Venerable Pierre Toussaint 1766-1853 Feast Day: May 28

Venerable Pierre Toussaint was born a slave in Haiti to the Berand family. They brought him to New York City in 1787 to escape the political unrest in Haiti. He became a successful hairdresser, eventually even supporting Mr. Berand’s widow, who granted his freedom in 1807. Using his wealth he became a philanthropist to the poor in NYC, starting an orphanage, employment and credit bureaus, a hostel for travelers and priests and contributed to the building of Old St. Patrick Cathedral and  is interred in the new cathedral. Pierre died at 87 and is known as one of NYC's most famous Catholics.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

hazel makes soup jamoun for nico on new years SEND FUCKING TWEEEEEEET

We must never forget the life lessons that reading far FAR too much into things for entertainment purposes has brought us.

Every british murder mystery show takes place in the same universe, and nearly every one of those murders were committed by Inspector Barnaby or another member of a british police force. Death in Paradise, of course, is their Caribbean division where they dump the inspectors that get too close, which is why they killed Poole and his predecessor, and then left two annoying lesser inspectors there too, and why the island has a violent death rate per-capita equivalent to a day of trench warfare to keep the inspectors too busy to think about anything.

My Little Pony generation 4 is the story of a dictator who once held the sky hostage and rewrote the history books's gradual loss of her grip on power after foolishly letting a previously purged relative who had helped with the original scheme back into the inner circle after demonizing her for centuries, thus alienating her bodyguards, and simultaneously the story of the desperate attempts at damage control of the same dictator leading to the elevation of the family of the leader of her bodyguards, eventually all the way to the highest position, told from the perspective of the bodyguards' leader's sister (and her friends), as they are carefully kept out of the loop that conveniently elevates them politically again and again.

Jessica Fletcher did the murders, not only wrote. (She is a murderer who murdered). This one is obvious though and I'm certainly not the first to catch onto that one.

Murdoch Mysteries is a story about how literally every supernatural belief is correct, except for Catholicism. Specifically catholicism is wrong, because Orthodox Christianity smites people. Egyptian Curses smite people. Psychics are occasionally real (after being fake in a previous episode). Native American Gates to the Underworld are real and occasionally the guardians kill people who get too close (they're birdmen). Mole men are plotting to invade the surface world from their lair under Lake Ontario. Hatian Voodou can curse people, and that's catholicism with extra steps in most versions of it. Microwaves are some kind of magical death ray that goes "vwoom" and cause explosions sometimes. But catholic miracles are a nun dying of starvation hearing someone through a drainpipe next to her room.

Very important life lessons all these things. (Fun fact you can call anything a life lesson and it is technically correct, but these are all actually important)

CAOS Part 3 - review

Uh, okay, so I think by now, we all know this show is terrible. Netflix gives showrunners a lot of creative freedom, and I think, for better writers, you could get some really interesting content, but they just seem to keep giving these assholes who wrote the travesty called Riverdale, so many opportunities to make more shitty television, and I feel like they really deserve to be limited in their ability to create/write if not stopped completely and thrown into a well with Julie Plec.  Anyway, I’ll try to break this down as best as I can into different piles of shit and this will contain spoilers:

Characters

Prudence and Ambrose

So, to be really honest, I watch this show exclusively for Prudence and Ambrose. Because, well, look at them: 

I wish they had more chemistry because they are super hot together, and I still ship it. A young Black couple? On TV? In this sea of shitty interracial relationships? I’ll take it. Anyway, of course, the progression of their relationship is ridiculous and frustrating. Ambrose decides at the last minute, not to kill Father Blackwood because he has a weird time egg thing that they don’t really understand, also he has the twins under some weird mind control for no clear reason, so they stay their hands. It doesn’t make sense, but it becomes clear, Father Blackwood has an insane amount of plot armour and ultimately would have to serve as a vessel for Satan. Father Blackwood uses the manipulated mind of the other weird sister to sic her on the coven, and she ends up killing Dorkus, whom Prudence finds. She then blames Ambrose for not allowing her to kill FB, and they break up. Now...this would kinda make sense, if not for the fact that they trapped one of the pagan witches and forced her to change everyone back, but no one bothered to do anything about the mentally ill witch who you all strapped up for a reason? Lol ok. Seems like an oversight on your part Prudence, but...okay. Clearly manufactured breakups are exhausting, especially since [young] Black couples with no serious relationship dysfunction are now an endangered species. It’s also frustrating because we barely got to see them....*be* together, especially after they returned home. 

