Voodoo religion leaders have taught priests of the Afro-Caribbean religion to prepare a secret remedy against the new coronavirus and to prepare the sacred initiation chambers of their temples to receive patients. In Haiti, western health services are scarce and they are also too expensive for the majority of the population. Locals often rely on medicinal plants and the ritual practices of their voodoo priests, whom they call houngan , and priestesses, whom they call mambo .
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Clad in multi-colored bead necklaces, Haitian voodoo supreme leader or Ati, Carl Henri Desmornes has noted in an interview from his residence in Port-au-Prince that he expects a barrage of coronavirus patients to arrive at his temples.
Although the virus has been slow to take root in the poorest countries in the Americas, in the last two weeks the number of confirmed cases has practically quintupled to 865 cases, while rumors of a "mysterious" fever have spread in the region. . "Voodoo priests have a responsibility to look after the well-being of the population," said Desmornes, 60, who before becoming Ati was a music promoter. "They have received the powers and the knowledge to put it into practice."
More than half of the 11 million Haitians are believed to practice voodoo, a religion brought in by slaves from West Africa, and continued to be practiced clandestinely by inhabitants in the long French colonial period.
Since the first cases of the new coronavirus were confirmed in Haiti in mid-March, priests have begun preparing teas that carry moringa, eucalyptus, ginger, and honey for their belief that they strengthen the immune system. "We live in a country whose healthcare system is unable to respond to the challenge of the pandemic, so we rely on natural remedies," said priestess Lamercie Charles, as she poured the concoction with a ladle. "I consider my temple to be a clinic."
The second in the ranking of the voodoo religion, Euvonie Georges Auguste, assures that the community, inspired by the Loa or mediating spirits, has obtained a potion for the symptoms of covid-19 that they have taught at a distance to the priests so that the prepare and manage it.
The community has identified some 1,000 voodoo temples that have djèvo , sacred chambers used for initiation rituals, which are separate from the rooms dedicated to prayer and can be used to isolate up to 15 patients, says the religious leader.
Auguste has regretted that the country's president, Jovenel Mosie, has highlighted an alleged "cure" for the plant-based covid-19 created in Madagascar, rather than the Haitian voodoo methods. "This attitude shows that he is a victim of a system that still suffers the consequences of slavery," he said.
Voodoo is clearly identified with the fight for the country's independence, but it has not been easy for him to gain legitimacy. It was not until 2003 that it was officially recognized as a religion, under the mandate of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The faithful of the religion have censured that the current president has made references to the Christian god instead of the voodoo spirits.
Hollywood and fiction have contributed to representing this ancient religion as a cult of black magic, which has stigmatized it. Some evangelical priests blamed voodoo for the 2010 earthquake that struck the island, and at least 45 hougans and mambos were lynched for blaming them for spreading the cholera that followed the catastrophe through spells.
In recent days, several voodoo priests have appeared on television and radio to clarify that they are not responsible for the current pandemic and that they are prepared to face it. All in all, the Ati of voodoo has pointed out that perhaps the pandemic carries a message for the world, in line with the belief that diseases carry meaning. "I put my hopes that after the coronavirus, instead of transforming everything we touch, we transform nature and try to live in harmony with it," he added.
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