E. A. Koetting and Baron DePrince - The Spider and The Green Butterfly

E.A. Koetting/Baron DePrince
The Spider and the Green Butterfly
trade. Dahomey, now called the Republic of Benin, rests in
Western Africa, bordering Togo to the west, Nigeria to the
east, and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. It is from
this far place that many of the slaves were brought to the
west, especially to South and Central America.
Vodoun priests go by the titles of Houngan (male)
or Mambo (female). Caplatas, also known as Bocors, are
the Dark priests of Vodoun, working with the malign and
violent spirits. These are the spirits which also most
readily offer up their power to the Houngan and the
Mambo, perhaps in hopes of annihilating them with such
power. This dark force is that which will be the main focus
of this work.
Caplatas perform powerful acts of both good and
evil sorcery, but as their forte, they are very highly trained
in the darkest practice of Vodoun black magic. They are
responsible for the creation of what the western world has
known as zombies, thought to be mere myth in our
civilized realm, but known to be a terrifying reality in Haiti,
by placing a living person under the influence of powerful
mesmerisms and secret drugs. The exact method of
creating the zombie after this initial stage of control cannot
be allowed to be printed here, as the truth is much more
startling, and much less entertaining than Hollywood would
have any spectator believe. Nor is the full reality of zombie
creation ever even scratched by the investigations of the
most well funded researchers for the largest corporations.
The Vodoun temple is called a Hounfour, or
Homfort. At the center of the Homfort is a "Poteau-mitan,"
a pole where God and the spirits communicate with their
followers. An altar is often elaborately decorated with
candles, pictures of Christian saints, and other articles
related to the Loa, or the spirit-gods of Vodoun.
A Pantheon of Power -
Vodoun is marked primarily by a belief in the
"Loa". The Loa are the gods that form the Vodoun
pantheon. Unlike the godforms of most religions, however,
the Loa are intermediaries between the creator, who has
turned his sight away from creation, and the Houngans or
Bocors. In the absence of a creator, the Loa reign unbound.
The only close comparison in world religions are the Hindu
Devas, but unlike the Loa, the power of the Devas is
limited, whereas the Loa are most certainly not.
Also unlike the multitude of religious and spiritual
godforms, the Loa walk the earth and move among men,
invisible and unnoticed by all but the initiated. The Loa are
active in the world, and can manifest themselves through
the possession of devotees during ritual. There is a twofold
power in this: the act of possession is the ultimate
submission of the worshipper to the worshipped, giving up
the body, mind, and soul to the Loa, and at the same time
that vessel of flesh is filled with an ageless and limitless
power and intelligence. In that moment, God is embodied,
and after the possession has subsided the worshipper will
remain scarred, marked, and empowered for the remainder
of his or her life by the experience.
Vodoun ritual and ceremony are practiced primarily
to make offerings to the Loa and to entreat the Loa for aid
or personal fortune in one's life.
A few of the most recognized religions related to
Vodoun are Candomble, Lucumi, Macumba, and Yoruba.
Yoruba traditional belief included a chief God
Olorun, who is known to remain remote and unknowable.
He authorized a lesser God Obatala to create the earth and
all life forms. Olorun, never laying his own hands on