Loa Racine

The most intimate of all relationships with the spirits are those with traditional family loa, sometimes called loa héritage or loa racine. These loa are generally passed down through generations of family and are treated as family themselves. It is these loa that serve as the strongest anchor for a person’s petit bon ange, being as integral a part of a person as their own life force.

The Servitors

There are different levels of devotee to the loa, with those above the most basic level requiring a special initiation ceremony. The hounsi bossale, hounsi meaning “spouse of the loa” and bossale meaning “wild” or “untutored”, is the most basic level of Vodoun practitioner. The more dedicated level of servitor is the hounsi kanzo and it is at this level that the follower gains special functions within Vodoun rituals and the hounfour.

The role of the leader of the hounfour, called houngan (male) or mambo (female), is a comprehensive one. Although the position is generally hereditary, candidates must complete an internship, as well as demonstrate wisdom in matters of the community and natural healing. As practitioners of green medicine, they use traditional herbal cures and give health-related advice to aid the members of their community that are ill. The healing practices are generally holistic in nature and involve fostering spiritual well being as well as physical well-being. As spiritual leaders, they must be charismatic and knowledgeable in the rituals, as well as able to draw the vevers, patterns that summon the loa, correctly. It is also the responsibility of the houngan or mambo to protect the members of their hounfour from black magic.

Ceremony and Ritual

Central to the physical practice of the religion is the hounfour, where the rituals to summon the loa take place. Within the interior of the hounfour, there are often one or two central rooms that house the ritual objects, as well as sanctuaries to house the altars of the loa and to store their accoutrements. The outer area of the hounfour, the péristyle or tonelle, is often covered by a thatch or tin roof.

The poteau-mitan, the pole in the centre of the peristyle, is the loa’s means of crossing from the spirit world into the material world and is sometimes carved into the likeness of a serpent. In New Orleans Vodoun, the power of the loa is channelled by a large snake kept in a box, possibly reminiscent of the idea of a serpent-carved pouteau-mitan.

It is within this setting that a Vodoun ceremony takes place. Like the loa that they seek to summon, the nuances of la cérémonie can vary between hounfours. The majority of Vodoun ceremonies include drumming, dancing, and singing. The drumming can be the three-drum beat used when summoning a Rada loa or the syncopated rhythms of a Petro summoning, which reflect the sound of a cracking whip. Dancing is fundamental to a ceremony, since it is the way a devotee becomes most open to being ridden by the loa.