Final 1 Flashcards
Is Vodou considered a polytheistic, monotheistic or animistic religion, according to McCarthy-Brown? Explain.
Monotheistic because Bondye, the big creator God, is the only entity properly called a God. The lwas and ancestors are spirits.
Which spirit in Vodou is not supposed to have animal sacrifices done in front of him or her? Why?
Elizi Danto becuase she goes crazy at the sight of blood.
Which spirit in Vodou represents the connection between the Land, Family and Ancestors/Spirits?
Kouzen Azaka
Which spirit in Vodou is used to represent the generalized dead? How is worshipping one’s ancestors done before him or her?
Papa Gede. Go to the Baron Cross and do a ritual to Papa Gede. When no longer possible, the Baron Cross is the 2nd choice site for rituals. The graves is #1 choice
Which spirit in Vodou is used to represent romantic love that is never satisfied?
Elizi Freida
Which spirit in Vodou is used to represent the fierce protective and raging power of Motherhood?
Elizi Danto
Which spirit in Vodou represents the dead, sex, humor, and children?
Papa Gede
Which spirit in Vodou represents bravery, justice, soldiering, and the potential abuse of power?
Papa Ogou
How are suffering and death seen in Vodou? How is relief from suffering seen?
Seen as inevitable. Relief from suffering are seen as “having luck.”
Gift of the Eyes
a type of insight like E.S.P., or clairvoyance, or ability to see the true nature of things behind the mask that they wear. This is a gift that helps healers heal.
Problem of ‘Eyes’
when too much attention is focused on one, it throws one off balance, even though the attention is not negative in nature.
Problem of ‘Bad Eyes’
when too much attention is focused on one, and it is in a negative manner. More severe than the above.
Where are the roots of Voodoo found?
West Africa, in Dahomey, now called Benin.
“She eats with me”
means she is part of the in-group and can be trusted as family.
“I don’t eat today”
is not taken literally, it means you don’t feel well/at ease/you are upset.
Rada
Corruption of Arara, an African port where many slave ships were launched. Rada spirits are typically thought to be peaceful or benign.
Sen
Saint; spirit
Iwa
Vodou spirit; those such as Agéou can be summoned by the sound of the ason.
Espri
spirit
Baka
Evil spirit
Pwen achte
Purchased point; nonfamily spirit
Kouzinn
Female cousin; a rural market woman spirit who is Azaka’s counterpart
Ogou
Vodou warrior spirit
Sen Jak Maje
Saint James the Elder, head of the Ogou
Ogou Badagri
Handsome soldier
Ageou
An Ogou
Danbala Wedo
Ancient spirit, serpent and rainbow - connects the land of Africa with that of Haiti as a rainbow across the ocean.
Ayida Wedo
Wife of the rainbow serpent Danbala
Baron Samdi
Head of all the Gede–arrives as a corpse with a powdered face, and is prepared like a corpse
Bijit/Brijit
Baron Samedi’s female partner; the first female grave in a cemetery is said to be a Bijit/Brijit grave. No ceremonies are devoted to her, though.
Ezili Danto
Solitary mother spirit/Our Lady of Mount Carmel(
Ezili Freda
Spirit of sensuality married to Ogou and Danbala and eternally ripe for marriage; addressed as a married women of means, Maitresse/Maria Dolorosa
Loko
Spirit patron of the priesthood
Marasa
spirit twins, child spirits
Fey
leaves, herbs
Konseans
spiritual knowledge; intuition; e.s.p.
Maji
Magic
Manje Pov
ritual feeding of the poor
Priye Deyo
Outside Prayers; prayers said at the beginning of Vodou ceremonies
Pwomes
Promise; a ceremony to show good intentions
Manbo and Ougan
are those who take on the most serious sacrifices by the initiation process itself. Vodou Priestess and Priest
1
Ousi
ritual assistant in a Vodou temple
Pretsavann
Vodou functionary who plays the role of Catholic priest in certain types of ritualizing.
Ti fe y
little leaf, a “child of the house”; a Vodou initiate
Boko
a sorcerer; one who works with”both hands” or the “left hand”.
Secondary Benefits
Vodou provides weapons to the disenfranchised, the survival skills of the oppressed in the forms of Understanding people, maneuvering and even manipulating human relationships.
Migrants
Gede teaches migrants to be flexible and fearless, adaptable. A new Gede is born around All Souls’ Day every year as an adaptation
Marketplace of the Spirits
Agéou appears in Philo’s head as her main spirit. Helps her friend save her sick child, and the friend gives her money to return home to Luc Charles. That relationship ends.
