|
Bokor
A bokor (male) () or caplata (female) is a Vodou priest or priestess for hire in Haiti who is said to serve the loa, with both hands', practicing for both good and evil." Their practice includes the creation of zombies and of ''ouangas'' (talismans that house spirits). The term ''bokor'' can also refer to the leader of the Makaya division of Vodou, which originated in the Congo region. It is believed that there is a grand master for all bokors that have ever lived who can be reborn in every century. During the dictatorship of Papa Doc Duvalier (as ''Haiti's President for life'') in the 1960s, he is known of creating the army of the undead. Duvalier's second in command, Luckner Cambronne, the head of the secret police, the ''Tonton Macoute'' and a high-ranking political figure was known as the ''Vampire of the Caribbean'' for developing a reputation for enforcement and cruelty by selling Haitian blood and cadavers to the United States. He was expelled from Haiti by the dictato ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haitian Vodou
Haitian Vodou () is an African diasporic religions, 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 Africa, 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 teaches the existence of a transcendent creator divinity, Bondyé, Bondye, under whom are spirits known as . Typically deriving their names and attributes from traditional West and Central African deities, they are equated with Roman Catholic saints. The divide into different groups, the ("nations"), most notably the Rada lwa, Rada and the Petro lwa, Petwo, about whom various myths and stories are told. This theology has been labelled both Monotheism, monotheistic and Polytheism, polytheistic. An initiatory tradition, Vodouists commonly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tetrodotoxin
Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent neurotoxin. Its name derives from Tetraodontiformes, an Order (biology), order that includes Tetraodontidae, pufferfish, porcupinefish, ocean sunfish, and triggerfish; several of these species carry the toxin. Although tetrodotoxin was discovered in these fish, it is found in several other animals (e.g., in blue-ringed octopus, blue-ringed octopuses, Taricha, rough-skinned newts, and Naticidae, moon snails). It is also produced by certain infectious or symbiotic bacteria like ''Pseudoalteromonas tetraodonis, Pseudoalteromonas'', ''Pseudomonas'', and ''Vibrio'' as well as other species found in symbiotic relationships with animals and plants. Although it produces thousands of intoxications annually and several deaths, it has shown efficacy for the treatment of cancer-related pain in phase II and III clinical trials. Tetrodotoxin is a sodium channel blocker. It inhibits the firing of action potentials in neurons by binding to the voltage-gated sodiu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abakuá
Abakuá, also sometimes known as Ñañiguismo, is a Cuban initiatory religious fraternity founded in 1836. The society is open only to men and those initiated take oaths to not reveal the secret teachings and practices of the order. Members are typically known as Abanékues and are divided amongst lodges or chapters called ''juegos''. Abakuá derives largely from the Ekpe, Ékpè society of West Africa, but displays adaptations like the inclusion of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic symbolism. The society teaches the existence of a supreme divinity named Abasí who supplied humanity with a form of power which holds a central place in Abakuá's origin myth. Rituals are called ''plantes'' and typically take place in a secluded room, the ''fambá''. Many of the details of these ceremonies are kept secret although they usually involve drumming. Some of the Abakuá society's ceremonies take place in public. Most notable are the public parades on the Epiphany (holiday), Day of the Three ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Houngan
Oungan (also written as ''houngan'') is the term for a male priest in Haitian Vodou (a female priest is known as a ''mambo''). The term is derived from Gbe languages (Fon, Ewe, Adja, Phla, Gen, Maxi and Gun). The word hounnongan means chief priest. ''Hounnongan'' or ''oungans'' are also known as ''makandals''. Haitian Vodou is an African diasporic religion, which blends traditional Vodun from the Kingdom of Dahomey with Roman Catholicism. In similarity to their West African heritage, ''oungans'' are leaders within the community who run temples (''ounfò'') to respect and serve '' lwa'' (also written as ''loa'') alongside the Grand Maître (grandmaster or creator). ''Lwa'' are like spirits, encompassing a collection of Yoruba gods and Roman Catholic saints. ''Lwa'' manifest themselves in people during Vodou ceremonies through spirit possession. Each lwa has a distinct dance rhythm, song, sacrificial victuals, and clothing. ''Lwa'' choose ''oungans'' whilst they dream, where ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louisiana Voodoo
Louisiana Voodoo, also known as New Orleans Voodoo, was an African diasporic religion that existed in Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ... and the broader Mississippi River valley between the 18th and early 20th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between the traditional religions of West Africa, West and Central Africa, and Haitian Vodou. No central authority controlled Louisiana Voodoo, which was organized through autonomous groups. From the early 18th century, enslaved West and Central Africans—the majority of them Bambara people, Bambara and Kongo people, Bakongo—were brought to the Louisiana (New France), French colony of Louisiana. There, their traditional religions syncretized with each other and with the Catholic beliefs of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rootworker
