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Rada Lwa
The Rada are a family of lwa spirits in the religion of Haitian Vodou. They are regarded as being sweet-tempered and "cool", in this contrasting with the Petro lwa, which are regarded as volatile and "hot". Description The Rada lwa have been described as a "pantheon" of deities in Haitian Vodou. The Rada lwa are deemed sweet-natured and dependable. In this, they contrast with the Petwo lwa, whom are deemed volatile and hot-tempered. The Rada are referred to as ''lwa rasin'', meaning "root lwa." As they are often regarded as having an intimate relationship with their worshippers, they are often given names implying a family connection, such as ''Papa'' ("father") and ''Kouzen'' ("cousin"). The Petwo lwa are kept separate from the Rada lwa, both spatially, by placing their altars in different parts of the ''ounfo'' (temple), and temporally, by invoking them at different stages in a ritual. History The Rada pantheon have West African origins; specifically, the pantheon of Rada lwa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haitian Vodou
Haitian Vodou is an African diasporic religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between several traditional religions of West and Central Africa and Roman Catholicism. There is no central authority in control of the religion and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as Vodouists, Vodouisants, or Serviteurs. Vodou revolves around spirits known as ''lwa.'' Typically deriving their names and attributes from traditional West and Central African divinities, they are equated with Roman Catholic saints. The lwa divide up into different groups, the ''nanchon'' ("nations"), most notably the Rada and the Petwo. Various myths and stories are told about these lwa, which are regarded as subservient to a transcendent creator deity, Bondye. This theology has been labelled both monotheistic and polytheistic. An initiatory tradition, Vodouists usually meet to venerate the lwa in an ''ounfò'' (temple), ru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Petro Loa
The Petwo ( ht, Petwo), also spelled Petro and alternatively known as , are a family of lwa (loa) spirits in the religion of Haitian Vodou. They are regarded as being volatile and "hot", in this contrasting with the Rada lwa, which are regarded as sweet-tempered and "cool." Description The Petwo are also known as the Dompete. They are considered one of the ('nations') of lwa spirits in the religion. Various commentators have described the Petwo as a "pantheon" of deities. Along with the Rada, they are one of the two main groups of lwa worshipped by practitioners in Port-au-Prince. The Petwo spirits are considered to be volatile and hot-tempered, exhibiting bitter, aggressive, and forceful characteristics. In this they contrast with the Rada lwa, who are deemed sweet-natured and dependable. The Petwo lwa are kept separate from the Rada lwa, both spatially, by placing their altars in different parts of the (temple), and temporally, by invoking them at different stages in a ritual. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingdom Of Ardra
The Kingdom of Ardra, also known as the Kingdom of Allada, was a coastal West African kingdom in southern Benin. While historically a sovereign kingdom, in present times the monarchy continues to exist as a non-sovereign monarchy within the republic of Benin. It was named for its capital, the modern Allada, which was also the main city and major port of the realm. The city and kingdom were supposedly founded by a group of Aja migrants from Tado, a settlement along the Mono River, in the 12th or 13th century. Its kings "ruled with the consent of the elders of the people". The state reached the peak of its power in the 16th and early 17th centuries, when it was an important source of slaves for the Atlantic trade. By the mid-15th century, the city of Allada had a population of approximately 30,000 people, while the state as a whole had a population of nearly 200,000 people by the 16th century. Name The name is variously spelled Ardra, Ardrah, Ardres, Hardre, Arda, Arada, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dahomey
The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. Dahomey developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a regional power in the 18th century by expanding south to conquer key cities like Whydah belonging to the Kingdom of Whydah on the Atlantic coast which granted it unhindered access to the tricontinental triangular trade. For much of the middle 19th century, the Kingdom of Dahomey became a key regional state, after eventually ending tributary status to the Oyo Empire. European visitors extensively documented the kingdom, and it became one of the most familiar African nations to Europeans. The Kingdom of Dahomey was an important regional power that had an organized domestic economy built on conquest and slave labor, significant international trade and diplomatic relations with Europeans, a centralized administration, taxation systems, and an org ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the sound and the meaning of a word, cognates may not be obvious, and often it takes rigorous study of historical sources and the application of the comparative method to establish whether lexemes are cognate or not. Cognates are distinguished from loanwords, where a word has been borrowed from another language. The term ''cognate'' derives from the Latin noun '' cognatus blood relative'. Characteristics Cognates need not have the same meaning, which may have changed as the languages developed independently. For example English '' starve'' and Dutch '' sterven'' 'to die' or German '' sterben'' 'to die' all descend from the same Proto-Germanic verb, '' *sterbaną'' 'to die'. Cognates also do not need to look or sound sim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allada
Allada is a town, arrondissement, and commune, located in the Atlantique Department of Benin. The current town of Allada corresponds to Great Ardra (also called Grand Ardra, or Arda), which was the capital of a Fon kingdom also called Allada (the '' kingdom of Ardra'' or ''kingdom of Allada''), which existed as a sovereign kingdom from around the 13th or 14th century (date of the initial settlements by Aja people, reorganized as a kingdom c. 1600) until 1724, when it fell to the armies of neighbour Kingdom of Dahomey. The present-day commune of Allada covers an area of 381 square kilometres and as of 2013 had a population of 127,512 people. History In the mid-sixteenth century, Allada (then called Grand Ardra, or Arda) had a population of about 30,000 people. The original inhabitants of Ardra were ethnic Aja. According to oral tradition, the Aja migrated to southern Benin around the 12th or 13th century, coming from Tado, on the Mono River in modern Togo. They established t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ezili Freda
