1)     What are the names and some of the traits of the two lwa who have subdivided in Haitian Vodou?

Papagede, baran lacross, papaogun, badagre.

1)     From Voodoo From the Inside, what are the common myths about Voodoo and what is the reality?

That they sacrifice baby’s, use the doll for evil,  devil worship; they only sacrifice animals, the cross are the crossroads of papagede

1)     What goal do all Vodou ceremonies ultimately have in common?  Which ceremony is the most profound manifestation of this goal?

The all have cerimonies of initiation.

1)     From Haitian Voodoo and McCarthy-Brown, what was the relationship between the slave rebellion in Haiti and Vodou?

It was a sense of live free or die trying, they called on all the spirits to help them fight; Danto’s participation in the war, got her tongue cut off.

1)     From Haitian Voodoo, compare the offerings given to Christian Saints and Vodou lwa, according to the Manbo interviewed.

Vodou Lwa: Food and things of their liking. Christian Saints: votive candles, oil lamps.

1)     Describe the possession trance experience, what is the possessed person or host called, and what is the possessing Lwa said to be doing to this host during the possession trance?  How aware is the host of what is going on during the trance?  Who is thought to be guiding the host’s actions during the trance?  What memory does the host have of what happened during the trance after the Lwa leaves?  In a violent possession, what may happen?  What does it mean to have “the shiver of the spirit” on one? 

The host in not aware and will not remember the trance.

1)     Who is the first Vodou spirit that must always be given offerings in any ceremony and why?

Paplegba guardian of crossroads, first to receive offerings gate opener of spirits.

1)     Is Vodou considered a polytheistic, monotheistic or animistic religion, according to McCarthy-Brown? Explain.

Monotheistic, bonday is the correct entity called a God the rest are lwa’s intermediaries like catholic saints.

1)     What are the different causes of illness according to Vodou? (Name and explain 4)

Problem of Bad eyes, Problem of eyes, negative work of magic, spirits may haunt you.

1)     Which spirit in Vodou is not supposed to have animal sacrifices done in front of him or her?  Why?

Azeli Danto turns bad when she see’s blood, the animal sacrifice needs to be done before she takes over.

1)     Which spirit in Vodou represents the connection between the Land, Family and Ancestors/Spirits?

1)     Which spirit in Vodou is used to represent the generalized dead?  How is worshipping one’s ancestors done before him or her?

 Which spirit in Vodou is used to represent romantic love that is never satisfied?

1)     Which spirit in Vodou is used to represent the fierce protective and raging power of Motherhood?

1)     Which spirit in Vodou represents bravery, justice, soldiering, and the potential abuse of power?

1)     What are the steps to initiation in Vodou that McCarthy-Brown could discuss? (there are 4)

Head washing,  Knzo boulen Zen –the burning of the posts; Kouche soupwen-to lay down on the point make a possession outfit; Taking of the Ason-you emerge t

1)     What are the types of baths used in Vodou and how is each applied?

Good luck baths, for problems that have lingered, Bad luck baths,  Head washing

What is a Gad, where does it reside, and how does it work?  If you don’t have one or more, what might Vodou practitioners call you?

Cut made in your skin, then rub an objectof protection , see you as naïve if you don’t have one.

1)     What is the point of undergoing a spirit marriage in Vodou?  How many spirits may one marry, and why might one marry more than one?

1)     What is the role of the Gwo bonanj in healing and in a possession trance?

Need a head washing to be able to interprete dreams first step of initiation.

What principles are involved in healing in Vodou

Sympathetic, contagious

1)     What does “good health” means for the in Vodou? What does it require?

Good Health: greet spirits and health blessings, be good to your ancestors, think of what is good to do in your religion,

1)     How are suffering and death seen in Vodou?   How is relief from suffering seen?

We are born to die and to suffer, relief form suffering is seen as being lucky

1)     What is the role of the client in Vodou healing rituals?

The client must do his/her own work, they must bring things that will help him/her, what he wants accomplished, and offerings (gifts)

1)     What are the Rada and the Petwo spirit pantheons each characterized by, and why doesn’t Ogun fit into either pantheon?

Rada: sweet patient spirit name with a family relationship, Azeli Freida;  Petwo short tempered and powerful wapons, guns rapid drum beat fiery, Azeli Dante; Ogun doenst fit into either, protects one against the other.

1)      Give an example of the use of sympathetic magic to carry out a negative work against someone and the method that would be used to undo this negative work in Vodou.

Use dolls, healing, contagious magic, whatever the work is you can undo it by the opposite.

1)     the blood releases life power or Aché used to energize rituals, and feeds the deities being invoked.  The Animals are offered to these deities and the blood may be fed to a person possessed by the deity being addressed.

