The Loa of Vodou

The Pantheon(s) of Haiti

 Nations
• Haitian Vodou has multiple nations of
deities.
• Different nations are honored with different
rites
• Within and overlapping the nations are
different families
• We'll divide them by rite for this
presentation...
 The Rada Rite Lwa
• Legba
• The Marassa
• Loko & Ayizan
• Damballah & Ayida
Wedo
• Agwe & LaSiren
• Ezili Freda
• Oguon
• Azaka
 The Rada & Their Rites
• Marked on beat of • Considered “cool” by
three drums which Haitian Vodouists
are played by secular • Slower to act than
musicians and a their Petwo
piece of iron Counterparts
• Initiatory
• Benevolent
Papa Legba
 Papa Legba
• Seen as an old man walking on a crutch
(which is the piteau mitan or center post of
the peristyle)
• Crossroads guardian
• First to be invoked
• Must open gate for the lwa to come to the
peristyle
 Legba as a Saint
• St. Peter is Legba due to the keys to
heaven
• St. Anthony is Legba
• St. Lazarus is Legba due to his crippled
appearance
 Offerings to Legba
• Grilled Chicken
• Sweet Potatoes & plantains
• Bones
• Kleren
• Tobacco & Pipe
 Song for Legba

Papa Legba, open the gate for me so I can

go through.
When I return I will pay honor to the Lwa.
The Marasa
 The Marasa
• Twins are seen as two people who share a
soul in Haiti.
 These are the first set of twins ever

• They love children and to play tricks

• They are thought to be extremely powerful
 The Marasa as Saints
• St. Cosmas and St. Damian are seen as
the Marasa due to almost always appearing
together
 Offerings to the Marasa
• Baby goat stew wrapped in banana leaves
• Toys
• Candy
• Fizzy Drinks
• Popcorn
 Song for the Marasa

This is the food, this is the water.

Take the family, if the family falls on hard
times
You take care of the family
Loko & Ayizan
 Loko & Ayizan
• First Priest & Priestess
• Loko gives the asson (sacred rattle in Rada
Rites) to new houngan or mambo and
reveals an initiate's met tet (head lwa)
• Called after the Marassa as a matter of
respect due to Rada rites being strongly
hierarchical and initiatory
• Rarely do they possess anyone
 Loko Atisou as Saint
• St. Joseph is seen as the representation of
Loko Atisou, however we were unable to
locate a saint related to Ayizan Atisou
 Offerings for Loko and Ayizan
• Roosters – Loko prefers red roosters
Damballah & Ayida Wedo
 Damballah & Ayida
• Damballah is a white python and his wife
Ayida is the rainbow
• Very concerned with order and hierarchy
and seems to be vestigial in their role
• Damballah like cleanliness and is fond of
eggs and flour (only white things)
• Ayida rarely possesses mortals from my
research
 Damballah & Ayida as Saints
• St. Patrick is Damballah
• Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception is
Ayida
 Offerings for Damballah and
Ayida
• White Chickens
• White Eggs
• Rice
• Milk
 Song for Damballah

