James Duvalier

It is a common feature of the many Afro-Caribbean religions born as a result of colonization and the slave trade (Vodou, Candomblé, Santería, Obeah etc.) that each element of nature and of the human condition is represented by a spiritual force. In Santería and Candomblé these spiritual manifestations of the natural world are called Orishas or Orixas and in Vodou they are known as “lwa.” The Orisha that is the embodiment of the ocean is Yemaya, known…
Continue Reading

Years ago, when I worked as a classroom assistant and tutor at an elementary school in Massachusetts, I had a colleague from Haiti and one day shortly before the holiday break we were discussing our plans for Christmas and New Years’ and she mentioned a traditional soup that Haitians both in Haiti and the diaspora eat on New Year’s Day: Soupe Joumou (in Creole) or Soupe au giraumon (in French). This is a fragrant, flavorful soup with…
Continue Reading

In many countries in Europe, Saint Nicholas’s Day, the 6th of December, is seen as an early Christmas celebration and indeed the kickoff to the Christmas season, much like Thanksgiving Day in the United States. On the night before his feast day, children will lay out their shoes by the front door, next to the fireplace or under their beds and the next morning they will be filled with candies, cookies and small toys after a supposed…
Continue Reading

As we approach the end of the November, Americans often busy themselves with plans for the Thanksgiving holiday. It is a hectic time of year that involves much travelling and preparing the home to receive guests and of course cooking. All of this can be quite stressful, but I have always found Thanksgiving to be one of my favorite holidays probably second only to Halloween. I have fond childhood memories or helping my grandmother make stuffing and…
Continue Reading

As the weather becomes warmer and the trees and flowers start to bloom I inevitably think of the feast of St. George which according to a popular Romanian legend is the day when the saint opens the door to summer. St. Andrew’s Day, of which I have blogged previously, is the day in which St. Andrew opens the door to winter. Curiously the eve before both of these holy days is associated in many Eastern European countries…
Continue Reading