Erzulie (sometimes spelled Erzili or Èzili) is a family of loa, or spirits, in Vodou. Overview The Erzulie is a family of loa that are often associated with water (fluidity), femininity, and feminine bodies. They are one of the only group of spirits directly tied to these characteristics and those who become possessed (through spirit possession) often are women or Masisi ( effeminate and or homosexual men). Maîtresse Mambo Erzulie Fréda Dahomey ''Erzulie Fréda'' Dahomey, the Rada aspect of Erzulie, is the Haitian African spirit of love, beauty, jewelry, dancing, luxury, and flowers. She wears three wedding rings, one for each husband - Damballa, Agwe and Ogoun. Her symbol is a heart, her colors are pink, blue, white and gold, and her favorite sacrifices include jewelry, perfume, sweet cakes and liqueurs. Coquettish and very fond of beauty and finery, Erzulie Freda is femininity and compassion embodied, yet she also has a darker side; she is seen as jealous and spoiled a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Papa Legba
Papa Legba is a lwa in Haitian Vodou, Winti and Louisiana Voodoo, who serves as the intermediary between the lwa and humanity. He stands at a spiritual crossroads and gives (or denies) permission to speak with the spirits of Guineé, and is believed to speak all human languages. In Haiti, he is the great elocutioner. Legba facilitates communication, speech, and understanding. He is commonly associated with dogs. Papa Legba is invoked at the beginning of every ceremony. Papa Legba has his origins in the historic West African kingdom of Dahomey, located within present-day Benin. Appearance He usually appears as an old man on a crutch or with a cane, wearing a broad-brimmed straw hat and smoking a pipe, or drinking dark rum. The dog is sacred to him. Legba is syncretized with Saint Peter, Saint Lazarus, and Saint Anthony. His ''veve'' incorporates a walking cane on the right side. Offerings to him typically include candy. Legba is a favorite Lwa of children due to his jolly, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loco (loa)
Loco is a loa, patron of healers and plants, especially trees in the Vodou religion. He is a racine (root) and a rada loa. Among several other loa, he is linked with the ''poteau mitan'' or center post in a Vodou peristyle.Torres, Rafael Agustí. "Loas y Vèvès del Vudú", p. 25 (in Spanish) He is the husband of the loa Ayizan and just as she is the archetypal mambo (priestess), Loco is considered the first houngan (priest). As the spiritual parents of the priesthood, he and his wife are two of the loa involved in the kanzo initiation rites in which the priest/ess to be is given the asson (sacred rattle and tool of the priesthood). Both are powerful guardians of "regleman" or the correct and appropriate form of Vodoun service. He is similar to the Arawak deity Louquo, a founding ancestor of the Arawak people. He's related to the Iroko and the ''Ceiba pentandra'', two sacred trees, one in Africa and one in Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ayizan
Ayizan (also Grande Ai-Zan, Aizan, or Ayizan Velekete) is the loa of the marketplace and commerce in Vodou, especially in Haiti. Background She is a racine, or root loa, associated with Vodoun rites of initiation (called kanzo). Just as her husband Loko is the archetypal houngan (priest), Ayizan is regarded as the first, or archetypal, mambo (priestess), and as such is also associated with priestly knowledge and mysteries, particularly those of initiation and the natural world. As the spiritual parents of the priesthood, she and her husband are two of the loa involved in the kanzo rites in which the priest/ess-to-be is given the asson (sacred rattle and tool of the priesthood) and are both powerful guardians of "reglemen" or the correct and appropriate form of Vodoun service. She is syncretized with the Catholic Saint Clare. Her symbol is the palm frond The palm branch is a symbol of victory, triumph, peace, and eternal life originating in the ancient Near East and Medit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Damballa
Damballa, also spelled Damballah, Dambala, Dambalah, among other variations ( ht, Danbala), is one of the most important of all loa, spirits in Haitian Voodoo and other African diaspora religious traditions such as Obeah. He is traditionally portrayed as a great white or black serpent, originating in the city of Wedo (Whydah or Ouidah) in modern-day Benin. Damballa is said to be the Sky Father and the primordial creator of all life, or the first thing created by Gran Met. In those Vodou societies that view Damballa as the primordial creator, he created the cosmos by using his 7,000 coils to form the stars and the planets in the heavens and to shape the hills and valleys on earth. In others, being the first thing created by God, creation was undertaken through him. By shedding the serpent skin, Damballa created all the waters on the earth. As a serpent, he moves between land and water, generating life, and through the earth, uniting the land with the waters below. Damballa is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ayida-Weddo
Ayida-Weddo is a loa of fertility, rainbows, wind, water, fire, and snakes in Vodou, especially in Benin and Haiti. Ayida-Weddo is known as the "Rainbow Serpent". Variants of Ayida-Weddo's name include Aida-Weddo, Ayida-Wedo, Aido Quedo, and Aido Hwedo. Family Ayida-Weddo is a member of the rada family and a root or (Old French) ''racine'' loa. She is married to Damballa. She shares her husband with his concubine, Erzulie Freda. Symbols and offerings Ayida-Weddo's symbols are the rainbow and white paquet congo. Her ceremonial colors are white and green. Appropriate offerings to her include white chickens, white eggs, rice, and milk. Her favorite plant is cotton. Function and presentation The Fon people of Benin believe the rainbow snake Ayida-Weddo, created to serve Nana Buluku, held up the heavens. The creature had a twin personality as the red part of the rainbow was male while the blue part was female. She is portrayed as a narrow green snake. Like Dambala, she lives in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