Barter(6)ing with Sex
Alourdes’ folkloric troupe experience, brief marriage, factory work, and then work as a Marie-Jacques.
Bókó
A sorcerer, one who works with both hands or the left hand.
Marie-Jacques
flirted with business men, upper class prostitute, no price discussed, see what is received in the morning. Alourdes worked as a Marie-Jacques, which is a High Class Prostitute
Horse
Host I think. People assist the possessed person or “horse” of the spirits by removing her shoes, dress her in the appropriate clothing for the spirit taking over.
Brijit/Bijit Grave
The Bridget/Bijit Grave is the oldest Female grave in a cemetery, named for Gede’s wife.
Baron Grave
The Baron Grave is the oldest Male grave in a cemetery.
Season of the Gede
In Haiti the event, which is commemorated yearly on the first and second days of November (All Saints Day and All Souls day respectively), is marked by converging on cemeteries to honor Haitian ancestors with rituals and sacrifices.
Joseph Binbin Mauvant
Great Grandpa of Alourdes. He was said to be a franginen (a true African) who could heal the
natural way, with the spirits “on him” at all times, of different types.
*He could just examine a person to know what was wrong with him,
without using cards to diagnose or the ason (healer’s ritual rattle for
leverage) to call the spirits. He would use his own power & fey
(leaves). He refused payment for his help.
*He healed the natural way, which is the simple way, which Haitians
were thought to have also been able to do in the past, but had
forgotten how.At 79 years old, he woke saying he ”was going today”, by which he meant he was going back to Ginen (the creole name for Africa). His wife (more than 30 years his junior) didn’t take him seriously, just thinking he was getting senile.
* He insisted on bathing when it was too cold out, with his wife assisting him with removing the soap.
* He sat by a fire & sang for a while.
* He tried to pass a stone that he vomited up to his Granddaughter Philomise, who was a child only 3 or 4 years old, but she ran away when he told her to eat it. Later in life she regretted not listening to him, because he had been trying to pass on his spiritual power to her. She had shown early signs of a difference from the other children from a young age, being too serious for her age.
* But being a little child, she hadn’t understood, had said “yuck!” and ran away without listening to him.
You in you in, You out you stay out
This possession-performance showed the tensions between how
outsiders/strangers are treated vs. how insiders/family are treated.
*When he became the generous patriarch, all the food from the altar
still left was placed on a clean white sheet at his feet, & large portions
of each of the foods were given to all the guests, & no one could
refuse, & all were to eat with their hands
Labalenn
Whale
Shango
& when Ogou is called by the names of Achade or Shango . . . He is said to be a sorcerer.”
Whistling stone
That whistling rock was kept on the altar of Sina and housed Ezili Danto
Lady of Czestochowa
Ezili Danto
Ginen
Creole name for Africa
Role of Twin Child Spirits in Promise Ceremony
Manje Marasa Promise Ritual for twin child spirits—living kids are their stand-ins—they are fed foods Haitian children like & then wipe hands on Maggie to symbolize the spirits acceptance of her promise to initiate. (like the ritual feeding of the Poor)
Lwas
African Spirits from Dahomey/Republic of Benin in West Africa (some overlap with Yoruba Orishas)
Luck
“Life, in the Vodou view of things, is thus characterized by alternating cycles of suffering and the transient relief from suffering that is called ‘having luck’
Met tet
Master of the head—main lwa in charge of a practitioner who is said to love and protect that person. This would typically be the lwa under which one would be initiated.
Ason
Ritual rattle used in Vodou by healers to give them leverage with the spirits to force them to do what they want. Given in the last stage of initiation
Role of the Client in Healing Rituals?
The client has an active role. The client helps to gather the ritual ingredients for the work, and actively must ‘work the point’- say what the client wants and visualize it happening.
What do all Vodou ceremonies involve, even if that is not the presenting problem?
The healing of relationshipsof one or more of all levels possible-between different parts of the self, the self and the living, the self and the ancestors, or the self and the lwas.
Who is the first Vodou spirit that must always be given offerings in any ceremony and why?
Papa Legbe because he is the keeper of the crossroads. He will open the gateway so all other lwas can get through.
From Haitian Voodoo, compare the offerings given to Christian Saints and Vodou lwa, according to the Manbo interviewed.
Christian saints are given votive candles and lamp oil and prayers. Lwas need real food, meat, grain, fruit, vegetable, drink, and things they like.
What goal do all Vodou ceremonies ultimately have in common? Which ceremony is the most profound manifestation of this goal?
Healing of relationships at some level or other. Initiation is the most profound manifestation of this goal. It is the mother of all ceremonies.
