Voodoo Fire In Haiti

by Richard A. Loederer, Lois Wilcken (Foreword)

Originally published in Germany in 1932, Loederer's account of his adventures in Haiti has long been out of print. The author's own Art Deco-style woodcuts add to the exotic appeal of this volume, which chronicles the vanishing African traditions of the island's people.

Genres: Anthropology, Occult

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1935

Reviews

[Daren · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and broad overview of Haiti as visited by the author in (presumably) the early 1930s, the book having been published in 1935. Translated from German, it reads well.

An adventurous fellow, the author travels over much of Haiti, by boat (close border with the Dominican Republic), public and private transport and even by horse on a few occasions. He travels with locals who offer to host him or alone, but either way manages to involve himself in local goings on, visiting the tourist spots a little, but mostly off the main routes and into the more remote areas where he is exposed to the voodoo and culture of the natives, including their sexually charged dances and voodoo rituals. The time the author spends with white men who have lived long term in Haiti provide some of the more interesting experiences.

While the book perhaps loses its way a little in the middle third, which is a long chapter called Polychromata and contains short essays on various topics. The first third focusses on travel and culture, with a mix of history. The final third focuses more on the history of King Henri Christophe and on voodoo. King Christophe was involved in the revolution (against French rule) and rose to power as others fell away. He started in promising fashion, but soon became a ruthless and unpopular leader. Loederer visits Christophe's Citadelle Laferriere (referred to a La Ferriere in the book) - a fortress on a mountaintop, complete with dungeons and a mausoleum occupied by Christophe, as he committed suicide while the people and army were rioting and baying for his blood. Loederer writes this history as an engaging story. The last part of the book picks up on the title and deals with voodoo and black magic, culminating in the voodoo fire festival.

Worth mentioning, as they were a highlight, are Loederer's woodcut artworks in the book - there are around forty, most an entire page, and he shows good talent. There are plenty of buildings and landscapes, but the best are African men and women, mostly nudes, and often pictured in dance.

A short quote to finish.
P273

"Voodoo is supreme. The Christian missionaries of a dozen different denominations may go on fighting to suppress the ancient dances and rituals. They will never succeed. Haiti is, and always will be - Haiti!"

4 stars.

[Kimberly]

1930's Adventurer's look at Haiti--treks through jungle, voo doo rituals, mulatto "Dominicains" all with a hilariously white-Euro perspective. I picked up some interesting cultural tid-bits, but mostly scimmed past Safari masochism.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be wonderful. I had seen first hand some voodoo rites in Haiti in 1988 and it was not much different from what the author saw 55 years earlier. lots of fun to read.

[Jönathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read more interesting books on Haiti. Apparently the author wasn't sure if he was writing a travelogue or a pulp novel, and the publishers decided it was a pulp novel. I guess it would be an excellent, if old-fashioned book if it had stuck to one or the other, there are some wonderful factual descriptions of 1930's Haitian life and on the other hand there's some dated, racist, campy and mainly fictional sounding descriptions of Voodoo rituals that sound like they were written by Ian Fleming, Sax Rohmer or H.P. Lovecraft (not that there's anything wrong with that.) At one point he meets a white guy who has been living in the jungle who sounds just like Kurz from Conrad's "Heart of Darkness."

I would have preferred it if this book knew what it was instead of having this weirdly confusing identity crisis.