Catholic church’s liturgical calendar (November
- corresponds to Halloween in North America,
the day consecrated to the souls of the Dead in the
Catholic liturgical calendar. Similarly, July 16, the
day devoted to the Virgin Mary in the Catholic
liturgical calendar, is reserved for Ezili in Vodou.
On that day, many Haitians in New York will
make pilgrimages to the Lady of Mount Carmel
Church in New York and to St. Anne de Beaupré,
near the city of Québec, in Canada.
Perhaps one of the significant aspects of Vodou
in the diaspora is its multiethnic and multicultural
character. Ritual participation is open to members
of other cultural and ethnic groups from other
parts of the world. The names of the spirits have
become familiar to many African Americans seek-
ing to integrate Black Nationalism with an authen-
tic African worldview. The energy, creativity, and
resources of these new religious urban communi-
ties in the diaspora will undoubtedly change
Vodou in the future because their members may
well incorporate into the theology of these commu-
nities their own cultural and religious traditions—
a factor that may not only change the character of
Vodou in the diaspora in the future, but distinguish
it from its counterpart in Haiti. Moreover, Vodou
in the diaspora will undoubtedly be instrumental
in the preservation and diffusion of African reli-
gious traditions in different parts of the world.
Leslie DesmanglesSeealsoHoungan; Lwa; Mambo; Oumfò; Petwo; Rada;
Rituals
Further Readings
Bellegarde-Smith, P. (Ed.). (2007).Fragments of Bone:
Neo-African Religions in the New World. Urbana:
University of Illinois Press.
Bourguignon, E. (1976).Possession. Columbus: Ohio
State University Press.
Deren, M. (1972).Divine Horsemen:The Voodoo Gods
of Haiti. New York: Delta.
Desmangles, L. (1990). The Maroon Republics and
Religious Diversity in Colonial Haiti.Anthropos, 58 ,
474–482.
Desmangles, L. (1993).The Faces of the Gods:Vodou
and Roman Catholicism in Haiti. Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press.
Desmangles, L., & Cardeña, E. (1994).Trance
Possession and Vodou Ritual in Haiti. Jahrbuch für
Transkulturelle Medizin und Psychotherapie.
Internationalen Instituts für Kulturvergleichende
Therapieforshung, Universität Koblenz/Landau, 6.
Fleurant, G. (1996).Dancing Spirits:Rhythms and
Rituals of Haitian Vodun,the Rada Rite. Westport,
CT: Greenwood Press.
Kramer, K. (Prod.). (1982).The Legacy of the Spirits
[Video].
Laguerre, M. (1982).Urban Life in the Caribbean:A
Study of a Haitian Urban Community. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press.
McAlister, E. (2002).Rara!Vodou,Power and
Performance in Haiti and Its Diaspora. Berkeley:
University of California Press.
McCarthy Brown, K. (1991).Mama Lola: A Vodou
Priestess in Brooklyn. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
Métraux, A. (1978).Voodoo in Haiti. New York:
Schocken Press.
Michel, C. (2007). Le Vodou haitien, est-il Humanisme?
Journal of Haitian Studies, 12 (1), 116–136.
Michel, C., & Bellegarde-Smith, P. (Eds.). (2006).Vodou
in Haitian Life and Culture:Invisible Powers.
New York: Palgrave Macmillan.VODUNSI
In Fongbe, a Vodunsi is a male or female servant
of Vodun, an adept or initiated follower of the
Vodun religion. Pronounced another way in
Fongbe,Vodunsi is translated as a person who
belongs to and is under full protection and
guardianship of the Vodun. Generally, one is
chosen by a Vodun as early as at birth or at any
stage of human development—childhood, adoles-
cence, or adulthood. The Vodun elect finds out
that he or she is chosen by the Vodun through
close observation of events marking his or her life
and, subsequently, by consulting the Fá, the sys-
tem of divination through the Bokonon, veritable
interpreter of the Fá.
To become a Vodunsi proper, one must receive
the initiation during an internship that lasts up to
3 years, in theHun-xwé (esoteric or blood-pact
home), the convent, also called Hun-kpamê
(blood-pact enclosure), orVodun-kpamê(Vodun700 Vodunsi