The major Vodoun ceremonies are: the mangé loa, in which the loa is feasted and celebrated; baptismal ceremonies, which can also include consecration of objects to the loa or hounfour; and the kanzo, the last stage of which is the brulée-zin or “trial-by-fire”, a symbolic death and rebirth, after which a practitioner becomes hounsi kanzo.

Although there can be great variation in the details of Vodoun ceremony, depending on the purpose and the style of the houngan or mambo performing it, the initial ritual acts are similar. It begins with salutation and libation to the mystères, starting with Legba to initiate contact between the spirit and material planes, then to the Catholic trinity and the Vodoun trinity. This is followed by the houngan (or mambo) drawing a vever around the pouteau-mitan with ash, flour, or chalk. The vever will contain the symbols of the loa that are to be summoned in the ceremony and it is upon this pattern that the dancing will later occur.

After this preparation, the hounsi enter and perform salutations to acknowledge the strict hierarchy within the hounfour and adjust the relationships between the community members. Next, prayers are given, including Catholic litanies.¹¹ At this point, the rituals specific to the loa are started, featuring drumming and dancing designed to incite possession of a servitor by the loa, the pinnacle of the ceremony.

Magic and Sorcery

Another facet of Vodoun, at best tenuously related to the spiritual practices, is the use of magic or sorcery. For the most part, those that practise it are bokor, evil houngans that use the power of the loa for their own gain at the expense of others. In contrast with the community emphasis of Vodoun spirituality, this black magic is a secretive and often solitary endeavour. The magician manipulates power directly through the application of hidden knowledge, whereas the follower of Vodoun gradually develops an understanding of spirituality through participation in community ceremonies within their hounfour.

Although a bokor may approach loa for power, it is not the loa that are responsible for magic. The onus of using the power given lies solely with the practitioner. The greater loa do not lend themselves to such use, but lesser loa, often of the Petro rite, can even be “bought” for such purposes.

As there are many faces of loa, each being tied closely to the nature of their followers, the loa that are used by the bokor are cruel and bloody in nature. Sometimes they are loa that have lost their traditional family of followers, often due to hardship rendering them unable to offer traditional sacrifices, and become bereft of the devotion needed to sustain them and susceptible to the bokor. Otherwise, they are the darker denizens of the spirit world, such as baka (malevolent spirits that take animal form), purposely sought out by the bokor for their willingness to impart the darker gifts, which require a more exacting payment.

As it is the responsibility of a houngan or mambo to protect their hounfour and community, they are sometimes required to use magic defensively against the black magic of a bokor. Despite such use, it is the presence and favour of their traditional family loa that distinguishes them from bokor, who can only buy or bribe spirits to do their bidding.