Terms and Spirit Listing
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Macoute (macoutte, makout)

(V.ENC) A straw sack carried by country peasants and associated with Azaca, the loa of agriculture.

Mademoiselle Charlotte

(SV) A loa who manifests herself with the personality traits of a white woman. She is therefore regarded as a European or Caucasian loa who "works " in the Voodoo pantheon. However, she appears during the course of Voodoo ceremonies only rarely, possibly because of her non-African origin. An extremely fastidious spirit, Mademoiselle Charlotte loves the strict observance in her honor of all the niceties of ritual protocol. She prefers to speak French. Whenever Charlotte appears, she astonishes people as much as certain mystères who enable their "mounts" to speak fluent Spanish or English. She is "served" in much the same way as Maîtresse Erzulie. She enjoys sweet rose-tinted, blue-, white-, or cream-colored beverages; water sweetened with syrup; all kinds of non-alcoholic liqueurs; although she never refuses a good drink of clairin, a fact that suggests she "walks" not only in the Rada rite but sometimes in the Pêthro rite as well. Her favorite color is rose. She is passionately fond of acassan, a delicious, mushy drink consisting of boiled cornmeal sweetened with cane juice of the kind Haitians call gros sirop batterie. This juice, however, must be exceedingly clear and highly refined; otherwise she will replace it with plain white sugar. She prefers the meat of young chickens as her ritual food offering, but the meat must be extremely tender. Mademoiselle Charlotte is a voudoun whose services are difficult to obtain. She refuses to "work" for just anyone at all, but only for people to whom she takes a fancy.

Magic in vodou

(V.ENC) Voudou is primarily a religion, and while selling love potions and protective charms may be a lucrative side business for a houngan, the priest's primary occupation is still as spiritual leader of his community. So, although so many people associate magic with vodou, its role in the actual practice of the religion is in reality very small.

Maît-tête (mèt tèt)

(V.ENC) Literally "master of the head," this term refers to the primary loa who a devotee serves and the one who acts as that devotee's guardian.

Maman (manman)

(V.ENC) The largest of the three drums used in Rada rituals.

Mambo

(V.ENC) A fully initiated priestess of vodou who is equal in every respect to her male counterpart, the houngan. (To keep things simple, I'll refer to the houngan alone, with the understanding a mamo may also fulfill any of his duties.) See Houngan

Mami Wata

Mami Wata is the goddess of the sea and often is depicted as a mermaid. Mami Wata heals, brings wealth, power and love. For a more detailed breakdown of Mami Wata, go here.

Mangé loa (manje lwa)

(V.ENC) The most frequently performed ritual in vodou is one that invokes a particular loa to offer food to him, including animal sacrifices, and to solicit his presence on earth. This ceremony is called mangé loa, "feeding the gods." Food offerings are always placed on a vévé when made inside the hounfort and on a crossroads when made outside. Ritual feeding of the loa nourishes, enlivens, and fortifies the divine spirits and helps the devotees taking part in the ritual to make contact with a particular god. Each loa has special "favorite" foods; the more the ritual offerings are adapted to a particular loa's tastes, the greater the power made available by the ritual. Tasting the offerings increases the power the loa brings, including the blood of animal sacrifice and part of the flour or cornmeal used to make vévés. Libations of favorite drinks-particularly the expensive Barbancourt rum or the much cheaper clairin, a raw white rum made from sugarcane-are made by pouring the liquid three times on the ground.

Mangé Morts

(V.ENC) The feast for the Dead, a death ritual that is usually held when a houngan, mambo, or hounsi has died.

Mangé sec (manje sek)

(V.ENC) A ceremony where food offerings, but not animal sacrifices, are made to the loa.

Marassa (Marasa, Marassah)

(V.ENC) The sacred twins who are saluted in every ritual.

(DL) Twins who died in their early childhood and are innocent and capricious. They are thought to be orphans with no discipline in terms of good eating habits. They eat from twin plates and they eat all of what they are offered at once, always coming very hungry to the ceremonies. They must be fed until they are content and then they will listen to people. They have a reputation for doing harm to those who have forgotten to provide food or who have not kept their promises, but also refuse to take responsibility for any wrong doing or illnesses.

Marinette

(V.ENC) A powerful and violent female loa of the Petro cult.

Marinewtte-Bwa-Chech

(DL) Literally "Marinette of the dry arms." This is a petro loa or an evil spirit. Worship of her is not spread all over Haiti but is growing rapidly in southern parts. Her ceremonies are held under a tent and lit with a huge fire in which salt and petrol are thrown. She is most dreaded; a she-devil; the sworn servant of evil. She is respected by werewolves, who hold service in her honor. She is an agent of the underhand dealings of Kita who is, herself, an outstanding loa sorceress. The screeching owl is the emblem of Marinette. When she mounts someone they behave as an owl, hooking their fingers, lowering their heads and scratching. After mounting people, she talks of eating people and confesses hideous crimes. At the end the houngan and the possessed alike jump in the fire and stamp it out. For sacrifice she is offered chickens that have been plucked alive, goats and sows. However, no one can touch these animals while preparing them; they must also be buried. Marinette is the mistress of Petro-e-rouge and wife to Ti-Jean-pied-sec. She wanders the woods and goes to her secret place where the offerings she shares with no one are left.

Monter la tête (monter)

(V.ENC) Literally "to mount one's head," this term refers to the act of possession by a loa. A possessed devotee is called a cheval, which means horse; when a loa takes possession, the spirit "mounts" the head of the devotee.

Morts

(V.ENC) The dead.

Mystères (mistè)

(V.ENC) The loa; also refers to certain ceremonies.