All about the Secrets of Vodou, Haitian Vodou and those secret Vodou words we use in formal Vodou ceremony or preparing a handcrafted magical or ritual items. What are those Vodou words and what do they mean? This Haitian Vodou glossary was provided as courtesy by Hougan Aboudja and his Vodou Temple to help educate others about the mysterious world of Vodou. To learn more about Haitian Vodou, Vodou Rituals, the Vodou Religion and Vodou spiritual beliefs, click here to read more fascinating articles written by highly experienced, initiated Vodou Practitioners at Erzulie’s Voodoo in New Orleans!
If you wish to learn more about Haitian Vodou, explore the Vodou path or tradition, or have spiritual questions you would like to discuss with an expert, feel free to book a Spiritual Consultation with one of our highly experienced, caring and initiated Vodou practitioners at Erzulie’s Voodoo of New Orleans.Abitasyon – habitat; common ancestral plot of land owned by an extended family and inherited in successive generations
Ago – ritual exclamation meaning “attention”
Akason siwo – soup made of manioc or corn starch to which cane syrup is added; favored dish of most all lwa; Kongo lwa prefer this made with corn flour vs. Starch and call it doukounou
Aksyon degras – thanksgiving; ritual prayers borrowed from Catholic litanies that open a Vodou service
Alamyet – Vodou service held without drums
Anacoana, most famous Tayino Indian cacique (queen); led her people in active revolt against the Spanish; executed by hanging in 1503.
Anba dlo, “beneath the water” – the place where the lwa and ancestors reside; see Ginea
Ansyen bon – elders holding vast konesans, usually in antique lineages; the old priests whose knowledge is a treasure younger priests can only strive to understand
Ason – “sacred tongue of Dan” (Danbala); rattle used to conduct services in Rada Vodou rites; symbol of authority of the Houngan and Manbo; gourd rattle surrounded by a loose web of beads and snake vertebrae, and having a small bell attached
Ayibobo – ritual word of Ewe origin equivalent to “amen”
Ayiti Toma (Haiti) – Tayino Indian word meaning “mountainous”; one of several Tayino names for the island now called Haiti; also Kiskaya
Badji – sanctuary, altar room within the hounfò; also called sobadji
Badjikan – “keepers of the badji”; senior priests or officials of an hounfò charged with maintaining the altars housed therein.
Badjo – Vodou temple near Gonaives devoted solely to the Nago (Yoruba) lwa
Baka – small malevolent demon; also called mazanga
Banbosh – non-religious party or celebration
Banda – rite, rhythm and dance associated with the Gede lwa
Bizango – secret society and the rites of this society; see also Makaya
Bokò – expert in magic who works with both hands – for both creation and destruction
Bon anj – the divine spirit of man understood as having two primary components: ti bon anj and gwo bon anj
Bondje – Kreyòl word for God Almighty, from the French Bon Dieux; also called Gran Met-la (The Grand Master)
Boukman – historical houngan who convoked secret Vodou ceremonies and meetings leading to the Haitian Revolution
Bosal – wild or untamed; may reference a lwa or a neophyte who has not yet mastered his or her own spirits
Boula – smallest of three Rada drums; also called hountokila
Cho – “hot”; a quality of spirit
Chwal – “horse”; euphemism for a servitor who serves as the medium for a lwa in possession
Dahomey (Daome) – West African Empire (present day Benin) from which large numbers of slaves were shipped to Haiti; the religious traditions of the same people that formed the foundation of Vodou
theology
Demanbwe – sacral patch of land representing the virgin forest, primal Africa, and in which the roots of an ancestral lineage are buried
Deshoukaj – uprooting; name given attempts throughout history to destroy the Vodou religion; Vodou has survived 14 attempts at deshoukaj by various sources
Desounin – process of removing lwa from the head of an initiate following death
Dezòd – chaos, confusion, or drama
Dogwe – ritual obeisance paid to a senior priest and to the lwa
Dyaspoja (Diaspora) – the population of Vodouwizan outside of Haiti
Dissimulation – a conscious and deliberate use of certain Catholic or other appropriative elements to allow Vodouwizan to serve the lwa in secret
Djab – powerful but wild spirit; may have both good and bad potential
Djevo – chamber within the hounfò in which neophytes are initiated
Dosou/dosa – (male/female) first child following twins
Dous – “sweet”; a quality of spirit
Eskò – grouping of lwa who walk with, or follow another lwa
