Finally, my Vodou priest and altar are finished!
The first great act of the Haitian Revolution was the 'Night of Fire', a Vodou ceremony in August 1791 where slaves pledged themselves to revolt, as seen in this famous painting by Haitian painter André Normil:
I really wanted to steer away from the Hollywood version of a Voodoo priest, so to make a 'proper'
houngan I had to get out the green stuff once again.
The sword he was holding in his left hand was removed and replaced with a small axe. For his right hand I made an
asson, the ceremonial rattle that tells apart the priest from other initiates. Also added are the feather on his hat, the red neckerchief and the knapsack, or
makout. The
makout hold all sorts of religious totems and potential magics. There's a bogeyman figure in Haitian folkore called Uncle Makout, who steals bad children and puts them in his knapsack. The Creole name is Tonton Makout, which is where Papa Doc's militia got their name from...
Anyway, onto the altar:
The rock is just a stone from the garden based on a 60mm washer. Sundry items were in my bits box: a drum to beat out the rhythm during ceremonies, a barrel of rum and bowl for offerings, candles, a skull... The rock is painted with
veve, symbols of the various Vodou spirits. The large one on the left in the first picture is for Ogue, a spirit often associated with fighting.
Of course, an integral part of any Vodou ceremony is some sort of sacrifice. In which case we need some of the following:
And putting them all together...
These were a lot of fun to do. As a simple objective marker, all sorts of scenarios spring to mind. A big thanks to Overlord and The Dozing Dragon for providing sundry sacrificial items – cheers.
12 April 2015, 09:31:10 AM