Sacred Avatar "Hometree" is the Mapou Tree in Haitian Vodun

In James Cameron's new sci-fi movie epic Avatar, the indigenous natives of Pandora, the Na'vi, worship a sacred tree they call the "Hometree." However, the humans who have invaded this Garden of Eden planet are intent on destroying the tree for the precious metal, "unobtanium," which lies beneath it. The humans, you could say, have fallen from grace--they've disobeyed the supreme being and are being punished for their sins against nature. Now they are intent on obtaining this precious metal by any means necessary in order to keep their Earth from dying. There is an interesting piece about the Christian theological aspects of Na'vi at exinearticles.com called "The Theology of Avatar."

The Avatar plot can also be seen as being emblematic of the destruction wrought on the gentle natives of the Caribbean (the Taino or Arawak Indians) by its "Discoverer," Christopher Columbus and the Spaniards who accompanied him to what he believed to be India. On December 6, 1492 Columbus landed on the large island of Haiti, which according to Bartholomé de las Casas' account was, "perhaps the most densely populated place in the world." Forty years later, the genocidal depopulation and devastation of the environment was total. According to de las Casas, "All the people were slain or died after being taken into captivity and brought to the Island of Hispaniola [Haiti] to be sold as slaves." De las Casas estimates that in 40 years between 12,000,000 to 15,000.000 men, women and children were killed.

These men called themselves Christians. Their reason for killing and destroying so many souls were to acquire a precious metal--gold. Their "insatiable greed and ambition, the greatest evil seen in the world, is the cause of their villainies." Of course, when de las Casas wrote his account, he did not have the benefit we have, of witnessing the infinite greed and corruption of the corporatocracies which run the world today, bulldozing the forests of the Amazon, mining the gold of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and destroying the local environment while plundering Nigeria and other oil rich countries for oil.

Trees are the earth's lifeblood and ancient cultures were wise to recognize this. To this day many indigenous cultures worship trees or one specific tree. We know that the scientific method validates that all of Earth's creatures need trees because plants produce oxygen, which is the life-giving air we breath. The energetic spirit in trees and plants connects us to nature.

In Avatar, the Na'vi worshiped the tree God Eywa, while in Haiti Voduists worship Loco, the spirit of vegetation in the Vodun religion. The Mapou tree is known in English as either a silk-cotton tree or a Ceiba tree. In their holiest of ceremonies, the Mapou tree is central and represents the Voduists' connection to the spirits which inhabit the tree. While the Na'vi summon the spirits by holding hands and chanting in sync, Voduists uses a Ason or sacred rattle for this purpose. Small offerings must be placed at the foot the tree or may be hung on the tree to tempt the spirit forward. Offerings include candles, coins, food and drapos (ritual flags).

Worshipers perform a rite honoring the plant spirits during a Vodun ceremony in Souvenance

village, Haiti, Monday, March 24, 2008. Hundreds of people come to this village over
Easter weekend to participate in one of the holiest pilgrimages, showing their devotion
to the spirits marked by drumming, chanting and sacrificial offerings.

The sacred Mapou is often seen as being personified in a respected or heroic figure in Haitian society. When a such a person passes away, Haitians will bestow honor on them by saying, "un gwo mapou tombé" -- meaning "a giant [tree] has fallen." This sentiment was echoed throughout the Haitian community when the Father Gerard Jean-Juste died last year of complications from contracting Leukemia while detained in a Haitian jail unjustly.

Unfortunately, the "white savior" theme was evident in Avatar, and many people saw parallels to Tarzan of the Apes, the Disney animation cartoon Pocahontas and the Kevin Cosner opus, Dances with Wolves--but on a more positive note, Avatar emphasized our deeply rooted connection to each other and to nature. It is our sacred duty to protect the environment, because if we cannot, we are destined to perish from this Earth.

Source: Voices of a People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

Ezilidanto has a historical perspective based on recent events in Haiti, check it out at OpEdNews: "The Avatar Movie from a Black perspective."

Most Religious Practices Originate from Vodun

The Vodun religion is practiced by over 60 million people worldwide. "Today, there are two virtually unrelated forms of the religion:
• An actual religion, Vodun practiced in Benin, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Haiti, Togo and various centers in the US - largely where Haitian refugees have settled.

• An evil, imaginary religion, which we will call Voodoo. It has been created for Hollywood movies, complete with violence, bizarre rituals, etc. It does not exist in reality."¹

Vodun's roots trace back 6000 years directly to the Yoruba people of sub-saharan Africa. They lived in Western Africa in The Kingdom of Dahomey from 1690 - 1901. Dahomey occupied parts of today's Togo, Benin and Nigeria. Enslaved Africans brought the Yoruba religion or Vodun with them when they were forcibly shipped to Haiti and other islands in the West Indies.

The Nok: Vodun's ancient practitioners
"In 1928, archaeologists unearthed artifacts from an amazing culture that flourished from about 500BC to AD200. The archaeologists referred to the ancient culture as the Nok, the name of a modern Nigerian village where they made their discovery."²

The Nok was the first known iron-smelting civilization in West Africa, and
the first known art-producing civilization in sub-saharan Africa.

This video is a "summary of all the essential information concerning the geography,
history, culture, technique and aesthetics of the Nok civilization." – mémoire d'afrique

How the Nok are connected to Ancient Egypt.
Sub-Saharan Africa's [Nok] relation to ancient Egypt can be substantiated [for one] via sociological means such as: "religion, which reveals the Egyptian/Nubian pantheon replicated in Benin, Togo and Nigeria from the Fon, Ewé and Yoruba cultures."³ The Nok culture predates Ancient Egyptian, and evidence from artifacts of Nok civilization shows "that a shamanic religion was established in the Nok society. Certain representations of bird-men, half-sphinx and half-sphinge can be linked to the animism of ancient Egypt."⁴ Also, "archeology, with the excavations carried out in Upper Egypt and Sudan, highlight[ing] the southernmost origin of Egyptian civilization."³

How Vodun/The Ancient Egyptian Cult of Isis connect to Christianity's Cult of the Virgin Mary.