Nick & Sabrina

So, I know from the beginning, we were supposed to believe that Nick and Sabrina had that kind of, Bad Guy, seduces the girl Good Girl, luring her into the dark side, hot, intense, passionate relationship. But their lack of chemistry and really shitty acting just made them really dry (which I get into here). I don’t believe them, and I definitely don’t believe that Sabrina would, once again, break a shit ton of rules to get Nick back. I just don’t buy that they had that kind of an intense, desperately in love, kind relationship, because they do not look all that comfortable around each other, much less in love. 

I personally find Sabrina utterly unlikeable as a main character, largely because who IS she? She has no personality, she just does whatever the plot needs her to do in the moment, and the actress makes Sabrina appear smug and unremorseful while she fucks up everyone’s lives. There is a lot of exposition of everyone telling us she’s this power hungry, manipulative character, but we never see that. She just does stuff and everyone is all “Sabrina how could you?!” and there are never, ever any consequences. I would have liked to see her push so hard to get Nick back and the struggle being, sure she wants him back, but mostly she’s doing it because she can. But that’s not what happens. 

So Nick ends up in this weird drug addiction, alcohol, sex demon spiral because he has parts of Satan still in him and it all just falls so flat and lame, because this show is SO bad at pacing, and these actors suck, so nothing is believable. The idea of him scrubbing his club foot, having nightmares, suffering PTSD, is fine, the execution was trash. Nick sees Caliban and Sabrina have one interaction and he’s like WELL, GUESS I GOTTA CHEAT. And just ends up in some S&M situation with sex demons and heavily self medicating, but none of this has any weight, and we don’t really see him...spiralling. He just immediately resorts to these things and it has no real impact on anyone or even him really, and that’s it. 

Harvey and Roz

Uh, they’re probably the most confusing match here, because there is no lead up to their relationship, there’s not suggestion, there’s no pacing. Just BOOM, we’re into each other now. BOOM, Roz is the only sexually active person in her friend group (lol of course the Black girl is sexually active. Gotta maintain white innocence at all costs), so she’s just ready to jump Harvey’s bones any second now. So of course, the show punishes her by having the pagans turn her to stone. And as if that’s not bad enough...

Which I talk about here and here, because honestly I’m just sick of this show’s antiblackness.  Theo & that other guy

So I was watching this unfold like, yeeaahh, they’re gonna make the trans guy get with the enemy aren’t they? And yes, they did. Cool, they didn’t kill him off, but I’m still perplexed at how Theo isn’t even a little upset that this guy was basically sent to infiltrate his friend group and sat by while his people harmed Theo’s friends, and also...used him? Like...we just...are gonna...gloss over that because he changed his mind? Lol ok. Sure.

Mambo Marie and suddenly Zelda?

I...I mean her name is Mambo Marie. I love the idea of Black witches finding Black spirituality and magicks through Vodun and a Hatian Priestess. But they quickly undo that, by ensuring that Mambo Marie only teaches Prudence in the presence of these white witches. And we see her...doing...an African drum circle (eye roll), only to be interrupted by the High Priestess of White Feminism, Zelda Spellman. It quickly devolves into thinly veiled racism where Zelda doesn’t trust Marie because she’s Catholic (says the woman who worships Satan, has an anti Pope and prays to Lilith with the same prayer for Mary mother of Jesus? LOL. Not even unpacking the fact that Vodun is an African spirituality having 0 roots in catholicism WHITE WRITERS). Then suddenly, out of nowhere, Marie and Zelda are a thing for no reason? After the way Zelda treated her? Why did Marie even stay? This isn’t her problem. This is a white witch problem. Okay. That’s too much to unpack. 

Plot

So, my biggest problem with almost all Netflix English programming is that they are so obsessed with aesthetics, and don’t pay enough attention to actual character chemistry, plot, story flow, details, pacing etc. Like...things that actually make stories interesting to watch. So they slap all these people together and throw them into aesthetically pleasing backgrounds, shake it up with so much exposition that nothing actually happens, and are like BEHOLD A STORY. And CAOS is *especially* guilty for this.

