Voodoo mythology is a fascinating hybrid of Yoruban, Dahomey, Fon and Christian mythology intermixed with touches from Caribbean belief systems. Haiti is the central location of the Voodoo belief system but naturally it has spread throughout the world as have other faiths.
Let me point out that I will use “Voodoo” as the catch-all name, even though to purists Vodou is the Haitian version and Voodoo is the form of Vodou practiced first in New Orleans and then throughout America.
AYIDA – The goddess of the rainbow and the primary wife of the creator deity Damballah. The pair often manifest in the skies over Haiti as intertwined serpents. Ayida also serves as a fertility goddess. Her favorite color is white as reflected in her favorite offerings: white chickens, white eggs, rice, milk and cotton. Her daughter is Ayizan, the goddess of the marketplace and of initiation into the sacred truths, making her the head Mambo (Voodoo priestess).
MARINETTE – Demigoddess who in her mortal life was the Mambo who sacrificed a black pig at the start of the First Haitian Revolution. After dying as a martyr to the cause Marinette rose to godhood as the patron deity of liberation AND slavery, oddly enough. She can bequeath freedom or a return to bondage. Marinette is depicted as an emaciated woman who afflicts those she possesses with violent, angry fits. Owls are her familiars and she is the protectress of werewolves. Black pigs and black roosters are sacrificed to her.
KALFU – The moon god and ruler of the night. He is the patron deity of sorcerors, especially those who practice black magic. He also has lordship over charms, bad luck, destruction and all manner of injustices. Those possesssed by Kalfu display dark eyes and shed black tears. Kalfu’s favorite drink is rum laced with gunpowder. He is often seen as a dark version of Legba.
ZACA – The god of agriculture and the harvest, making him the patron deity of farmers and fieldworkers. Zaca is the friendliest and most approachable of the gods and may be addressed as “Cousin Zaca” if spotted in the fields. He dresses in denims and a straw hat just like the rural Haitians do. In addition Zaca smokes a pipe, drinks from bottles of rum and wields a machete. His holy day is Haitian Labor Day on May 1st.
LOCO – The god of wild vegetation with all its gifts, from fruits to herbs for healing and poisons for killing. By extension he is also the patron deity of doctors and of Houngans (Voodoo priests). His wife is the goddess Ayizan. One myth involves Loco’s discovery of the god Nibo as a stone wrapped in swaddling cloth. Loco took the stone home where it turned into a child. He had the child baptized with the god Ogun serving as godfather. Nibo’s anus produced cinammon but he is most celebrated for his role as one of the death-gods, or Ghede.
LEGBA – The sun god and intermediary between the gods and humanity. He speaks all human languages and is always the first god or loa to be invoked in Voodoo ceremonies. It is through Legba that loa move back and forth from the realm of the gods in Guinee to the mortal world to possess worshippers. He holds the key and guards the doorway and the roads between the two worlds. By extension he is viewed as the god of all gates and crossroads. Legba is considered the “good” counterpart to his dark twin Kalfu. Despite his power Legba is depicted as an old man walking with a crutch or cane for support. All dogs are sacred to him.
MAMAN BRIGITTE – This foul-mouthed goddesss is one of the most powerful of the thirty Ghede, or death-gods. Her husband is Baron Samedi and like him she guards over cemeteries with her special province being graves topped with piles of rocks. She is also considered the goddess of justice. Rum and hot peppers are Maman Brigitte’s diet, with the hot peppers believed to account for her association with fire. A figure representing this goddess is the first female buried in every Voodoo cemetery.
OGUN – Often called the Voodoo Hercules, Ogun is the god of war, iron, fire, metalworking, politics and technology. Ogun is believed to have come down to fight in every war in Haiti’s history in various human guises. His symbol is a sword stuck upright in the ground. Those possessed by Ogun can wash their hands in burning sugar-cane without feeling any pain. When those thus possessed are thirsty for rum they make with the Haitian soldier’s cry of “My testicles are cold” (I want that on a t-shirt, dammit ).
