Vodou in the New World In reading and researching about Haitian Vodou one aspect of the religion that absolutely intrigued me was the how the African belief system progressed and evolved with the transportation of its practitioners, the African slaves, to the New World. First of all, it amazes me how the French thought that the way to take power from the African slaves and gain control over them was to take away their sense of identity and community from them. They saw immediately how empowering their religion is, and that its power emerges from the way that the importance is given to their community and how they see each other as family. It is fascinating to see how despite being oppressed by the French, the African slaves did not let go…show more content… Claudine Michel in Vodou in Haiti: Way of Life and Mode of Survival found from the Journal of Haitian Studies states: “We are not only accountable for our individual acts, but we are also responsible for people around us in that each of our actions and deeds influences the balance of the outer world” (102). It is remarkable how, although they were ripped apart from their families and separated from each other, the African slaves still managed to keep their sense of community and extended their familial customs to the other African slaves, who now became their family. It is perhaps because of the fact that not only did they understand each other, but they also understood each other’s pain and suffering from being under the oppression of the French, that they managed to stay together and see each other as a…show more content… These new elements are part of the new identity of these African slaves and a symbol of their creativity in finding new ways to worship the spirits, ways that were true to their experiences together. Consentino argues that the belief in a spiritual energy that can be found anywhere led to, them Vodouizing the nature in this New World, and states: “The mud pits at Plaine du Nord were the portals of Ogun. The waterfall at Sodo was recognized as the bath of Erzuli. The beach at Miragoane were seen as the birthplace of Guede”