First of all those musical breaks were annoying as fuck. Musicals serve 2 story functions: advancing the plot or telling a story. These musical numbers did neither and were honestly ridiculously gratuitous, highly annoying and totally pointless.

What time of year is this? Why are we having pep rallies and how the fuck and when did Sabrina and Roz join the cheeleading squad, and why?

for the aesthetics and not for any real plot reason. It just seems stupid because now I don’t know how much time has passed between Nick going to hell and this, because you’re all handling it like it’s been a few weeks and is still relatively fresh, but suddenly, Theo, Harvey and Roz are in a garage band? You’re a cheerleader? For what? Since when? Why? These choices introduce more questions than they answer and serve no narrative purpose. So much wasted time on shit that doesn’t matter. 

Sabrina is supposed to be fighting Caliban (who is literally the only person she has chemistry with on this show and they killed him bc ofc they did), for her seat on the throne, and yet the trials only seem to come up when it’s convenient, and also seem to be directly related to her dealings with her coven, which is also convenient.  I’m so confused about Satan. His powers come from being a celestial being, and so, because his coven mistreats him he’s like...lol okay, well fuck you guys and goes through all these convoluted small motions to greatly inconvenience them and withdraws his powers? This is so petty and pathetic. Also, what’s the point? He could just wipe them out and start over, instead of skulking around inside FB then suddenly decides to track down Lilith. Again, convoluted. This plot is all over the place. Why does Satan need Sabrina to be Queen of Hell in the first place? He seems perfectly healthy. Why can’t he just rule it? Like...that makes no sense. What is he gonna do? Retire? WHAT is going ON?

How did Sabrina come back in time to herself stuck in stone? Is that trip to Pontius Pilate (lol) supposed to have created a loophole for her to save herself and everyone? This is giving me hardcore Twilight Breaking Dawn vibes, where, the show finally, FINALLY gets interesting, there’s real stakes, shit is actually happening instead of everyone talking about things happening (Hilda ending up killing her fiance was literally the only time I felt something watching this show because it was genuinely sad, and well acted, and Hilda coming through with that doll at the end was pretty disturbing, I’ll give them that), and ofc, Sabrina goes back in time and undoes it all. Lol. Okay. God forbid there be real consequences to anything on this show.

Final thoughts

Once again, the white feminism runs high on this show. They treat this Black Vodun Priestess Marie, like garbage, allude to her “foreign” magic, but Marie is sitting here like “we’re not men, we’re women, let’s work together.” This is why I hate white writers writing for Black characters. Black characters should have Black motivations, and a Black Vodun Priestess, should know that white women and Black women do not have aligned motivations just because they share a gender. Once they started with the bullshit right from her arrival, she should have handed Prudence her card and peaced tf out. Instead she tolerates the isolation, ostracization and thinly veiled racism...and decides to stay, and help. WHY? Marie has gained nothing by sticking around helping these ungrateful ass witches. I honestly would have preferred Prudence asking her to stay to learn more about Vodun, and them building a mentor/mentee type of relationship, especially since Prudence was the one who invited her and stepped to Zelda to defend her. I want(ed) to see that relationship go somewhere. The deliberate denial of healthy Black female friendships on tv is frustrating.

 These witches finally finding their power in their ancestors and I donno, some female creator or whatever, reminds me of white women “finding” wicca and praying to “Gaia”, (reminds me of BTVS s4 when Willow joins the wicca group) which is basically what happened but lol okay whatever. I guess they aren’t satanic witches anymore. Lol, I love how Harvey and Roz and Theo are teenagers, human teenagers, who have lead largely normal teenage lives up until this point, but see their loved ones tortured, deformed or murdered in hell, with basically no residual issues, and are all like, YES, let’s roll up on these adults with shotguns and swords and kill the FUCK outta these people!! That absolutely sounds normal! Like...what? Lol. God this is just so bad.

Also, I’m so confused by this aesthetic choice for Sabrina as Queen of Hell. Like what the fuck. Why is she dressed like a Victorian era queen, with shoulder and a broken rib bodice? What?!

