Chaos Magick Research

The previous entries have been a lot of info and history stuff.

This link contains vital info about the loas and their forms and their areas of interest.

http://fullmoon_deities.tripod.com/voodoo.html



Voodoo Loa

Adjassou-Linguetor Loa of spring water. She has eyes that bulge out and a terrible temper.

Agou� Loa of the sea and patron of fishermen and sailors. His symbol is the drawing of a boat. Sacrifices to him are loaded onto small rafts and set adrift at sea. If the raft sinks, the sacrifice has been accepted.

Agwe Haitian Loa of fish and sea plants, the patron of fishermen and sailors.

Aida-Wedo Loa of fertility and new life, especially conception and childbirth. Wife of Damballa. Known as the Rainbow Snake, she takes a snake form. Her symbol is the rainbow, and her color is white. Sacrifices of white chickens and white eggs are often made to her.

Aizan Loa of the marketplace and herbal healing. She is also the protector of the houngan (temple) and religious ceremonies, who never possesses anyone during ritual. Her symbol is the palm leaf and her colors are white and silver.

Azaca-Tonnerre Loa of thunder and Loa of agriculture and protector of the crops. He is pictured as a peasant carrying a straw bag. His color is blue and cornmeal or corn cakes are sacrificed to him.

Baron Cimeti�re Loa of the cemetary in the family of Gu�d�, a group of loas associated with Gu�d�, the Loa of the Dead.

Baron Samedi Most powerful of the Gu�d�, he is the loa of death and controls the passageway between the world of the living and the world of the dead. He often has information about the dead. He is one of the Gu�d� family which associate with the Loa of the dead, Gu�d�. His color is black and he prefers a top hat and dark glasses. He likes cigarettes, food, and rum in which 21 hot peppers have been steeped.

Baron-La-Croix Loa of the cross in the family of Gu�d�, a group of loas associated with Gu�d�, the Loa of the Dead.

Brigitte Loa of money, who has special influence over black magic and ill-gotten fortune. Similar to the Catholic St. Brigid. Her color is purple and black chickens are sacrificed to her.

Bugid Y Aiba The Loa of war on Haiti and Puerto Rico.

Damballah-Wedo Father of the loa, he represents the ancestral knowledge that forms the foundation of Vodou. He is the loa of new life and fertility. A snake Loa who lives in trees near springs. On Haiti he is called Bon Dieu ("good Loa"). His symbols are the snake and the asson, and his color is white. White chickens and eggs are sacrificed to him.

Dan Petro The Haitian loa of farmers. He originated from the African Loa Danh.

Diable Tonnere Loa of thunder in Haiti.

Erzulie Loadess of Love. Loa of love, beauty, purity and romance, elemental forces, dancing, flowers, jewels, and pretty clothes. On her fingers she wears three wedding rings, her three husbands being Damballa, the serpent Loa, Agwe, Loa of the sea and Ogoun the warrior hero. She is the most-loved of the loa, and can influence romance, marriage, good fortune and artistic endeavors. Her symbol is the heart and her colors are pink and blue. Sweets, perfumes, desserts and white doves are sacrificed to her.

Erzulie Dantor The dark aspect of Erzuile. She is the loa of jealousy and vengance, and is often cruel. Her symbol is the heart pierced by a dagger and her colors are red and black.

Grand Bois Loa of the forest. Represents the forces of nature in Haitian religion.

Grand Ma�tre The original supreme being of Haitian religion. Practitioners of Vodou consider him too remote for personal worship.

Gu�d� The Loa of the Dead. Also refers to a Group of loa that associate with Gu�d� and are considered members of his family. He is a very wise man for his knowledge is an accumulation of the knowledge of all the deceased. He stands on the center of all the roads that lead to Guinee, the afterworld. Gu�d� is represented as an undertaker, dressed completely in black wearing dark glasses.

La Sir�ne An aspect of Erzuile who represents the sea. She is seen as a mermaid.

Legba The most powerful of all the loa and the guardian of the gate between the material world and the world of the loas. He also has great wisdom and knowledge of the past and future. Every ritual begins with a sacrifice to Legba. He is the guardian of the sun and his color is black.

Lemba A deity, of Congo religion, worshipped in the African cults of Haiti and Brazil.

Limba One of the Haitian loa, believed to live among the rocks. He has an insatiable appetite and persecutes and kills people. He then eats them. Even his own devotees are not safe from his hunger.

L'inglesou A Haitian loa who lives among rocks and ravines. He is said to kill those who offend him.

Loco A tree Loa, and patron of plants and healers. He is one of the loa in the Caribbean voodoo-religion. An aspect of Legba, he is the master of the hounfort (temple) and loa of medicine and the healing arts.

Mait' Carrefour Loa of magicians. The Haitian lord of crossroads. Loa who stands in balance to Legba. He is the loa of night and misfortune, who brings bad luck and illness to the world. His symbol is the crossroads and his color is black.

