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Liber XXXIV · Vodou & Hoodoo

Liber XXXIV · Vodou & Hoodoo · Chapter II: Haitian Vodou

Kanzo: Initiation and the Priesthood of Haitian Vodou

Kanzo initiation in Haitian Vodou: the ounsi, houngan and manbo, the grades of kanzo, si pwen and asogwe, the djevo, the asson and the priest's work.

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Kanzo is the principal initiation of Haitian Vodou, the rite through which a devotee becomes a full member of a temple and, at its higher grades, a priest: a houngan (male) or manbo (female). It involves a period of seclusion in a sacred chamber, a fire ritual that gives the rite its name, and a public emergence, and it establishes a lifelong bond between the initiate, the lwa who "owns" their head and the spiritual family of the house.

Houngan, Manbo and the Ounfò Community§

Haitian Vodou has no pope, council or written creed. Each temple, called an ounfò (also spelled hounfort), is an independent community led by its houngan or manbo, whose authority rests on initiation, knowledge of the spirits and the trust of the people they serve. Women and men can hold the same grades, and manbo have led many of the most respected houses in Haiti and the diaspora. (For the religion as a whole, see Haitian Vodou.)

Around the priest stands a sosyete, the temple society. Its initiated members are the ounsi, a word usually derived from Fon terms meaning "spouse of the spirit". The ounsi sing, dance, prepare offerings and care for those who are possessed. Senior roles include the ounjenikon, who leads the singing, the laplas, who carries the ceremonial sword and escorts the flags, and the drummers, whose skill is essential to calling the spirits. The temple's dancing ground, the peristil, is centred on the poto mitan, the post by which the lwa are said to enter the ceremony, and its altar rooms hold the vessels and images of the spirits.

Not all Vodou is organised in temples. In the countryside many families serve the lwa of their inherited land and lineage, the lakou, without kanzo initiation, and some regions follow older lineages in which the asson is not used at all. The initiation described here belongs mainly to the asson tradition widespread around Port-au-Prince, Léogâne and the south, which spread through the diaspora in the twentieth century.

Levels of Initiation: Lave Tèt, Kanzo, Si Pwen and Asogwe§

Ethnographers and practitioners usually describe initiation as a ladder of steps, although the details vary from house to house.

  • Lave tèt (head washing) is often the first ritual a newcomer receives. It cleanses and strengthens the head, the seat of the person's spiritual components, and introduces the person to their mèt tèt, the lwa who rules the head.
  • Ounsi bosal is a member who takes part in the life of the temple but is not yet initiated; bosal, an old word for an African-born captive, here means "untamed" or unprepared.
  • Kanzo is the first full initiation. The new ounsi kanzo is considered "cooked" or hardened by fire and is bound to the house and its spirits.
  • Si pwen (from French sur point) is a higher grade, in which the initiate is placed "on the point" of a spirit, receiving a closer and more powerful relationship with it. Some houses treat it as a priestly grade with limited authority.
  • Asogwe is the highest grade. The houngan or manbo asogwe receives the asson and may initiate others, found a temple and conduct the full range of ceremonies.

Choosing initiation is not usually presented as a personal hobby. Devotees often say that a spirit asked for it, through dreams, illness, misfortune or possession, and a priest may confirm this through divination. Initiation is costly, since the family must provide food, cloth, offerings and fees for the ritual specialists, and saving for it can take years.

The Djevo: Seclusion and the Making of a Kanzo§

The heart of kanzo is a period of seclusion in the djevo, a closed room of the temple. Candidates, sometimes several at once, lie down in the chamber for a number of days, traditionally around a week, wearing white and observing strict rules. Practitioners regard what happens there as secret, and published accounts by scholars such as Alfred Métraux, Maya Deren and Karen McCarthy Brown deliberately describe only what was public or what initiates chose to share. This article follows the same restraint.

Several elements are widely documented. The candidates' heads are ritually prepared, and materials from each initiate, such as hair, are placed in a lidded clay jar called a po tèt (head pot), which then stays on the temple altar as a lasting link between the person, their lwa and the house. A public rite known as the boule zen, "burning of the pots", involves pots heated over fires in the peristil; initiates are brought out to touch hot food from them, an ordeal by fire that most accounts connect with the name kanzo itself and with the idea that the initiate has been tempered.

