Haitian Vodou  is a syncretic mixture

Syncretism

Syncretism is the combining of different beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means "combining", but see below for the origin of the word...

 of Roman Catholic rituals introduced during the French colonial period, African beliefs, with roots in the Yoruba

Yoruba mythology

The Yorùbá religion comprises the original religious beliefs and practices of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in Southwestern Nigeria and the adjoining parts of Benin and Togo, a region that has come to be known as Yorubaland...

, Kongo

Kingdom of Kongo

The Kingdom of Kongo was an African kingdom located in west central Africa in what are now northern Angola, Cabinda, the Republic of the Congo, and the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

 and Dahomey mythology

Dahomey mythology

The Dahomey are a nation located in Benin, Africa. The mythology of the Dahomey includes an entire pantheon of thunder gods; for example,*Xevioso is the god of thunder in the So region....

, and folkloric influence from the indigenous Taino

Taíno people

The Taínos were pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. It is thought that the seafaring Taínos are relatives of the Arawak people of South America...

 Amerindians that once populated the island. It is not found commonly anymore.

Pantheon

• Adjassou-Linguetor
  Adjassou-Linguetor
  In West African Vodun Adjassou-Linguetor is a loa with protruding eyes and a bad temper. She governs spring water....
  
   - Haitian loa in the form of spring water (goddess) .
• Adjinakou
  Adjinakou
  In Vodou and especially in Haiti, Adjinakou is an elephant loa.Adjinakou is also known as Agaou L'Ephant and is of the Rada loa Family....
  
   - Haitian loa in the form of an elephant
  Elephant
  Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
  
  .
• Adya Houn'tò
  Adya Houn'tò
  In West African Vodun Adya Hount'tò is a loa associated with drumming....
  
   - Haitian loa
  Loa
  The Loa are the spirits of the voodoo religion practiced in Louisiana, Haiti, Benin, and other parts of the world. They are also referred to as Mystères and the Invisibles, in which are intermediaries between Bondye —the Creator, who is distant from the world—and humanity...
  
   of the drum
  Drum
  The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
  
  s
• Agassou
  Agassou
  In the Vodou religion, Agassou is a loa, or deity, who guards the old traditions of Dahomey. The Rada Lwa of Haitian Vodou Agassou: Royal Leopard King of Africa...
  
   - Haitian loa which guards the Dahomean
  Dahomey mythology
  The Dahomey are a nation located in Benin, Africa. The mythology of the Dahomey includes an entire pantheon of thunder gods; for example,*Xevioso is the god of thunder in the So region....
  
   traditions.
• Agwe
  Agwé
  In Vodou, and especially in Haiti, Agwé, also spelt Agoueh, is a loa who rules over the sea, fish, and aquatic plants, as well as the patron loa of fishermen and sailors...
  
   - loa of fish
  Fish
  Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
  
   and aquatic plant
  Aquatic plant
  Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments. They are also referred to as hydrophytes or aquatic macrophytes. These plants require special adaptations for living submerged in water, or at the water's surface. Aquatic plants can only grow in water or in soil that is...
  
  s.
• Aido Quedo - loa of fertility and snake
  Snake
  Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
  
  s.
• Ayida-Weddo
  Ayida-Weddo
  In Vodou, especially in Benin and Haiti, Aida-Weddo is a loa of fertility, rainbows and snakes, and a companion or wife to Damballah-Wedo. Ayida-Weddo is known as the Rainbow Serpent.- External links :*...
  
   - Haitian goddess, where she is also known as Rainbow Snake. She is married to Damballa
  Damballa
  In Vodou, Damballah is one of the most important of all the loa . Damballah is the Sky God and considered the primordial creator of all life. The veve of Damballah comprises two serpents prominent among other emblems.-Family:...
  
  .
• Ayizan
  Ayizan
  In Vodou, and especially in Haiti, Ayizan is the loa of the marketplace and commerce.She is a racine, or root Loa, associated with Vodoun rites of initiation...
  
   - Haitian goddess of the marketplace.
• Azaka Medeh
  Azaka Medeh
  Azaka Medeh is the lwa of the harvest in Haitian Vodou mythology.He evolved after the Haïtian Revolution when slaves were able to own property. Depicted as a country bumpkin that loves to eat, he is kind and gentle and has no alternate sinister form. Azaka is identified with Saint Isadore...
  
