50 Fun Facts About Voodoo

Haitian Vodou developed on which island?

It blended West and Central African religions with the Catholicism of the French colony of Saint-Domingue.

What is the name of the single supreme creator god in Vodou?

The name comes from the French Bon Dieu, 'Good God'; another name, Gran Mèt, is borrowed from Freemasonry.

What are the spirits who serve under the creator god called?

They are also called the mystères, anges, saints and les invisibles.

From which West African language does the word Vodou itself come?

In the kingdom of Dahomey, vôdoun meant a spirit or deity, first recorded in 1658.

What are the two most notable 'nations' (nanchon) into which the lwa are divided?

The Rada are 'cool' and sweet-tempered; the Petwo are 'hot' and associated with fire.

Which lwa is saluted first in Rada ceremonies, as the guardian of gates and crossroads?

He is pictured as a feeble old man in rags with a crutch, and dogs are sacred to him.

Which Catholic figure is the crossroads lwa most often paired with, because both hold keys?

He is also linked to Saint Lazarus and Saint Anthony in some traditions.

Who heads the Gede family of death spirits?

His consort Gran Brigit has authority over cemeteries.

How is the head of the Gede usually depicted?

Cotton plugs in the nostrils complete the look of a corpse dressed for a Haitian burial.

Which James Bond film features a villain who takes the name of the Gede's top-hatted chief?

He was played by Geoffrey Holder.

Which serpent lwa is depicted with his consort as two intertwined snakes?

His consort is Ayida-Weddo, and he is associated with rivers and springs.

Which Catholic figure, traditionally shown with snakes, is the serpent lwa often equated with?

Moses, whose staff became a serpent, is the alternative match.

What is Èzili Freda the lwa of?

She personifies feminine beauty and grace and is matched with the Mater Dolorosa.

Which twin saints are the Marasa, the sacred twins, equated with?

Every nanchon has its own Marasa, reflecting a belief that twins have special powers.

What is a Vodou temple called?

Its main ceremonial room is the peristil, whose central post is the poto mitan.

What are the titles for a Vodou priest and priestess?

A bòkò, by contrast, is a sorcerer associated with darker work such as zombification.

What are vèvè?

They are usually arranged around the central post and are central to calling the lwa.

What is the ason?

It is especially used in Rada rites.

What is a person possessed by a lwa during a ceremony called?

The lwa is said to 'ride' the possessed dancer.

Where do Vodouists believe the spirit dwells for a year and a day after death?

It is variously placed under the sea, under the earth or above the sky.

According to Haitian legend, a Vodou ceremony at which site sparked the Revolution in 1791?

The name means 'Gator Wood'; the ceremony was led by Dutty Boukman on August 14, 1791.

Who presided over the Bois Caïman ceremony?

A mysterious woman at the ceremony declared him 'Supreme Chief' of the rebellion.

Which Haitian president granted Vodou official recognition in 2003?

Duvalier had earlier called Vodou 'the supreme factor of Haitian unity' and used oungans as rural section chiefs.

What was Operation Nettoyage, launched by Haiti's government in 1941?

It came just after the US occupation of 1915-34 had stirred international interest in Vodou.

Which Kongo word for 'god' is the origin of the word zombie?

In Louisiana, the Grand Zombi was a serpent deity, not the walking dead.

Which Harvard ethnobotanist argued in the 1980s that 'zombie powder' contained pufferfish toxin?

His book The Serpent and the Rainbow popularised the case of Clairvius Narcisse.

Which toxin did Davis say was the key ingredient of the coup de poudre?

It comes from pufferfish; a second powder of deliriants like datura supposedly followed.

Which author documented the supposed zombie Felicia Felix-Mentor in Haiti in 1937?

X-rays showed the woman lacked a leg fracture the real Felix-Mentor was known to have.

What was the first popular book on Haitian zombies, published in 1929?

William Seabrook's account was later used to promote the 1932 film White Zombie.

What role does the pin-stuck 'voodoo doll' actually play in Haitian Vodou and Louisiana Voodoo?

Effigies pierced with pins appear in many cultures' magic; the 'voodoo' label is a Western invention.

Which two African peoples made up most of the enslaved Africans brought to French Louisiana?

Their religions blended with each other, with French Catholicism and later with Haitian Vodou.

Which event brought Vodou from Saint-Domingue to Louisiana in the early 19th century?

Louisiana Voodoo formed from that mix and spread up the Mississippi as far as Missouri.

Who was known as 'the Voodoo Queen' of 19th-century New Orleans?

She was one of some fifteen 'voodoo queens' in the city, and the most powerful.

What was the Voodoo Queen's day job?

She was also an herbalist and midwife, born a free woman of colour in the French Quarter in 1801.

Roughly how many people attended the Voodoo Queen's St. John's Eve rite on Lake Pontchartrain in 1874?

The crowd was both black and white.

Where in New Orleans is the Voodoo Queen generally believed to be buried?

The tomb was painted pink by a vandal in 2013, and the cemetery has required a guide since 2015.

What are the charms made in Louisiana Voodoo for healing or cursing called?

The word comes from West Africa, related to the Mande gerregerys.

On which night were the biggest Louisiana Voodoo gatherings held?

All Saints' Day on 1 November was the other important date.

Which animal was described as 'the trademark of New Orleanian Voodoo' in ceremonies?

It probably represented the Grand Zombi; Laveau was said to commune with one.

Which practice carried on elements of Louisiana Voodoo after the religion faded?

Voodoo itself was never formally banned, only restricted through laws on black gatherings.

Which peoples of Benin, Togo, Ghana and Nigeria practise West African Vodun?

Its most prominent divination system is Fá.

Which country established a National Vodun Day on 10 January in 1993?

Prime minister Nicéphore Soglo had lifted many anti-Vodun laws two years earlier.

Which Vodun water spirit, a seductress bringing wealth, is famous across coastal Benin and Togo?

Her popular image derives from a 19th-century chromolithograph of a snake charmer.

Which Cuban and Brazilian religions did late-20th-century Vodouists build links with?

Some Négritude-influenced practitioners also tried to strip out Catholic elements.

What is the central post of a Vodou temple, through which the lwa are said to enter?

Offerings, vèvè patterns and sacrifices are made around it; diaspora Vodouists who worship in basements often have no such post.

Which lwa of crops and agriculture is usually addressed as 'Papa' or 'Cousin'?

He is paired with Saint Isidore the farmer; Ogou is the warrior lwa of weapons and Loco the lwa of vegetation and healing.

What is the first Vodou initiation rite called, a term also used for the initiate?

Initiation is costly and complex, requiring candidates to memorise many songs and learn the traits of the various lwa.

How many types of drum do Rada rituals require, compared with two for Petwo rites?

The drum is perhaps Vodou's most sacred object; worshippers bow before the drums on entering the peristil and even 'feed' them with offerings.

Which street processions, each under a lwa's patronage, fill Haiti before Easter?

Their contracts with a lwa typically last seven years, and an oungan usually travels with the band to oversee its ritual obligations.

At which waterfall pilgrimage site did the Virgin Mary, seen as Èzili, allegedly appear in the 1840s?

Pilgrims visit in July and bathe beneath falls associated with water spirits such as Danbala.