Terms and Spirit Listing
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La Flambeau

(V.ENC) Literally "the torch," this title is added to the names of certain Rada loa when an especially fiery aspect of their power is invoked.

La Place (laplas)

(V.ENC) The houngan or mambo has one male assistant who has been almost fully trained for the priesthood and will one day undergo initiation as a houngan assistant. This male assistant is called La Place. He is the grand marshal of the ritual and directs the overall movement of the ceremony. In the ritual, he carries a sword called the ku-bha-sah, which he uses to cut away the material world, leaving the faithful open to the spirits who reside in the cosmic plane. La Place also orchestrates the flag-waving and drumming that takes place during the ritual.

La Sirène (La Sirènn)

(V.ENC) An aspect of Erzulie who represents the sea and is the wife of Agoué; she is symbolized by a mermaid.

Lambi

(V.ENC) A conch shell often used as a horn in vodou ceremonies, particularly those connected with the loa of the sea.

Langage (langaj, langay)

(V.ENC) The sacred but unintelligible language that originated in Africa and supposedly imitates Damballah-Wedo's hissing; it is often spoken during possession and is similar to the phenomenon of speaking in tongues.

Lave tête

(V.ENC) One important event that is known to take place during the canzo ritual is the lave tête ceremony, in which the initiate is consecrated to one particular god who acts as guardian of that person; this god is said to "sit on the head" of the initiate. Generally, an initiate's guardian spirit is the one that first possessed him; if none of the immortal spirits has ever possessed the initiate, the houngan chooses the most appropriate spirit for that person. After the lave tête ceremoney, sequined flags and govis are carried inside the djévo, vévés are drawn on the floor, and doves and chickens are sacrificed. The initiates lie down on mats close to the sign of their particular guardian spirit. At this point, each initiate is inevitably possessed by hi guardian god. Now, the initiate, with the god animating his body, is finally free to eat after the long fast, and often gorges himself on the meat of the animal sacrifice.

Legba (Legba Ati-bon, Papa Legba)

(V.ENC) Legba is the most powerful of all the loa. He represents the sun and is the guardian of the gate between the material world and the spiritual plan where the loa reside. All rituals, no matter what their purposes, open with an invocation to Legba, the loa of the gate. Without Legba's permission, no other loa may cross from the astral plane to the material one. Because no loa can pass to the material world without Legba's permissions, only he can permit communication between practitioners of vodou and the loa. The houngan invokes Legba by sprinkling rum on the ground in his honor, tracing his vévé on the ground, and chanting. Due to his wisdom and vast knowledge of the past and future, Legba is often consulted in times of crisis. Legba's symbol is the cross, his color is black, and he is represented in the hounfort by the poteau-mitan and by a sacred tree near the hounfort. He is often associated with the Christian figures, Saint Peter and Christ. His sacrifice is animal bones and marrow, particularly of roosters and goats.

(DL) Old man who guards the crossroads. He is the origin of life, so he must be saluted each time a service or any other activity with the loa will begin. Legba controls the crossing over from one world to the other. He is the contact between the worlds of the spirit and of flesh. He can deliver messages of gods in human language and interpret their will. He is the god of destiny and is also the intermediary between human beings and divine gods. Legba is one of the most important loa in Haitian voodoo. He is the first loa to be called in a service, so that he can open the gates to the spirit world and let them communicate with other loa. No loa dares show itself without Legba's permission. Whoever has offended him finds himself unable to address his loa and is deprived of their protection. He is the origin and the male prototype of voodoo. Voodooists believe that if Legba grants their wishes, they can contact the forces of the universe. He is guardian of voodoo temples, courtyards, plantations, and crossroads. He protects the home. If you are going on a trip, it is believed that you pray to Legba for protection from harm and a safe return home. As "Master of Crossroads" he is the god of every parting of the way-a favorite haunt of evil spirits and propitious to magic devices; and it is at crossroads that he receives the homage of sorcerers and presides over their incantations and spells. He is also the guardian of the poto mitan-the center post-a post in the center of the peristyle regarded as a thoroughfare of the spirits. The poto-mitan is an extremely sacred object. Legba walks in his bare feet because he is in constant contact with the earth. He is a small crooked lovable old man. Small pipe with little tobacco, a little food in his macoute sack. Sours on his body. His pitiful appearance has earned him the nickname of Legba of the Broken Foot but conceals the terrific strength which becomes apparent in the violence of possession induced by him. Because of his politeness and caring nature he is greeted as Papa Legba. He is a much loved loa. His favorite foods are vegetables, meat and tubules grilled on a fire. These foods will be offered to him so that he will open the gates. His symbol is the sun and all that is good. His sacred day is Tuesday. His favorite tree is the medicinier-bebi. When he mounts someone the person's limbs are twisted and horrible to see. The crutch is the symbol of Legba. The outward appearance of Legba hides a very powerful interior. Legba is the symbol of the sun, of daylight of things positive. Legba controls the cardinal points of the crossroads. The interpreter to the gods can deliver the messages of the gods in human language and interpret their will. He is the god of destiny, honored first at every ceremony, receiving first offerings. He is represented by a wooden or iron phallus mounted in a little mound of earth in front of every house. Legba is also known to hold the "key of the spiritual world," and for this reason is identified with the Christian St. Peter. Legba's colors are green, rose and red.

