Deities

Loko

Fon Deities

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "Loko." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://www.divinityatlas.com/deities/loko-vodun-deity.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). Loko. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://www.divinityatlas.com/deities/loko-vodun-deity

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-loko,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {Loko},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://www.divinityatlas.com/deities/loko-vodun-deity},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Loko is the Fon and Vodun deity of trees, most closely identified with the silk cotton and iroko trees, and of the healing power drawn from their bark, leaves and roots. Loko is closely associated with the initiation of Vodun priests and, in Haitian Vodou, with the ason, the sacred rattle that marks an ordained houngan or manbo; the atlas names that association without describing the initiation itself, which is closed to outsiders.

Facts

Belief

Theology

Henotheistic: a supreme being above served lesser divinities 1

A Fon and Vodun tree deity of the same religious family as Mawu-Lisa, matching its henotheistic reading.

Attestation

Historicity

Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being 1

Function

Domain / Function

Healing and medicine 1

Origins

Origin of the Name

Loko's name is widely traced to iroko, the West African hardwood most sacred to Vodun tree cult. Fon Gbe phonology regularly shifts a borrowed r to l, carrying the tree's own name directly onto the spirit who inhabits it. 1

Identity

Gender

Male 1

Cult

Attributes and Iconography

Loko has no image of his own. He is represented by the living tree itself, most often a silk cotton or iroko, and by offerings of white cloth and cornmeal set at its roots rather than by any carved or painted figure. 2

Cross-Tradition Connections