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Alternative Religion/ Afro-Caribbean Religion / Vodoun

Vodoun, the traditional religion of Haiti, is one of the most misunderstood religions of all time. The fear of Vodoun began when French slave owners, suspicious and highly afraid of practices unlike anything in their limited experience, outlawed the practice. Hollywood hasn't done much to rectify the issue, producing lurid tales of zombies, evil sorcery, and ritual murder, which reinforces the Western association of voodoo to images of black magic, curses, sticking pins in dolls, and worse. During the thirties, a mass persecution intended to rid Voudoun from the world was unsuccessful; in 1996, Vodoun was declared the official religion of Benin, its land of origin.

"Voodoo" as we know it today originated with African slaves in Haiti; traditional Dahomey regional practices were blended with other African traditions- creating a unique faith that has survived some of the worst persecutions. The word 'voodoo' is a corruption of the word 'vodun,' a word that means 'god' or 'spirit' in the West African Fon language. Vodoun traditionally embodies two traditions- obeah, or folk magic, also known colloquially as 'hoodoo,' and the ancient African worship of the Loa, an initiatory system. The primary worship practice in Vodoun is possession, whereby the gods or one's ancestors are enticed to inhabit the bodies of worshippers. The second practice is the true Vodoun, the traditional ancestral root of the religion.

In the cosmology of Vodoun, there are three levels of divinity:

• Gran met, or grand master, also known as Bondye, from the French 'bon dieu, good god' -the true deity, an entity which presides over the spirit world but is not directly worshipped
• The Loas, or Lwas, the lesser divinities which are central to worship.
• The Dead- ancestral spirits and the spirits of saints. These are ever present with the practitioner, even prior to initiation.

There are three levels of initiation: kanzo, sur pointe, and asogwe. These may be taken one at a time, as in western systems, but this is rare. One is likely to remain at the initiatory level one attains from the beginning, and initiation is not necessary to be a Vodouisant. The kanzo is the lowest level, a worshipper. The Sur Point is further initiated into the tradition of a particular Loa, and is considered a priest or priestess (Houngan or Mambo). The Asogwe is the supreme human authority, and can initiate petitioners into any grade.

The primary worship of the Loas in Vodoun takes place at ceremonial dances such as the Rada. Depending on the tradition, particular Loas are invoked with drumming and chanting. The Loa manifest by possessing or "mounting' participants. This manifestation is marked by an obvious change in behavior in the "horse," or mountee, who may laugh, sing, tell bawdy jokes, dance around, etc. Each Loa has a particular set of behaviors or tendencies which identify him or her.

There are hundreds or more Loas- Some of he more commonly known are:

Damballah -the serpent; a primordial deity, who with his companion Ayida, created the cosmos.
Ayida- the consort of Damballah; the rainbow.
Baron Samedi- the Loa of the Dead; usually pictures as a grinning skeleton in a top hat- one of the most recognized of the loas outside of vodoun
Ogoun -a warrior; martial masculinity; related to the Yoruban Orisha of the same name, and also to Shango.
Erzuli - ogoun's spouse, the embodiment of femininity and love. Similar to the goddess Venus.
Agwe - the primordial sea.
Legba, or Papa Legba- like the Yoruban Eleggua, Legba is the guardian of crossroads. As in Santeria, he must be honored before any other Loa.

Each Loa has his or her Veve, or sigil, which is marked on the ground during a ceremony. Veves are intricate sigils containing symbols to invoke or entice each particular Loa.

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