   - loa of harvest.
• Azaka-Tonnerre
  Azaka-Tonnerre
  In Vodou, and especially in Haiti, Azaka-Tonnerre is in the same "family" of Loa as Azaka Medeh - the Loa of agriculture. Azaka-Tonnerre is a loa of thunder....
  
   - Haitian god of thunder, agriculture and farmers.
• Bacalou
  Bacalou
  In Vodou, , Bacalou is a feared loa , represented by a skull and crossbones....
  
   - Haitian vodou evil spirit depicted by the skull and crossbones.
• Badessy
  Badessy
  In Vodou, and particularly in Haiti, Bedessy is a minor loa who holds the domain of the sky....
  
   - Haitian god of the sky.
• Baron La Croix
  Baron La Croix
  In Vodou, Baron La Croix , also spelled Lakwa, is one of the Guédé, a Loa of the dead and sexuality, along with Baron Samedi and Baron Cimetière. He is the ultimate suave and sophisticated spirit of Death - quite cultured and debonair. He has an existential philosophy about death, finding death's...
  
   - loa of the dead and sexuality.
• Baron Samedi
  Baron Samedi
  Baron Samedi is one of the Loa of Haitian Voodoo. Samedi is a Loa of the dead, along with Baron's numerous other incarnations Baron Cimetière, Baron La Croix, and Baron Kriminel. He is the head of the Guédé family of Loa, or an aspect of them, or possibly their spiritual father...
  
   - loa of the dead.
• Boli Shah
  Boli Shah
  In Vodoun, and especially Haitian Vodou, Boli Shah is a minor loa who guards families....
  
   - Haitian family loa.
• Bossou Ashadeh
  Bossou Ashadeh
  In Vodou, and especially in Haiti, Boddou Ashadeh is a loa, the spirit of the deceased Dahomean King Tegbésou.As the Petro mannifestation, Bossou is often depicted as a horned bull....
  
   - Haitian loa, king of Dahomey
  Dahomey
  Dahomey was a country in west Africa in what is now the Republic of Benin. The Kingdom of Dahomey was a powerful west African state that was founded in the seventeenth century and survived until 1894. From 1894 until 1960 Dahomey was a part of French West Africa. The independent Republic of Dahomey...
  
  .
• Boum'ba Maza
  Boum'ba Maza
  In Vodou, an animist, or nature-based religion, the Boum'ba Maza are a group of powerful spirits or deities known as loa....
  
   - Haitian family loa.
• Bugid Y Aiba
  Bugid Y Aiba
  In Vodou, and especially on Haiti and Puerto Rico, Bugid Y Aiba is a loa of war....
  
   - Haitian (and Puerto Rican) god of war.
• Captain Debas
  Captain Debas
  In the religion of Vodou, Captain Debas is a loa ....
  
   - Haitian family loa.
• Clermeil
  Clermeil
  In Haitian Vodou, Clermeil was the loa who made rivers flood their banks. He was usually depicted as a white man....
  
   - Haitian god of flowing waters.
• Conga - Haitian vodou deity.
• Congo
  Congo (loa)
  In the Voodoo faith, Congo is a handsome but apathetic loa.In the Congo Savanne aspect, he is a fierce petro loa. His color is white....
  
   - Haitian vodou deity.
• Damballa
  Damballa
  In Vodou, Damballah is one of the most important of all the loa . Damballah is the Sky God and considered the primordial creator of all life. The veve of Damballah comprises two serpents prominent among other emblems.-Family:...
  
   - father of the loa and humankind.
• Dan Petro
  Dan Petro
  In Vodou, Dan Petro is the loa who protects farmers; he is the father of Ti-Jean Petro....
  
   - Haitian god of farmers.
• Dan Wédo
  Dan Wédo
  In Vodou, Dan Wédo was the loa of the King of France....
  
   - Haitian loa of the king of France
  France
  The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
  
  .
• Diable Tonnere
  Diable Tonnere
  In Haitian Vodou, Diable Tonnere is a loa who presides over thunder....
  
   - Haitian god of thunder.
• Diejuste
  Diejuste
  In Haitian Vodou, Diejuste is a kind-hearted, benevolent loa....
  
   - Haitian vodou deity.
• Dinclinsin
  Dinclinsin
  In Haitian Vodou, Dinclinsin is a European loa feared for his temper and cruelty, he is often envisioned as a white colonial slave owner, he often carries a whip and is recognisable by his habit of putting whatever is given to him in his pockets, one of his favourite tricks is to pour rum into his...
  
