Today I spent the morning interviewing Marion, the uncle of my summer host, and a local Voodoo expert. Marion has been studying Voodoo his entire life, but also understands my Western perspective since her studied mathematics in US and other places abroad. It was nice to interview someone in English! He is 84 and although he had a stroke last year, he is doing well (mostly sustains himself on Ensure and the local beer, Prestige).
He spent a lot of time explaining the differences between good Voodoo and bad Voodoo (he only practices good Voodoo of course, but knows about both kinds). All in all it seems extremely complicated. For example, if I had an enemy that was pregnant and I wanted her to die or lose the baby I would go to a Voodoo priestess (only a female will do). She then has to mix poisons, preferably into a food, and then trick a close friend or family member to feed my enemy the poison. However, if my enemy catches wind that I am trying to harm her, all she needs to do is find a Voodoo priestess with a more powerful spirit than the one I hired. If the baby is born healthy I will know that my priestess lost to a more powerful priestess.
He also told me that Voodoo services are extremely expensive; 700 to 1,000 gourde (between $17 and $25 US) is the going rate to have an enemy killed. This is interesting because many women say they can't afford to come in for prenatal care which costs only 50 gourdes ($1.50 US), but I guess people find the money when they really need it. I definitely learned a lot from Marion, and before I left he asked me to recommend his services to the pregnant women I interview if they are in need of good Voodoo!
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