This is Part 2 of a two-part series on the religion of Voodoo. In Part 1, we discussed how Voodoo originates from the Ifá divination system of Yorubaland in West Africa. We also examined how animal sacrifices in Voodoo are reductionist of both man and the divine. The mutual dependence of man and God requires a balance of nature, where sacrifices are given back to nature before man can take of the land. This often involves sacrificing animals to Voodoo gods like Ogun, the god of iron and war, whose favorite food is dog.¹Further recommended research – Cornell, George L. “The Influence of Native Americans on Modern Conservationists” Environmental Review (Summer, 1985,: Vol. 9, No. 2, Special Issue: American Indian Environmental History), Pg. 107 and Encyclopedia of African Religion, Molefi Kete Asante and Ama Mazama (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing, 2009), Mazama, “Ogun”, Op Cit., Pg. 481-2

In Part 2 we will examine the role Voodoo played in the Haitian Revolution of 1791 and how this history is vital to organizations like Black Lives Matter (BLM). We will also learn how the Voodoo priestess, Cecile Fatiman, summoned Ogun during the pivotal Bois Caïman blood rite ceremony of the revolution and how her legacy lives on in Haitian Voodoo.

The Haitian Revolution and the Blood Rite of Bois Caïman

To a large extent, the Haitian Revolution is the first Black Lives Matter movement.²NPR.org. n.d. “What the Haitian Revolution Tells Us about the U.S. Movement for Racial Equality.” https://www.npr.org/2021/07/04/1012978325/what-the-haitian-revolution-tells-us-about-the-u-s-movement-for-racial-equality

Marlene Daut
University of Virginia
Woodson Institute of
African-American and African Studies

On August 14^th of this year, Black Lives Matter DC advertised on their Instagram page an event hosted by the Haiti Action Committee commemorating the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) and the associated Voodoo’s Bois-Caïman blood rite ceremony as part of their #BlackAugust2024 campaign.

Today, we honor and lift up the Bois Caïman Ceremony – held on the night of August 14th, 1791, the Bois Caïman Ceremony is a symbol of Black resistance and decolonial struggle for Black liberation. Presided over by Dutty Boukman, a prominent enslaved African leader and Houngan, and Cécile Fatiman, a mambo, the Bois Caïman Ceremony inspired and readied hundreds of enslaved Africans to lead the mass rebellion in the French colony of Saint-Domingue. A few days later, on the evening of August 21st into the 22nd, plantations in the north were engulfed in flames – the #HaitianRevolution had begun.³Black Lives Matter DC Instagram invitation,

Why would BLM commemorate a Voodoo blood rite ceremony? As discussed in Part 1, Voodoo originates from the Ifá divination system of Yorubaland in West Africa. The same deities (orishas) worshiped in Ifá are also worshiped in Voodoo, as well as other African diaspora religions. (Santeria in Cuba, Umbanda and Candomblé in Brazil).⁴Turlington, Shannon R. 2002. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Voodoo. Pg. 6

According to Hebah H. Farrag of the University of Southern California’s Dornsife College, and Ann Gleig of University of Central Florida:

BLM leaders, such as co-founder Patrisse Cullors, are deeply committed to incorporating spiritual leadership. Cullors grew up as a Jehovah’s Witness, and later became ordained in Ifà, a west African Yoruba religion. Drawing on Native American, Buddhist and mindfulness traditions, her syncretic spiritual practice is fundamental to her work. As Cullors explained to us, “The fight to save your life is a spiritual fight.”⁵Turlington, Shannon R. 2002. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Voodoo. Pg. 6

In August 1791, the slaves of Haiti entered into a sacred ritual that would ignite the greatest effort of African resistance in the Western hemisphere. In the woods of Bois-Caïman, led by a Voodoo priest, the ceremony, now named after its assembly point, is said to have supplied the motivation for the bloody Haitian revolution. According to the Encyclopedia of African Religion:

a mambo or priestess appeared and danced with a blade held high above her head. . . . it is she who actually slaughtered the pig for sacrifice. Blood from the animal, and some say from humans as well, was given in a drink to the attendees to seal their fates and loyalty to the cause of liberation of Saint-Domingue. The mambo responsible for this vital element of the ritual is said to have been Cecile Fatiman.⁶Encyclopedia of African Religion, Molefi Kete Asante and Ama Mazama (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing, 2009), Tiffany D. Pogue “Bois Caïman”, Pg. 131-2

The revered priest, Dutty Boukman, officiated the Bois Caïman ceremony. According to the Encyclopedia of African Religion, in his oration, Boukman called on the enslaved Africans to rely on the forces of the Supreme Being found in nearly all African religious traditions, as opposed to the “false” Christian God of the whites, to rebel against slavery.⁷Encyclopedia of African Religion, Molefi Kete Asante and Ama Mazama (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing, 2009), Garvey F. Lundy “Boukman”, pg. 138-9  Translated into English Boukman’s prayer reads:

The god who created the sun which gives us light, who rouses the waves and rules the storm, though hidden in the clouds, he watches us. He sees all that the white man does. The god of the white man inspires him with crime, but our god calls upon us to do good works. Our god who is good to us orders us to revenge our wrongs. He will direct our arms and aid us. Throw away the symbol of the god of the whites who has so often caused us to weep, and listen to the voice of liberty, which speaks in the hearts of us all.⁸Encyclopedia of African Religion, Molefi Kete Asante and Ama Mazama (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing, 2009), Garvey F. Lundy “Boukman”, pg. 138-9

Who Was Cecile Fatiman and Whom Did She Invoke at Bois Caïman?

According to The Encyclopedia of Spirits, the Voodoo priestess Cecile Fatiman (1791–1845) invoked one of the related spirits of Ogun at Bois Caïman: Ogun Ferraille.⁹Illes, Judika. 2009. Encyclopedia of Spirits : The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Saints, Angels, Fairies, Demons, and Ghosts. New York: Harperone ; Enfield. pg. 694 In fact, it is rumored that when Jean Jacques Dessalines (1758-1806), governor-general during the Haitian Revolution and later emperor of Haiti, ripped the white fabric from the French tricolor flag, creating the blue and red Haitian flag, he was channeling Ogun Ferraille.¹⁰Illes, Judika. 2009. Encyclopedia of Spirits : The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Saints, Angels, Fairies, Demons, and Ghosts. New York: Harperone ; Enfield. pg. 782-3

After the revolution, Dessalines confiscated land owned by white people, made it illegal for them to own property, and, perhaps fearing them as potential subversives in the event of another French invasion, launched a campaign of extermination against the country’s white inhabitants in which thousands were killed.¹¹Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2019. “Jean-Jacques Dessalines | Emperor of Haiti.” In Encyclopædia Britannica – https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Jacques-Dessalines

After her death in 1845 Cecile Fatiman was raised to the position of a Voodoo deity and was given the name Marinette Bwa Chèch. As a member of the Haitian Voodoo Petro pantheon (a group of aggressive, warlike spirits), Marinette is a forceful deity who possesses her subjects quite violently.¹²Further recommended research –  Encyclopedia of African Religion, Molefi Kete Asante and Ama Mazama (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing, 2009), Tiffany D. Pogue “Bois Caïman”, Pg. 131; and You can watch a modern version of the invocation of Ezili Dantò here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XNlyAIuyB4 Below are some points to remember regarding Marinette (aka Cecile Fatiman).

• She is feared but also highly respected for her role in the fight for Haitian independence.
• She is often offered black pigs during contemporary Vodou rituals.¹³Encyclopedia of African Religion, Molefi Kete Asante and Ama Mazama (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing, 2009), Tiffany D. Pogue “Bois Caïman”, Pg. 131
• Some think she should never be invoked, as she is dangerous and hostile.¹⁴Illes, Judika. 2009. Encyclopedia of Spirits : The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Saints, Angels, Fairies, Demons, and Ghosts. New York: Harperone; Enfield. Pg. 694
• She is a bitter spirit. Rather than being celebrated as a heroine, she was first aggressively pursued by French colonial forces, then denied glory when Haitian revolutionary leader Toussaint L’Ouverture banned women from battle frontlines. Even now she is frequently dismissed as an evil spirit while her male contemporaries are lionized. She is a spirit of rage and frustration but also, in her way, a spirit of justice.
• She is never enshrined or invoked within the home (or inside buildings, period), as it is considered unsafe.
• She literally burns with rage and has a tendency to burn down buildings while within them, whether intentionally or not.
• She is invoked by secret societies as well as experienced initiates and sorcerers to provide disciplinary action against malefactors.
• She chafes at abuse of power and liberates devotees from bullies and oppression.
• She is left-handed, symbolic of her willingness to work with sorcerers for hire and to fulfill less than ethical requests.¹⁵Illes, Judika. 2009. Encyclopedia of Spirits : The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Saints, Angels, Fairies, Demons, and Ghosts. New York: Harperone ; Enfield. Pg. 694

Marinette is not just the Voodoo goddess of black social justice but the goddess of black female empowerment. According to the American anthropologist Karen McCarthy Brown (1942 – 2015) of Drew University –– who became a Voodoo priestess as a result of her research into the Voodoo religion –– in today’s Haitian Voodoo, initiates as young as children or teenagers, call on Marinette to possess them in order to achieve “higher levels of initiation.”¹⁶McCarthy Brown, Karen. 2001. Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. London, England: University of California Press. https://play.google.com/store/books/details?pcampaignid=books_read_action&id=wV044meEOLEC. Pg. 341

In her book Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn, Brown describes Voodoo spirit possession very graphically in this example below. This sounds very similar to demon possession as described in the Bible (Mark 5:1-20; 7:26-30; Luke 4:33-36).