Hoodoo is a set of spiritual observances, traditions, and beliefs—including magical and other ritual practices—developed by enslaved African Americans in the Southern United States from various traditional African spiritualities and elements of indigenous American botanical knowledge. Practitioners of Hoodoo are called rootworkers, conjure doctors, conjure men or conjure women, and root doctors. Regional synonyms for Hoodoo include roots, rootwork and conjure. As an autonomous spiritual system, it has often been syncretized with beliefs from religions such as Islam, Protestantism, Catholic Church, Catholicism, and Spiritual church movement, Spiritualism. While there are a few academics who believe that Hoodoo is an autonomous religion, those who practice the tradition maintain that it is a set of spiritual traditions that are practiced in conjunction with a religion or spiritual belief system, such as a traditional African spirituality and Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Bois (loa)
Grand Bois (meaning ''great wood'', also Grans Bwa, Bran Bwa, Ganga-Bois; ) is an elemental, nature-oriented loa closely associated with trees, plants, and herbs in Haitian Vodou. Offerings to him include leaves and herbs, honey, and spiced rum. As a petro loa and loa of the wilderness, he can be fierce and unpredictable in some aspects.Torres, Rafael Agustí. "Loas y Vèvès del Vudú", pp. 19-20 (in Spanish) Grand Bois, Maître Carrefour (Master Crossroads), and Baron Cimetière (Baron Cemetery) form the triad of magicians. They represent the journey of life: ''Grand Bois'' represents the rich earth that you spring from and the dark woods you stumble through, ''Maitre Carrefour'' represents the various roads and paths you choose to travel on, and ''Baron Cimitère'' represents the end of the trip. Grand Bois is represented by Saint Sebastian as his Catholic counterpart. His colors are commonly shades of green (sometimes including red in some houses). See also *Leshy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simbi
A Simbi (also Cymbee, Sim'bi, pl. Bisimbi) is a Central African water and nature spirit in traditional Kongo religion, as well as in African diaspora spiritual traditions, such as Hoodoo in the southern United States and Palo in Cuba. Simbi have been historically identified as water people, or mermaids, pottery, snakes, gourds, and fire. Due to the forced removal of Bantu peoples from Africa to the Americas, the veneration of simbi exists today in countries, such as the United States, Brazil, Cuba, and Haiti. Etymology While there is little written historical record of the word ''simbi'', there is consensus that it originated within Bantu-speaking and Kongo-speaking communities and almost certainly began as a means for them to understand the spiritual nature of the world around them. Some believe the word ''simbi'' derives from ''simba'', a Kikongo word that means "to hold, keep, preserve. The similar phrase, ''isimba ia nsi'', which translates to "a distinguished person ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legba
Papa Legba is a lwa, or loa, in West African Vodun and its diasporic derivatives ( Dominican Republic Vudú, Haitian Vodou, Louisiana Voodoo, and Winti), who serves as the intermediary between God 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 hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kalfu
Kalfu (literally '' crossroads)'' is a lwa in Haitian Vodou. He is often envisioned as a young man or as a enigmatic spirit; his color is black or red and he favors rum infused with gunpowder. He is often syncretized with the Shadow A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensio .... As his name indicates, he also controls the crossroads and has the power to grant or deny access to all other lwa, or spirits, and he allows the "crossing" with an understanding into the nature of chaos and creation, good and misfortune, and injustices.Corbett, Bob. "Haiti: Short List of Loa." Haiti: Short List of Loa. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2013Webster.edu/ref> Footnotes Notes References Crossroads mythology Fortune gods Liminal gods Magic gods Haitian Vodou gods Lunar gods {{De ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baron Samedi
Baron Samedi (), also written Baron Samdi, Bawon Samedi or Bawon Sanmdi, is one of the lwa of Haitian Vodou. He is a lwa of the dead, along with Baron's numerous other incarnations Baron Cimetière, Baron La Croix and Baron Criminel. He is the head of the Gede family of lwa; his brothers are Azagon Lacroix and Baron Piquant. He is sometimes identified with Guede Nibo. Portrayal Baron Samedi is usually depicted with a top hat, black tail coat, dark glasses, and cotton plugs in the nostrils, as if to resemble a corpse dressed and prepared for burial in the Haitian style. He is frequently depicted as a skeleton (but sometimes as a black man that merely has his face painted as a skull), and speaks in a nasal voice. The former dictator of Haiti, François Duvalier, known as Papa Doc, modeled his cult of personality on Baron Samedi; he was often seen speaking in a deep nasal tone and wearing dark glasses. He is noted for disruption, obscenity, debauchery, and having a parti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fetishism
A fetish is an object believed to have supernatural powers, or in particular, a human-made object that has power over others. Essentially, fetishism is the attribution of inherent non-material value, or powers, to an object. Talismans and amulets are related. Fetishes are often used in spiritual or religious context. Historiography The word ''fetish'' derives from the French , which comes from the Portuguese ("spell"), which in turn derives from the Latin ("artificial") and ("to make"). The term ''fetish'' has evolved from an idiom used to describe a type of object created in the interaction between European travelers and Native West Africans in the early modern period to an analytical term that played a central role in the perception and study of non-Western art in general and African art in particular. William Pietz, who, in 1994, conducted an extensive ethno-historical study of the fetish, argues that the term originated in the coast of West Africa during the sixteenth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
