COURLANDER, Harold
(trans.), The Bordeaux Narrative,
University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque NM, 1990.
Octavo;
hardcover; 192pp. Mild wear; slightly rolled; text block top edge mildly
spotted; previous owner’s bookplate to the front pastedown. Dustwrapper is
mildly rubbed with some edgewear and sunning. Very good.
In
1871, Maurice Morancy, a planter, coffee merchant and sometime scribe in the
town of Gonaïve in Haiti, was approached by an elderly peasant named Dosu
Bordeaux who asked him to write down the unusual story of his life. Morancy at
first declined to be involved with the man but repeated meetings with him soon
turned the situation around: Morancy began to seek out Dosu in order to record
as much of his story as he could. The completed Narrative was published and widely disseminated in French, until,
in the early Twentieth Century, Harold Courlander – a novelist and collector of
folk legends – translated the work and restructured it into the form presented
here.
The
Narrative tells of Dosu Bordeaux’s
life as a mountain peasant in the Republic of Haiti, growing up in a community
deeply immersed in the traditions of Vodoun. The main thrust of the story is
Bordeaux’s quest to find his younger brother, Jean-Jacques, who disappears
while travelling down the mountain in search of grain to purchase. Investigations
by Dosu’s father and later by himself, reveal that his brother vanished – along
with one of his friends – while walking along a trail to a man’s house just
outside the village of Dleau Frète. Later, in a dream, Jean-Jacques appears to
Dosu carrying his head in his hands and wearing a rope of banana leaves; the
local houngan, Kuku Cabrit,
interprets this as a sign that Jean-Jacques has been captured by evil sorcerers
– bocors – and has been transformed
into a zombie. Thus, Dosu begins his quest to find his brother and return with
him to the mountain.
The
quest is a high-spirited and picaresque tale, with Dosu receiving advice – both
good and bad – to push him onwards to his goal. He encounters evil spirits, bocors, mambos and a panoply of Haitian deities before finding his first
hint of where Jean-Jacques could be. Throughout, the reader is introduced to
the strange tapestry that is Haitian folk belief. Dosu is told things which are
rejected as false by those whom he later encounters, there are alternate terms
for the same manifestations, and often the people he speaks to are not actually
themselves but rather the reposoir –
or vessels – of those spirits who choose to ride them. Dosu himself, at various
points in the narrative, is possessed by different deities – Ogoun, the vodoun of iron and war, with whom Dosu
has a special bond, and Legba, the vodoun
of the gateway, highway and crossroads, who initially opposes him.
Most
of the regional variation in terms – some people call the spirits vodoun and others loa - depends upon the cultural roots of the people with whom Dosu
interacts: since the displaced people of Haiti stem from a multitude of African
locales, their creole faith depends strongly upon the tribal stock from which
they descend. Many of the names of these spirits and beliefs have been
processed through an imposed French patois
but refer to African spiritual phenomena, believed to have travelled with the
slaves from their homeland. There is a type of monster, for example, called a “zeaubeaup”, known for its cannibalistic
tendencies, which strongly recalls a tribe of Congolese man-eating warriors,
the Zappo-zaps, whom the Belgian overlords hired as mercenaries to repress the
workers on their rubber plantations.
Dosu’s
journey is less of a planned trip and more a case of him bouncing from one
supernatural event to another. Each time he throws a stone at a mango tree
hoping to gain some fruit, a spirit warns him off; each time he finds a village
where he might obtain food or shelter, he is told to abandon his quest, or at
least alter his approach, as the way is barred by bakas, bizangos, bakulus or lougaros. Many of the people whom he meets offer him talismans and trinkets
to keep him safe – he has a medicine packet hanging around his neck; a piece of
iron in his pocket earns him Ogoun’s favour; a piece of a dog’s tail makes him
invisible to bizangos; a houngan gives him a cocomacaque – a magic walking stick – and a map drawn by a vodoun on the skin side of a fleece.
This last item is burned by a white houngan
in a black robe whom Dosu encounters, who also teaches him the words of power –
“Father, Son and Holy Spirit” – which Dosu later rejects as ineffectual.