. . . all of a sudden, Maggie is down. Danbala has mounted her! Her body, prone on the floor, curls like the body of a paralytic. Her hands knot up. She looks like an old, old person lying, self-protectively, in a fetal position. She screams as if in real pain, several times—unwilling, unable to let go. . . . Before long, Maggie jumps up, uttering obscenities. . . . There is something both moving and painful in this, and also something quite expressive of Maggie’s ambivalence about the world of the spirits.¹⁷McCarthy Brown, Karen. 2001. Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. London, England: University of California Press. https://play.google.com/store/books/details?pcampaignid=books_read_action&id=wV044meEOLEC. Pg. 288-9

Furthermore, Fatiman’s sacrifice of a pig at Bois Caiman and the subsequent pig sacrifices to her in her divine state as Marinette, is anathema according to scripture. Got Questions ministry points out:

Under the Old Testament Law, not only was eating pork forbidden, but even touching the meat of swine made one ritually unclean (Deuteronomy 14:8). This detail further insulated the Israelites from pagan practices. The Canaanites kept herds of swine and sacrificed them to idols. God wanted His people to distance themselves from all such activity.

Pig sacrifice also reminds me of Antiochus Epiphanes, the king of the Seleucid Empire who reigned over Syria from 175 BC until 164 BC. He desecrated God’s temple in Jerusalem by sacrificing a pig to the Greek god Zeus on the altar. Christians should never support an organization that commemorates the sacrifice of a pig during an occultic ceremony to a false god.

As Christians, we should reach out to our Haitian neighbors with the Gospel of Truth. Many who practice the occult, such as Voodoo, must be set free from demonic deception and lies about the “white man’s religion” that are spread by social justice groups such as BLM. The false claims need to be exposed through scripture and historical facts.

Is Christianity the Religion of the White Man?

The god of the white man inspires him with crime, but our god calls upon us to do good works.¹⁸Encyclopedia of African Religion, Molefi Kete Asante and Ama Mazama (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing, 2009), Garvey F. Lundy “Boukman,” pg. 138

Dutty Boukman

 According to Hamid Dabashi of Columbia University, what we are witnessing in BLM today is a historic shift back to Malcolm X.

. . . we have a far more global awareness of injustice evident in the Black Lives Matter’s position on militarism and its Zionist gestation. This fact takes the Black Lives Matter movement right back to the road map Malcolm X charted for the future of Black liberation.¹⁹Dabashi, Hamid. n.d. “Back to the Future: BLM Overcomes Obama and Returns to Malcolm X.” www.aljazeera.com. https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/10/9/back-to-the-future-blm-overcomes-obama-and-returns-to-malcolm-x/

And according to Peniel Joseph of the University of Texas at Austin:

There is no question that Black Lives Matter is organically connected to the heroic period of the civil rights movement — that period from 1954 and 1965, between Brown (school desegregation ruling) and the Voting Rights Act — and the Black Power movement of the late ’60s and early ’70.²⁰Chancellor, Carl C. 2016. “#BlackLivesMatter Deeply Connects to Black Power Movement.” USA TODAY. February 1, 2016. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/02/01/black-lives-matter-black-power-movement/78991894/

It is very concerning that BLM would commemorate Dutty Boukman who believed the God of the European colonialists –– i.e. European Christianity –– to be an evil God. I would argue that this God they are fighting against is not the God of the Bible but rather the God of Christian dominionism (the idea that God desires Christians to rule over and Christianize all the nations).

The comments made by Dabashi and Joseph about the more radical direction BLM is taking toward justice are also concerning. In fact, Patrisse Cullors’ short film Malcolm Revisited explores the iconic historical Black Power figure, Malcolm X and the current impact of the movement for Black lives. While BLM may be smart enough not to come straight out and condemn Evangelical Christianity, their commemoration of Bois Caiman and their praise of Malcolm X suggests that they see conservative Evangelical Christianity as a threat to black self-actualization.

