Easter Haiti style: Voodoo followers sacrifice goats, smear themselves in animal blood then dance themselves into a trance during annual religious ceremony

Easter Haiti style: Voodoo followers sacrifice goats, smear themselves in animal blood then dance themselves into a trance during annual religious ceremony

Haitian voodoo followers gathered in village of Souvenance, north of Port-au-Prince, for annual holy ceremony


Worshippers wear all-white, sacrifice animals, bathe in a sacred pool and dance themselves into trance states

Many Voodoo holy days coincide with Catholic ones as it was a way for slaves to conceal religion from their masters

Hundreds of Haitian Voodoo followers gathered for the annual religious ceremony in Souvenance a suburb of Gonaives, north of Port-au-Prince, on Easter Sunday. 
Believers had made the annual pilgrimage to their holy temple, Souvenance Mystique, where they expressed their devotion to the spirits - loas - by taking part in a number of rituals.



Each year, followers dress in all-white, sacrifice animals, bathe in a sacred pool and dance themselves into a trance as they celebrate one of the holiest days in the Voodoo calendar.  

Celebration: Haitian voodoo followers bathe in a sacred pool during the annual voodoo festival held during Easter weekend in Souvenance

Gathering: Each year, hundreds of Voodoo followers travel to the small suburb of Souvenance, Gonaives, 106miles north of Port-au-Prince


Haitian voodoo followers with blood covered clothes from an animal sacrifice dance while taking part in the annual voodoo ceremony

Men and women could be seen dancing outside the temple, having stained their white clothes with the blood from goats that had been sacrificed.
Some held wooden or real machetes, while others danced until they entered a trance state, and a number of worshippers took the opportunity to swim in a nearby pool which is believed to be sacred.
Voodoo was brought to Haiti by slaves from West Africa, but did not become a recognised religion by the Caribbean country until the 1960s.


Many Voodoo rituals and holy celebrations coincide with events in the Catholic Christian faith as this was the religion of the French Haitian slavemasters.

Slaves were forbidden from practising their Voodoo faith, so by celebrating the same days as their Catholic masters, they were able to conceal their religion. 

Haitian Vodouisants sacrifice goats, dance in trances in 2013

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