On January 12, 2010 at 16 hours 53 minutes, the largest earthquake of magnitude 7 in the last 200 years in a matter of minutes killed, according to various estimates, from 200 to 300 thousand people. The capital of the Republic of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, and all the villages around it were destroyed. The destruction is such that it may take a quarter of a century to recover
Perhaps it was the most terrible disaster caused by the riot of the underground element. Of course, there have been earthquakes and more powerful. The strongest in the history of instrument observations were: the Great Chilean Earthquake of 1960 (magnitude from 9.3 to 9.5 points) and the Great Alaska Earthquake (its magnitude was 9.1-9.2 points). In the first case, about 6 thousand people died.
people, in the second element took away 131 lives. The worst in the number of victims in the history of mankind was the earthquake of 1556 in (Ansu and Shaanxi (China) - 830,000 people died there. However, the population of China at that time was about 200 million people, and therefore the losses were only about 0.4-0, 5% of the total population of the country. Republic (Haiti lost about 2.5-3.5% of its population at once. For comparison: in 4 years of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet Union lost about 14% of its population, or an average of 3, 5% a year. Losses from natural disasters like the Haitian ones have not been borne by any state - nowhere and never.
Does this tragedy have a secret background? Who is to blame for the misfortunes that befell
to the island? Will Haiti remain on the world map? Let's try to find answers to these questions.
Magic is accused
American religious and political figure, well-known television preacher Pat Robertson already shocked the world community 5 years ago, declaring that the devastating hurricane Katrina was a punishment sent by the Lord to the people of the United States for their sins. And on January 14 of this year, when international rescue teams were just flying up to Haiti, Robertson declared that the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti was a consequence of the "agreement" between the inhabitants of the island and the devil. But the Haitians are on friendly terms with him. It is not for nothing that they have professed voodoo from time immemorial - the most terrible religion on Earth.
The founder of the Christian television company CBN, Pat Robertson, blamed the current tragedy on the short-sighted ancestors of the Haitians. Once upon a time, during the reign of Napoleon, the islanders were under the heel of the French. To get rid of foreign domination, the inhabitants (Haiti repeatedly raised uprisings, but the French repeatedly dealt with the recalcitrant natives. And then “they gathered and swore to conclude an agreement with the devil, assuring him that they would serve him if he freed them from the French. This is a real story. And the devil said: "Okay, so be it!" - quoted by CNN Robertson.
The Haitians defeated the French colonists in 1804 and declared independence. “You know, the Haitians revolted and declared themselves free. But since then they have been cursed,”the preacher is sure. Despite the curse, the inhabitants of the island continued to perform their dark rituals and worship the devil. This means that their sins have increased a hundredfold during all this time. The retribution turned out to be cruel - a terrible earthquake that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
On January 18, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, made several theses that the media called “amazing”. Speaking about the earthquake in Haiti, the patriarch noted that the cause of the current disasters in Haiti is, among other things, the loss of moral character by the inhabitants of this country. According to the patriarch, the people of Haiti could have avoided great losses and more easily endured the dire consequences of the devastating earthquake, if they had mobilized in time and helped each other. “Haiti is a country of poverty and crime, hunger, drug addiction, corruption, loss of people's moral image,” with these words, according to the Ferghana.ru news agency, the patriarch, who was called to be an example of Christian humility and tolerance for his flock, fell upon the affected region and mercy. - Many of these troubles lie,primarily, not in the area of social policy, but stem from the deep state of the human spirit."
It is enough to say one word - "voodoo", and the darkest memories awaken: fatal curses, dolls stuck with needles, cannibalism, sacrifice of babies, zombies rising from the grave. Is it all true?
In fact, the voodoo religion is divided into black and white. White voodoo sorcerers - Ungans (men) and mambo (women) - are not so scary. They are engaged in worldly affairs: heal people and livestock, drive out failure, return unfaithful wives and husbands to the bosom of the family, cause rain or, conversely, stop it. In short, jack of all trades. They do all these deeds with the help of loa - good and evil spirits that surround people from all sides, only mere mortals are not allowed to see them. But magicians not only see them, but also communicate with them during their rituals, the main of which is the feast of Power.
So, a long pole is stuck into the center of the dwelling. The leaders - mambo and ungan - consecrate the pole, the altar and those present. Three drummers, clearly beating each
rhythm, announce the beginning of the ceremony. The sorcerers draw on a song addressed to Papa Legba, the mediator between the loa and the magicians: “Dear Papa Legba, open the gate, let me pass. I want to ask you for help."
Mambo and his assistants draw a magic circle on the ground with water - so that evil spirits cannot interfere with the sacrament. As soon as the witch paints a cross, circles and a human heart with flour on the floor, wild dances begin. After the audience warms up, the sorcerer lets in a rooster, whose head is immediately chopped off. The headless bird rushes among the dancers, and when the last of its strength leaves it, the rooster is hung upside down and ripped open with a ritual knife. At the same time, grace descends on people, and they fall into a trance. To a large extent, this is facilitated by abundant rum libations.
All this, in spite of good goals, from the point of view of Christianity, is absolutely godless, because it is called obsession. In voodoo, this is a practical goal. The Haitians themselves say about this: “A Catholic goes to church to talk about God; a voodoo player dances in the courtyard of the temple to become a god."
Contract murder The
black voodoo sorcerers, the bokors, are another matter. They are able to squeeze any person out of the world. Bokor's magical arsenal contains extremely powerful means of influencing people.