Christianity is the white man’s religion. The Holy Bible in the white man’s hands and his interpretation of it have been the greatest single ideological weapon for enslaving millions of nonwhite human beings. Every country the white man has conquered with his guns, he has always paved the way, and salved his conscience, by carrying the Bible and interpreting it to call the people ‘heathens’ and ‘pagans’; then he sends his guns, then his missionaries behind the guns to mop up.²¹Pugh, Maurice. 2020. “Malcolm X and the Philosophical Theology of James H. Cone.” Journal of African American Studies 24 (3): 434–55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-020-09485-4

Malcolm X

Malcolm X liked to argue that Christianity was brought to Africa to enslave Africans. Sadly, many people fell for this lie here in America and across the globe. Similar lies are being spread by international universities. For instance, renowned Nigerian scholar and historian Professor Chinweizu Ibekwe supports this claim in his article entitled King Leopold’s Agenda: The Historical Origin Of Christianity In Africa.²²Felder, H.C. 2018. The African American Guide to the Bible. Christian Faith Publishing, Inc. Pgs. 222-5 But is this true? Is Christianity the white man’s religion?

Dr. H.C. Felder of Giving an Answer ministry provides five responses to this argument in his excellent book The African American Guide to the Bible:

First, blacks were part of the church from the very beginning. Christianity did not initially come to Africa via the slave masters. Africa had a large Christian population that goes back to the very beginning of Christianity. . . . the first non-Jew convert was an Ethiopian eunuch who was the treasurer for Queen Candace, queen of the Ethiopians (Acts 8). God even performed a miracle to allow Philip to share the gospel with him, after which he was converted and baptized. Tradition has it that this same eunuch brought back the gospel to his African nation, became a bishop in the church there, and preached the gospel until he was martyred for his faith.

Second, Christianity thrived in Africa during the early centuries of the faith. By the year 200 AD, there were many local churches in Egypt. There are stories of African Christians being martyred as early as the year AD 180 from rural areas around Carthage (which is present-day Tunis). This demonstrates that Christianity had not only spread all over the north coast of Africa but was also strong in rural areas. . .

The influence of Christianity in Africa is demonstrated by the discovery in 1961 when Polish archaeologists excavated Faras Cathedral, which was decorated with 169 magnificent paintings of dark-skinned Nubian kings, queens, and bishops and biblical figures and saints.

Coptic and Ethiopian Christians today trace their origins back to the apostle Mark, who was the first apostle of Egypt and was martyred for his faith as recorded by the church historian Eusebius writing in AD 324. This is also supported in the Acts of Mark written around AD 300 or 400.

Third, in the first centuries of Christianity, Africa provided some of the keenest intellects and most influential apologists in all of Christendom. . . . Tertullian (c. 160–c. 240). . . . Cyprian was also born in Africa around the year AD 200. . . . Clement (155–215). . . . Origen (185–254). . . . Athanasius (296–373). . . . Augustine of Hippo (354–430).

Fourth, we have early manuscript evidence written in African languages. . . . that we have almost one thousand New Testament manuscripts written in Egyptian Coptic dialects indicate that there must have been a significant Christian presence within the Egyptian community.

Fifth, although there is little doubt that there were Christians who espoused the ideas in the above “Letter from King Leopold II,” there is absolutely nothing Christian about them. One would find it impossible to look at the life and teachings of Jesus and find any type of justification for the actions that are encouraged in the above letter..²³Felder, H.C. 2018. The African American Guide to the Bible. Christian Faith Publishing, Inc. Pgs. 201-3

 What Should Christians Be Doing?

Sadly, we are seeing the influence of Haitian Voodoo in BLM led protests as well as the Hip Hop industry. This is simply another example of the occultism that is growing throughout America and Western culture in general. Our response is three-fold. First, we must pray for those who are being deceived by this growing spirituality. Second, as ambassadors for Christ, we are to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Third, part of our defense of the faith is to present the historical facts that expose the lies of Malcolm X and others and demonstrate that Christianity was in Africa well before the colonial Europeans ever were. We must love our friends and family who are practicing Voodoo and other African diaspora religions by explaining the difference between Biblical Christianity and Christian dominionism. We must warn them of what scripture says regarding the dangers of the occult. Even though they may not realize it, possession by Voodoo spirits is, in reality, demon possession.Ω

We again thank former Umbanda Priestess Ivani Greppi’s for her contributions to this series.

Stephanie Potts and her husband, Jim live in Dayton, Ohio, and have been married for 23 years. She worked with the federal government for 15 years as an intelligence analyst and then entered full-time Christian service in 2015. She first joined Haven Ministries in Denver, Colorado, in 2015 and then transferred to Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc in 2021. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Florida State University in Political Science and International Relations and received her Master’s degree in Geographic Information Systems from Penn State University. She is currently working towards her master’s degree in Christian Apologetics through Southern Evangelical Seminary. She specializes in evangelizing to people involved in the New Age, to Muslims, and Native Americans. Stephanie’s personal website: rainbowapologetics.com

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