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

E.A. Koetting/Baron DePrince
The Spider and the Green Butterfly
Music is an integral part of the Vodoun religion, as
it is for most, if not all world religions. Buddhist and
Hindu devotees chant or sing mantras, Christians
harmonize in hymns, ancient Pagans would dance to the
lyre, the flute, and the harp, and the Houngan sends the
sounds of drums and rattles and stomping feet into the ears
of the Loa.
The ceremonies of service differ, sometimes
slightly, sometimes rather steeply, depending on what
family of Loa are begin served or worshipped.
The Rada Rite -
The ceremonies of worship of the Rada family of
Loa are usually much less offensive, and therefore much
more publicly known, to the point that the Rada rite seems
to secondarily act as a social gathering of the Vodoun
congregation, much like Mass has become to most
Christian faiths. The Rada rite will often begin with a feast
for all who are to engage in the rite, and will end with
either the Mambo or Grand Houngan handing out gris-gris
or other types of charms to those in attendance.
All attendants of the Rada rite are dressed in loose,
white clothing which looks strikingly similar to the
garments one might wear for a Christian baptism.
The ritual area is first prepared with a general
cleansing by sprinkling Florida Water around the area,
followed by either the Grand Houngan or another trusted
Houngan drawing the Veve of the Loa that is to be called
upon the ground in either flour or cornmeal.
Once the congregation has gathered, the first prayer
or invocation that is given is to Papa Legba, as he controls
the crossroads between the worlds, and can either allow or
restrict any entity access into this world. A sacrifice is also
made for Legba, usually of a food animal such as a sheep
or a chicken. Since the blood and the sacrifice will also
call forth the Loa whose presence is desired, the exact
sacrifice might vary to satisfy the particular tastes of the
Loa, sometimes sacrificing a dog, goat, or other such
animals.
The actual act of sacrifice does not seem to vary
much throughout the traditional occult practices: the victim
is to be bound as to not escape or fight too violently during
the ritual; a bowl is placed underneath its neck into which a
good amount of the blood will flow; and the throat is slit
with a sharpened knife, in one single, smooth motion.
The blood is then presented by the Houngan or
Mambo to the congregation, and each celebrant orally
partakes of the blood as a sacrament, the animal having
been imbued with the essence of the Loa.
The two instruments used in Vodoun rites are drums
and an Asson, although these are considered to be magickal
instruments more than musical instruments, especially in
the case of the Asson.
The Rada rite utilizes the playing of three drums,
which represent the three main "layers" of the sun, which
as a whole is representative of Legba. There are several
other, more obvious symbolisms behind the number of
drums chosen, which appear throughout nearly all
religions. The largest drum, called the Manman, stands
about three feet tall, and symbolizes the sun's
chromosphere, a red-colored atmosphere immediately
above the "surface" of the sun. The Manman is played by a
standing drummer by beating it with a wooden hammer
with one hand and with the other hand bare. The mediumsized
drum, referred to only as "The Seconde," stands
about 2 feet tall and represents the photosphere, often
referred to as the "surface" of the sun, although it is not at
all solid. The photosphere is the seemingly opaque, yellow
part of the sun, which usually overwhelms the red