The spirit works in the water, it's Damballah

The spirit works in the water, it's Damballah
Papa Damballah is the spring
Papa Damballah is the spring
The Creation Myth of Damballah
And Ayida Wedo
In the beginning there was a vast serpent,
whose body formed seven thousand coils
beneath the earth, protecting it from decent
into the abysmal sea. Then the titanic
snake began to move and heave its
massive form from the earth to envelope the
sky. It shattered stars in the firmament and
wound its taut flesh down the mountains to
create riverbeds.
 Creation Myth...
It shot thunderbolts to the earth to create the
sacred thunderstones. From its deepest
core it released the sacred waters to fill the
earth with life. As the first rains fell, a
rainbow encompassed the sky and
Danballah took her, Ayida, as his wife. The
spiritual nectar that they created reproduces
through all men and woman as milk and
semen.
 Just One More...
• The serpent and the rainbow taught
humankind the link between blood and life,
between menstruation and birth, and the
ultimate Vodou sacrament of blood
sacrifice.
Agwe and LaSiren
 Agwe & LaSiren
• Agwe is a sea spirit, who has traveled
extensively and has the tastes to prove it
• Likes sea green and blue offerings and
prefers foreign liquors to domestic ones
• LaSiren is his wife, who is able to grant
great wealth to devotees
• LaSiren is very vain and is white rather than
dark skinned
 Admiral Agwe & LaSiren as
Saints
• St. Ulrich is Agwe for he is always shown
holding fish.
• Our Lady of the Caridad is LaSiren
 Offerings for Agwe and LaSiren
• Champagne • White Doves
• Liquers • Perfume
• Cakes • Mirrors
• White Sheep • Sweet White Wines
• White Hens
 Songs for Agwe & LaSiren
Alert the angels in the The mermaid, the
water beneath the whale, My hat falls
mirror into the sea
Oh, he will see , he I caress the mermaid,
will see my hat falls into the
Alert the angels in the sea
water, oh he will I lie down with the
see mermaid, my hat
falls down into the
sea
Ezili Freda
 Ezili Freda
• Lwa of beauty and love
• Seen as a pale skinned mullatto woman of
wealth
• Expensive taste in offerings
• Is married to Damballah, Oguon, and Agwe
but still marries mortals
 Freda as a Saint
• Mater Dolerosa de Monte Cavario is Ezili
Freda due to her light skin and her crown
and jewels in most lithographs
 Offerings for Freda
• Sweet cakes
• Pink Champagne
• Perfume
• Makeup
• Virginia Slim Cigarettes
• White Doves
 Song for Freda

Haughty Ezili, proud Ezili

preening Ezili thinks she's something
Ezili is married, she's unlucky
Ezili is prostituted, she's unlucky
Oguon
 Oguon
• Several Warrior spirits have this name
• Likes Fire and Iron in keeping with his
warrior status
• Carries a Machete and smokes cigars
 Ogou as a Saint
• Primarily St. Jaques Majeur (James the
Elder) due to St. James the Elder being
always depicted in lithographs as riding a
horse with a sword drawn.
 Offerings for Ogou
• Red Roosters
• Rice and Red Beans
• Five Star Barbancourt Rum
• Cigars
• Bulls
 Song for Ogou
Fire spirit where are you going, leave your
children
When I remember Ogou Feray I must be
strong to call Ogou
He drinks but is never drunk
Ogou drinks but is never drunk
Azaka
 Azaka
• Carries a straw bag (makout) with his
possessions in it
• Agricultural spirit – he is a poor farmer
• Very shrewd and wise, his advice is highly
sought after
• Does not have the “sophisticated” ways of
other Rada Lwa
 Azaka as a Saint
St. Isador is Kouzen Azaka, the devout farm
laborer who was helped to complete his
agrarian toil by guardian angels
 Offerings to Azaka
• Cassava bread
• Sugar Cane
• Rice and Beans
• Tobacco
• Kleren
 The Petro Rite Lwa
• Kalfou
• Dan Petro
• Ibo
• Gran Bwa
• Ezili Danto
• Bossou
• Simbi
 Petro Lwa continued
• Linglessou Basin-Sang
• Damballah Ge-Rouge
• Agwé Ge-Rouge
• Ogoun Ge-Rouge
• Erzulie Ge-Rouge
 Petro Rites
• Marked by the beat of • Considered “hot” by
two drums Haitian Vodouists
• Magical • Must faster than their
• Malevolent Rada counterparts
• Often seen as related • Must be handled with
to red societies or care due to their
secret societies in tempers
Haiti
Kalfou
 Kalfou
• Petwo version of Legba
• Usually given offerings to keep things away
rather than to open the gates
• Seen as a trickster who is unaware of his
malevolence
 Dan Petro
• May have been a Spanish slave during the
revolution
• Seen as the father to the Petro Nation and
head of the Petro Rite Lwa
Ibo
 Ibo
• The Igbo tribe contributed this lwa
• They were known for their courage and
their conviction
• A revolt of 75 Igbo slaves once walked into
a creek to kill themselves while singing a
hymn rather than work as slaves
• Not to be asked for favors, rather offerings
are for services already rendered
Gran Bwa
 Gran Bwa
• Teacher of root doctors
• Living representation of the forest
• Is very saddened by the huge loss of Haiti's
native forests
 Gran Bwa as Saint
• St. Sebastian is Gran Bwa due to the
saint's execution by arrows while tied to a
tree
 Offerings to Gran Bwa
• Leaves
• Flowers
• Tobacco
• Kleren
• Cornmeal
• Peanut Cakes
• Cassava Bread
 Song for Gran Bwa