Ogun stood as the Ghede Nibo’s godfather and adopted him, prompting a rivalry between Nibo and Ogun’s own son Ogubadagri. If both those deities possess worshippers at the same Voodoo ceremony a fight is sure to break out between Nibo and Ogubadagri. Another belief system in which the deities frequently possess their worshippers and disrupt ceremonies with their feuds would involve the gods of Rennell Island and Bellona Island. CLICK HERE
AGWE – The god of the sea and of both plant and animal sea-life as well as the patron deity of sailors and fishermen. Agwe taught humans how to fish and build boats. Elaborate ships are built and loaded with offerings, then pushed out to sea with holes in the bottom to allow the ships to sink and present Agwe with the gifts. Agwe lives in a sprawling plantation under the sea and is one of the husbands of the love goddess Erzulie.
Agwe is green-eyed and dresses like a naval officer. Agwe’s subordinate water deities include: Adjassou the goddess of spring-water; Labaleen the goddess of whales and Clermeil the river-god who was responsible for floods. Mamiwata was originally Agwe’s wife and a co-ruler of the sea but later she was conflated with Erzulie.
ERZULIE – The goddess of love, beauty and passion. She wears three wedding rings in recognition of her three husbands – the gods Ogun, Agwe and Damballah. Erzulie’s three husbands pamper her and provide her with a lavish and luxurious existence, an idyllic life broken up only by the sadness the goddess feels because of broken hearts among humans.
The goddess is always powdered and perfumed and adorns herself with all manner of jewelry. Erzulie has affairs with many gods besides just her husbands but always rejects Nibo because of his excessively dark skin. She enjoys sugar-cakes and champagne and a sudden desire for these things can mark a mortal woman as possessed by Erzulie.
DAMBALLAH – The most well-known Voodoo deity with the world at large, exceeded only by Baron Samedi perhaps. This serpent god who encircles the Earth was also the creator of human beings and gods and controls intelligence and the life-force. When he is not depicted encircling the Earth or intertwined with his wife the rainbow goddess Ayida, Damballah is shown living among the branches of the Sacred Tree.
Damballah looks after cripples, the deformed, albinos and young children. The snake god loves the precious metal silver and if worshippers find favor with the god he rewards them by leading them figuratively or literally to Earthly riches.
Those mortals possessed by Damballah do not speak but merely hiss like snakes. A son of Damballah is Simbi, the white snake-god who brings rain.
FOR SIMILAR ARTICLES AND MORE OF THE TOP LISTS FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG CLICK HERE: https://glitternight.com/top-lists/
© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog 2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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Yes it is!
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I love to spread the word!
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I would really like to be anywhere near a beach!
lol wow
Yep.
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I was curious if you are a Satanist?
I am not.
Zaca was my favorite!
I can understand that!
I like the valuable info you provide in your articles. I’ll bookmark your blog and check again here regularly.
Thanks!
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maman brigette is definatly my favvv ! she sounds JUST like me lol .
Wow! You must have a pretty explosive personality!
Fantastic! I didn’t know voodoo had any gods outside of damballah.
Thanks! I’m always glad to spread the word.
President Trump is the real hero of the Voodoo myths!
I know what you mean.
Plz explain
How so?
I love your gods and goddesses.
I appreciate it!
Voodoo gods are awesome!
I agree!
Very good blog article.Thanks Again. Fantastic.
Thanks.
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Thanks!
I’m always glad to learn about mythology here.
I’m always glad to share my interests!
Love those goddesses!
I know what you mean!
This is the best voodoo post on the web!
Thanks!
Scary but very noble at the same time.
Yes they are!
You made VooDoo gods seem as beautiful and dignified as the gods of all the other pantheons! Most people treat them like horror figures.
Thanks! I’m always glad to do it!