This show is truly awful, this season made no more sense than the last two and now that Prudence and Ambrose aren’t together, I might be done watching. 

-20/10

Letters to Ylfa: A Peculiar Form of Self-Analysis

Nietzsche taught me that every great philosophy, up until his own, had been but “a species of involuntary and unconscious autobiography” and, with his own philosophy, he challenges me voluntarily and consciously pronounce my own philosophy as a species of autobiography. I, being up for the challenge, often refer to my philosophy as a “peculiar form of self-analysis”, as I do in the letter below.

Ylfa,

I wanted to write to you about the peculiar form of self-analysis that I am engaged in, a form of self-analysis inspired by the psychoanalyses pioneered by Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Jacques Lacan and the schizoanalyses pioneered by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari.

As you know, the Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalyst successfully “treats” their neurotic patients by getting their patients to “traverse” the phantasies that their unwanted symptoms express: the psychoanalyst gets their patients to recognize the “reality” of their phantasies, the aspects of their phantasies that transcend their imagination. The “reality” of every patient’s phantasy is an unspoken/unspeakable wish or desire, and a phantasy is successfully traversed by a patient when a patient learns how to speak of their unspoken/unspeakable wish or desire—this is why they call psychoanalysis the “talking cure”. For most of his life, Freud thought that the unspoken/unspeakable wishes and desires of his patients were wishes and desires to break taboos: e.g., to engage in incest and patricide. Freud, during his later years, and Lacan, following Freud, came up with a richer idea of what was unspoken/unspeakable. For the late Freud and for Lacan, unspoken/unspeakable wishes and desires were not desires and wishes for anything at all but, rather, desires and wishes for nothingness, for annihilation. Desires and wishes for annihilation are often, but not always, expressed as desires and wishes to break taboos because breaking a taboo is a way to invite annihilation. From this perspective, a psychoanalyst treats their patients by getting their patients to speak of their desires and wishes for annihilation: the idea being that, when one is overwhelmed by one’s desire or wish for annihilation, speech can discharge this desire or wish in a manner that annihilates the speaker virtually rather than actually, a manner that is more or less harmless, leaving one’s actual existence more or less intact.

Deleuze and Guattari counter Freud and Lacan’s claims. Deleuze and Guattari say that there is no such thing as a desire for annihilation: desire is always creative or, even better, desire is creativity. There only appears to be a pure desire for annihilation insofar as we have an interest in conserving what has already been created, already been established. Freud and Lacan were conservatives: they could see their patients as having desires for annihilation because it was their job to help their patients maintain a status quo. Deleuze and Guattari were radicals, they considered a desire to annihilate what exists as a conservative (mis)representation of a desire to (re)create existence anew. So, rather than traversing our phantasies by speaking aloud our desire for annihilation, Deleuze and Guattari argue that we should (re)create with and through phantasies. Now, this does not mean that we should all go fuck our mothers and kill our fathers like Oedipus: no! Our desire to break a taboo is only a reification of the destructive aspects of our (re)creative desire. Our phantasies are characterized by figures that can be traced back to a reality that we despise and wish to destroy, yes, but our phantasies are also characterized by figures that are completely and utterly new and phantastic, figures that we have never encountered in reality, figures that we can endeavor to create. Freud and Lacan cast the imaginary as an an-archic agent of destruction by de-emphasizing unreal, phantastic desires and emphasizing real, taboo desires; Deleuze and Guattari cast the imaginary as an-archic agent of creation by emphasizing our unreal, phantastic desires and de-emphasizing our real, taboo desires. For Freud and Lacan, the unwanted symptoms of our mental (i.e., semiological) "illnesses" index our failure to repress our real, taboo desires, our desires for annihilation; for Deleuze and Guattari, the unwanted symptoms of our mental "illnesses" index our failure to express our unreal, phantastic desires, our desires for (re)creation. Freud and Lacan would “treat” us by getting us to use speech to (re)cast our desire for (re)creation as a desire for destruction, by getting us to forswear our desire for (re)creation. Against Frued and Lacan, not only do Deleuze and Guattari guide us to speak of our unreal, phantastic desires, they also, more importantly, guide our bodies to act on, act out, enact our unreal, phantastic desires, to annihilate and recreate existence anew.

