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I forgot all about this thread. Which is probably just as well as it keeps making me think about the Arnold Schwartneggar and Danny Devito grimoire of the same name.
The concept of the soul in Haitian Vodou, as I understand it: More than a bit in common with the Egyptian idea of the multiple soul, which I find really interesting. The two can't be directly aligned of course, but that's not the point. A lot of the time in comparing traditions, the specifics and detail will be different but the underlying dynamic being described will be broadly similar.
Principally, you have the Gros Bon Ange and Ti Bon Ange. Literally, the Big Good Angel and Little Good Angel. The Gros Bon Ange is the essence of a human being’s character and personality and the sum total of their wisdom, knowledge, understanding and experience. This exists on the surface of the The Mirror, a being of the world of Spirit but touching the world of matter and given bouyancy by the living flesh. After death, and the decay of the body, it sinks into the waters below to join the ancestors. It must be dislodged from the body by the rite of Dessounin, or degradation, performed by a Houngan. After a year and a day in the waters it can be reclaimed by a Houngan and installed in a Govi jar as an ancestral Spirit by the rite of Retirer D'en bas D'leau.
The Ti Bon Ange is thought of as the transcendent, spiritual aspect of our being. It’s like a guardian that watches over us and is synonymous with the conscience. Perhaps analogous with the Holy Guardian Angel in Western magic. The Ti Bon Ange is all that is good within mankind, and is that part of us that sees truth as a desirable quality. Yet its spiritually rarefied nature makes it a rather abstract and impersonal force, perhaps a step removed from the daily struggles of life. Upon death, the Ti Bon Ange liberates itself from the body automatically without the need for rites or ceremonies, and is thought to hover over the corpse for nine days and then either ascend to Heaven or merge with the universe.
On top of this you have other concepts like the Mete Tet, or Master of the Head, who is the principal Lwa that is your patron and protector. The are the Master of your Head in the sense that your nature is most like them and you reflect their Divine qualities. A lot of the surnames of the Lwa, such as Ogun Badagris and Ogun Feraille were actually real people, Priests of Ogun, who so expressed a particular aspect of Ogun's Mysteries that upon death they became an aspect of the Ogun family of Lwa themselves.
Then you have the notion of Z'etoile, which is weirdly almost identical to the Thelemic concept of "Every Man and Woman is a Star". In Haiti, as I understand it, every one is literally supposed to have a star in the sky that represents their destiny in the sense of One Star in Sight. I think this concept might be related to the Ti Bon Ange in some way.
Then you have the Corps Cadaver, literally the physical body that is the material twin of the Gros Bon Ange.
I think that's all of them. |
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