Gran Bwa zile zile

Gran Bwa climbs to the wood
I am going to Gran Bwa
I am going to pick my leaves
Ezili Danto
 Ezili Danto
• Grand matriarchal figure within the
pantheon
• Hard working mother who raises her
children alone
• Was rewarded for fighting in the revolution
by having her tongue cut out
• She is a larger dark skinned woman who is
attractive but not vain like Freda
 Danto as a Saint
• The Madonna with Child is Ezili Danto.
• The preferred version is Our Lady of
Czerstochowa but St. Barbara Africana or
Our Lady of Mount Carmel are also popular
 Offerings for Ezili Danto
• Barbancourt Rum
• Black Pigs
• Fried Pork
• Strong (unfiltered) cigarrettes
 Song for Ezili Danto

Ezili is the mambo

This temple is my house
This house is the house of my spirit
Bosou
 Bosou
• Mighty bull spirit seen as the sacrificial bull
itself
• The two horned bosou is seen as the bull
who is the earth, however the three horned
bosou is seen as a malevolent spirit who
works with bokor to create baka which are
nothing but trouble
 Bosou
• St. Vincent de Paul is Bosou
• Offerings are made of fried beef
• Those possessed by Bosou act literally like
a bull; snorting, grunting and acting like a
bull in a china shop
Simbi
 Simbi
• Simbi is the patron of the rains, river
currents, and the master of all magicians
• He is “of the two waters” and has his
domain in both the heavens and the sea
 Simbi as a Saint
• Moses is Simbi
• The Magi are also Simbi
 Offerings to Simbi
• Simbi preferrs white animals for his
offerings
 Song for Simbi
Simbi in the two waters
Why don't people like me?
Because my magical force is dangerous
They like my magical force in order to walk in
the middle of the night.
 Others
• Linglessou Basin- • Linglessou Bucket-
Sang of-Blood
• The Ge-Rouge • The Red Eyed
• Jan Zombi
 The Ge-Rouge
• Literally means the red-eyes
• These are shadow incarnations for Rada
lwa that manifest during Petro rites.
• They are usually crying – hence the red
eyes – due to sadness over the people not
honoring them properly any more after the
revolution
 The Ghede – Mixed Origins
• Bawon Samedi
• Brigitte
• Brav Ghede
• Bawon Kriminele
• Papa Ghede
• All of the Dead
 The Ghede
• The Ghede show
when they want to,
with little concern
for hierarchy
• Seen as guardians
of fertility and
children, obsessed
with sex and death
 More of the Ghede
• Festival 'fetdemo' on November 1 & 2
• When they possess a vodouist, they are
always hungry because they are what
consumes and is never filled
• They typically wear undertaker's clothes
and purple sunglasses with only one lens
• They embrace the dual domains of the
creation and conclusion of life.
 The Ghede as Saint
• St. Gerard is all of the Ghede but especially
Bawon Samedi – the head of the Ghede
 Offerings for the Ghede
• Black Rooster
• Black Goat
 Song for Ghede

Papa Ghede is a handsome man

Papa Ghede is a handsome man
He is dressed all in black
For he is going to the palace
 Interesting Facts
• Humans are born little more than
animals
• Through initiation they gain a soul
• This soul (gwo bon anj) is kept in a po-
tet (pot for the head)
• The houngan or mambo who is in charge
of the peristyle keeps this po-tet
• After death the po-tet is broken so the
gwo bon anj can descend into the
abysmal waters
 More interesting facts
• After a year and a day the gwo bon anj is
brought up into a govi by the hougan or
mambo
• This govi is consulted for advice and is even
known to speak
• The lwa will sometimes demand a marriage
to an initiate and offer protection in return
• A mystical marriage requires the human
partner to devote one day a week
exclusively to the lwa
Still More Interesting Information
• Zombis are real – not brain eating zombis,
but the poison exists to make it look like
someone is dead, and without proper burial
practices, those almost dead can be
brought out of the grave – and with
psychotopic drugs may even be
controllable
• There are vodouists of non-African ancestry
Chart of Correspondances
 References
• The Book of Vodou by Leah Gordon
• The Haitian Vodou Handbook by Kenaz
Filan
• Divine Horsemen: The Voodoo Gods of
Haiti by Maya Deren