Between Freud/Lacan and Deleuze/Guattari, I find Carl Jung. Jung was, like Deleuze and Guattari, preoccupied with unreal, phantastic desires. This is most evident in the manner that Jung differed from Freud in his readings of myths and stories. Freud thought that myths and stories were compelling because they were misrepresentations of our real, taboo desires, misrepresentations that affirmed the most real, taboo desire: the desire that I may triumph in the Oedipal love triangle between Mommy, Daddy, and Me. Jung scoffed at this idea. Jung was convinced that myths and stories were compelling because of the unreal, phantastic desires that they affirmed. Jung argued that the enduring appeal of the most compelling myths and stories had less to do with their appeal to real, taboo desires that are shared by a population and much more to do with unreal, phantastic desires that shared by a population. “Archetypes” are what Jung called these unreal, phantastic desires that populations managed to share, and Jung thought that the (re)creation of archetypes was the only means for people to gain a sense and understanding for each other’s unreal, phantastic desires. For Jung, only the (re)creation of archetypes enabled communions between the unreal, phantastic desires of different persons and these communions facilitated collaborative (re)creations of existence.

So, you find me here, using the myth of the Minotaur as an archetypal symbol and schema for my attempts to play out my unreal, phantastic desires. The myth of the Minotaur, the theme; my life, a series of variations on the theme, like Brahms’ Variations on a Theme of Paganini, which Clara Schumann called the Hexenvariationen (Witch’s Variations) for their difficulty, or like Bach’s Goldberg Variations (re)played by Glenn Gould at different stages of his life.

Indulge me, if you will. What myth, fable, or legend would be the archetypal symbol and schema for your unreal, phantastic desires? Let us try to imagine how our two archetypes could encounter one another, as in a story where Frankenstein’s monster meets a Werewolf, or, better yet, as in those Hatian Vodou myths and legends that bring together Taino zemís, West African vodun, Roman Catholic saints and martyrs, and Old Testament angels and prophets. Let us create so many syncretic variations on the encounters between our different archetypes, and from these variations a new, mutant archetypes may emerge, singular to us, archetypes that enable communion between your unreal, phantastic desires and mine.

With love,

Muindi

Death Culture from Expansions on Vimeo.

Expansions News Podcast for September 11, 2021

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yahoo.com/entertainment/catastrophic-supervolcano-eruption-much-more-123115504.html

breitbart.com/border/2021/09/04/exclusive-2k-hatian-venezuelan-migrants-cross-border-into-west-texas-this-week/

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independent.co.uk/tv/climate/mount-fuji-snowcap-early-snow-v786b215b

ecuavisa.com/noticias/ecuador/se-registra-caida-de-nieve-en-varias-carreteras-de-ecuador-NE789791

sott.net/article/457936-Snow-falls-in-South-Africa-as-temperatures-plummet

cnsnews.com/blog/cnsnewscom-staff/pelosis-archbishop-you-cannot-be-good-catholic-and-support-expanding-aright

News:

euronews.com/2021/08/26/italy-moves-closer-to-a-referendum-on-legalising-euthanasia euronews.com/2019/09/25/where-in-europe-is-assisted-dying-legal- euronews.com/2021/03/18/spain-legalises-euthanasia-and-assisted-suicide-despite-conservative-opposition elizabethjohnston.org/canada-euthanized-nearly-8000-people-last-year-including-1400-who-felt-isolated-or-lonely/

elizabethjohnston.org/italy-now-requires-vaccine-passport-for-travel-universities-and-more/

christianpost.com/news/parents-sue-california-over-lessons-teaching-kids-to-chant-to-aztec-gods.html