One of them is the world-famous voodoo doll. It looks like this: a doll is molded from wax and poked with a needle in the area of the heart, pronouncing a special spell. The unfortunate man, whom the doll represents, begins to ache with terrible force and may even die. He is buried, observing the appropriate rites. And a few days later, at the behest of the sorcerer, they dig it out. Bokor performs a certain ritual over the deceased, and the deceased comes to life. He cannot speak, does not show any emotions - but he can follow the orders of the sorcerer.
Another way to control the mind of another person is extremely simple: just moisten the soles of his shoes with a magic liquid - “conquering oil”. And from that moment on, the victim will become obedient to the will of the bokor.
Another sure way to deal with an unwanted person is to write his name on paper thirteen times. Then the sorcerer covers the paper with a layer of a special powder and burns it at midnight. From this moment on, the soul and body of the victim become obedient to the will of the bokor.
Bokor sorcerers lead secret societies, worship the devil, and perform their terrible rituals at night and always in the cemetery. Among the natives, there is an opinion that turning people into zombies is revenge for the bokor on the one who did not please him during his lifetime.
Unfortunately, all modern researchers are inclined to believe that black voodoo magic is not a terrible fairy tale, but an absolute and bloody reality. How awful? It is not known for certain. But even in our enlightened age, none of the researchers dares to open the veil of secrecy … The
terrible old woman
Historical documents record a story, the main character of which, a black sorceress, who got on board the ship of Count Gennes, heading in 1696 to the shores of the French colonies, was able to "dry" the heart or liver of any person. It all began with the fact that on one of the islands, at which the schooner of Count Gönnes made a stop to replenish supplies of fresh water, sailors who went ashore soon dragged an obstinate elderly Negro woman to the gangway. Not understanding what was the matter, the count immediately demanded explanations from the sailors.
One of them said that last year, when the schooner, as now, stopped at this island to replenish the water, this very old woman only lightly touched one of the sailors who went ashore, and he immediately collapsed to the ground, dead. Last time the sorceress managed to escape, but today she was still caught.
Count Yennes, of course, did not believe the sailors' "nonsense" and was about to order the unfortunate old woman to be released, but at that moment the Negro woman, who did not understand a word of the conversation that was conducted next to her, contrived and kicked the Count with force in the stomach. Not expecting such a turn of events, Gennes grimaced in pain, and the sailors, weighed heavy cuffs to the old woman, dragged her to the schooner. On the deck, the boatswain whipped the woman several times with the end of the rope, after which he ordered her to be tied to the gun barrel and severely flogged.
The sorceress, recovering from the beatings, announced through the interpreter in the carriage that the boatswain's cruelty would cost him dearly. The boatswain just laughed loudly in response and ordered the sailors to whip the old woman again.
And two days later he … died in terrible agony!
The ship's doctor, who had heard about the wonders of voodoo sorcerers, decided to perform an autopsy before burying the body in the ocean according to naval custom. His hair stood on end from what he saw. An autopsy revealed that the deceased boatswain's heart and liver were dry as gunpowder!
The doctor reported everything to the captain, who in turn reported to the owner of the schooner, Count Gennes. After consulting, they, before drawing any conclusions, decided to test the witch and through the interpreter asked her to show her "black art".
The witch asked if there was any fruit or something on the ship. The captain replied that there are several pumpkins. Show me them, she demanded. When the pumpkins were brought, the black woman, having carefully examined each vegetable, added: "Without touching them, I promise to eat them within 24 hours." Count Gönnes and the captain accepted the challenge and locked the pumpkins in a key box. The next morning, having unlocked the lock, they, to their satisfaction, found them intact. This premature joy, however, was replaced by surprise when the captain decided to lift one of the pumpkins. It, like everyone else, by the way, turned out to be empty: only the peel, dried like parchment, remained of the pumpkin!
The captain and the count, who had personally verified the incredible strength of the witch, immediately promised to send her back to her native island if the old woman did not harm anyone else. The sorceress agreed, and the captain immediately gave the command to change the route and return to the "damned" island …
UNKNOWN GODS OF A NEW WORLD
Where did this strange religion - voodoo come from? The conventional wisdom that it originated in Africa is incorrect. Her homeland is precisely Haiti. The island served as a kind of staging post - slaves were brought there, who were then transported to the territory of the modern United States. Some remained in Haiti and gradually mixed with the indigenous population, not forgetting, however, their rituals, which they carried out from West Africa. Over time, the beliefs of local and foreign alike became strongly intertwined and a new cult was formed.
When the colonialists finally overwhelmed the population of Haiti, they decided to tackle its "moral character". And suddenly they realized that things had gone too far. The islanders worshiped some unknown gods and performed rituals that were frightening in their incomprehensibility. Then the authorities opened a merciless "witch hunt". Anyone who was convicted of addiction to voodoo faced a sad fate - torture and execution. And in order to exterminate the mysterious faith in its roots, they all began to convert to Catholicism.
Voodooists, as if in mockery, began to use the attributes of the Catholic faith in their rituals. This is how that very explosive mixture called voodoo appeared.
The new religion proved to be a profitable export commodity. She was worshiped in Jamaica and Trinidad. She also reached Cuba, only there it was transformed into a religion called Santeria: African rites remained unchanged, and French Catholicism was replaced by Catholicism with a Spanish bias. But by and large, all the religions of the Caribbean are in one way or another similar to each other. It cannot be otherwise - after all, everyone has common roots.
But the conquest of new living spaces of voodoo did not end there. Religion gained the greatest popularity on the American continent, and especially in Miami, New York and New Orleans. At the same time, everywhere voodoo gave rise to something of its own: new views, rituals. Today, it has several million adherents around the globe. But it was only in Haiti that the voodoo cult developed to such an extent that it became the country's national religion and hallmark.