There are a number of points of similarity between Roman Catholicism and Vodun:

• Both believe in a supreme being.

• The Loa [Lwa] resemble Christian Saints, in that they were once people who led exceptional lives, and are usually given a single responsibility or special attribute.

• Both believe in an afterlife.

• Both have, as the centerpiece of some of their ceremonies, a ritual sacrifice and consumption of flesh and blood.

• Both believe in the existence of invisible evil spirits or demons.

• Followers of Vodun believe that each person has a met tet (master of the head) which corresponds to a Christian's patron saint.¹

There is little doubt that early images of the Madonna & Child are based on that of Horus & Isis. "In addition to being the fertile wife of Osiris, Isis is honored for her role as the mother of Horus, one of Egypt's most powerful gods. She was also the divine mother of every pharoah of Egypt, and ultimately of Egypt itself. She assimilated with Hathor, another goddess of fertility, and is often depicted nursing her son Horus. There is a wide belief that this image served as inspiration for the classic Christian portrait of the Madonna and Child."⁵

(left) A bronze statue of Isis nursing Horus from Ptolemaic Egypt;
(right) A famous mediaeval icon of Mary and Jesus.

"In the Roman Empire, the cult of Isis was very popular throughout the Mediterranean area. It focused on the celebration of the mysteries of the death and the resurrection of Osiris. Isis, had been the consort of Osiris, and after his murder she recovered the scattered parts of his body and restored them to life. Osiris then became king of the dead and his son Horus became king of the living. The story of Isis, Osiris and Horus parallels the Christian mysteries of the virgin birth and the resurrection. It is also the origin of the certain [sic] Christian symbol of the Madonna and Child."⁶

Hadrian's Roman coin honoring Isis.

Also indicative of the African influence on Christianity is the fact that there are numerous sites dedicated to the Black Virgin Mary in France, Spain and Italy. The Cult of the Black Virgin reflected the "deeper senses and beliefs of newly Christianized Western Europe at the end of the Roman Period." The Black Madonna of Czestochova, the "queen" of Poland, is a well known religious icon representative of this widespread & dense network of shrines dedicated to the Black Madonna/Virgin Mary.

The Black Virgin Mary of Poland

Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Judaism and many other monotheistic religions (a single omnipotent creator-god rules over the universe along with several hundred lower gods [saints]), can trace their origins back to the religion of Vodun. This is because Vodun is a religion of a single creator-god [Olorun/God] and lesser "spirits" [lwas/saints] that promises eternal life through worship and has many other similar religious traditions reflective of the modern religions that developed later. It is therefore possible to conclude that most major religions are generally derived from Vodun.

Mounted by the spirit of the Lwa.

Mounted by the spirit of the Lord.

Mardi Gras in Haiti

Mardi Gras in Haiti is an exciting, sensuous and spectacular display of Haitian people; their creativity, art, culture, religion and music. Visit Sakapfet.com for information, photos and videos of Mardi Gras in Haiti since 2001. Mardi Gras "always falls on the Tuesday that is 46 days before Easter. It is always the day before Ash Wednesday, which is the start of Lent." Future Mardi Gras dates are: Feb. 24, 2009, February 16, 2010, March 8, 2011 and February 21, 2012.

Featured below are some of photographer Patrice Douge's exciting and beautiful images of Mardi Gras in Haiti. Patrice says, "I am shooting Mardi gras again this year to complete a book project: Mardi Gras in Haiti." Read more about Patrice at his website.

FEBRUARY 2008 CARNIVAL IN HAITI




















© Patrice Douge. All Rights Reserved. All images are copyrighted and shouldn't be copied for promotional purpose without his permission. If you are interested in any of the images please send him an email for rates and use.

Happy Bwa Kayiman day! | Bwa Kayiman 08.14.1791 to 08.14.2008

E, e, Mbomba, e, e! Kanga Bafyòti. Kanga Mundele. Kanga Ndòki. Kanga yo!

Boukman's Righteous Prayer

"The God who created the earth; who created the sun that gives us light. The God who holds up the ocean; who makes the thunder roar. Our God who has ears to hear. You who are hidden in the clouds; who watch us from where you are. You see all that the white has made us suffer. The white men's god asks him to commit crimes. But the God within us wants to do good. Our God, who is so good, so just, He orders us to avenge our wrongs. It's He who will direct our arms and bring us the victory. It's He who will assist us. We all should throw away the image of the white men's god who is so pitiless. Listen to the voice for liberty that sings in all our hearts."

Boukman's Prayer at the Bwa Kayiman Vodun ceremony, the call to action that launched the Haitian Revolution, on August 14, 1791.

Fox News, Why Do You Hate America?

VIDEO: Fox News ambushes Chicago's Father Pfleger,
a Catholic priest and friend of Jeremiah Wright
and Louis Farrakhan and gets an earful.

Fox News' corporate mission, nay religion, is first to get ratings, second to advocate vociferously for the right-wing Republican cabal of George W. Bush and third to wage a war against Americans.

Fox News is anti-black, anti-liberals, anti-left, anti-atheist, anti-Democrats, more attacks on Democrats, anti-Muslim, more anti-Muslim rhetoric, anti-peace activist and troops, anti-gays, anti-vets, anti-immigrants, anti sex abuse victims, Fox attacks... AMERICANS!

Fox News, why do you hate America?