   - Haitian vodou deity feared for his severity.
• Eleggua or Eshu
  Eshu
  Èṣù is both an orisha and one of the most well-known deities of the Yoruba mythology and its related New World traditions.He has a wide range of responsibilities: the protector of travelers, deity of roads, particularly...
  
   - Child trickster deity.
• Erzulie Dantor - Haitian vodou goddess of wealth, vengeance, and protection. She is syncretised with Our Lady of Czestochowa.
• Erzulie Freda Dahomey
  Erzulie
  In Haitian Vodou or Vodou, Erzulie is a family of lwa, or spirits.-Maîtresse Mambo Erzulie Fréda Dahomey:Erzulie Fréda Dahomey, the Rada aspect of Erzulie, is the spirit of love, beauty, jewelry, dancing, luxury, and flowers. Gay men are considered to be under her particular patronage...
  
   - Haitian vodou goddess of beauty, dancing, flowers, jewels, love and luxury. Married to Damballa
  Damballa
  In Vodou, Damballah is one of the most important of all the loa . Damballah is the Sky God and considered the primordial creator of all life. The veve of Damballah comprises two serpents prominent among other emblems.-Family:...
  
  , Agwe
  Agwé
  In Vodou, and especially in Haiti, Agwé, also spelt Agoueh, is a loa who rules over the sea, fish, and aquatic plants, as well as the patron loa of fishermen and sailors...
  
   and Ogoun
  Ogoun
  In the Yoruba and Haitian traditional belief system, Ogun is a orisha and loa who presides over iron, hunting, politics and war. He is the patron of smiths, and is usually displayed with a number of attributes: a machete or sabre, rum and tobacco...
  
  . She is syncretised with Mater Dolorosa
  Our Lady of Sorrows
  Our Lady of Sorrows , the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows , and Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names by which the Blessed Virgin Mary is referred to in relation to sorrows in her life...
  
  . Also called Mami Wata
  Mami Wata
  Mami Wata is venerated in West, Central, Southern Africa, and in the African diaspora in the Caribbean and parts of North and South America. Mami Wata spirits are usually female, but are sometimes male.-Appearance:...
  
   in African mythology.
• Gran Ibo - Haitian goddess of wisdom and patience.
• Gran Maître
  Gran Maître
  In Haitian Vodou, Gran Maître is one of the primary creator goddesses....
  
   - Haitian creator god.
• Grand Bois
  Grand Bois
  In Haitian Vodou, Grand Bois is an elemental, nature-oriented loa closely associated with trees, plants and herbs. Offerings to him include leaves and herbs, honey, and spiced rum...
  
   - Haitian loa of creation.
• Kalfu
  Kalfu
  Kalfu, Kalfou or Carrefour is one of the petwo aspects of the spirit Papa Legba. He is often envisioned as a young man or as a demon; his colour is red and he favours rum infused with gunpowder...
  
   - Haitian god of the night, symbolized by the moon
  Moon
  The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
  
  . Thought to be very dangerous.
• Lemba - Haitian vodou deity.
• Limba - Haitian loa believed to live among rocks. Thought to have insatiable hunger and eats people, even his own followers.
• L'inglesou
  L'inglesou
  In Vodou, L'inglesou is a loa who lives in the wild areas of Haiti and kills anyone who offends him....
  
   - Haitian loa which lives among rocks and in ravines.
• Loco
  Loco (loa)
  In the Voodoo religion, Loco is a loa, patron of healers and plants, especially trees. He is a racine , and a Rada Loa. Among several other Loa he is linked with the poteau mitan or centrepost in a Vodou peristyle....
  
   - Haitian god of trees, plants and healers.
• Lutin - The ghost of an unbaptized child in Haitian vodou tradition.
• Mademoiselle Charlotte
  Mademoiselle Charlotte
  In Haitian Vodou, Mademoiselle Charlotte is a loa of European descent and a symbol of all white women. She manifests with the perceived personality traits of a white woman, but appears during the course of Voodoo ceremonies only rarely, possibly because of her non-African origin.Mademoiselle...
  
   - Haitian loa who resembles Caucasian women.
• Mait' Carrefour - Haitian god of magicians and lord of the crossroads, also called Kalfu
  Kalfu
  Kalfu, Kalfou or Carrefour is one of the petwo aspects of the spirit Papa Legba. He is often envisioned as a young man or as a demon; his colour is red and he favours rum infused with gunpowder...
  
  .
• Maîtresse Délai
  Maîtresse Délai
  In Vodou, Maîtresse Délai is the patron loa of tambourine players....
  