Rita's Marie Laveau candle has been designed to honor and call upon her spirit for guidance in magical workings. She was a master of healing, luv spells, banishment spells, eliminating business rivals while all the while being a astute business woman herself. It is said she held secret rituals complete with the worship of a snake called Zombi, and orgiastic dancing, drinking, and lovemaking deep in the bayous. Offerings for her include cigars, booze, coins and flowers. Marie Laveau was the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, feared and respected by all. As her story goes she was born to a hatian slave and grew up free and educated on her father's plantation. She began as a hairdresser and then later a nurse during the yellow fever epidemics. Her skills in medicine led her to becoming very knowledgeable in the healing properties of herbs. She was a devote catholic who became concerned about people's souls while administering last meals to people on death row. As time went by she became increasingly interested in her mother’s African traditional beliefs and married the idea of catholic traditions and voodoo making her voodoo and hoodoo practices acceptable to New Orleans high society. She was all knowing and powerful and quickly created a reputation for herself. Whatever you wanted or needed she could make happen for you. She was and still is revered as the Queen of the Voodoos. #marielaveau #voodoo #queen #hoodoo #neworleans #candle #magic #ritasjuju #pagan #conjure #novena #fixed #vigil #witchcraft #witchesofinstagram #pillar (at Los Angeles, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl6iqXJg8Hq/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1vaon1hnb55uw

Ever dated a half-Hatian Catholic lesbian?

Shit's wild

the medallion...chapter 2

i used to go to churches throughout the city...that's where i found peace in my days of walking 'round Manhattan amongst other vagabonds in Union Square...the onslaught of commerce in Times Square...bearded hair bunned businessmen with cellphones in hand up and down Lexington Avenue...whores hangin' at The Port Authority...the red eyed Hatians hawkin' double decker bus sight seein' tickets to tourists on 8th and 7th Avenues...the porn pedophile perverts peeking through holes in adult movie booths...the sick and the lame...all of God's children...all of us cramed together on one small island... it was in these magnificent Catholic churches where i would pray for forgiveness of my sins...prayers of guidance...prayers of hope...asking God not for a miracle...but to merely show me his light...his light that came in the form of a beggar on the 6 train...his light...that of the tranny hooker who had lost her way yet prayed everday to be shown forgiveness...his light...shining on dope peddalers in Tompkins Square who knew no other way to make ends meet...his light which shined brightly on the salt of the earth in this city of Gotham...it was a holy light that was sought...and it was that light...shining through picture story windows that gave me comfort...a candle was always lit... and as i prayed the thoughts of suicide ceded...for a brief moment they would stop...prayer...meditation...the lifting of hands to the sky...the silent call for God to walk with me in these times of trials and tribulations...preparing for night to come...in a city where sin is justified...justified in the banks and stock option offices doling out dollars in record numbers to young salesmen...working from Sun up to Sun down for a buck...for a buck...justified in City Hall where deals are brokered in the interest of real estate and deadines to be determined at a later date when the dollars are ripe for the pickin'...and in the neighborhood non-for-profits...somebody's pockets are getting lined...somebody's... so i prayed...so i prayed...so i prayed...

7 Man-made Wonders of the Caribbean

When people think of the Caribbean, crystal blue water and warm white sands often come to mind. The natural wonders of the Caribbean are breathtaking, but there are a number of wonders that came to be through the toil of human hands. Humans have lived in the islands and coastlines of the Caribbean for thousands of years, occasionally leaving behind remnants of civilizations we may not have known had it not been for the art of its residents. Today we think of theme parks and architecturally stylish hotels as being modern wonders but there are some amazing monuments to human creativity all over the Caribbean.  Here are just 7 man-made wonders of the Caribbean that represent the joys, the faith, the struggles, and the commerce of these long departed people.

The Mayan Ruins of the Mexican Caribbean

The ruins of Chichen Itza on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula have received the accolade of being declared one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.  The remains of the sprawling city provide a lasting tribute to the lost Mayan civilization that inhabited the area between 400 and 1400 a.d. The example is one of several such amazing sites that have been discovered in Mexico and Guatemala, and undoubtedly there are more yet to be discovered deep under the jungle canopy. The Pyramid of Kukulkan is the most prominent and well-known of the structures at Chichen Itza, but the site also contains a marketplace, grand plaza, an ossuary and ball court.  There are also smaller ruins at Tulum. Inhabited until the 16th century, this smaller but impressive walled port city is exceedingly well-preserved.  The legacy of a people who suddenly and mysteriously disappeared is etched in every stone, nestled within the beauty of the Caribbean coast, just 80 miles south of Cancun.

