Fèt Gede: C3 Éditions offers twelve books to understand Haitian Vodou

"Too often, we talk about Vodou without really knowing what it is." With that observation, made in Creole, the Haitian publisher C3 Éditions presents a selection of twelve books on Vodou in early November, the season of Fèt Gede. The publisher invites readers to read, to ask questions and to move past the prejudices that keep people from understanding this heritage.

The list opens with "Les Mystères du vodou" by Laënnec Hurbon. In seven chapters, the sociologist traces the history of Haitian Vodou from the slave trade to the post-dictatorship years, through the American occupation and the so-called "anti-superstition" campaign.

Also included is "De la préhistoire d'Afrique à l'histoire d'Haïti" by Jean Price-Mars, author of "Ainsi parla l'oncle". One title is listed as coming soon: "Le Statut des femmes dans le vodou en Haïti", credited to Laënnec Hurbon and Valérie Baeriswyl.

Haitian authors of today

The selection gives wide room to contemporary authors: Reynold Eustache, with the two volumes of "Le vodou et la Résistance Ayisyèn Permanente"; Yves Pierre-Louis, with "Le Haut Pouvoir métaphysique du vodou" and "Vodou-Christos"; Maurice Casséus ("Mambo"), Milady Auguste ("Sur les traces de Man Bonne"), Jean-Pierre Richard Narcisse ("Depa Klèreniz") and Rosmy Parady Millien ("Du chemin de croix au chemin de loas"). "Les Mystères des grandes religions" by Caril J. Bendela Versailles is marked as out of print.

Listed prices range from 500 to 6,000 gourdes.