An immoral ritual in Haiti, the existence of which is very difficult to believe in the 21st century (7 photos)

Thousands of Haitians make a pilgrimage every year to Ville Bonheur and the ancient Sault d'Eau waterfall to take part in a rather strange voodoo ritual, worshiping the goddess of love Erzulie.





The penultimate religious activity involves everyone bathing naked in a waterfall and asking for heavenly favors.



Then some extreme participants take part in sexual contacts, sometimes even against the will of another person, writhing in a mixture of dirt and blood of sacrificed animals.



And all this in the 21st century.

But what is this ritual and how does it take place?

A short excursion into history



The Sault d'Eau Falls became a blessed place for Haitians after it was claimed in the 19th century that the real goddess of love appeared on a palm tree near the falls.

Soon the French priest Father Lenuvel became afraid that this would somehow create superstition among the locals and incite them to rebel against the French, so he went down to the waterfalls and cut down all the trees in the area. But as soon as Father Lenuvel returned to his church, he collapsed and fell dead, causing his measures to have the opposite effect.

Soon after the death of Lenuvel's father, the trees and palms near the waterfall began to grow again, and this began to cause more speculation among people. They began to believe that this could not be a coincidence and that the falls must have some kind of supernatural power.

Then another priest named Father Cessens decided to prove to the people that the sudden death of the priest was in fact a coincidence. He went down to the waterfall and cut down the newly grown trees. Unfortunately, he also died a couple of months after the stroke.

All the efforts of the priests to prevent the falls from becoming the subject of superstition proved ineffective, as more and more people began to believe in the supernatural nature of the Sau-d-O Falls, including even the Catholic clergy - after what happened to both priests.

Since then, the Festival of Our Lady of Carmel, a festive three-day festival, has been held at these falls every year from July 14 to 16. During the festival, the Eucharist (Catholic Holy Communion) and the Voodoo ritual are celebrated in honor of the goddess of love, Erzulie. The festival is usually attended by thousands of Haitians.

How does this voodoo ritual take place?



The devotee goes to the site with a calabash (a water flask made from a gourd) as well as gifts to offer to the goddess, before disrobing and diving into the magnificent Sau d'Eau waterfall.

Also, local voodoo shamans sacrifice a chicken before the ritual begins, and then sprinkle its blood on the water of the waterfall so that pilgrims can enter the water and begin the ritual.

From time to time, the bathers begin to scream, suddenly possessed by Erzulie (the goddess of love). Humming, rolling their eyes, falling into the water or onto the rocks, they seem oblivious to the fast current and sharp edges. People nearby rush towards them, taking advantage of Erzulie's presence to whisper prayers and direct requests into their ears (they ask for everything from a good harvest to a visa to go to the US).



At such moments, some couples begin to have sex right in the water in front of people, and some men in an “obsessed” state may begin to pester lonely pilgrims, and they very rarely refuse, so as not to offend the goddess.

The water in the local waterfall is believed to promote fertility, and it is for this reason that couples wishing to have children often come to the festival. During this festival, single women also often enjoy some degree of sexual freedom for the purpose of procreation or improving their love life.



In the water, people take off all their clothes, as part of the entire Voodoo purification ritual, all old clothes must be thrown away and left in the water.

What do you think about such a ritual?

Would you take part in it?