An important African spiritual practice that
bears discussion regarding Vodoun is the art of bocio. Bocio comes
from the Fon words bo 'empowered' and cio 'cadaver'. They are
sculptures or objects that accumulate, transfer or transpose spiritual energies
for healing or protective purposes. Their primary form in Africa was a statuette
that had an odd assortment of objects attached or bound to it. These assemblages
primary purpose are to diffuse feelings of fear and distress in the owner, or
to attract beneficial influence over such situations.
In Africa, these objects were usually commissioned by a commoner in order to
get a sense of empowerment and protection from the elite, in order to "influence
community and societal relationships." The use of cords and binding in these
commoner bocio is directly related to their owners feelings of anxiety
and disempowerment regarding enslavement at the hands of the elite; they are
designed "to relieve related concerns in the face of life's lesser and greater
traumas."
In Haiti and elsewhere in the Americas these same traditions are re-presented
in the vodoo doll. Their presence can even be discerned in the Salem Witch trials
in the dolls the Barbados housekeeper Tituba used as love poppets. These bocio-like
traditions can be seen in the pacquet-congo, or congo packages, attack
medicines, as well as the talismans called garde-corps, or 'body-guards'
used to protect escaped maroons, during the Haitian Revolution; both
of which were bound with cords.
These objects, used in Africa and throughout the Diaspora, are a matter of survival.
They are their owner's aspirations for a better existence; whether it be to
avoid enslavement at the hands of the elite, or for a lover to be found, or
that a sick calf survive. They represent a focal point for their owner's anxiety
and a doorway for the spirits to enter.
Works consulted
Blier, Suzanne P. African Vodun: Art, Psychology & Power. Chicago: University Press, 1995.
Hurbon, Laënnec. Voodou: Search for the Spirit. New York: Abrams, 1995.