1)     the deity/spirit takes over the person, then the individual is dressed like that deity/spirit, and acts like that deity/spirit.  The person usually won't remember what happened after they come back to themselves.  The possessed person can be consulted as the deity or possessing spirit, offers advice and heals as that deity/spirit. (Applies to Vodou too)

1)     Ritual rattle used in Vodou by healers to give them leverage with the spirits to force them to do what they want. Given in the last stage of initiation.

Lwa

1)     African spirit called forth in Vodou ceremonies to possess participants.  These spirits get matched up with Catholic Saints based on similarities between them in stories or pictures.  They each have their own jurisdiction of control within nature and human nature, things they can cause or heal, colors, days of the week, special foods and offerings and characteristics.  A person possessed by a lwa will act out the characteristics of that particular lwa.

1)     the lwa who is the owner/guardian of the crossroads who can open or close the door to destiny.  He is always given offerings first in any ceremony because he controls the roads the other lwas travel. In Santería, he is known as Eleggua, and is a trickster spirit that is both a little boy (El Santo Niño de Atocha) and an old man (San Lazaro). 

1)     the oldest and most pure lwa who is both a rainbow and a serpent.  He connects Africa and Haiti.  Matched with Saint Patrick (due to being shown with snakes at his feet in a chromolithograph of him).

1)     has subdivided into many paths—he is the owner of the cemetery, the guardian of small children, sex and humor.  He is a trickster lwa who comes last, stays late to provide comic relief and help participants at a Vodou party to transition back into the regular world.  He is like a favorite uncle, a randy young man with a voracious sexual appetite, a corpse, and a child who likes to joke with bathroom and sexual humor and throw food and pretend to steal things.  He can satirize the military and the church as few can in Haitian society.  One of his forms is Baron Samedi.  Represented as a spider, a skull, and a walking cane with an oversized erect phallus.

1)     has subdivided into many paths—he is a lwa who is a soldier who represents justice, bravery, loyalty, truth, but may also represent the abuse of power and how it may turn on those who misuse it.  In Africa he is also an ironsmith and a clearer of the way in the forest.  His role as soldier is more emphasized in Haiti.  Matched with Saint James the Elder, among others (man of war fighting for justice and righteous causes).

1)     a Petwo Spirit—this lwa is a single mother who is very protective and loyal to her children, but sometimes rages against them in an irrational manner.  She cannot see blood or she goes wild.  She is dark skinned, lower class and has lovers who she doesn’t marry.

1)     a lwa who represents romantic love, is married, upper class, light skinned, and it is not clear whether she has children.  She is never satisfied with the amount of romance, jewelry, parties, etc.  and tends to get kind of frantic.  She won’t stay unless you are very clean.

1)     the third Erzuli, who is a lwa that is a mermaid, half black, half white.  She can initiate people who disappear for 3 days, weeks, months, or years, under the sea, and they come back with lighter skin and longer, straighter hair, and initially, no memory of what happened while they were missing. This provides poor people access to healing roles that they couldn’t otherwise obtain, since regular initiation ceremonies are very costly.  She always appears with a comb in her hair or hand.  She is sometimes conflated with Labalenn, the whale.

1)     lwa who represents one’s ties to the land, and ancestors and family; an agricultural spirit who is illiterate and travels with a female spirit who does his marketing and banking for him.  Matched with San Isidore because both wear blue (denim looking) clothes and carry a satchel.

Master of the head—main lwa in charge of a practitioner who is said to love and protect that person.  This would typically be the lwa under which one would be initiated. 

1)     Big Guardian Angel, a constituent of the self residing in the head that provides access to insight, ancestral wisdom, etc.  This element is displaced by the possessing lwa when someone is possessed, so that the person doesn’t know what happened during this time—it is said to float loose in the world at these times.  Sometimes it needs to be fed or ‘washed’ to maintain health and luck, as well as one’s orientation.

1)     a type of insight like E.S.P., or clairvoyance, or ability to see the true nature of things behind the mask that they wear.  This is a gift that helps healers heal.

1)      —when too much attention is focused on one, it throws one off balance, even though the attention is not negative in nature.

when too much attention is focused on one, and it is in a negative manner.  More severe than the above.

Guard or item to ward off bad luck or evil spirits.  May be something in one’s home or may be a cut made in one’s skin with protective herbs rubbed into it.  If one doesn’t have one, others tend to call one ‘naïve’.  Their understanding is that good luck must be worked at and bad luck must be warded off.

What are the 6 subtypes of Revitalization Movements?  Define each.

Nativistic, revivalistic, cargo cult, vitalistic, millennium movement, messianic movement.

1)     What are the 6 substeps of the revitalization period?

Formation, communication, organization, adaptation, cultural transformation

1)      Why didn’t the Navajo participate in the Ghost Dance?  Why did it spread to so many tribes?  Did it achieve its purpose?  Was it considered a “complete religion” or not?  Why or why not?

They were afraid of ghosts, it was a tough time period for natives disease put on reservation, this gave them respect, it was seen as a code of behavior anyone could participate in it ; no, it never got its purpose due to outlaw by govt.