This might be an unpopular question but I am taking my LSAT soon for law school entrance. Are there any Vodou rituals I can do to help me with a high score? Besides studying of course! And yes I am full Haitian but I just never come across such rituals.
Does anyone know the english or scientific name for haitian Fèy Revini Bon Anj?
Are they any Haitian Vodou drummers for an event in Houston, TX? I can work with drummers from Louisiana too. Or drummers who can do vodou rhythms. Any recommendations?
Are they any Haitian Vodou drummers for an event in Houston, TX? I can work with drummers from Louisiana too. Any recommendations?
Does anyone know anything about the lwa Agaou Agrada or Arada? Please kindly share what you know about this lwa.
Looking for an authentic haitian vodou sosyete or house in Houston or Texas in general, to be part of.
I hate to be that person, but where are the BOKORS (not talking about hougans manbos but the bokors) of Haiti? Where are the Chanpwels and Bizango who are supposed to be looking out for the people and bring JUSTICE AND ORDER! Does someone need to give y’all a million dollars to turn these gangs and the people sending them into goats?!?! I am seriously TIRED of them.
I was under the impression that these secret societies were created to protect the people to bring justice, law and order. Or is there is a flaw in the system.
Now would be the time for them to exercise what these organizations were created for in my opinion.
My maternal side of my family has always spoken about a place called Lavilokan, but much of its history feels almost deliberately hidden from me.
The generations before mine, my mother, aunts, and uncles, rarely elaborate. When Lavilokan comes up, their voices often get quieter. They describe it as mystical, sacred, and a place connected to things that are not meant to be spoken about openly. It sometimes feels as though, after moving to the United States and becoming Christian, parts of my family slowly distanced themselves from or stopped practicing the traditions connected to this place.
People often speak about the three sacred lakou of Haiti: Souvenance, Soukri, and Badjo, but I rarely hear Lavilokan mentioned. Yet, according to stories passed down in my family, Lavilokan may have had a much deeper spiritual significance.
One oral story, perhaps a family legend or folktale, that was shared with me by my mother’s eldest sibling describes a connection between Lavilokan and Souvenance:
It is said that Lavilokan had a Manbo who was also a twin. The twins were separated at birth. One remained connected to Lavilokan, while the other was connected to Souvenance. Despite being physically separated, they were said to always communicate with one another inside their respective temples. Somehow, when they entered the sacred space, they could see and communicate with each other.
One day, they both decided it was time to leave this realm. Each twin sat on a ti chèz ba inside their respective temple, one in Lavilokan and the other in Souvenance. Then, according to the story, the ground opened beneath them and swallowed them both.
Another story passed down in my family says that, at one point, no one was allowed to enter the lakou without permission from the “three mystical women.” One of those women is believed to have been one of my ancestors.
Unfortunately, this is about as much information as I have been able to get from my family. Many of them are now Christian and living in the United States, and there seems to be a reluctance to revisit or discuss these traditions in depth. I’ve also struggled to find recorded historical information about Lavilokan, which makes me wonder how much of its history has survived only through oral tradition.
So I’m curious:
I’m especially interested in hearing from elders, practitioners, researchers, or anyone whose family has preserved stories about Lavilokan. I’m trying to understand what may have been forgotten, and what may still be remembered.
Several years ago, I met a houngan who eventually took on the role of a spiritual mentor—not only for me, but for many others. Over time, I became connected to his sosyete and eventually traveled to Haiti, where I received a lave tèt under him and his spiritual house.
After returning to the United States, however, I began questioning some of what had happened during the ceremony. I realized that a section of hair had been cut from the middle of my head, which I later came to understand was not something I had expected or knowingly consented to as part of the lave tèt. Around that same period, I began having very vivid dreams about certain things that had happened—or things that I felt should not have happened.
Eventually, he began pressuring me to undergo kanzo. During that time, I had one particular dream that has stayed with me.
In the dream, I was walking through the streets of Haiti when I came across a wall with one word written prominently on it:
DEKA
I told him about the dream afterward. He briefly explained that Deka was connected to a lineage or tradition within Haitian Vodou, but he didn't elaborate much beyond that.
For whatever reason, I interpreted that dream as a message that kanzo—or specifically the ason/asogwe path—was not necessarily my path. Which family members from both sides of my family later confirmed that asongwe is not our family lineage. Eventually, I separated myself from that sosyete altogether because of a number of things I witnessed and experienced within that particular community that did not sit right with me.
Years later, the dream about DEKA still comes back to me, especially because I have found very little information about it online.
So my main question is for people who are knowledgeable about Haitian Vodou traditions beyond the more commonly discussed ason lineage:
Does anyone know more about Deka, its history, lineage, practices, or what distinguishes it from the ason tradition? Are there particular regions of Haiti, lakou, or family traditions associated with Deka? (My family is from the Northside of Haiti)
I'm especially interested in historical or traditional knowledge, because there seems to be very little publicly available information about it.