One remote creator, addressed through a host of spirits who are grouped into nations — the cool and the hot
Bondye, from the French bon Dieu, and the lwa; the main nanchon are Rada and Petwo
General knowledge · Religion & belief
Vodou
formed in Saint-Domingue in the 17th and 18th centuries; officially recognised in Haiti in 2003
A religion of Haiti, rooted in West and Central Africa
A religion of Haiti, formed among enslaved West and Central Africans — chiefly Fon, Ewe and Yoruba speakers from the kingdom of Dahomey, now Benin, together with people from the Kongo region — and shaped by contact with Catholicism. The word comes from vodun, meaning spirit or deity in the Gbe languages. Adherents recognise one remote creator, Bondye, and serve him through a great number of spirits, the lwa, who are honoured in ceremonies of drumming, song, dance and possession. The Haitian state recognised it as a religion in its own right by decree in 2003.
How to spot them
- ▸One distant creator, Bondye, served through spirits called lwa
- ▸The lwa are grouped into nanchon, nations — chiefly Rada and Petwo, with the Gede of the dead
- ▸A priest is a houngan, a priestess a mambo; the temple is an ounfò
- ▸Terminology is the usual question: lwa, vèvè, asson, chwal, poto mitan
Key facts
A priest called a houngan or a priestess called a mambo presides, holding a beaded gourd rattle as a badge of office
The rattle is the asson; initiates are ounsi, and the temple is an ounfò
Cornmeal or ashes trickled on the ground to draw an emblem that calls one particular spirit
The vèvè; each spirit has its own design
The devotee is called the horse, and the spirit is said to mount them
Chwal; possession is the central act of a ceremony, and the spirit speaks through the person
The spirit who opens the gate between the worlds, saluted before any other
Papa Legba; Erzulie Freda is associated with love and Ogou with iron and war
A post at the centre of the dance floor, down which the spirits are said to come
The poto mitan, in the roofed peristil
A ceremony at Bois Caïman in August 1791, remembered as the spark of a slave revolt (1791)
Bwa Kayiman, traditionally led by Dutty Boukman; the Haitian Revolution ended in independence in 1804
A presidential decree of April 2003 recognised it in Haiti as a religion in its own right (2003)
Its marriages, baptisms and funerals gained legal standing
Key ideas
- Spirits are commonly paired with Catholic saints — Damballa with St Patrick, whose image shows serpents; Ogou with St James the Greater on horseback; Erzulie Freda with the Mater Dolorosa. Practitioners often attend Mass as well, and many describe the two as complementary rather than rival.
- The 'voodoo' of horror films — pins in dolls, curses, shambling zombies — is a caricature, produced largely during and after the United States occupation of Haiti (1915–34) and fixed by Hollywood. Harming people by sorcery is the work of a bokor and is condemned by practitioners, who describe their religion as one of healing, community and service to the ancestors.
Quick-fire facts
- •The name derives from vodun, 'spirit' or 'deity', in the Fon and Ewe languages of present-day Benin and Togo
- •Bondye, the creator, is remote; worship is directed to the lwa, who act as intermediaries
- •The lwa are organised into nanchon (nations); the Rada are described as cool and benevolent, the Petwo as hot and forceful, and the Gede are the spirits of the dead, led by Baron Samedi
- •A male priest is a houngan or oungan, a female one a mambo or manbo; initiates are ounsi and the temple is an ounfò
- •The asson, a gourd rattle covered with beads and snake vertebrae, is the priest's badge of office
- •A vèvè is a ritual design traced on the ground in cornmeal, ash or coffee grounds to summon a specific lwa
- •In possession the lwa is said to mount the devotee, who is called the chwal — 'horse'
- •Rada ceremonies use three drums: the manman, segon and boula
- •The Bwa Kayiman (Bois Caïman) ceremony of August 1791 is traditionally remembered as the start of the Haitian Revolution, which produced independence in 1804
- •President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's decree of 4 April 2003 recognised it as a religion in its own right in Haiti
- •Louisiana Voodoo, associated with Marie Laveau of New Orleans, is a related but distinct tradition, as are Vodun in Benin and Santería in Cuba
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Sources
- Smithsonian Folklife Festival — Vodou
- The Globe and Mail — Voodoo is a religion, Haiti's Aristide decrees