   - Haitian loa who is a patron of the hountor or tambourine player.
• Maîtresse Hounon'gon
  Maîtresse Hounon'gon
  In Vodou, Maîtresse Hounon'gon is the loa who presides over the chanting done during an ordeal by fire, called a canzo....
  
   - Haitian loa which chants the canzo or ordeal by fire in vodou tradition.
• Maman Brigitte
  Maman Brigitte
  In Vodou, Maman Brigitte is a death loa, the wife of Baron Samedi. Maman Brigitte is one of the few Loa who is white and is depicted as being fair-haired and green-eyed with light European skin. She drinks hot peppers and is symbolized by a black rooster...
  
   - Vodou death loa
  Guédé
  In Haitian Vodou, the Guédé are the family of spirits that embody the powers of death and fertility. Guédé spirits include Ghede Masaka, Guédé Nibo, Guédé Plumaj, Guédé Ti Malis, and Guédé Zaranye. All are known for the drum rhythm and dance called the "banda"...
  
  .
• Marassa - The twin gods of Haitian vodou.
• Marassa Jumeaux
  Marassa Jumeaux
  In Vodou, the Marassa Jumeaux are the divine twins. They are children, but more ancient than any other Loa. "Love, truth and justice. Directed by reason. Mysteries of liaison between earth and heaven and they personify astronomic-astrological learning. They synthesize the voodoo Loa as...
  
   - The ghosts of dead twins in Haitian vodou tradition.
• Marinette - Haitian loa, violent and powerful.
• Mambo
  Mambo (voodoo)
  Mambo is the term for a female High Priest in the Vodou religion in Haiti. They are the highest form of clergy in the religion, whose responsibility it is to preserve the rituals and songs and maintain the relationship between the spirits and the community as a whole...
  
   - Haitian loa who brings storms.
• Mounanchou
  Mounanchou
  In Vodou, Mounanchou is a group of powerful spirits known as loa, revered in Haiti....
  
   - Haitian vodou deity.
• Nago Shango- Haitian vodou deity.
• Obatala
  Obatala
  In the religion of the Yoruba people, Obàtálá is the creator of human bodies, which were supposedly brought to life by Olorun's breath.Obàtálá is also the owner of all ori or heads. Any orisha may lay claim to an individual, but until that individual is initiated into the priesthood of that orisha,...
  
   - yoruba creator god.
• Ogoun
  Ogoun
  In the Yoruba and Haitian traditional belief system, Ogun is a orisha and loa who presides over iron, hunting, politics and war. He is the patron of smiths, and is usually displayed with a number of attributes: a machete or sabre, rum and tobacco...
  
   - Haitian vodou god of fire, iron, politics, thunder and war.
• Oshun
  Oshun
  Oshun, or Ochun in the Yoruba religion, is an Orisha who reigns over love, intimacy, beauty, wealth and diplomacy. She is worshipped also in Brazilian Candomblé Ketu, with the name spelled Oxum. She should not be confused, however, with a different Orisha of a similar name spelled "Osun," who is...
  
   - yoruba goddess of love, also Erzulie Freda
  Erzulie
  In Haitian Vodou or Vodou, Erzulie is a family of lwa, or spirits.-Maîtresse Mambo Erzulie Fréda Dahomey:Erzulie Fréda Dahomey, the Rada aspect of Erzulie, is the spirit of love, beauty, jewelry, dancing, luxury, and flowers. Gay men are considered to be under her particular patronage...
  
   (in Vodou).
• Oya
  Oya
  In Yoruba mythology, Oya , is the Undergoddess of the Niger River. Oya has been syncretized in Santería with the Catholic images of the Virgin of Candelaria.-Aspects:...
  
   - yoruba warrior goddess.
• Papa Legba
  Papa Legba
  In Haitian Vodou, Papa Legba is the intermediary between the loa and humanity. He stands at a spiritual crossroads and gives permission to speak with the spirits of Guinee, and is believed to speak all human languages...
  
   - intermediary between the loa and humanity.
• Pie
  Pie (loa)
  In the Voodoo faith, Pie is a soldier-loa who lives at the bottoms of lakes and rivers and causes floods....
  
   - Haitian god of floods, soldier loa.
• Simbi
  Simbi
  In Haitian Vodou, Simbi is a large and diverse family of serpent Loa from the West Central Africa / Kongo region. Some prominent Simbi Loa include Simbi Dlo , Simbi Makaya, Simbi Andezo , and Gran Simba...
  