As
a young man on a terrifying journey, Dosu seems to have no trouble with the
ladies and frequently spends the night with several young women whom he meets
along the way. A houngan’s eldest
daughter diverts him from his chores; the daughter of a fisherman invites him
into her house for sex; at one point he sleeps with a solitary woman in a hut
far from any settlement. He awakens to find her body a withered husk with a
gaping slit from neck to belly, and decides that she is a lougaro who, after having her way with him, sent out her spirit into
the night to perform evil deeds. He flees the hut fairly quickly after that.
Eventually,
he arrives in the vicinity of Habitation Perdue, a large farming enterprise
worked by a tireless army of zombies. With the help of a freed slave who awakens
from his zombie-state by drinking salty water, Dosu finds his brother and they
flee into the wilderness. Getting back home is not that easy however, and the
fugitives suffer many more encounters and much strangeness before reaching
their mountain home.
I
had never heard that such a coherent text about life under the belief of Vodoun existed, but I’m glad to have
discovered it. Of course, there are many New Age bookshops which peddle modern books
about Vodoun in the modern world, but
this has the cachet of an original source, not a catchpenny grab for the spare
change of bored white people. The story is high-spirited and rollicking, and
Courlander’s interpretation is in no way judgemental about its events and
characters which is entirely refreshing. There is so much to learn of the folk
beliefs and Vodoun rituals contained
within the story that it is at once a good read and a learning experience. If
your Call of Cthulhu story takes your players into Vodoun territory, I can’t recommend
this work highly enough as background reading.
Five
Tentacled Horrors from me.
*****
One
of the best things about this book is that it contains a glossary of all the
terms that spring up along Dosu’s journey. Because it’s so nifty, I’ve decided
to reproduce it here as a “Voodoo Dictionary” for those interested.
Abiku
In
Yoruba tradition (carried over to some Caribbean countries) an infant or young
child who dies and is later reborn, usually to the same parents.
Abobo
A
sign-off word, used to indicate the end of a dance, an invocation, or a song.
Agoé!
Agola! Agochi!
An
untranslatable phrase sometimes used to end a ritual.
Agwé
A
vodoun, or loa, of the sea.
Akasan
A
broth made of ground corn, often eaten in thicker form resembling porridge.
Anasaco
Title
of a doctor or diviner of the Egbo fraternal society of the Ekoi and Efik
peoples of West Africa. The society survived in some Caribbean communities,
most notably in Cuba.
Asson
A
small rattle, with a network of beads on the outside, used ritually by houngans and mambos.
Azaka
The
special vodoun, or loa, of country people. Often referred
to as Cousin.
Baka
An
evil supernatural being that preys on humans. It can take on a variety of
grotesque forms or resemble ordinary people.
Bakulu
A
form of demon.
Bambara
An
African tribe. Also the name of a vodoun,
or loa, believed to be of Bambara
origin.
Bizango
A
predatory demon resembling a large black dog, believed to frequent the back
country in search of human prey.
Bocor
A
cult priest who specialises in aggressive or destructive magic. Said to work
with his left hand, in contrast to the houngan,
who works with his right hand and whose primary role is to assist and guide
people of his hounfor in their
relations with the vodouns. See: Houngan.
Bon-Ange
Haitians
differ as to the exact nature of the bon-ange
(frequently called the gros bon-ange
to distinguish it from the petit bon-ange),
though in general it is regarded as the basic inner spirit with which every
individual is born. In translation, it is referred to in the Narrative as “soul spirit”.
Bossale
Wild,
free, “untamed”.
Brisé
The
name of a vodoun, or loa, belonging to the Congo-Pétro group.
Cacique
Leader,
chief.
Caille
House,
in particular a small peasant house made of wattle and lime with a thatch or
tin roof. Also, The Haitian name of the African game best known as mankala or owari. In Haiti, as in Africa, the gameboard and playing pieces
were sometimes used for divining.
Cocomacaque
Literally
“monkey palm”. A diminutive palm tree from which walking sticks, thought to
have the power to repel bakas, were
made.
