Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Vocabulary: Voodoo (Vodoun, Vodun, Voudoun)

Asson:  a rattle used in the rituals and ceremonies

Bokor:  the priest who serves with his left hand (the evil)

Cata:  the smallest Vodoun drum

Houngan:  a Vodoun priest (the good)

Hounfour:  a houngan’s temple, a sanctuary, and shrine

Hounsis:  an initiate into the temple

Loa:  the spirit(s) being invoked

Maman:  the largest and deepest pitch drum

Mambo:  Vodoun priestess

Peristyle:  the roofed court of the Hounfour; they move around it in a counterclockwise direction

Poteau Mitan:  centerpost of the Peristyle

Satyr:  a man with strong sexual desires

Seconde:  the middle drum of three used in Vodoun ceremonies

Rites of Rada:  derived almost directly from the services of the deities of Dahomey; in Haiti the Rada have come to represent the emotional stability and warmth of Africa, the hearth of the nation; drum beats and dancing are on beat

Rites of Petro:  the new nation of spirits that follow the rites of the Rada; forged directly in the steel and blood of the colonial era; they reflect all of the rage, violence, and delirium that threw off the shackles of slavery; drums, dancing and rhythm are distinct from the Rada – offbeat, sharp and unforgiving

Veve:  the symbol of the loa




SOURCES:

The Serpent and The Rainbow, by Wade Davis, 1985 (ISBN: 13: 978-0-671-50247-8).

Secrets of Voodoo, by Milo Rigaud, 1969 (ISBN: 0-87286-171-6).

The Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook, by Denise Alvarado, 2009 (ISBN: 10: 144211892X).

The Book on Palo: Deities, Initiatory Rituals & Ceremonies, by Baba Raul Cantizares, 2002 (ISBN: 0-942272-66-8).

Faces in the Smoke: An Eyewitness Experience of Voodoo, Shamanism. Psychic Healing & Other Amazing Human Powers, by Douchan Gersi,  1991.

The Twilight Labyrinth: Why Does Spiritual Darkness Linger Where It Does?, by George Otis, Jr, 1997 (ISBN: 0-8007-9255-6).

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