This page groups deities by the earliest year a surviving written or inscribed source places them, sorting gods by how far back their documented worship can actually be traced. Archaeologists call this kind of earliest possible date a terminus post quem, which Wikipedia defines as "the earliest date the event may have happened or the item was in existence." Browsing by first attestation separates deities known from the oldest surviving records from ones who only appear in much later texts.
Facts
Attestation
Era of AttestationThe religion took shape in colonial Saint-Domingue. The earliest detailed European descriptions date from the end of the eighteenth century, and Vodou is served today throughout Haiti and its diaspora. 3 Veneration TodayServed today throughout Haiti and in the Haitian diaspora. 2 Overview
What Defines This GroupingThe lwa served in Haitian Vodou - one religion, not a regional survey. It formed in colonial Saint-Domingue among enslaved people from many West and Central African nations, and carries Fon, Yoruba and Kongo material together with Catholicism. The lwa are organised into nanchon and into the Rada and Petwo rites. 2 Contested Use
Contested or Appropriated Modern UseVodou has been represented in American and European popular culture through a caricature - zombies, pins and dolls, malevolent sorcery - that took shape during and after the United States occupation of Haiti and bears almost no relation to the religion described here. 3 Origins
Origin of the NameThe name is the Fon word vodún, meaning spirit. The English spelling voodoo belongs to the sensational literature and film of the United States occupation period and after, and not to the religion. 3 Learn More
The Lwa of Haitian Vodou
This group gathers the lwa (loa), the spirits served in Haitian Vodou, a living religion that took shape among enslaved West and Central Africans in colonial Saint-Domingue, blending Fon, Yoruba, Kongo and other traditions with Catholicism. The lwa are intermediaries between humanity and the distant creator Bondye, and are served through ritual, offering and possession.
The browser will find the lwa organised into nations and families, Rada spirits of coolness and Petwo spirits of heat, including Papa Legba who opens the way, Erzulie, Ogou, Damballa and the Gede of the dead. The atlas treats Vodou as a coherent religion, not the sensationalised caricature of popular film, and notes each spirit's Catholic-saint associations where they exist.
Era Attested Start Year
Connections
Belongs to Tradition
The lwa of Haitian Vodou.
Source The Faces of the Gods: Vodou and Roman Catholicism in HaitiLeslie G. Desmangles
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. The Faces of the Gods: Vodou and Roman Catholicism in Haiti
Leslie G. Desmangles, University of North Carolina Press, 1992chs. 1-2View the Source 3. Voodoo in Haiti
Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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