At the end of the seclusion the new initiates are presented to the community in a joyful public ceremony. Dressed in white, often wearing straw hats and moving as a group under the guidance of their initiatory parents, they are saluted, sung to and danced with, and receive new initiatory names. For a period afterward they continue to observe prohibitions on food, dress and behaviour while the new relationship with the spirits settles.

The Asson and the Tools of Priestly Authority§

The asson is the badge of the priesthood in this lineage. It is a gourd rattle, its handle formed by the gourd's neck, covered with a loose net of beads and small snake vertebrae, so that shaking it produces a dry, rippling sound. It is often used with a small bell. To "take the asson" (pran asson) means to become a houngan or manbo asogwe, and only those who hold it are considered able to initiate others in the asson line.

In ceremony the priest uses the asson to salute the spirits, to mark the rhythm of prayers, to "open" and "close" sequences, and to guide and calm possession. The asson also accompanies the tracing of vèvè, the ritual drawings in cornmeal that invite the lwa (see Vèvè and Sacred Symbols), and the presentation of the temple's flags described in Vodou Flags.

The priest's work goes well beyond public ceremonies. Houngan and manbo give consultations, using divination by cards, shells or the voice of spirits; prepare herbal baths and remedies, with many collaborating with doctors and clinics today; perform funerary rites such as the desounen, which separates a dead initiate's lwa from the body; and conduct the ceremony of reclaiming the dead from "beneath the waters", after which a spirit of the ancestor may be housed in a clay jar called a govi. Practitioners are careful to distinguish this healing priesthood from the bòkò, a sorcerer said to work with "both hands".

Lineage and Authority Without a Church§

Because there is no central institution, legitimacy in Vodou flows through lineage. Every initiate has spiritual parents, the houngan or manbo who initiated them, and the person in turn becomes part of a line that can be traced back through generations of priests. Practitioners speak of being "born" in a particular house, and fellow initiates of the same group are spiritual siblings. Disputes over authority are usually settled by reference to this lineage and to the judgement of senior priests.

The twentieth century added new pressures. Anti-superstition campaigns, above all the Catholic campaign of 1941–1942 supported by the government, saw temples destroyed and sacred objects burned. Later decades brought recognition: the 1987 Constitution guaranteed freedom of religion, and in 2003 a government decree recognised Vodou as a religion. In 2008 Max Beauvoir, a chemist who had become a houngan, was chosen as Ati (supreme leader) of a new national confederation of Vodou practitioners, although many houses did not accept any central authority.

Migration carried kanzo lineages to New York, Miami, Montreal and Paris. Karen McCarthy Brown's Mama Lola follows a manbo in Brooklyn who trained spiritual children of Haitian and non-Haitian background. The initiation of foreigners has become common and sometimes controversial, raising questions about fees, authenticity and whether initiation without long apprenticeship produces real priests. Practitioners emphasise that kanzo begins a life of service rather than completing it.

Frequently asked questions§

What is a kanzo in Haitian Vodou?§

Kanzo is the main initiation of Haitian Vodou, and an initiate who has passed through it is called a kanzo or ounsi kanzo. It involves seclusion in the djevo, a fire rite called the boule zen and a public presentation to the community.

What is the difference between a houngan and a manbo?§

A houngan is a male priest and a manbo a female priest. Both hold the same ritual authority, can lead temples and initiate others, and both may carry the asson after initiation at the asogwe grade.

What is the asson?§

The asson is a sacred gourd rattle covered with a net of beads and snake vertebrae. It is the emblem of priestly authority in the asson lineage of Haitian Vodou and is used to salute the spirits and direct ceremonies.

Can anyone be initiated into Vodou?§

Houses decide for themselves whom they initiate, and many now initiate non-Haitians. Practitioners stress that initiation is usually prompted by a call from the spirits, requires the guidance of a recognised house and brings lifelong obligations.

Sources and further reading§