Fantastic breakdown of their gods! I never knew they had such interesting personalities.
I’m always glad to spread the word!
Voodu gods seems more friendly than I would have supposed!
I agree!
Nice odd bits of information you dug up on these gods.
Thank you very much for saying so.
Thank you for such concise looks at these gods.
No problem at all! Glad to do it!
Question who would you symbolize as the goddess medusa in haitian voudoo?
That’s a good question. Let me think about it and post a reply here soon.
Ogun is my favorite.
I understand how you feel.
Ogun too is my favorite god since he is concern with justice .+237672264552.i love african traditional religion.peace and love to all african consciousness.i love voodoo whole hearted
That is good to hear! Thanks for the comment.
I can see why these beliefs have become so popular. Their gods are awesome!
I know how you feel!
I love your articles about different beliefs.
Thank you for saying so.
It was nice to see them looked at as deities and not as objects of horror.
Thanks. I was glad to do it.
Other people treat voodoo like its evil but you treated it with respect.
Thanks for noticing!
Great way you have of not making Voodoo gods and goddesses seem evil.
Thank you.
You get points for not making the VooDoo gods seem dark and horrific.
Thank you.
Papa and Oshun have been very kind to me and I’m so grateful to them ♡
Wondering why you haven’t mentioned Oshun on this list.
Hello! I am saving Oshun for when I do a post on Yoruba and related pantheons.
Ok, great! I look forward to it!
Thank you!
Nice! I used to be afraid of VooDoo myths but no more.
Thank you for saying so.
Splendid work on these! Most people demonize the VooDoo pantheon!
Thanks! No problem!
Fascinating gods! I thought voodoo was all blood and dead chickens before this.
Glad you enjoyed this!
Too scary for me!
I understand.
VooDoo gods and goddesses have long deserved such a dignified examination!
Thanks!
Intriguing gods.
You know it!
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Very interesting topic. I did not know voodoo had such a full pantheon.
I’m always glad to spread the word!
What no Baron Samedi?
He’s too well known.
Very concise summary of the Voodoo gods.
Thank you.
Ogun is my personal favorite.
I understand.
Just incase you didn’t know Maman Brigette is a white woman with blonde hair at least this is as was taught for further reference.
Hello and thank you for commenting! I double-checked and the majority of the accounts and images show her as a black woman. But feel free to comment again any time.
I may convert to this religion now!
I understand.
are those pictures real depicitons of the dieties themselves,
They are artist’s depictions of them.
Erzulie has possessed me on many an occasion.
I see.
They seem to be the most ‘updated’ and ‘modern’ pantheon – naval uniform, gun powder and so on. That means there’s a lot of freedom of interpretation there for the followers of this religion. That’s a nice thing.
I did some research at one time on serpents in world consciousness. The search led me straight off the page….
I agree. The naval uniform, gun powder, plus the sunglasses on Baron Samedi. What are your thoughts on nagas in mythology? I value you insight.
Ed, I started replying here and it got so long, and I couldn’t put in pics which I felt were vital to my reply (you’ll see). So I made my reply a post on my blog. It’s here: carahasangels.wordpress.com/2019/12/27/the-seraphim-sarp-serpents-or-nagas/
Thank you for letting me know! I will check it out as soon as I can today.
Please Ed, don’t worry about it. I hate to add to your list of ‘to do’. Also, there’s a time and place
It’s no problem at all!
There’s a time and place for information like that. Clearly this is not the right time. I’ll remove the post for now as I’d only published it as a post because I couldn’t put images in here.
Please put it back if you want to. It is very nice of you to worry about my workload but I love reading these kinds of things.
Hi Ed, It’s back on till you read it,
Thank you! I reblogged it!
I saw that. I can hardly believe it. Thank you.
You are more than welcome.
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An excellent text that teaches us a lot about voodoo worship and, in particular, about its divinities whose roles are amazing. A way to discover another culture and other rites.
