by Bon Mambo Racine Sans Bout Sa Te La Daginen

The Vodou ceremony requires many hands and many voices. The houngan or mambo leads the house and runs the Prière Guinée — the forty-five-minute litany of invocations that opens every ceremony. The hounsi (initiates) assist, carry libations, and dance. And somewhere in between stands the houngenikon: the song specialist whose voice drives the ceremony forward, who takes over when the mambo is streaming sweat, who can whip a peristyle to fever pitch or leave everyone asleep.

Mambo Racine Sans Bout Sa Te La Daginen, posting to alt.religion.voodoo in June 2005 as part of her series on Vodou ceremonial service, explains the logic of this division of labor through two stories: a cautionary tale about an ambitious initiate who thought knowledge of songs alone made a great houngan, and a warm memory of Houngan Eliphete of Port-au-Prince, a big dashing fellow who simply could not remember the Prière — and said so honestly. Both stories circle the same teaching: what makes a ceremony powerful is not mastery of individual parts but harmony of the whole.

I once had an initiate who thought that the way to be the best Houngan in the world was to be the Houngan who knew the most songs and the most verses to the Prière Guinea. This fellow used to disrespect me in my own peristyle, saying that he would surpass me, because he would know more songs than me.

I and my Haitian initiates used to laugh! He was actually paying my initiates — his own initiatory brothers and sisters! — to sit and sing songs for him into a tape recorder, so that he could become a big shot Houngan and leave me behind all the faster. Well, I let my children make their money from this man, but there were a few things that he just didn't grasp. And sure enough, he broke his vows and is now "spoiled", no longer a Houngan. Alas! Here is what he didn't understand:

Firstly, although knowledge of the Prière Guinea is indeed respected, what makes a Houngan or Mambo "big" is not really knowing more verses or knowing more songs, but knowing and obeying the principles of the religion! I am a mother to my initiates, and my status as a Mambo depends very much on my living that role. An initiate is the respectful offspring of the initiator, and their status also depends on living that role.

This is not tyranny. It is a way of life that permits harmony and collective WORK in the peristyle. That's the whole point of the exercise — service to God and the lwa, with the result that the congregation is spiritually enriched and materially enriched. Rebelling against the initiator, taking potential clients to outside Houngans and Mambos, does not enrich the peristyle and violates the initiatory vows, making the person not a "big Houngan" but "no Houngan, spoiled Houngan."

Now, let us suppose that the Houngan or Mambo in charge of the house can't carry a tune in a bucket. Suppose she can't remember the doggone Prière! Or suppose he specializes in herbal medicine and that is what he does.

That is why Houngans and Mambos make initiates! If we could do it all ourselves, we would have no need to make children.

Early in my career as a Mambo, I used to visit a Houngan in Port-au-Prince named Eliphete. Houngan Eliphete was a big, black, tall and dashing fellow, very charismatic. I was wild about him! Imagine my surprise when one day I said, "Houngan, run through the Prière with me today. I will give you something nice, whatever you like, but I need some practice" — only to hear Houngan Eliphete respond, "Ah... Mambo, I don't know the Prière."

I was shocked! He explained that he just doesn't have the head for it, he can't remember it, so he has a hounsi that leads the Prière for him.

In the same way, almost every peristyle has a "houngenikon", who is a song specialist. There is more to leading a song in Vodou service than just standing in place singing the words. There are improvisational runs and trills, dance movements to be performed — a good houngenikon can whip up the peristyle to fever pitch, a bad one makes everyone sleepy! Usually the houngenikon is a Houngan sur point or Mambo sur point, but not always, and a peristyle might have more than one.

This is because the Houngan or Mambo in charge can not perform every ceremonial action, meanwhile singing every song, meanwhile dancing every dance, for hours and hours! In an initiation, for instance, we have three successive nights of Petro dancing, and that's just for starters. I would die of exhaustion if I didn't have a houngenikon or two, and hounsis who can step in. So what happens is that I lead the Prière, and I sing the opening songs, on the first night. By the time we get to Legba I am already streaming sweat. I lead the procession to make the libations while my houngenikon takes over as song leader. And different people take turns leading the songs all night. When one gets hoarse the other steps in, so that we are not voiceless by the second night of the ceremonies.

Houngans and Mambos lead the house. We run the house according to the rules of Guinea. We expect obedience from our initiates, and we have our duty toward them as well. We have hounsis and houngenikons to assist with the ceremonies, help lead the Prière and the songs, dance, make libations, and do all of the other things that we do in ceremonies.

When everyone is in their place, when everyone follows their role, what happens is a powerful harmony! This is the harmony that makes it possible to create sacred space and invoke possession by lwa — the ultimate aim of Vodou ceremony.

So as we discuss Vodou ceremonial service, Vodou prayer, Vodou songs, let us remember that the most important thing is adherence to the principles of the religion. The Prière is very important, the songs are important, but they are the means to an end, and not the end, in and of themselves.

Colophon

Written by Bon Mambo Racine Sans Bout Sa Te La Daginen (Mambo Racine), an American-born mambo asogwe initiated in Jacmel, Haiti, and the founder of the Vodou Page and Vodou Forum communities. Posted to alt.religion.voodoo, alt.religion.orisha, soc.culture.haiti, and alt.pagan in June 2005, as the third in a series of teachings on Vodou ceremonial service.

Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Original Message-ID: [email protected].

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