Being mounted.
The lwa displaces the person's gwo bonanj and uses the body: it is dressed in its colours, given its food and drink, and it dances, diagnoses illnesses, settles disputes, scolds relatives and gives advice. The person is the chwal, the horse, and remembers nothing. This is the purpose of the ceremony rather than an unusual outcome of it.
Possession is the centre of Vodou practice, not an unusual side effect of it. The lwa is said to mount its chwal, its horse; the person's gwo bonanj is displaced; and the lwa then uses the body, which is dressed in the appropriate colours and given the appropriate objects — a machete for Ogou, a top hat for Bawon, a comb and mirror for Freda. In that state the lwa dances, drinks, eats, diagnoses illnesses, prescribes treatments, settles family disputes, rebukes individuals by name and gives counsel. Others in the room manage the situation practically, ensuring the mounted person is not injured and that the lwa is treated correctly. Afterwards the horse has no memory and is told what occurred. The community's test for authenticity is behavioural: the mounted person must behave as that lwa behaves, and a performance that does not is recognised and dismissed.
The same ground, other faiths
rites that share this one's ideasSign in to open the first thread. Everything here is attributed.