Thank you very much!
Much more informative than going to Marie Laveau’s tomb in New Orleans (although said tomb used to be quite a lively pilgrimage site — I think the city blocked it off now — too many offerings of rum, cigarettes, pineapples, and too many marks on the tomb).
Thank you very much for the nice comment. Interesting observation about that tomb site.
I have seen a lot of ‘top lists’ on blogs, but this one is nicely different.
Many thanks for following my blog.
Best wishes, Pete.
Thank you for the comment!
unusual information – great.
Hope to see your comments too, so I can improve my blog contents 🙂
Thanks
Thanks! I visited and commented at your blog, too!
That’s quite a mishmash! I’m curious where the Christian element comes in.
Hello! The Christian element in Voodoo comes largely from the iconography. For instance Erzulie was associated with the Virgin Mary (oddly enough) and some depictions of Erzulie are basically the Virgin Mary wearing sunglasses. Ogun is often associated with Saint Peter, various other apostles with Agwe because of their role as “fishers of men” and so on. It’s similar to Bukidnon myths from the Philippines. After contact with Christian missionaries the Bukidnon people basically substituted Jesus and Saint Peter in stories regarding their gods. Voodoo myths don’t go quite that far, but offshoots like Santeria and other belief systems show a deeper Christian influence.
Fascinating stuff.
Thanks.
Go do that voodoo that you do so well!
Ha! Will do!
This is too evil and Satanic.
I don’t think it’s either.
Bonjour
Cette année sera différente avec la propagation de ce virus qui nous sépare de nos enfants , petits enfants et amis ( IES )
Et pour tous ceux qui sont touchés par cette maladie
Ceux qui ont un proche à l hôpital
ceux qui en ont perdu un membre de la famille ou un ami
Toutes les personnes qui ne pourront être auprès de leurs enfants qui seront au chevet des malades et autres
Je vous souhaite, à toi , à vous et à vos proches, de passer une belle semaine , bonne journée
En attendant des jours meilleurs
Bisous Bernard
Thank you very much and the same to you and yours!
Reblogged this on worldtraveller70.
Thank you very much!
DEMOCRATS CAUSED ALL OF THE RECENT RIOTING AND HATRED!
DEMOCRATS CAUSED ALL OF THE RECENT RIOTING AND HATRED!
Powerful collection of Gods and Goddesses!
Thank you very much!
Hello,
I’m considering taking Vodou classes and joining the religion because I want to find out more about African religion and I honestly want to leave a Eurocentric way of thinking. How do I know if Vodou is right for me? Every story I’ve ever heard of people being called into it have been super dramatic and intense. The lwa have not called me in that fashion. I have heard that it is not good to come calling when one has not been called. I don’t want to attract the wrath of the Vodou powers by injecting myself where I don’t belong. How do I know I’m not rushing things a bit?
I’m afraid I’m not qualified to offer any guidance on that. Actual practitioners would probably be better.
Thanks for following=your blog reminds me of Rise *&* Fall of the Roman Empire *&* the Phoenix rise again=very interesting!
No problem! Thank you very much, too!
Your creativity has 100% merit!
You’re too kind!
Balladeer, I have always found religions and cultures interesting. There is a wealth of information on your site. I will be back to read more! Have a good weekend! Cheryl
Thank you very much for the kind words! You too!
BALLADEER’S BLOG AT GLITTERNIGHT.COM IS THE GREATEST BLOG ON THE WEB!
Do you have anything on Sakpata?
Yes, I will do a post on the figure soon.
Yes, I’ll post about it soon.
Your knowledge on this is incredible.
Thank you very much, sir!
thank you so much🎵 I am really grateful for you🐬
You are very welcome!
Terrific article
Thank you.
Extremely interesting! Like most people all I ever heard about voo doo was the horror stuff in movies and shows.
Thank you very much!
Very interesting look at these gods!
Thank you!