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- Title
The Ceremonial Bath, a Surrender to the Spirits.
- Authors
Louissaint, Guilberly
- Abstract
In a time of ecological devastation, Haiti must once again turn to its sacred ecologies. Vodou is the lifeline of Haitian national identity, serving multiple social functions, "healing" among them. This piece argues that Haitian Vodou is a model of ecological healing that runs counter to Western medicine, a biologically reductionist system grounded in the ecological, racialized scientific research-based exploitation of the island and its inhabitants. Focusing on the history of ritual bathing through the rise of balneological science in Saint-Domingue, I argue that the question of health in Haiti encompasses a larger colonial relationship with empire-making that is tied to the subjugation of sacred epistemologies and their ecologies––a history that tethers humanity to the Earth and the spirits.
- Subjects
HAITI; ENVIRONMENTAL degradation; BALNEOLOGY
- Publication
Journal of Haitian Studies, 2023, Vol 29, Issue 1, p69
- ISSN
1090-3488
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1353/jhs.2023.a922858