“I would like to meet ‘Golden Mom!’” The Golden Mom in question is the Queen Mother of the West, also known as the Golden Mother of the Jade Pond — a deity popular in Taiwan but now also worshiped by some people in Haiti.
95 percent of the people of the Central American Republic of Haiti are black, and 80 percent of them are devout Catholics. There is, though, a group of people who believe in the Queen Mother of the West, whom they affectionately call “Golden Mom.” This group of Haitian followers of the Queen Mother recently organized a visit to Taiwan to seek their roots by going to worship in Hualien’s Sheng-an and Tzu-hui Temples. It was an eye-opener for local worshipers to see these dark-skinned visitors holding joss sticks, worshiping the Queen Mother and casting bamboo divination chips to pray for good fortune.
The Chinese Taoist Golden Mother of the Jade Pond Cultural Exchange Promotion Association, which arranged this visit, said that Haitians devoutly follow the Catholic Church, so it encountered obstacles when it set up a branch association in Haiti to spread the faith. Even when the association donated rice for poor children in outlying areas, it was suspected by local authorities of doing so for commercial gain, and the rice was for a time subject to a heavy 100 percent tax. Now Haitians have been convinced of the Queen Mother followers’ charitable spirit, and 50 Haitians have become disciples of the Queen Mother.
PHOTO: KAN YU-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Apart from accompanying officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and members of the Golden Mother Association, the group of visitors included representatives of Haiti’s political and business sectors. Among them were Republic of Haiti Chamber of Deputies member Joseph Joel Louis, Haitian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of Protocal officer and ambassador to South Korea Jacques Renand Cherduville, protocol officer of the Office of the Prime Minister of Haiti Immacula Caze, as well as chief executives of department stores and real estate companies and bank managers from Haiti.
During their visit to the Sheng-an Temple, the guests held a group worship ceremony in the temple’s great hall. It was eye-opening for the local believers to see a crowd of dark-skinned men and women holding joss sticks and worshiping the Queen Mother, especially when protocol officer of the Office of the Prime Minister of Haiti Immacula Caze skillfully cast bamboo divination chips before the Queen Mother’s statue to pray for good fortune.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY JULIAN CLEGG)
「我想去拜見王母娘娘（Golden Mom）
！」Golden Mom原來就是海地人拜的、源自台灣的「王母娘娘」（或稱金母娘娘、瑤池金母）！
中南美洲的海地共和國95%人民為黑人，其中80%是虔誠的天主教徒，卻有一群海地人篤信王母娘娘，親暱地稱呼母娘為「Golden Mom」。這群海地的母娘信徒日前組團來台「尋根」，前往花蓮勝安宮、慈惠堂等廟宇參拜。看到黑人拿香拜母娘，還擲筊求平安，在地信徒大開眼界。
促成這次參訪的中華道教瑤池金母文化交流促進會說，海地人篤信天主教，成立海地分會從事傳教時曾受阻，連捐助給偏遠地區貧童的白米，也被當地政府懷疑是販賣行為，一度被課100%重稅。如今，母娘濟世救貧精神已讓海地人民信服，有五十名海地人更成為母娘的「嫡傳弟子」。
除了隨行的外交部及中華道教瑤池金母文化交流促進會人員，參訪團員來自海地政界、商界，包括海地共和國眾議員約瑟夫•喬•路易斯、海地外交部禮賓司參議、兼駐韓大使賈克斯•雷諾•夏杜維里、海地總理府禮賓官伊美柯拉•卡澤及當地百貨、不動產公司總裁、銀行經理等。
在勝安宮參拜時，一行人在大殿舉行團拜儀式，在地信徒見到一群黑皮膚的男女拿著香虔誠拜母娘，大開眼界，海地總理府女禮賓官伊美柯拉•卡澤還熟練地在母娘前擲筊求平安。（自由時報記者甘育瑋）
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