Morality

Helping and Harming in the Haitian Vodou tradition:

Vodou tradition, in Haiti, has quite the different sense of morality than that of other religions around the world. Deciding what is right and wrong, you must look at what is best for you. There are two types of people in the Vodou world view, the insiders and the outsiders. Insiders are taken care of, helped, loved, and given the best of help if one can supply it. Outsiders are free game, however, and to harm and even destroy them is not considered wrong. Theivery, however, is considered a very very immoral action, and thieves are usually killed by mobs. The characteristics of a good person, is one that is able to make money, be powerful, do harm without being harmed in return, and much more. Emphasis is on the self! A bad person, is a victim, is poor, etc. There is no law of return or karma in Vodou, so therefore, if one does bad it does not automatically return on the person.

The amount of power one holds equates to the "goodness" one personally is. It is "good" to be able to destroy enemies, make money, get something without giving in return, protect self, lie and not be caught, etc, etc, etc.

To demonstrate this action, I will give you an account, which I know is true.

A little while back,X had an enemy, J. J tortured X once. Until, X returned the favor and did the same to him. X decided to tie a wanga on this individual, and work that wanga on Dantor's point. So, X fed, invoked, sang for and danced for Dantor. X then proceded to tie the wanga. By this time, the person had already been gone and X had no communication with him, but X decided X would still wanga him. Dantor is a lwa associated with knives and daggers. Recently, you may have heard on the news of someone who stabbed someone to death, and injured another. He is fairly young, and lives in South Jersey, Millville to be exact. He is now in jail, on a quarter of a million for bail, and awaiting his trial for murder. This person is J, in the story above. So as you can see, Dantor worked her magick, and the man is now "punished".

So you see, X did this without harming himself. X is a happy, respected skilled person in his chosen field, has money, has love, and all the good things in life.