Citadelle Laferrière, Haiti

Hatians, determined to protect their new nation, built the remarkable Citadelle Laferrière  atop the 3000-foot Bonnet a L’Eveque mountain. It commands stunning views all the way to Cuba, 90 miles away across the Caribbean and enjoys the accolade of being the Western Hemisphere’s largest fortress. This symbol of Haitian national pride and UNESCO World Heritage site was built between 1805 and 1820, and within its 130-foot walls are 365 cannons standing as testaments to its original purpose. Piles of cannonballs still sit in stacks at the base of the fortress walls. Known also as Citadelle Henri Christophe, the famed King Herni is buried within its walls, with a commemorative plaque marking the site. It’s located in the northern part of the country, a peaceful region that allows access to tourists, who can hire guides in the town of Milot to visit the fort. Remarkably, and a massive testament to its construction, it survived the 2010 Earthquake which devastated Haiti.

The Basilica at Higuey, Dominican Republic

When a painting of the Virgin Mary disappeared from the home of two settlers from Spain in 1502, and reappeared in an orange bush, they probably had no inkling that on that very spot a sacred area would be established that to this day motivates numerous pilgrims to go to the site to leave offerings and ask favors of Our Lady of Altagracia. The Basilica de Higuey is a fairly new structure, built in 1971 on that sacred spot, and marked by a massive 248-foot central arch. This arch and other architectural details are illuminated at night, where glowing blues and golds light up the sky. Within is the self same picture of the virgin that inspires visitors and worshipers alike. A million Catholic pilgrims make their way to the feast day at Higuey every Jan 21.

The Panama Canal

Linking the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, the Pamana Canal is a monument to human ingenuity. It took 30 years to build being completed in 1880 and along the way exacted an incredible toll of 22,000 men’s lives. It replaced the historical voyage around Cape Horn, cutting by more than half the distance to most destinations. It remains, over 100 hundreds later, a key conduit between the two oceans. Nearly 15,000 ships pass through the 48-mile canal each year, on the way navigating through two sets of locks and 17 artificial lakes.

Old Havana, Cuba

Old Havana (La Habana Vieja), Cuba, was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1982 as an area of cultural and historical significance. The old center retains a lingering ambiance of the gold-laden swashbucklers who used this port as a stopping point. The original city, founded in 1519, boasts Baroque and Neoclassical monuments that are scattered among the private dwellings decorated in classic stucco and wrought iron. Wander through the old Spanish fortresses of Castillo del Morro, La Cabana, or San Salvador de la Punta. Be sure to visit the Cathedral of San Cristobal, or walk along the famous Melecon seafront promenade and sea wall on the north side of the city. Don’t miss the La Bodeguita del Medio bar where Ernest Hemmingway drank a little inspiration from time to time.

Brimstone Hill Fortress, St. Kitts

One of the best preserved historical fortresses in the Americas, Brimstone Hill Fortress was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. The fortress was built between the 1690s and 1790s atop an immense volcanic promontory some 800 feet high. It rests amid the cane fields and rain forests of St. Kitts and is often referred to as the “Gibraltar of the West Indies”. The cannons still perch like sentinels of days gone by, the fortress still retains the flavor of its original purpose. With the panoramic sweeping views of the Caribbean and the nearby Montserrat, Nevis , Saba, St. Martin, and St. Barts, it is understandably one of the island’s most popular tourist destinations.

Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

Old San Juan, the oldest settlement in Puerto Rico, is also its capital. Cross the bridge onto this narrow island city and you’ll go back several centuries to a time when the narrow streets were paved in cobblestone, massive walls fortified cities, and the buildings bloomed with color. Located in the city are the picture-postcard Fort San Felipe del Morro, sitting atop a 100 foot bluff sporting a lighthouse, and La  Fortaleza , the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the New World. Both are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites. Nearby are the palace of Ponce de Leon, built on 1521, and the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista where his tomb resides. A free tourist trolley serves the city.

- See more at:

http://mycaribbeantrip.com/man-made-wonders-of-the-caribbean/

okay so the really fucking fun part of hatian vodou is that its practiced in tandem with other religions, like catholicism. and since I'm obsessed with making characters just like me fr, hazel now also has to deal with reconnecting with her culture AND catholic guilt!!!