Manbo (Vodou)
[1][2] Haitian Vodou's conceptions of priesthood stem from the religious traditions of enslaved people from Dahomey, in what is today Benin.
Like their West African counterparts, Haitian manbos are female leaders in Vodou temples who perform healing work and guide others during complex rituals.
These priestesses and priests serve as the heads of autonomous religious groups and exert their authority over the devotees or spiritual servants in their hounfo (temples).
[5] They become qualified after completing several initiation rituals and technical training exercises where they learn the Vodou spirits by their names, attributes, and symbols.
Typically, the final step is the possession of the ason (sacred rattle), which enables the manbos or oungans to begin their work.
She rose to fame after the publication of Karen McCarthy Brown's ethnographic account Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn.
Mama Lola's success provided her with a platform to challenge Western misconceptions of Haitian Vodou and make television appearances.
[2][11] Haitian Vodou gains its historic roots from the former West African kingdom of Dahomey, which Europeans also called the "Bight of Benin".
During the slave trade, many Fon and Ewe-speaking Dahomeyans were enslaved and used as the labor force for the sugar industry of French Saint Domingue (modern-day Haiti).
[12] Generally, manbos and oungans serve as the heads of autonomous Vodou religious groups—rather than clerical hierarchies—and exert their authority over the devotees or spiritual servants in their temples.
It is believed that the head contains the gwo bonanj (big guardian angel)—a spirit that directs a person's consciousness and provides ancestral/spiritual wisdom.
[5] They utilize this information during rituals to call upon the spirits and interact with them—whether it be through song, dance, prayer, offerings, or the drawing of vèvès (spiritual symbols).
[6] Theatrical aspects such as drumming, singing, and dancing are used by manbos as a means of "heating up" the process through which a person enters a state of possession or trance.
[1] Since human contact with the spiritual realm can be a dangerous endeavor, manbos use their skills to supervise possessions and actively direct individuals back to consciousness.
[13][16] Cécile Fatiman is famously known for her participation in the August 1791 Vodou ceremony at Bois Caïman, which is considered to be a catalyst for the Haitian Revolution.
This historical Vodou priestess inspired the first act of the uprising by sacrificing a black pig and sharing the blood with other slaves.
[9] Like its Haitian counterpart, New Orleans Voodoo was brought by enslaved Africans from West Africa to French Louisiana during the slave trade.
Contrary to popular belief, Haitian Vodou and Louisiana Voodoo are not the same—these African diaspora religions have their own history and identity.
For instance, a fictionalized Marie Laveau (played by actress Angela Bassett) appears in the third season of American Horror Story.
[10] Marie Thérèse Alourdes Macena Champagne Lovinski, also known as Mama Lola (1933–2020), was a prominent manbo and Vodou spiritual leader in the United States born and raised in Haiti.
Brown explains that her role as a practicing manbo was one that "combines the skills of a medical doctor, a psychotherapist, a social worker, and a priest".
[2] One of her appearances in U.S. popular media included that as a 2007 guest on Season 2 Episode 7 ("Mama Lola Knows Best") of the reality TV show Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood.
