A Tradition Shaped by Catholic Coexistence

Desmangles' study of Vodou and Roman Catholicism in Haiti situates ritual implements such as the asson within a wider Haitian religious landscape in which Vodou practice developed alongside, and in continuous close contact with, Haitian Catholicism, so that many practitioners historically moved between both traditions rather than experiencing them as strictly separate or mutually exclusive religious systems, a pattern of coexistence rather than simple substitution that shapes how Vodou ritual objects and their handling are understood even today.

The asson is treated with real physical care by the priest who holds one, generally kept in a dedicated place within a temple or home shrine rather than left casually accessible, and its loss or damage is regarded as a genuinely serious matter for the priest concerned, consistent with its standing as the working instrument of an initiated religious authority rather than as decorative ritual craft. Vodou itself remains a living, practised religion today in Haiti and across the Haitian diaspora, including sizeable communities in the United States, and the asson continues in active ceremonial use wherever houngan and mambo continue to serve their communities.