The Divinity of Trees

A Vodou ceremony under a Mapou tree.

It's a classic scenario: a person lives at the edge of a forest, a person needs go into the forest to do something, he or she faces adversity in the forest, and hopefully, he or she will get out safe and sound.

The same is more or less true for the story of Ti-Jean with one huge exception: in Haiti, no forest is just a forest, and no tree is just a tree. First and foremost, a tree symbolizes the vertical line. The concept of the crossroads is of critical import in Vodou; they represent the intersection of the physical (horizontal) world and the spiritual (vertical) world, guarded by Legba, the loa of the crossroads, who can open the gate between the worlds. Hence, trees are natural manifestations of the spiritual world in the physical world. Where the two worlds meet at the base of the tree, represents this intersection and is key to the Vodou ceremony. The poteau-mitan (center post) of the peristyle (ritual enclosure) is indicative of this crossroads and is used when sacred trees are unavailable -- as such, all offerings and prayers are directed toward the intersection of the post and the ground.

Vodouisants in the peristyle during a ceremony. The poteau-mitan is seen on the right, surrounded by drums.

But while trees in general are receptors of spirituality, certain trees stand out in this respect, like the Mapou tree. Mapou trees (also known as kapok and matipo trees) are believed to be nexuses of spiritual energy and hosts to nefarious spirits. The tree is physically intimidating, ranging in height from 45-100 feet tall, with large buttressed above-ground roots. The trees are found all over the Caribbean, Central and South America, and are considered sacred by myriad cultures, including the Maya and the now-extinct Taino people of pre-Columbian Hispaniola.

I came across this travel blog for an American pair of Christian missionaries canvassing Haiti after the January 12 earthquake. They related the following story (keep in mind they're probably on the same page as Pat Robertson in the video below):

"There is a Mapou tree north of here and in 2004, the 200th anniversary of the curse, some pastors felt impressed to go to that tree and pray God's deliverance on it and from the curse. They prayed and heard spirits screaming as they left the tree. When the voodoo priests went to do their thing at the tree, it no longer worked (whatever 'it' was) and they complained to the officials. Political people are voodoo followers or at least partial to it so they arrested the pastors. The pastors were told to put the spirits back in the tree. God gave them wisdom and they told the officials that because they were their authorities and scripture says to obey our authorities, they would do as they said. However, they had one problem, they told them. 'Our scriptures only give direction on how to remove spirits; not how to put them back in.' And so, they were released. That tree fell over and died."

A Mapou tree.

Mapou were heavily attacked because of the rejete, the systematic and highly successful attempt by the Catholic Church to suppress the Vodou religion in Haiti (largely spurred on by the American occupation of the country from 1915-1934). However, the trees are still respected, revered and worshiped throughout the country. Lots of folklore has sprung up about the trees, and how they can be homes to all sorts of supernatural forces, from loup garou to bacalou, little man-eating sorcerers who party and grind the bones of their prey at night (which is why any Haitian will tell you, don't go near a Mapou tree after dark!) In a lot of the tales, the trunk of the tree opens up and is hollow inside.

Mapou, however, are not the only sacred trees; the Banana trees have a special significance as they are identified with the Fig tree in the Bible (another intersection of Vodou and Judeo-Christianity). For the Haitian, it is the Banana tree that represents the tree of knowledge and the banana that is the forbidden fruit. Milo Rigaud explains the parallels between the loa and the banana tree in his book Secrets of Voodoo.

"As the centerpost [Poteau-mitan] is the Voodoo sun, and inasmuch as the solar life renews itself by its daily rising and setting, the banana tree never ceases to renew itself by its shoots. Its perpetual outgrowings symbolize eternal life. The banana tree is, moreover, like the gods, hermaphroditic as to its flowers" (Rigaud 98-100).

In our sheltered, secular Western society, trees can be easily overlooked as functional plants that are good for the environment and heighten aesthetics. If we look deeper into the mythology, folklore, and religious practice behind them, a completely different world can be revealed.

A banana tree.