Maman Brigitte The Haitian voodoo Loadess who protects the graves in cemeteries that are marked with the cross. Her masculine counterpart is Ghede (Baron Samedi).

Marassa The sacred twins, considered to have balance and be two parts of the same whole. Saluted at every ritual.

Marinette Powerful and violent loa of the Petro family.

Mombu Mombu is a stammering loa who causes storms of torrential rain.

Nago Shango Nago Shango is one of the more powerful loa in Haitian religion.

Ogoun In Haitian religion, a powerful warrior and the loa of all things male, including warfare, politics, fire, lightning, thunder, iron and metalworking. His symbol is the sword and his color is red. Sacrifices of red roosters, tobacco, and rum poured on the ground and set afire are made to him. He is the patron Loa of smiths' fire. The machete or sable is his attribute.

Ogoun Badagris Aspect of Ogoun who represents the phallus.

Ogoun Fer Aspect of Ogoun who represents stability and order.

Ogoun Shango Aspect of Ogoun who represents lightning. He is decended from the Nigerian Loa Shango, Loa of fire and lightning.

Papa Legba The Haitian voodoo Loa who acts as an intermediary between the loa and humans. He is also the Loa of the crossroads; he opens the road to the spirit world. He taught mankind the use of oracles and how to interpret them. Papa Legba is commonly depicted as an old man sprinkling water or an old man with a crutch, and is also known as Legba or Legba Ati-Bon. In any vodoun ceremony, Legba is the first loa invoked, so that he may "open the gate" for communication between the worlds.The dog is his symbolic animal.

Petro The Petro are a group of spirits which are easily annoyed. They are symbolized by a whip. Family of loa who represent the dark, agressive side of life. Many of the loa have an aspect in both the Petro and the Ranga family. These loa are often violent or angry, and can ask a high price for their services. They originated in Hati during the times of slavery.

Pie A loa which is held responsible for making floods. Pie, a grave soldier, lies at the bottom of ponds and rivers.

Rada The benevolent and gentle loa who originated in Africa. They are the protectors of the people and their worship follows the traditional African ries of the loa.

Simbi Loa of rainfall and fresh water, he oversees the making of charms. Simbi is one of the three cosmic serpents of Haitian voodoo-religion, the water-snake loa. His color is green and his symbol is the water snake. Speckeled roosters are sacrificed to him.

Sobo A voodoo spirit, particularly of thunder, one of the a loa. Sobo looks like a handsome soldier.

Sousson-Pannan In Haitian voodoo Sousson-Pannan is an evil and very ugly loa whose body is all covered with sores. He is known to drink liquor and blood.
Ti Jean Quinto In Haitian religion, Ti Jean Quinto is an insolent spirit who lives under bridges. He usually assumes the form of a policeman.

Ti-Jean Petro A Haitian snake deity, the son of Dan Petro.

Vodun beliefs:

Vodun, like Christianity, is a religion of many traditions. Each group follows a different spiritual path and worships a slightly different pantheon of spirits, called Loa. The word means "mystery" in the Yoruba language.

Yoruba traditional belief included a chief God Olorun, who is remote and unknowable. He authorized a lesser God Obatala to create the earth and all life forms. A battle between the two Gods led to Obatala's temporary banishment.

There are hundreds of minor spirits. Those which originated from Dahomey are called Rada; those who were added later are often deceased leaders in the new world and are called Petro. Some of these are

Agwe: spirit of the sea
Aida Wedo: rainbow spirit


Ayza: protector
Baka: an evil spirit who takes the form of an animal
Baron Samedi: guardian of the grave
Dambala (or Damballah-wedo): serpent spirit
Erinle: spirit of the forests
Ezili (or Erzulie): female spirit of love
Mawu Lisa: spirit of creation
Ogou Balanjo: spirit of healing
Ogun (or Ogu Bodagris): spirit of war
Osun: spirit of healing streams
Sango (or Shango): spirit of storms
Yemanja: female spirit of waters
Zaka (or Oko): spirit of agriculture


Followers of Vodun believe that each person has a soul which is composed of two parts: a gros bon ange or "big guardian angel", and a ti bon ange or "little guardian angel". The latter leaves the body during sleep and when the person is possessed by a Loa during a ritual. There is a concern that the ti bon ange can be damaged or captured by evil sorcery while it is free of the body.


http://members.aol.com/racine125/


http://members.aol.com/racine125/index1.html#lessons


Sects of Voodoo

Rada
African influenced family spirit Voodoo. This is a Voodoo of the so-called sweet loa, a relatively peaceful happy group of spirits.

Petro (Also called Congo).
Black magic Voodoo, the so-called bitter loa, a group of angry, mean and nasty loa. They are thought by some to be of Caribbean origin, not African. Dangerous things happen in Petro including death curses, other lesser curses, and the making of zombies.

Special note: By virtually all scholarly estimates one can find, Rada accounts for about 95% of all Voodoo practiced (and about 1% of Hollywood's image!). Petro is real, but less widespread, constituting about 5% of Voodoo practiced (and nearly 100% of the American image).



