Review - The Bordeaux Narrative

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.