. There are no gender, , age, , or nationalorigin requirements, neither is anyone asked to renounce a pre-existingreligious affiliation. In Haiti, the vast majority of Vodouisants are alsoRoman Catholics.There are various levels of participation, of course, just as in most otherreligions. A Vodou ceremony is public, and anyone may enter the peristyle,or temple, and observe. Singing and dancing are encouraged. Becausethere is no centralized hierarchy paying salaries to Houngans and Mambos,and because a peristyle is private property, it is considered normal foruninitiated participants to make a small cash gift. This money is used todefray the cost of the drummers, food which is offered to the participants,and the general upkeep of the peristyle and of the Houngan or Mambo incharge. This is often hard to understand for people raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition, where priests, ministers, and rabbis are salariedprofessionals.Individuals who have an initiatory grade may participate in private ceremonies pertaining to other individuals of their own grade or lower. Aperson with a lower grade may not participate in a ceremony conferring ahigher grade of initiation, because the knowledge imparted is secret andbecause they are not competent to do so....
