It’s really nice to see the different perspectives of life and religion depicted in a manner that’s easily understandable… I highly appreciate your work!!
Thanks!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it.
Always enjoy your content. Dr. Daniels’ insight was delightful.
Being first generation American, (family from Dominican Republic) and having Santeria roots while adjusting to this culture was challenging to say the least.
This is by far the most accurate representation I e seen yet. Well done friend
The Dr.'s Passion and energy for her work is just wonderful. Thank you for another enlightening video R4B
This was very refreshing to watch. I hope you do a video on Ifa and other ADR practices soon. I support anyone using their platform to talk about these practices in nondemonizing ways. Thank you.
Just amazing, Andrew!
I´m Brazilian and I´m impressed how Vodou is similar to Candomblé. Fact that Candomblé preserves more Yoruba words than Vodu... for example, the spiritual entities are called Orixás (Orisà), because "they are the energies that can be embodied by a medium".
I 100% loved this episode. Thank you for creating this
Turns out I knew less about Voodoo than I thought. Thanks for an educational episode!
Excellent. That was the fastest 25 minutes of my life. This was just excellent.
Another great video! I'm still looking forward to a video focused on brazilian Candomblé and Umbanda
I’m a Heathen, and we also have this concept of building reciprocity with the Gods and entities we work with. Very informative and fascinating video!
This is great. Informative, clear and entertaining!
Awesome video man, I’d love to visit Haiti some day. It looks beautiful and the people there seem so friendly
They are wonderful, friendly, and open people. They deal with a lot of hardship in their country and open their hearts to many missionaries who come in with a jaded + irrational perspective of their religion. Most Americans do not take kindly to people showing up offering them Salvation from their religion, but most Haitians really have no hate in their heart for it.
Ive been looking for such a good explanation a long time! Awesome work! I would like to so see a video about Rastafari in the future!
Very good video bro, this well aged very well and help educate people for years to come. Big thumbs up
What I find fascinating about this is that not all Africans were exposed to Christianity or Islam. Thus some African religions that have similarities to Abrahamic faiths, such as a concept of monotheism & other unique qualities, have those traits of their own accord. With that being said seeing Haitian-Vodou as a “Africanized Catholicism” while perhaps accurate, unfortunately might lead people to generalize African religious histories & use it as “evidence” that all Africans “were civilized” by European/Christian influence. Africans not being able to be enlightened on their own. I’ve been researching African religions for a while, they are surprisingly different from one another, & I really appreciated this video in which you made sure to distinguish Haitian-Vodou from traditional Fon & Ewe beliefs. With that being said, it breaks my heart on how all African religions have been stereotyped as “evil”, while Asian religions have not. Even Native American religions, while heavily stereotyped & not understood, have not been persecuted in such a way as being entirely “devil worship”. That stigma of everything out of Africa being “evil” seems to be unique to Africans & African descent peoples. A stigma that was created as a result of justification for the horrors of chattel-enslavement & colonization by European Christians. You can’t separate anti-Black racism from the “conversion” of so many African peoples to Christianity (particularly from the colonial period). Akom, Ifa, Ambundu religion, & Dinka religion are a few other African religions that I have been researching lately.
Yes yes yes to all of this!!!! These things cannot be separated and are still going on today!
Yes, and the main perpetrators of that demonization today are people of african descent.
@@alexskatit4188 that and non-black Christian missionaries, especially trump supporting Israel prophecy spouting Evangelical organizations. Some Muslim organizations etc.
Wonderful video as always, and great collection of books in the background!
I learned so much from this! Thank you for a superb video.
This is fascinating. I knew a bit about vodou, but this has definitely expanded my horizons. Thank you so much for upoading!
I hope you revisit this video with all the demonization of Haitians going on. I would love a breakdown on how voodoo had always been feared and demonized
This was the absolutely most interesting video I’ve ever seen. Oh my goodness, that was incredible. My mind is blow. That was incredibly fascinating. The Dr. was so engaging and such a great academia communicator!
I LOVE this series, and Dr Daniels is a great speaker - I love when you can just see how totally stoked someone is to teach you something.
I've watched a lot of these videos. They're mostly horrible! This is the most respectful and thorough I've watched on the topic.
Dr. Kyrah Malika Daniels was absolutely incredible! I almost wish I could take a class with her- I don’t mean to make stereotypes, but every black professor teaching about black history and culture has been absolutely incredible, super engaging, and genuinely passionate about what they teach. I really hope black history and culture becomes more known and taught in schools and universities
This was beautifully done and well summarized! Please touch on the Igbo religion of Odinani when you start your African religion series!!
Excellent video. I live in the Caribbean and although today I am not a believer, I was born into a Catholic family. However my spouse is a santero. I await with interest and curiosity a video of yours about Santeria.
Duuuude. This is awesome. I love the passion of that woman when talking about vodou. Very interesting and I’m happy to say I learned something new today that I’ll definitely keep researching
I've learned a lot from this video!
There is one more interesting cultural connection in Haitian Vodou; to Poland of all places. Twice in the video, at 1:51 and 7:15, we can see depictions of a Lwa (Ezili Dantor, I believe) that are clearly inspired by the depictions of the Virgin Mary in Catholic art but they are specifically based on the Madonna of Częstochowa icon from Poland, the mysterious double scars on her cheek being the most characteristic detail. At 5:30 we can see a painting by January Suchodolski depicting Polish soldiers fighting against Haitians. Recently History with Hilbert made a video explaining the complicated story of how did Poles ended up in Haiti, as part of the French expedition in the final stage of the revolution, and why they were viewed much more positively (than the French) by the locals, in the end, some of them even staying and forming a community in independent Haiti.
ruclips.net/video/l5eq0eguidM/видео.html
Well they were viewed positively because they defected and joined the rebels, they fairly quickly realized that the French were doing to the Haitians what the Russians and Germans had been doing to them back home but only worse. So when the Leclerc expedition was defeated the Poles ended up fighting on the side of the Haitians and as a result were made honorary blacks.
@@hedgehog3180 The Poles always know what's up.
@@hedgehog3180 To be even more specific, the Poles were tricked into fighting in Saint Domingue. They were told they would be fighting for liberty, however while they were there they found out they were fighting for reinstatement of slavery (after the French had just abolished it some years earlier).
Great piece! Dr. Daniels was wonderful as always. Definitely read her work!
Oh my goodness, thank you for your ACCURACY, regarding religious distinction and the use of "ENSLAVED AFRICAN"! True intelligence can erase bigotry. Well done sir... well done! 👏
Language is everything! I peeped that too
Thank you! Words matter.
@@ReligionForBreakfast Indeed, WORDS TRULY DO MATTER. Words, tone, elocution; all were done brilliantly. You have a new subscriber in me. Yayyyyy, time to binge!
Words are life support capsules for information, and nothing is more important than information. Even the gods of all belief systems are subject to its power.
One of the best channels in the Tube, thank u.
I am really interested in studying religions and your videos are my favorite .
Nice profile picture
@@mirfalltkeinnameeinwasdage9753 wow we have same picture:XD
Edit :what is the meaning of the line?
I like the professors enthusiasm
Thank you for always including the voices of women on your channel. 🙏