Les Invisibles

(V.ENC) A generic term that refers to all of the spirits, including the loa and the souls of the dead.

Linglessu

(DL) This is one of the loa free masons. When feeding this loa, all meat prepared for him must be liberally salted. He prefers the ends of the tongue, ears, front teeth and the end of a tail of a goat. When this loa mounts somebody, it is violent and his voice is highly distorted.

Linto

(DL) The child spirit of the Ghede family. He induces childish behavior in those he rides. They walk clumsily, much like a baby who hardly knows how to use his legs. They babble and cry for food. The company Linto is in teases him but only in good humor.

Loa (lwa)

(V.ENC) Although I refer to the loa as gods for simplicity's sake, they are actually not deities at all, but the immortal spirits of the ancestors or archetypal representations of the natural world and of moral principles, such as love, death, war and the ocean. They are analogous to the Catholic saints or to angles in Christianity. The entire vodou pantheon of loa is enormous, encompassing thousands of spirits. Many of these loa are simply aspects of one major god, since on loa may have many different names, appearances, symbols, and personalities that represent a slightly different form of that god's fundamental nature. The pantheon can also expand to include new loa in the form of local deities, ancestral spirits, and even presidents and kings. In fact, the original African gods who the loa evolved form were the spirits of actual human beings. Just as a child looks to his parents for guidance, the living looked to their wiser ancestors who had already passed into the spiritual world for advice and help. Some of these spirits were stronger than others, able to give better advice and accomplish better cures of illnesses and curses. If a family's ancestor seemed especially wise and helpful, it soon began to receive offerings from others outside the family and was thus elevated to the status of a local god. The more people who worshipped the god, the stronger he became, until he was brought into the major pantheon of tribal gods. Captured slaves then brought their beliefs in these gods with them to Haiti where they were incorporated into what would eventually become vodou's pantheon of powerful spirits. The word "loa" means "mystery" in the Yoruba language of West Africa, and so the loa are often also called the mystères. Vodou devotees "serve the loa," forming very close personal relationships with these lesser deities. Each loa has his or own well-defined characteristics, including specific food offerings, colors, numbers, sacred days, chants, mannerisms, and ritual objects. Thus, a practitioner of vodou can serve one of the loa by wearing clothes of the loa's colors, making offerings of the loa's preferred foods, and observing the days that are sacred to the loa. The loa, in turn, manifest their will through dreams, unusual incidents, and spirit possession, which occurs during vodou rituals. The loa are very active in the world and often literally "possess" devotees during ritual. Rituals are practiced primarily to make offerings to, or "feed," the loa and to entreat them for aid or fortune.

Loco (Loco Atisou, Loco Attiso, Loko, Loko Ati-sou)

(V.ENC) Loco is the aspect of Legba that is the master of the hounfort, and he represents medicine and the healing arts. He is often invoked to help with healing and to protect against black magic.

(DL) The spirit of vegetation and the guardian of sanctuaries. Mainly associated with trees. He gives healing properties to leaves; the god of healing and patron of the herbs doctors who always invoke him before undertaking a treatment. Offerings are place din straw bags which are then hung in its branches. He is only recognizable by the pipe smoked by his servant and the stick which he carries in his hand. His favorite colors are red and white. Animals that are most likely to be offered to this god are black or white goats or russet colored oxen. Portrayed in the form of a butterfly, Loco has extensive knowledge of pharmaceutical uses of herbs. It is said that houngans and mambos receive their knowledge from Loco. He is known for his good judgment; often during conflicts he is called in to be judge. He is known for his intolerance of injustice. It has been said that he transforms into the wind and listens to people without them knowing he is there. Loco has many wives and girlfriends who are young and good-looking all over the country wherever there is vegetation. He is the personification of the trees he is so closely associated with. Loco is compared to an invisible houngan with authority over all the sanctuaries in Haiti. The worship of Loco is much like the worship of trees-mainly the Ceiba. The Ceiba tree is the Antillean silk-cotton tree and the tallest species in Haiti. Offerings to it are put in straw bags and hung from the branches. It is hard to distinguish Loco when he has mounted someone since he is the personification of plants. Loco is also a messenger loa and communication loa, but his main duties are the vegetation in the woods and forests. He also watches over the agricultural tools the peasants use in their every day activities. The voodoo physician priests worship him, getting their knowledge from him.