   - Haitian water snake loa, which is one of the three vodou cosmic serpents.
• Sobo - Haitian god of thunder.
• Sousson-Pannan
  Sousson-Pannan
  In the Vodou religion, Sousson-Pannan is a hideously ugly loa, covered in sores, who is known for drinking copious amounts of both liquor and blood....
  
   - Haitian loa thought to be evil and ugly, with a body covered in sores.
• Ti Jean Quinto
  Ti Jean Quinto
  In Vodou, Ti Jean Quinto is a cruel loa who lives under bridges and assumes the shape of a police officer....
  
   - A mean Haitian spirit which lives under bridges and assumes the form of a policeman.
• Ti Malice
  Ti Malice
  In Vodou folklore, Ti Malice was a trickster-loa, archnemesis of Uncle Bouki or Tonton Bouqui. Ti-Malice was said to be exceptionally lazy unlike Uncle Bouki....
  
   - Haitian trickster loa.
• Ti-Jean Petro
  Ti-Jean Petro
  In Haitian Vodou, Ti-Jean Petro is a snake-loa and son of Dan Petro....
  
   - Haitian snake deity and the son of Dan Petro
  Dan Petro
  In Vodou, Dan Petro is the loa who protects farmers; he is the father of Ti-Jean Petro....
  
  .
• Yemalla
  Yemaja
  Yemanja is an orisha, originally of the Yoruba religion, who has become prominent in many Afro-American religions. Africans from what is now called Yorubaland brought Yemaya/Yemoja and a host of other deities/energy forces in nature with them when they were brought to the shores of the Americas as...
  
   - Yoruba mother goddess, also called LaSiren, Mami Wata
  Mami Wata
  Mami Wata is venerated in West, Central, Southern Africa, and in the African diaspora in the Caribbean and parts of North and South America. Mami Wata spirits are usually female, but are sometimes male.-Appearance:...
  
  

Related notions

• Asagwe - Haitian vodou dancing used to honor the gods.
• Avalou - Haitian vodou dance which means supplication.
• Coco macaque - Haitian vodou implement. It is a stick, which is supposed to be able to walk on its own. The owner of a coco macaque can send it on errands. If it is used to hit an enemy, the enemy will die before the dawn.
• Gangan - Haitian vodou shaman.
• Ghede - family of spirits related to death and fertility
• Guinee
  Guinee
  In Vodou, Guinee is the spirit world, a reference to the African homeland that slaves hoped their souls might be returned to after death....
  
   - Haitian afterlife. It is also where life began and the home of their gods.
• Houngan
  Houngan
  Houngan is the term for a male priest in the voodoo religion in Haiti . The term is derived from the Fon word "hùn gan". There are two ranks of houngan, houngan asogwe and houngan sur pwen...
  
   - Haitian priests. They lead the peoples in dancing, drumming and singing to invoke the loa.
• Loa
  Loa
  The Loa are the spirits of the voodoo religion practiced in Louisiana, Haiti, Benin, and other parts of the world. They are also referred to as Mystères and the Invisibles, in which are intermediaries between Bondye —the Creator, who is distant from the world—and humanity...
  
   - Haitian god or goddess.
• Mambo
  Mambo (voodoo)
  Mambo is the term for a female High Priest in the Vodou religion in Haiti. They are the highest form of clergy in the religion, whose responsibility it is to preserve the rituals and songs and maintain the relationship between the spirits and the community as a whole...
  
   - Haitian priestess who, together with the Hungan, leads the vodou rituals and invokes the loa.
• Paket kongo
  Paket kongo
  Paket kongo are Haitian spiritual objects made by vodou priests and priestesses during Petwo ceremonies. Their name comes from the ancient Kongo Kingdom in Africa, where similar objects called nikisi wambi are found....
  
   - charms made of organic matter wrapped in cloth, intended to rouse the loa.
• Petro - aggressive and warlike family of spirits
• Rada
  Rada loa
  -Scope:They include older, beneficent spirits who can be directly traced to Dahomey Vudus of West Africa.-Etymology:"Rada" is a cognate of Arará, and also Yoruba orishas.-Function:...
  
  - old, benefic family of spirits
• Ville au Camp - The underwater capital of the loa

External links

• List of Voodoo loa

Grand Bois (Gran Bwa) - spirit of wilderness, forests and healing

source: Patrick A. Polk, Haitian Vodou Flags. University of Mississippi Press, 1998.