Tag: Virgin Mary

Matthias Grunewald, Isenheim Altarpiece
Sound, Visual Art

German Composer’s Paean to a Healing Work of Renaissance Art

One of the 20th Century’s most influential composers, Paul Hindemith created the neo-classical-folk-inspired symphony Mathis der Maler, based on the life of the mysterious 16th Century painter Matthias Grunewald, whose masterpiece associated Saint Anthony and the Virgin Mary with the miraculous cure of the epidemic skin disease called St. Anthony’s Fire.

Saut d’Eau Waterfalls, Haiti, Vodou, Voodoo
Rituals and Traditions

Haitian Vodou: Summoning the Spirits

Like several West African religions, Vodouisants believe in a supreme being called Bondyè, from bon “good” + dyè “God.” Because Bondyè is unreachable, Vodouisants aim their prayers to lesser entities, the spirits known as Lwa (Loa), contacted and served through possession. In turn, the Lwa confer material blessings, physical well-being, protection, abundance.