Compère
Godfather.
Used as a familiar term of respect among older persons.
Congo
Mapiongle
The
name of a vodoun of the Congo-Pétro
group.
Connaissance
Special
understanding, usually of the vodouns
and rituals of the hounfor.
Coumbite
A
co-operative agricultural work group whose members help one another in farming
tasks.
Déssounin
The
rite of removing a vodoun from the
head of a deceased person.
Difé
Fire.
Often used to designate the pot of embers carried by mountain people so they
may make a fire when needed.
Egbo
An
important secret fraternal society of the Efik and Ekoi peoples of West Africa.
Expedition
Aggressive
magic by which a bocor sends a spirit
to neutralise or harm an enemy.
Engagement
A
compact made with a vodoun, a bocor, or any practitioner of magic.
Filelikela
Bambara term designating a diviner
Frète
Cache
The
cracking of a long whip by a bocor,
or houngan, to attract the attention
of a vodoun, or loa, or to give force to magical pronouncements or actions.
Gangan
Synonymous
with houngan, a vodoun priest.
Garde
Corps
A
charm worn on the body for protection against evil or accident.
Gembo
A
divining device used by houngans,
made of a shell that slides on a taut string.
Govi
An
earthern jar or jug in which a houngan
keeps various kinds of spirits, including a loa
removed from a dead person’s head, or the gros bon-ange of a person transformed into a zombie.
Gèdé
Known
under various names such as Baron Samedi,
Gèdé Nimbo, Baron Cimitière, etc. The vodoun
of the graveyard, or death. Characterised by incivility, crude behaviour,
contempt for rules. Possibly an avatar of Nyarlathotep.
Guinée
Africa.
Habitant
A
peasant farmer or landholder.
Habitation
A
peasant house and landholding.
Hevioso
Sometimes
pronounced Kébioso. A Dahomean sky vodoun who, like Shango of the Yoruba,
hurls thunderbolts to earth. Indian stone adzes found by country people are regarded
as thunder stones thrown by Hevioso, Sobo, or Shango.
Houngan
A
cult priest devoted to serving the vodouns,
or loa. He generally performs rituals
with his right hand. A houngan who
performs aggressive magic is said to “work with two hands”, while a bocor is described as one who “works
with his left hand”.
Hounfor
The
main building, or building complex, of a houngan.
Ifa
The
divining orisha (equivalent to vodoun) of the West African Yoruba
people. Also called Orunmila. Though
he is scarcely recalled by name in Haiti, Ifa divining, in simplified form,
survived. The Ifa tray is the board on which divining was performed.
Imamou
The
generic name for Haitian vodouns of
the sea. Some persons describe Imamou as the paramount sea vodoun, though the best known of sea vodouns is Agwé. Vèvès
for Agwé usually show a sailing ship with the name Imamou drawn on its side.
Lacour
A
small group of huts occupied by members of an extended family.
Legba
The
vodoun, or loa, of the gateway, the highway, and the crossroads. Possibly an avatar of Yog-Sothoth.
Loa
Another
word for vodoun. See: Vodoun.
Lougaro
Loup garou. A demon-like creature that can take on
various forms to prey on humans.
Moundongue
A
vodoun, or loa, associated with Congo-Pétro rites. The name of a tribe in
Central Africa.
Maît’
Grand Bois
Master
of the Forest, the supreme vodoun of
the forest or wilderness.
Mambo
A
priestess who conducts vodoun rites.
Marron
In
colonial times, an escaped slave. Marrons
often gathered in the mountains and built villages, or established individual
homesteads.
Marassa
Twin,
or twins. A vodoun named Marassa is
the special protector of twins. A possible avatar of Zhar and Lloigor.
Mawu
In
Dahomey, Mawu or Mawu-Lissa was regarded as a very ancient deity and progenitor
of the other vodouns.
Mayamba
A
chip-tossing gambling game.
Nananbouclou
In
Dahomey, Nananbouclou is considered
to be the most ancient, the original, vodoun,
the parent of Mawu (Mawu-Lissa). In Haiti he (or she) is sometimes
called Nananbélécou. Possibly Shub-Niggurath in a Haitian incarnation?
