Vodou Culture 101: Discipline

This is something of a tricky subject in cultural comparison—for all the rhetoric the US produces on the topic of personal freedom and the evils of obedience and control, we’re extremely compliant as a nation. We employ brutal disciplinarians in the form of our law enforcement and harshly punish social noncompliance. As long as what’s happening is happening in the context of our court system (or to people who do not look like the majority), we seem to be perfectly willing to accept it.

It’s the sort of discipline vodou practices that makes US majority culture members especially nervous. We expect discipline to be explained in a way that makes us comfortable. Comfort is not the spirits’ problem. It’s also not a reasonable expectation.

In my (vodou) house, discipline is often administered by the mysteries according to their understanding of what is justice in the situation, which tends to wildly differ with what people think should be done. People coming out of the US majority culture tend to expect there to be an easy to see reason why discipline is occurring, and for that discipline to be a part of a moral code which they recognize and which everyone should be expected to know. Not knowing makes discipline dangerous: if everyone can’t see and reason out why something happened, it must be abuse.

Unfortunately for those expectations, the mysteries are mysterious. While they very definitely have a reason for engaging in discipline, they feel no particular need to justify themselves in the process, nor do they necessarily feel the need to tell everyone else why someone is experiencing consequences—sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t.

Cultural expectations of justice or moral codes are irrelevant to the actions the spirits take.

Discipline does tend to result in people being avoided by non-priests while they are experiencing what appears to be punishment, negative consequences. However, when the negative consequences are over the avoidance tends to end. Vodou communities have a short memory.

Priests don’t typically avoid people being disciplined. We tend to explain the situation to them so they can learn faster. The spirits believe and vodou teaches that we’re here to learn. Negative consequences are a part of learning. Priests are often teachers or tutors in this classroom.

Vodouizans who are not priests tend to avoid people who are experiencing discipline by the spirits because they recognize that you learn faster without distractions. You learn faster without people to complain to and in situations where you must puzzle out the meaning for yourself or with the help of a priest. They recognize that in your discomfort, you’re going to try to do whatever you can to feel comforted, which is often things which distract you from that discomfort. Other people’s sympathy or pity is very distracting.

Vodouizans believe in elevation and learning, and it is assumed that you want to learn fast. Negative consequences are not pleasant.