Fwan Ginea – a servitor who follows pure Ginea rites, who does not serve with both hands
Ginea – unspoiled Africa; the other world in Vodou wherein the lwa and the dead are said to reside and where is found the holy city of Ife, also called Lavilokan
Giyon – bad luck
Govi – clay jar or urn housing the spiritual essence of either a lwa or an ancestor
Hounfò – a Vodou temple and its precincts
Houngan – male Vodou priest; Ewe-Daomen word translating as “chief of the spirits”
Hounjenikon – chorus leader in a Vodou service
Houn-yo – postulants for Vodou initiation
Hounsi – wife of the spirit; title for an initiated servitor
Hounsi kanzo – initiate of the Vodou who has undergone the rite of kanzo
Hounto – lwa of drums; largest drum in the Rada orchestra, also called mama
Hountogi – Vodou drummers
Kachimbo – small clay pipe favored by certain lwa such as Azaka
Kalfou – crossroads; the lwa of the same
Kanzo initiation into the Vodou – follows three grades – asogwe, soupwen, and senp
Kapab – leaf used to increase luck and also to make a demand of a lwa; shaefferia frutescens
Kleren – raw corn whiskey, “white lightening”; drink favored by many lwa
Kò dwapo – hounsi who carry the society’s flags in parade during a Vodou service
Konesans – a quality of consciousness; the knowledge of an houngan or manbo; includes liturgical knowledge as well as intuitive knowledge
Konfyans kay – key-holder of an hounfò; principle advisor to the senior houngan or manbo of a house
Kowanabo – a lineage of Tayino Indian spirits found maintained in the North of Haiti
Kreyòl – the language of Haiti and also the primary language of the Vodou
Kriz lwa (lwa crisis) – those signs leading up to possession
Kwa-kwa – a maraca or tcha-tcha rattle; used in all rites other than Rada such as Petwo or Kongo
Lakou – courtyard; common unit of family in the Haitian countryside; follows West African models of family organization
Langet – slang for clitoris
Lanmò – the dead; may include ancestors as well as other categories of dead
Laplas daginea – sword bearer and often master of ceremony in a Vodou service
Lave tet – head washing
Lavilokan – one name for the holy city of the lwa in Ginea; actual city in the North of Haiti said to be the site of the first hounfò, and source of revolutionary resistance; also called Ife
Lukumi – traditional religion descending from the theologies of the Yoruba people as found in Cuba
Lwa – the spirits of Vodou; a word of unknown etymology, probably arising from Ewe, Fon, or even Yoruba languages all denoting similar ideas such as mystery or law; not in common use; rather, the word
mistè, more inclusive in meaning, is used when referring to any of the inhabitants of the spiritual world
Lwa Rasin “root lwa” – lwa from whom a community, family, or individual believe itself to descend; also called lwa ewitaj, heritage or inherited lwa
Maji – magic; sorcery
Makandal, François – revolutionary hero, bokò, and one-armed prophet who taught poisoning as a means of effective insurgence in the 1750’s
Makaya rite – rhythm, and nation of lwa associated with the energy of leaves and their transforming power, of magic; overlaps with both Petwo and Bizango rites; associated strongly with the lwa Kalfou,
Gran Bwa, Bawon, and also with the dead
Maldjok – the “evil eye”; also jeg
Madivin – lesbian
Manbo (Mambo) – female Vodou priest
Manje – (vb) to eat; (n) food or feast
Mamalwa – “mother of the lwa”; archaic term for a manbo
Mapou – one of the most sacred trees in Vodou; ceiba pendantra/bombax
Marasa – twins, specifically twin lwa; also called jimo
Masisi – male homosexual
Met kay – lwa who is the patron or master of a Vodou temple
Met tet – “master of the head”; the lwa who rules the initiates head
Milokan (minokan) – references all of the lwa of Ginea; a veve drawn to represent the same
Mistè, mystery – general name for the lwa and any other spiritual forces, such as pwen, a person may possess
Mombin – one of the most sacred trees in Vodou; spondias mombin
Nago – a rite, rhythm, dance, and a nation of lwa all of Yoruba origin; chief among these is the lwa called Ogou
Nansyon – spirit nations; groupings of lwa usually by original ethnic lines
Nomvayan, “valiant name”; ritual name for an initiate given at their baptism
Oble tanbou – drum rhythm calling the lwa with insistence
Ochan – rhythm of salutation for a lwa
Ogan – small iron bell with an external clapper used to keep time in a Vodou ceremony; part of the Vodou orchestra
Ogantwa – private devotional altar
Paket – spiritually active bundle created on the point of specific lwa, i.e. Paket Loko, paket Bosou, paket Simbi, etc.