Ogoun
The
vodoun of iron and war, as among the
Yoruba of Nigeria.
Olorun
The
paramount sky spirit or deity of the Yoruba of Nigeria.
Ouanga
A
charm made by a bocor for aggressive,
harmful magic against a certain individual. Sometimes the charm is not actually
made in material form but only vocalised in ritual language.
Par-Preté
A
trade of food or other objects in exchange for labour.
Passage
d’Alliance
A
method of divining to establish the identity or guilt of a person.
Peristyle
The
roofed court adjoining a hounfor.
Pied
Coupé
A
vodoun with one leg, or a one-legged baka, who lives in a certain tree and
preys on human passers-by.
Pinga
Maza
A
fearsome vodoun of the Congo-Pétro
group.
Placée
Under
the sanctioned tradition of plaçage,
a man who already has one wife and household may take a second wife to care for
another house and garden some distance away. She is said to be placée. In the Haitian peasant setting
she is not necessarily held to be inferior to the first wife.
Reposoir
A
“resting place” for a vodoun. It can
be a tree, a rock, a cave, or sometimes a person’s head. Is anyone else thinking of the Insects from Shaggai?
Samba
A
community story-teller, amateur or professional, who entertains children or
adults on special occasions.
Shango
A
Haitian vodoun of Yoruba origin.
Société
A
men’s or women’s group organised for a specific purpose, such as communal
labour or affiliation with a particular hounfor.
Sonponno
A
vodoun of Yoruba origin. Among the
Yoruba he was considered the spirit/deity of smallpox and other such diseases.
Tafia
An
alcoholic beverage made from sugar cane.
Taino
An
Indian tribe or sub-tribe that occupied parts of Haiti before the arrival of
the Europeans.
Thunder
Stone
In
traditional Haitian belief, certain Indian stone artefacts, particularly hand
adzes, found during agricultural work are thunder stones hurled by the vodoun Hevioso, or the vodoun Shango. They are highly valued
and are displayed on special ritual occasions.
Tijean
Pétro
A
Pétro vodoun or loa who, in traditional Haitian belief, preys on humans, particularly
children, from the foliage of the coconut palm.
Tonnelle
The
covering of the courtyard adjoining a hounfor.
Vèvè
A
corn meal drawing or design made on the earth by a houngan during a ceremony or ritual service.
Vodoun
A
Dahomean (Fon) term designating any of the deities or spirit beings worshipped,
placated, or served in Afro-Haitian religious rites. In Dahomey these spirit
beings belonged to sky, earth, and sea pantheons, a distinction no longer
observed in Haiti, though they still have functions related to sky, sea, and
earth. Services for vodouns are
generically called Vodoun. In
contemporary Haiti the word “Vodoun”
is used to indicate collectively, Vodoun
religion in all its aspects, and the word loa
is most commonly used to designate the deities themselves.
Wari
A
large red seed (referred to by Haitians as a pois, or bean) used for various purposes such as bleaching skin,
poisoning, playing pieces for the game of caille,
and divining.
Yzolé
One
of the various names for the under-the-water residing place of deceased persons.
It is believed by some that vodouns
also live there. (R'lyeh?)
Zandolite
A
small tree lizard
Zagouti
A
mammal about the size of a rabbit, related to the guinea-pig.
Zeaubeaup
According
to tradition, a society of cannibals. Tcho-tchos anyone?
Zombie
A
human being who has had their gros bon-ange
removed by a bocor, through one of various
means, and stored in a govi. Reduced
in this way to mindless automata, the zombies are a biddable and tireless
workforce who will work literally until they drop dead. They can be recognised
by their complete lack of will and individual character, the fact that they don’t
lift their feet while walking and by the fact that they are often dressed in
banana leaves (because such leaves are cheap and a zombie’s owner isn’t going to
waste good fabric on it). The ingestion of salt traditionally revives a zombie
to its normal state although being revived too soon by too great a dosage can
send them into shock.
