Vodou Culture 101: The Godchild
The expectations in vodou for a godparent are high, but the expectations for godchildren can be surprisingly difficult for godchildren coming out of the US majority culture. This is at least partially because the US majority culture has no frame of reference for the role and work a godparent does.
The idea in the US majority culture that we’re all self-reliant, no matter what, is a problem for the relationship between godparent and godchild. Vodou is a community religion, with the ethic that it is our unity and communities which give us strength (“L'union fait la force,” the motto on the Haitian flag). In vodou communities, a godparent is a pillar or anchor of that unity and strength, with all the work that entails. The position is honorable in part because of that work, whether visible—happening in front of the community—or invisible, as in the case of a petition at midnight because your godchild is in trouble. A godchild, whether they realize it or not, relies on the godparent to take care of them, to be willing to do that 24/7. A godchild is explicitly not self-reliant, in a culture which believes a lack of self-reliance is a negative trait.
The US majority culture also has the idea that things involving religion should be free, which can seem incredibly ungrateful (and entitled) to people in vodou culture. A priest or magical worker has easily spent decades accruing knowledge, technique, wisdom, and creating relationships with the spirits and community, all of which get used in the process of taking care of godchildren. In vodou, treating this commitment as cheap, free, or negligible is deeply disrespectful, and treating the religion itself as if it is not valuable (as if it could be free) is just as disrespectful.
The idea that a godparent often intervenes without telling the godchild, when the spirits deem the situation to need it, can also be difficult for the US majority culture. The idea of someone doing things to you without telling you is considered a kind of violation, partially because we are all assumed to have the same capacity to understand and choose. Vodou does not share the belief that you should know everything you want to know, nor does it believe that you necessarily possess the maturity to choose wisely. Vodou also does not believe you possess free will without many lives of personal elevation. Because of this, the fact that a godparent would intervene and never tell the godchild is considered just a part of their job, but a part that commands a certain amount of respect and caution.
Finally, the idea that a godchild needs to be obedient to the godparent can often be difficult for people coming out of the US majority culture, which identifies (ironically, considering our politics) obedience as a negative trait. This can be particularly difficult because a godparent will not always or often explain themselves to the godchild, for all the reasons linked in the paragraph above. Obedience is often seen as servility and an abandonment of personal responsibility in the US majority culture, and someone who would demand obedience is seen as evil. A godparent, as a part of the role, is seen in vodou as someone whose wisdom is greater than their godchild—someone who has dedicated their life to providing guidance and has a positive community reputation can be assumed to be providing guidance in good faith, and while that guidance might not make sense to the godchild, it is intended to help them and should be heeded.
Part of becoming a godchild in this tradition involves learning a very different cultural understanding of the relationship between godparent and godchild, and dealing with the difference in cultural expectations.