Pale Ginea, “African speak”; the secret language of the lwa; also simply called langaj
Papalwa, “father of the lwa” – archaic term for an houngan
Peristil – the covered dance area of an hounfò; also called a tonel
Petit fey – “little leaves”; members of a Vodou temple
Petwo – a nation of lwa and their attendant rites, primarily of Kreyòl and Native Indian origin
Pot tet – head pot; ceramic jar housing the soul of an initiate following initiation
Poto mitan – sacred center post and functional center of an hounfò by which the lwa are said to arrive from Ginea
Prèt, priest; prèt savan – “bush” priest, master of Catholic liturgy; prêt Vodou, snobbish term for an houngan
Priyè Ginea, “African prayer”; complex litany that opens a Vodou service
Prizdezye – a degree of clairvoyance
Pwen – “point”; distilled concentrations of spiritual force or magic created for diverse purposes
Pwen achte – “bought points”; usually used for malevolent purposes
Pyè tone – stones that house a lwa or pwen; thought to have been hurled to the ground by the lwa Sobo and owned by the lwa Fawo Pyè Dantò
Rada – nation and rite of lwa associated with West African traditions; described as “cool”
Rara – masquerade band of musicians associated with Vodou temples and also secret societies that play from January through Easter
Regleman – rule, order, law; lineage tradition that defines ritual action, and principles of ordering
Repozwa – repository; any vessel, be it a tree, stone, clay jar, etc. In which a lwa may assume residence either temporarily or permanently
Retire mò n’anba dlo – “withdrawing/removing the dead from out of the waters [of Ginea]”; ceremony wherein the soul of the dead is returned to the community of the living; also reclamation
Sanpwel – members of the Bizango secret society
Segon – middle sized drum in the Vodou orchestra; also called moyen and hountoki
Sevitye – servitor; a devotee, initiated or not, of the Vodou
Simitye – cemetery
Sosyete – refers to the secret societies such as Bizango
Sosyete Ginea or Sosyete Vodou – the society of servitors in Vodou; the religious community
Soukri – Vodou temple near Gonaives devoted solely to the Kongo lwa
Souvenans – Vodou temple near Gonaives devoted solely to the Ewe-Daomen/Rada lwa
Syncretism – the unconscious association and adoption over time of the dominant, often oppressing, culture’s norms or religious beliefs
Tanbou fey – type of cord tuned drums used in Petwo rites
Tanbou kon – type of peg tuned drums used in the Rada rites
Tayino – tribe and nation of Native Americans who populated the island of Haiti at the time of the Spanish invasion; an advanced Native American culture
Tchaka – seven ingredient stew; a sacred meal
Trempe – raw corn whiskey or rum steeped with aromatic and/or medicinal herbs
Twa pawol – healing leaf; allophyllus basilicum
Veve – graphic prayer rendered in flour or other substances on an earthen floor and representing a given lwa, a group of lwa, or other intersection of power; also
called seremoni; the act of drawing a
veve is called file farin (flour stringing)
Vire, turn; ritual movements for orientation and salutation
Vodou – the predominant religion and cultural tradition of Haiti derived primarily from amalgamated African and Native American traditions
Vodouwizan – devotee of the Vodou regardless of grade
Voodoo – Americanized spelling of “Vodou”; a Hollywood sensationalism associated with ignorant popular fantasy and with lurid and racist lies
VSN – a civilian secret police force under Françios Duvalier known to the world as the Tontons Macoutes (Bogeymen)
Vyen – vyen, semi-mythical descendants of the original Tayino population of Haiti; also called tchen-tchen
Vwasinaj – neighbor
Wanga, charm, often for selfish or even malevolent ends
Yanvalou – rhythm and dance associated with many Rada lwa, especially Danbala Wedo
Zanj – angels; in the North, a synonym for lwa
Zanset-yo – ancestors
Zepol – rhythm and dance associated with rapid shoulder movements
Zile Menfò – the lwa Agwe’s city beneath the sea in Ginea
Zo – bone
Zo devan – healing herb used in Vodou to bring up luck, and for fertility; eugenia crenulata
Zonbi – may be a soul separated from the body or a body separated from a soul; both are made to work
Zozo – slang for penis