Voodoo and the Bicameral Mind

Discussion of Julian Jaynes's second hypothesis - the bicameral mind, specifically the subtopics of the implications of the bicameral mind theory for religion, neurotheology, and the origin of religion.
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minnespectrum
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Jul 11, 2023 3:12 pm

Voodoo and the Bicameral Mind

Post by minnespectrum »

Because of the ongoing violence in Haiti, I started researching more into the history of the country. Specifically, I wanted to see what is motivating one of the gang leaders responsible for the recent attacks (Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier). One article I read mentioned that he admires former dictator François Duvalier, aka “Papa Doc”. So then I started reading up on Papa Doc, and found this:

Duvalier fostered his cult of personality and claimed that he was the physical embodiment of the island nation. He also revived the traditions of Vodou, later using them to consolidate his power with his claim of being a Vodou priest himself. In an effort to make himself even more imposing, Duvalier deliberately modeled his image on that of Baron Samedi, one of the lwa, or spirits, of Haitian Vodou. He often donned sunglasses in order to hide his eyes and talked with the strong nasal tone associated with the lwa.

Duvalier also held in his closet the head of former opponent Blucher Philogenes, who tried to overthrow him in 1963.[27]: 132  He believed another political enemy, Clément Barbot, was able to change at will into a black dog and had the militia begin killing black dogs on sight in the capital.

I’m guessing Julian Jaynes wasn’t familiar with Vodou, which is a shame, because many aspects of it seem potentially amenable to a Jaynesian interpretation. The term zombie is of Haitian origin, and it has been postulated that “real” zombies may have actually existed, either by using psychoactive drugs (tetrodotoxin is one hypothesized mechanism), or simply as a culture-bound syndrome that leads people to believe that they (or others) are zombies. If drugs are involved, perhaps they worked by suppressing Jaynesian consciousness and thus allowing a more bicameral, “zombified” mentality to take its place.

Of course, most Vodou rituals don’t involve zombies at all, contrary to the impression one might get from Hollywood. But even the more “ordinary” aspects of the religion likely still have bicameral qualities. The fact that a spirit is said to speak with a particular vocal tone (and that Duvalier deliberately talked this way in order to embody the spirit), makes me think of Jaynesian hallucinations. Spirit possession by Iwas is also a part of Vodou as well.

The part about Duvalier keeping his enemy’s head in the closet also makes me wonder if he kept it around so he could keep talking to it, which would be a very Jaynesian behavior. The article doesn’t say, and maybe he only did it to scare other would-be traitors into obeying him. I’m not sure if anyone knows at this point.

I think one of the reasons why Jaynes’ theory hasn’t caught on widely in Western countries is because you have to invoke thousands-of-years-old history to explain it, including ancient religious beliefs that have long since faded into obscurity following the rise of monotheism. But that’s only true from a Western-centric view of history. It seems like Vodou could potentially provide a better starting point with which to explain the bicameral mind to ordinary people, because it’s far more recent (and in some parts of the world, is still practiced to this day). Many people in the USA are at least somewhat familiar with it, too, partly due to the association with New Orleans.
bmcveigh
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Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2020 5:13 pm

Re: Voodoo and the Bicameral Mind

Post by bmcveigh »

Jaynes devoted a chapter to spirit possession, something widely practiced in Haiti. So he would appreciate the connection to Vodou. Yes, indeed, you're right that to understand Jaynes, we have to "invoke thousands-of-years-old history to explain it, including ancient religious beliefs that have long since faded into obscurity following the rise of monotheism." As you write, in many other places besides Haiti, spirit possession, divination, etc. are routine practices. Except for anthropologists and certain researchers, those "living traditions," while not necessarily ignored, are marginalized. And good point that things like Vodou "could potentially provide a better starting point with which to explain the bicameral mind to ordinary people, because it’s far more recent (and in some parts of the world, is still practiced to this day." I suspect that for a variety of historical reasons, the Abrahamic spiritual lineage (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) has become a sort of implicit standard by which even unbelievers measure the worth of other traditions that fall outside Abrahamic monotheism. It seems many assume monotheism is more intellectually palatable (even more "advanced"?), than polytheistic religions or faiths that see a blurry line between God/gods/spirits and humans. Pushing God out into some ineffable place, far from and above nature (transcendent), seems to somehow "domesticate" the Godhead so we don't have to take its existence seriously, but we can still keep a small corner of our lives "religious."
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