Abstract
Anyone who has either read about Haiti or has visited it has heard the popular maxim that most Haitians are 100% Roman Catholic and 99% Vodunist. These words capture one of the central paradoxes of Haitian culture. For Roman Catholicism is a religion which allows the Haitian peasant to find a place in the official structure of his country; Vodun, on the other hand, provides a means through which he can cope with the problems of his personal life, and those of his daily existence.