Spiritual beings

Bondye
The one and only God. Basically the same God the father as in Christianity.
Granmet (Great Master)
another name for Bondye.
Loa
Spirits, both spirits of various functions of the universe (loa of agriculture; loa of death etc.) and spirits of dead family members. The loa are not really gods. There is only one God, Bondye.
mysteries
A term to refer to the loa and sacred knowledge.
Les Invisibles
all spirits.
zanj
angels
djab
devils
baka
An evil spirit which can assume various forms from a human child, or animal to butterfly--any being it wishes.
lougarou
A female werewolf--a human is condemned to this state by a bokor, and then sucks the blood of its victims.
Marasa
Twins who died in their early childhood and are innocent and capricious. They are the image of contradictory forces in the universe.

As already stated, Vodun is a theistic and magical form of animism that developed among West African tribes predating historical times. The cultural area of the Fon, Gun, Mina and Ewe peoples share common metaphysical conceptions around a dual cosmological divine principle: Nana Buluku, the God-Creator and the God(s)-Actor(s) or Vodun(s), daughters and sons of the Creator's twin children Mawu (goddess of the moon) and Lisa (sun god). The God-Creator is the cosmogonical principle, who does not trifle with the mundane, and the Vodun(s) are the God(s)-Actor(s) who actually govern on terrenal issues.

The Pantheon of Voduns is quite large and complex. There are seven direct sons of Mawu, interethnic and related to natural phenomena or historical or mythical individuals, dozens of ethnic Voduns, defenders of a certain clan or tribe, as well as the modern Voduns, mostly coming from Ghana.

West African or Beninese Vodun is similar to Haitian Vodou in its emphasis on the ancestors, however each family of spirits has its own specialized clergy that is often hereditary. In Africa, spirits include Mami Wata, who are goddesses of waters; Legba, who is virile and young in contrast to the old man form he takes in Haiti; Gu, ruling iron and smithcraft; Sakpata, who rules diseases; and many other spirits distinct in their own way to West Africa.

Totalitarian regimes in West Africa tried to suppress Vodun as well as other forms of religion, but today they are flourishing again and Vodun is practised by over 30 million people in the area.


Haitian Vodouisants believe, in accordance with widespread African tradition, that there is one God who is the creator of all, referred to as "Bondye" (from the French "Bon Dieu" or "Good God", distinguished from the god of the whites in a dramatic speech by the houngan Boukman at Bwa Kayiman, but is often considered the same God the Roman Catholic Church talks about). Bondyè is distant from his/her/its creation though, and so it is the spirits or the "mysteries", "saints", or "angels" that the Vodouisant turns to for help, as well as to the ancestors. The Vodouisant worships God, and serves the spirits, who are treated with honor and respect as elder members of a household might be. There are said to be twenty-one nations or "nanchons" of spirits, also sometimes called "lwa-yo". Some of the more important nations of lwa are the Rada, the Nago, and the Kongo. The spirits also come in "families" that all share a surname, like Ogou, or Ezili, or Azaka or Ghede. For instance, "Ezili" is a family, Ezili Dantor and Ezili Freda are two individual spirits in that family. The Ogou family are soldiers, the Ezili govern the feminine spheres of life, the Azaka govern agriculture, the Ghede govern the sphere of death and fertility. In Dominican Vodou, there is also an Agua Dulce or "Sweet Waters" family, which encompasses all Amerindian spirits. There are literally hundreds of lwa. Well known individual lwa include Danbala Wedo, Papa Legba Atibon, and Agwe Tawoyo.

In Haitian Vodou, spirits are divided according to their nature in roughly two categories, whether they are hot or cool. Cool spirits fall under the Rada category, and hot spirits fall under the Petwo category. Rada spirits are familial and mostly come from Africa, Petwo spirits are mostly native to Haiti and are more demanding and require more attention to detail than the Rada, but both can be dangerous if angry or upset. Neither is "good" or "evil" in relation to the other.

Everyone is said to have spirits, and each person is considered to have a special relationship with one particular spirit who is said to "own their head", however each person may have many lwa, and the one that owns their head, or the "met tet", may or may not be the most active spirit in a person's life in Haitian belief.

In serving the spirits, the Vodouisant seeks to achieve harmony with their own individual nature and the world around them, manifested as personal power and resourcefulness in dealing with life. Part of this harmony is membership in and maintaining relationships within the context of family and community. A Vodou house or society is organized on the metaphor of an extended family, and initiates are the "children" of their initiators, with the sense of hierarchy and mutual obligation that implies.

http://www.dmoz.org/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/African/Diasporic/Vodou,_Vodun,_Voodoo/

http://www.religioustolerance.org/voodoo.htm

First entry to this journal- really about my own development and practice within the realm of chaos magick. I'm leaving this as public because I'm following one of the rules of 'earth listening' in terms of letting other factors intersect with my own direction and seeing if some of these intersections can be a good thing or an interesting thing.

First up will be some notes on Voodoo and the hierarchical system that is so fascinating.