Haitian Legends in Voodoo

Voodoo, a group of superstitious beliefs and practices including sorcery, serpent worship and sacrificial rites amongst the Western Indians and blacks. Voodoo, or Vaudoux, is said to be derived from a Dahomey word vodu meaning "gods", as a modification of African beliefs. The practice of voodoo is the national religion in Haiti, and also in the United States legitimate voodoo worship is permitted 1. It is basically a form of form of spiritualism in which gods are invoked to take possession of the priests, protect the worshippers, and perform feats of divination and magic. As with African tribal religions from which voodoo stems, illness and misfortune are considered involving hostility of neighbors or spirits, and it is the task of priest to discover the source of the hostility then to neutralize it.

Loa In the voodoo-religion of the Caribbean, the loa are a group of divinities who are concerned with the lives of humans and who often personify forces of nature. Their origin lies in West-African traditions, and their leader is Damballa. Some loa protect certain places or areas, such as cemeteries, crossroads, the sea, etc., while other loa are ancestral deities. The loa cult is lead by a priest (hungan) or priestess (mambo) and the divinities are invoked by vévé (magical pentagrams) and by singing and dancing. During these rituals, the names of the loa are often mixed with those of Christian saints (with which they show many similarities). The loa are represented by vévé drawn on the ground.









In the voodoo-cult of the Caribbean, a zombie is a soulless body that serves a sorcerer as a slave. The soul could have left the body through the regular death rituals, but could also have been removed from a living body by the power

of the sorcerer. As lord of the dead, Ghede can restore a zombie to life by returning the soul

Ghede Ghede is the god of the dead in voodoo, but it is also the name of the group of deities who belong to his retinue. He is a very wise man for his knowledge is an accumulation of the knowledge of all the deceased. He stands on the center of all the roads that lead to Guinee, the afterworld. Ghede is represented as an undertaker, dressed completely in black wearing dark glasses. His followers disguise themselves as corpses and they dance the Banda. Other members of his retinue are Baron la Croix and Baron Cemetière. His feminine counterpart is Maman Brigitte. . Guinee In voodoo-religion, Guinee is the legendary place of origin and abode of the gods. It is here that the souls of the deceased go after their death. On their way to Guinee, they first have to pass the eternal crossroads which is guarded by Ghede.

Maman Brigitte The Haitian voodoo goddess who protects the graves in cemeteries that are marked with the cross. Her masculine counterpart is Ghede (Baron Samedi).

Kalfu The Voodoo spirit of the night and the source of darkness. He is very dangerous. The moon is his symbol.

Marré "To tie." It is a term used in Haiti to denote the proper control of a supernatural being (loi) of the Vodoun cult by a devotee.

Avalou One of the voodoo dances, characterized by violent arm- and shoulder-muscle movements. Literally, "supplication".

Bacalou An evil spirit in Haitian voodoo. He is represented by a skull and crossed bones.

Baron Samedi is one of the Guédés, related to and intertwined with Baron Cemetière and Baron La Croix. He is a Guédé of the Americas, bridging the Guédés and Legba. Both are guardians of the crossroads, the place where spirits cross over into our world. If the intercessions desired are with the loa, then Legba is saluted and asked to allow the loa to participate. If the intercessions are with the dead, then Guédé (Ghede) is the intercessor. Baron Samedi is usually seen wearing top hat, black coat tails, sunglasses, and smoking a cigar.

Coco macaque A magic stick in Haitian voodoo that walks by itself. The owner can send it on errands, especially punitive errands. If he hits an enemy with it, the person hit will die before morning.

Conga A category of Haitian voodoo deities, associated with the rada group in the organization of the voodoo pantheon.

Congo A lethargic and dull-witted, but rather handsome spirit from Haitian voodoo.

Damballa The most important god of voodoo-religion in the Caribbean. He is a snake-god and lives in the trees near springs. He is also a fertility god and the father of all the loa (voodoo divinities). On Haiti he is called Bon Dieu ("good god") and his wife is the rainbow goddess Ayida Weddo. His holy color is white.



Diejuste A benevolent loa from Haitian voodoo

Erzulie The Voodoo love goddess and goddess of elemental forces, as well as of beauty, dancing, flowers, jewels, and pretty clothes. She lives in fabulous luxury and appears powdered and perfumed. She is as lavish with her love as with her gifts. On her fingers she wears three wedding rings, her three husbands being Damballa, the serpent god, Agwe, god of the sea and Ogoun the warrior hero. As Erzulie Ge-Rouge, she huddles together with her knees drawn up and her fists clenched, tears streaming from her eyes as she laments the shortness of life and the limitation of love. She is personified as a water snake. She is also called Ezili.

Loco A tree god, and patron of plants and healers. He is one of the loa in the Caribbean voodoo-religion.

Lutin The ghost of an unbaptized child in Haitian voodoo.

Hungan The Haitian term for priest or spirit master of the voodoo cult, derived from the Fon of Dahomey. The rituals of voodoo are often led by a hungan. During these rituals the worshippers invoke the loa by drumming, singing, dancing, and feasting, and the loa take possession of the dancers. Each dancer then behaves in a manner characteristic of the possessing spirit and while in an ecstatic trance performs cures and gives advice. Its literal meaning is deity-chief, hun in Fon being a synonym for (vodun) deity, and ga signifying chief.

Mambo A priestess who, together with a hungan, leads the rituals in voodoo, such as the invoking of the loa.

Papa Lega

The Haitian voodoo god who acts as an intermediary between the loa and humans. He is also the god of the crossroads; he opens the road to the spirit world. He taught mankind the use of oracles and how to interpret them. Papa Legba is commonly depicted as an old man sprinkling water or an old man with a crutch, and is also known as Legba or Legba Ati-Bon. In any vodoun ceremony, Legba is the first loa invoked, so that he may "open the gate" for communication between the worlds. The dog is his symbolic animal.



From tales from the cairibban

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