The Loa

Damballa

AKA: Bon Dieu, Danbhala Weddo, Moses

Damballa is the father of the other Loa, and the most powerful and important of the pantheon. Appearing as a huge green-and-black snake, and associated with parental duty as well as primal sexuality and creativity, Damballa marries many women and sleeps with all of them every Thursday. He leaves behind money for them, and gifts for the children he has with them. He is associated with the Catholic/Jewish Moses, and dresses in white and silver.

Of all the Loa, Damballa most rarely assumes a mortal, human form. He prefers the snake aspect and loves to eat raw eggs. When he mounts a horse—that is, a mortal vessel—he makes that horse writhe on the ground with his hands above his head and speak in a sibilant, hissing susurrus. Any woman who handles a snake while naked risks his sensual and sexual embrace.

Baron Samedi

AKA: The Baron, Baron Cimitiere, Baron La Croix, Baron Kriminel, Uncle Skeleton

Samedi is a loa of the dead and of all the Loa, only Baron Samedi never disguises himself. He is always Saturday’s lord, always dressed for a party, always ready to live unlife to the fullest. His entourage, the ghede—the dead, who are ghosts and zombies and revered ancestors—trail along in his wake like the groupies of a rock star or the entourage of a Hollywood celebrity. Outfitted with sunglasses, a stylish black shirt or a white shirt and an undertaker’s swallowtail coat, silver jewelry and a top hat, the Baron loves to entertain children and frighten the living daylights out of adults. In legend, he walks right up to dictators and tells them to put their affairs in order.

Erzulie

AKA: Erzulie Freda, Erzulie Dantò, Erzulie Je Wouj, Mary

Beautiful, dressed in pinks and reds, loving sweet foods and perfumes, Erzulie is a Loa of love in all its forms. Assuming three faces depending on need, as Freda she is the coquettish young girl, as Dantò, she is the matronly protector of children (and homosexuals), while as Je Wouj (literally “red eye”) she is the angry old lady no one loves anymore. Associated with the Virgin Mary and the Black Madonna from Catholic tradition, Erzulie is a girly girl, flirtatious and sexy while being very gracious and kind at the same time.

Legba

AKA: Eshu, St. Lazarus, St. Peter, St. Anthony

Legba, keeper of the spirit gate, watches over crossroads and doorways. An old black man with a pipe filled with tobacco wedged between his teeth and leaning on a cane, he is associated with the Catholic saints Peter, Lazarus and Anthony, as well as the color red. Wearing a broad-brimmed straw hat and attended by his dog, he can speak and understand any mortal language. He can cause his horse to walk and dance, and he can send any mortal down the right path—or the wrong one. No one enters the mythic realms without his permission.

Kalfu

AKA: Mait, Carrefour

Kalfu is Legba’s dark twin. While some Vodou practitioners see them as the same deity, the Loa themselves know the truth: Kalfu is the master of the malevolent spirits of night, just as Legba rules the beneficent spirits of the day. They stand on opposite corners of all crossroads and on opposite sides of all doorways. Where you find one, the other is never far away. Even their clothes are the same, which means that the only way to tell them apart is to observe them closely, for Kalfu is more muted in color, as if he were lit by moonlight instead of sunlight.

Ogoun

AKA: Gu, Ogun, Ogum, St. George, St. James, St. Sebastian

Lord of power, authority and triumph, Ogoun is a spirit of iron—iron spines in battle, iron in weapons and fearlessness in personal action. Dark eyed and dark skinned, he likes the contrast of a sharp white military uniform and red sash with his curly headed visage. He often makes use of the Catholic identity of St. James the Greater and always carries an iron knife, sword or machete. He’s a smoker and a rum drinker, but he’s always the pirate hunter and never the pirate.

Shango

AKA: Xango, Chango

Shango, lord of thunder and priestking of the Loa, is the Loa of initiation and justice and royalty. He resists oppression on behalf of his people, and he fights the good fight everywhere. Dressed in red and white, he hunts liars and thieves with a stone axe made by his friend and colleague Ogoun. Legends say he had three wives and produced sons by each of them. Some, his legitimate children, became kings and community leaders. Others became great priests, pastors and spiritual advisors. His remaining children lived as bandits who preserved the moral order by robbing the rich and giving

to the poor.

Agwe

AKA: Agoueh

The Loa of the Ocean has walked among men as often as the other Loa. He always takes the form of a fisherman or someone with some other association with the sea. He is the sea’s master, and the assurance of his form reflects this. He’s always the experienced, grizzled sailor, the admiral, the captain of the vessel, the owner of the dockyard.