Saut-d'Eau (; ) is a
commune in the
Mirebalais Arrondissement, in the
Centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
department of
Haiti
Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...
. It has 34,885 inhabitants.
Its name is French for 'waterfall', named after a large waterfall called 'Le Saut'. It is said that this waterfall was created in the
massive earthquake of May 7, 1842.
The waterfall is approximately 100 feet high and is the tallest in Haiti.
[
The area holds cultural significance in Haiti, to both ]Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and Vodou practitioners. In the 19th century, it is believed that the Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (or the closely associated Erzulie Dantor
Èzili Dantò or Erzulie Dantor is the main loa (or ''lwa'') or senior spirit of the Petro loa, Petro family in Haitian Vodou. Ezili Danto, or Èzili Dantò, is the "manifestation of Erzulie, the divinity of love." It is said that Ezili Danto has ...
, a Vodou loa
, also called loa, are spirits in the African diaspora religions, African diasporic religion of Haitian Vodou and Dominican Vudú. They have also been incorporated into some revivalist forms of Louisiana Voodoo. Many of the lwa derive their iden ...
) appeared on a palm tree there.
In some accounts, this appearance is said to have occurred during the 1860s.[Alain R. Thermil and Amy L. Sheaffer (2005). "Perceptions of Haitians Toward Tourism Development in Rural Haiti" (pp. 200-208) in: ] Another account states that there were two appearances of the Virgin in the 1840s and later in the 1880s.[Davis (2010) states on page 170 that "On July 16, 1843, and then again on the same day in 1881, the Virgin Mary appeared on the top of a palm tree near the village of Ville Bonheur..."]
In Laguerre's detailed account, an apparition of the Virgin Mary first reported in Saut d'Eau on July 16, 1849, by a man reportedly named Fortune Morose.[ In numerous oral accounts collected by Laguerre from local people, the young man went away in fear but returned shortly accompanied by a police officer. Together, they found a portrait of the apparition on the leaf of a nearby palm tree.
Trees where the apparition took place are reported to have been cut down by French priests. In Laguerre's description, the locals "have fresh in their memory" that
Annually, the falls are the site of a large, important religious ]pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...
, during the festival of Our Lady of Carmel, from July 14–16.[ A Eucharistic rite is held during the festival, as well as various vodou rituals, but the penultimate devotional activity is bathing in the waters of the falls, and asking favors of the Virgin or Erzulie.
The water is also sacred to the loa Damballah and Ayida Wedo, the book '' The Serpent and the Rainbow'' is named for their appearance at this site.
The pilgrimage has been described as an excellent "example of the syncretic nature of Haitian religious life. In Ville-Bonheur there is a Mass, and the church's statue of the Virgin is paraded around town, while at the falls there are Vodou baptisms and ceremonies.... Ville-Bonheur throngs with people who happily attend both religious gatherings".]
References
External links
Saut d'Eau, Ville-Bonheur
(3:47, YouTube), video by Rene Durocher
La Vierge Miracle de Sodo
(7:43, English subtitles, YouTube), describes festival from a Catholic perspective
{{Communes of Haiti
Populated places in Centre (department)
Communes of Haiti