The Loa

Introduction
The Rada Loa
The Petro Loa
A Selection of Art Depicting the Loa

Introduction

The entire vodoun pantheon of loa is enormous, with hundreds of deities. Many of these loa are simply aspects of other loa, so that one loa may have many different names and appearances. The pantheon can expand to include new loa in the form of local deities and ancestral spirits.

Vodoun belief recognizes an original Supreme Being, called the Gran Maître, who made the world. However, he is too remote for personal worship. Instead, devotees "serve the loa." They want to please the loa and receive favors in return.

There are two major categories of loa, according to vodoun belief: the Rada and the Petro. Many loa have manifestations that are both Rada and Petro, but the major members of the pantheon fall primarily to one or the other. All the loa "mount" or possess, their devotees, however.

The Rada Loa

The Rada are the benevolent, gentle loa. They originated in the Yoruba beliefs brought from West Africa, and represent the warmth and emotional stability of Africa. Rada rites follow more traditional African patterns and emphasize the more positive, gentler aspects of the loa. Rada rituals are characterized by the all-white clothing of the devotees and by a specific type of drumming and dancing, which is always on the beat. At Rada ceremonies, a large fire with an iron bar stuck in the flames, representing the loa Ogou, is always present. The Rada loa never demand a larger sacrifice than chickens or pigeons, although sometimes goats and bulls are also sacrificed to them. They will perform services for the devotees without any harmful consequences to the person asking the favor, but their services are by definition not very powerful.

Rada drums

The three distinctive Rada drums.

The main Rada loa are Damballah, Aida-Wedo, Ogou and Loco Atisou.

Damballah

Damballah, also called Damballah-Wedo or the Great Serpent, is the oldest of the ancestors. He represents the ancestral knowledge of vodoun. To worship Damballah is to worship the beautiful, such as flowers, perfumes and the color white. His day is Wednesday. He is symbolized by snakes and snake eggs. Because it is the servant of Damballah, the serpent is treated with reverence (not worshipped). Those possessed by Damballah slither instead of walking and don't use their limbs. Damballah is fed with pure, white foods, like cornmeal, olive oil, cake, champagne and white wine, milk, powdered sugar and eggs. His sacrifice is a pair of white chickens.

Damballah veve

Vévé of Damballah.

Aida-Wedo

Aida-Wedo is the wife of Damballah. She is personified by a short, coiled snake that feeds on bananas and lives mainly in water. She is symbolized by the rainbow, and the rainbow colors painted on the poteau-mitan represent her.

Damballah and Aida-Wedo veve

Vévés of Damballah and Aida-Wedo.

Ogou

Ogou is the warrior loa. He has many different aspects in which he takes on different roles, such as the loa of fire, the loa of lightning, the loa of the phallus and the loa of metal-working. As Ogou Fer, for instance, he represents stability, order and authority. His color is red, and his sacrifice is usually a bull.

Ogou Fer veve

Vévé of Ogou Fer.

Loco Atisou

Loco Atisou is the Rada form of Legba. Saluted in the Legba ceremony, he is the loa of wisdom and medicine. He gives knowledge and wisdom to the houngan, and indicates what is to be done in troubling situations. He will also indicate a malady to the houngan.

The Petro Loa

The Petro are the dark loa, the balance to the white forces of the Rada. Petro rites originated in Haiti during slavery days, representing the rage, violence and delirium that threw off slavery. The Petro loa are more powerful and quick than the Rada. They are also more violent, menacing, deadly and ill-tempered, and they emphasize death and vengeance. They make big cures and do heavy work that the Rada are not capable of. However, they will only work for someone if he or she makes a promise of service to them, and they will take revenge if that promise is not kept. Petro rituals are characterized by red ceremonial clothing and off-beat, sharp drumming. As sacrifice, they demand hogs, goats, sheep, cows, dogs and sometimes dead bodies from tombs; the most common sacrifice to the Petro is a pig. A Petro ritual is never held in a hounfort.

Petro 
drums

Petro drummers at a ritual.

The main Petro loa are Legba, Erzulie, Samedi, and Guedé.

Legba

Legba, also called Papa Legba or Legba Ati-bon, is not only the major Petro loa, but is also the best known and most worshipped of all the vodoun loa. He represents the sun and is the god of the gate. Depicted as a man sprinkling water or an old man walking with a crutch, he also personifies the ritual waters and the consolidation of the vodoun mysteries. Through syncretization, he has become identified with both St. Peter and Christ. Every ritual for any reason is preceded by an invocation to Legba; without his agreement to "open the gate" between the astral plane and the material one, no other loa would be able to pass down to earth. Therefore, no communication of god and worshipper can take place without Legba's approval, no other deity may join a vodoun ceremony unless Legba has been invoked, and no loa may act without Legba's permission. This makes Legba the most powerful of all the loa. As another incarnation, Maître Carrefour, he guards the crossroads and is the patron of sorcery. A sacred tree near the hounfort is Legba's altar. He is symbolized by the lion and the white sheep, and is fed with animal bones and marrow.

Legba 
veve

Vévé of Legba.

Erzulie

Erzulie is the loa of love and the embodiment of the perfect female, and is the wife of Legba. In a pure and virginal state, she represents the moon. In other states, she is the ideal of the love bed, and often takes male devotees as "husbands" or special servants. Many other aspects of Erzulie encompass not only love and good will but also jealousy, discord and vengeance. She can often be maliciously cruel to women and their desires. In the hounfort, she is represented by a model ship hanging from the ceiling. As offerings, she is given desserts, sweet drinks, perfumes, flowers and candles.

Erzulie veve

Vévé of Erzulie.

Samedi

Also called Baron Samedi, Samedi is the loa of the dead. He controls the activities of the dead and often sends them on missions. In ritual, he is offered black goats or chickens. His symbols are coffins and phalluses. He enjoys possessing devotees; when possessed by Samedi, his "horse" tells lewd jokes, wears dark glasses, smokes cigarettes or cigars, eats voraciously and drinks copious amounts of alcohol. The horse also dresses in shabby and fantastic clothing, often cross-dressing.

Guedé

Guedé is really a group of loa, representing the many spirits of death and the graveyard, sexual debauchery and buffoonery, and are worshipped by various cults. Baron Samedi is a Guedé, as are Guedé Nimbo or Nibho and Baron Cimetière. Guedé governs the preservation and renewal of life, and protects children. He is also the loa of peasants and of the burlesque. Being in charge of everyone in the regions of the dead, he sometimes opens tombs and uses dead souls in his service. When he manifests by mounting a devotee, he dresses in old black clothes and a top hat, and smokes cigars. Guedé's primary mission is to expose and reveal secrets, and he uses his horses for that purpose who can, when possessed by Guedé, accurately see the past and future. His revelations, speaking through the mouths of his horses, are often both accurate and cruel.

These are just the major members of the vodoun pantheon. To see a more complete listing of loa, look at the list of loa.

A Selection of Art Depicting the Loa

Note: Please see Sources for the origin of this art.

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Copyright 1995 Shannon Turlington Settle disclaimer
Last revised 9/27/95

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