What is a Bokor voodoo?
A bokor (male) or caplata (female) is a Vodou witch for hire who is said to serve the loa “with both hands”, practicing for both good and evil. Their black magic includes the creation of zombies and of ‘ouangas’, talismans that house spirits.
What is the meaning of Vodun?
spirit
Vodun (meaning spirit in the Fon, Gun and Ewe languages, pronounced [vodṹ] with a nasal high-tone u; also spelled Vodon, Vodoun, Vodou, Voudou, Voodoo, etc.) is a religion practiced by the Aja, Ewe, and Fon peoples of Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria.
What do you call a voodoo user?
Several different spellings of Voodoo have been used; alternatives have included Voudou and Vaudou. The spelling Voodoo is sometimes used for the Louisiana practice to distinguish it from Haitian Vodou. In some sources, practitioners are referred to as Voodoos themselves, and elsewhere as Voodooists.
What are voodoo priests called?
Houngan
Houngan, or oungan, is the term for a male priest in Haitian Vodou (a female priest is known as a mambo). The term is derived from the Fon word hounnongan.
Why is Nan with Papa Legba?
Cordelia is shocked to find that Nan is with Legba as Fiona never told her what actually caused Nan’s death. Legba explains that Nan is one of his favorite little helpers as Nan states she is having fun in Hell, stirring up trouble.
Where does the last name houngan come from?
In Dahomey, the term Vodun is synonymous with the prefix hun-, which lends itself to the root of the name houngan amongst other terminologies such as hounsi and hounfort. The ending -gan, also originates from Dahomey, meaning “chief of spirits”, or in other words, “priest”.
What kind of religion is the houngan religion?
The term is derived from the Fon word hounnongan. Houngans are also known as makandals. Haitian Vodou is an African diasporic religion, which blends traditional Vodun from the Kingdom of Dahomey with Roman Catholicism.
Who are the houngans and what do they do?
The houngan has full control and a central role in ceremonies each houngan or mambo having an original take on the style of ritual performed. They serve as the middlemen between followers of Vodou and loa. Customary colours for a houngan are red, black, and white. Houngans may have students or assistants called badji-cans.
Who is the highest ranking houngan in Voodoo?
There are two ranks of houngan: houngan asogwe (high priest) and houngan sur pwen (junior priest). A houngan asogwe is the highest member of clergy in voodoo and the only one with authority to ordain other priests.